Basic Principles

of Design

Design Basics

Content & Form

Content: subject matter, story, or information to be communicated to the viewer.

Form: purely visual aspect…manipulation of various elements using principles of design.

Process includes:

1. THINK. BRAINSTORM. PLAN.

CREATE CHOICES

2. LOOK. THUMBNAIL SKETCHES. DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS

3. DO. EXPERIMENT. TRIAL & ERROR

1. Unity (Proximity) Making things belong together Achieving congruity a composition does not become cluttered

or confusing. a concept can be communicated more

clearly. a design evokes a sense of quality and

organization.

2 Ways to Achieve this:1. Similarity 2. Alignment

Similarity2 ways to achieve Similarity:1. Repetition Repeating colors, shapes, values,

textures, or lines creates a visual relationship between elements, called correspondence.

2. Proximity Placing objects on your page closer

together or overlapping making them a total, related pattern.

Alignment

2 ways to achieve Alignment:

1. Placement:

Placing objects next to each other leaving very little “white space” (like fitting puzzle pieces together)

2. Continuation: The eye moves smoothly from one

form or shape to another (image is organized into a pattern)

When and element is placed in a composition, it creates an implied horizontal and vertical axis at its top, bottom, center and sides. Aligning other elements to these axes creates a visual relationship which unifies them.

                                     

    

                                     

    

                                     

    

Implied axes Align to an axis Unified alignment

                        

         

           

          

   

       

              

2. Focal Point

Emphasizes elements in the design “Catching the eye” of the viewer

3. Balance

Balance is the distribution of visual weight. There is an assumed vertical axis and the eye expects to see equal distribution of visual weight on either side.

Types of Balance1. Symmetrical 2. Asymmetrical3. Radial Balance4. Crystallographic Balance

1. Symmetrical Balance

Is when shapes are repeated on either side of the vertical axis

A mirror image

2. Asymmetrical Balance

Balance is achieved on either side of the vertical axis using dissimilar objects.

This can be done with colour value, shape and texture, or by position and eye direction.

3. Radial Balance

Can be either of the above but it assumes that objects are distributed around a centre point

4. Crystallographic Balance

Is a continuing pattern throughout the picture but it can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical

4. Scale and Proportion Scale is size (an object is large, an

object is small)

Proportion is relative size (One object is larger than another object)

Importance of an object in a picture is often related to its size.

A larger object often commands greater attention than a small one

Since we expect certain objects to be bigger than other objects, we can play with that idea to make an object more important than it would normally be.Ex. By playing with perspective

(the angle at which we look at things), we could make the smaller object LOOK bigger than the larger object making the smaller object more important.

5. Emphasis

Emphasis is attracting attention or “catching the eye” of the viewer by making certain element of the design the focal point or point of interest.

There are 3 Components of Emphasis:1. Contrast2. Placement3. Isolation

1. Contrast

Contrast can be achieved by having: dark vs light areas in your design natural images vs abstract images large vs small images same vs a different shape many objects of the same or similar

colour vs one of a completely different colour

2. Placement

Making some objects on a page “point” towards a particular object, making it the centre of interest.

3. Isolation

Placing an object away from the group or having a feeling that “something is missing” are examples of creating emphasis through Isolation