Elements of Design

Elements of Design By Sierra M Visual Comp. Part 1

Tone Tone is the range of lightness and darkness within a picture. Tone is created by a light source that shines on an object creating highlights and shadows. It also illuminates the local or actual color of the subject. Tone creates depth within a picture making an object look three dimensional with highlights and cast shadows, or in a landscape where it gets lighter in value as it recedes to the background giving the illusion of depth. I chose these pictures because one displays the water and moon picture displays the depth and darkness that tone creates and the picture of the flowers/graphic design is bright and cheerful

Line All lines have direction - Horizontal, Vertical or Oblique. Horizontal suggests calmness, stability and tranquility. Vertical gives a feeling of balance, formality and alertness. Oblique suggests movement and action The underwear straight lines of the tree indicate natural or earthy and the straight lines of the house show man-made or proper

Color comes form light; if it weren’t for light we would have no color. Light rays move in a straight path from a light source. Within this light rays are all the rays of colors in the spectrum or rainbow. Shining a light into a prism will create a rainbow of colors because it separates the color of the spectrum. When the light rays hits an object our eyes responds to the light that is bounced back and we see that color. Color These circles are all different colors

Texture Color is the part of light that is reflected by the object we see The orange is a rough texture The apple displays a smooth texture

Shape This is an outline of a shape that reminds you of a house Texture is the surface quality of a shape - rough, smooth, soft hard glossy etc. Texture can be physical (tactile) or visual. This is an outline of a shape that reminds you of a cloud

Form Form is the three-dimensionality of an object. Shape is only two-dimensional; form is three-dimensional. You can hold a form. These pictures look 3D although it is a 2D picture.

Space Space in a two-dimensional drawing or painting refers to the arrangement of objects on the picture plane. The picture plane is the surface of your drawing paper or canvas. You can have a picture plane that is a crowded space with lots of objects or an empty space with very few objects in the picture plane. This is also a picture of a sun and there is barely any space around the sun This is a picture of a sun and there is lots of space around the sun

Size Size is simply the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that of another. The bird on the left is smaller than the bird on the right

Principles of Design Visual Comp. Part 2

It is a state of equalized tension and equilibrium, which may not always be calm. Balance The sun and the giant tree balance the picture out

Emphasis is created by contrasting size, positioning, color, style, or shape. The focal point should dominate the design with scale and contrast without sacrificing the unity of the whole. Emphasis These pictures draw your eye to one point with color and contrast

Using the relative size of elements against each other can attract attention to a focal point. When elements are designed larger than life, scale is being used to show drama The water bottle looks bigger than normal because Proportion This tomato is larger than an actual tomato which makes it look scary

Repeating art elements in regular or cyclical fashion to create interest, movement, and/or harmony and unity. Rhythms can be random, regular, alternating, flowing, and progressive. Repetition These photos repeat a pattern that displays repetition

When all elements are in agreement, a design is considered unified. No individual part is viewed as more important than the whole design. A good balance between unity and variety must be established to avoid a chaotic or a lifeless design. There is unity in this picture because the birds and the sunset are the same amount of importance Unity This picture displays unity because none of the objects in this picture are amplified

Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements. Opposite colours on the colour wheel - red / green, blue / orange etc. Contrast in tone or value - light / dark. Contrast in direction - horizontal / vertical. This picture has dark and light, opposite colors and horizontal and vertical lines Contrast This picture has the opposite colors black and white

The Principle of Proximity states that you group related items together, move them physically close to each other so the related items are seen as one cohesive group rather than a bunch of unrelated bits. It looks like just one shape because they are grouped together but its actually individual shapes Proximity The pink squares look like one shape when they are close together but they look individual when they are farther apart

Typography is, quite simply, the art and technique of arranging type. This typography of President Obama uses words to describe him and make the shape and design of his face The words are the countries of the world and they are also shaped like the countries. Typography A clover represents St.Patricks day and the words that shape the clover describe St.Patricks day The lyrics of a song are printed in the shape of a guitar which the song was written with or played with

Elements of Design