10/30/2015

DesignelementsandprinciplesWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Designelementsandprinciples
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

VisualDesignelementsandprinciplesdescribefundamentalideasaboutthepracticeofgoodvisual
design.
AsWilliamLidwellstatedinUniversalPrinciplesofDesign:
Thebestdesignerssometimesdisregardtheprinciplesofdesign.Whentheydoso,however,
thereisusuallysomecompensatingmeritattainedatthecostoftheviolation.Unlessyouare
certainofdoingaswell,itisbesttoabidebytheprinciples.[1]

Contents
1Designelements
1.1Color
1.1.1Attributes
1.2Shape
1.2.1Categories
1.3Texture
1.4Space
1.5Form
2Principlesofdesign
2.1Unity/Harmony
2.1.1Methods
2.2Balance
2.2.1Types
2.3Hierarchy
2.4Scale/proportion
2.5Dominance/emphasis
2.6Similarityandcontrast
2.6.1Similarenvironment
2.6.2Contrasts
3Seealso
4References
5Externallinks

Designelements
Seealso:Elementsofart
Designelementsarethebasicunitsofapainting,drawing,designorothervisualpiece[2]andinclude:
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Color
Colorcanplayalargeroleintheelementsofdesign[3]withthecolorwheelbeingusedasatool,and
colortheoryprovidingabodyofpracticalguidancetocolormixingandthevisualimpactsofspecific
colorcombination.
Uses
Colorcanaidorganizationsodevelopacolorstrategyand
stayconsistentwiththosecolors.[3]
Itcangiveemphasistocreateahierarchytothepieceofart
Attributes
Hue[3]
Values,tintsandshadesofcolorsthatarecreatedbyadding
blacktoacolorforashadeandwhiteforatint.Creatingatint
orshadeofcolorreducesthesaturation.[3]
Saturationgivesacolorbrightnessordullness,andbydoing
thisitmakesthecolormorevibrantthanbefore.[3]

Colorstarcontainingprimary,
secondary,andtertiarycolors.

Shape
Ashapeisdefinedasatwoormoredimensionalareathatstandsoutfromthespacenexttoorarounditdue
toadefinedorimpliedboundary,orbecauseofdifferencesofvalue,color,ortexture.[4]Allobjectsare
composedofshapesandallother'ElementsofDesign'areshapesinsomeway.[5]
Categories
MechanicalShapesorGeometricShapesaretheshapesthatcanbedrawnusingarulerorcompass.
Mechanicalshapes,whethersimpleorcomplex,produceafeelingofcontrolororder.[5]
OrganicShapesarefreehanddrawnshapesthatarecomplexandnormallyfoundinnature.Organic
shapesproduceanaturalfeel.[5]

Texture
Meaningthewayasurfacefeelsorisperceivedtofeel.Texturecanbeaddedtoattractorrepelinterestto
anelement,dependingonthepleasantnessofthetexture.[5]
Typesoftexture
Tactiletextureistheactualthreedimensionfeelofasurfacethatcanbetouched.Paintercanuse
impastotobuildpeaksandcreatetexture.[5]
Visualtextureistheillusionofthesurfacespeaksandvalleys,likethetreepictured.Anytexture
showninaphotoisavisualtexture,meaningthepaperissmoothnomatterhowroughtheimage
perceivesittobe.[5]
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Mosttextureshaveanaturaltouchbutstillseemtorepeatamotifinsomeway.Regularlyrepeatingamotif
willresultinatextureappearingasapattern.[5]

Space
Indesign,spaceisconcernedwiththeareadeepwithinthemomentofdesignateddesign,thedesignwill
takeplaceon.Foratwodimensionaldesign,spaceconcernscreatingtheillusionofathirddimensionona
flatsurface:[5]
Overlapistheeffectwhereobjectsappeartobeontopofeachother.Thisillusionmakesthetop
elementlookclosertotheobserver.Thereisnowayto
determinethedepthofthespace,onlytheorderofcloseness.
Shadingaddsgradationmarkstomakeanobjectofatwo
dimensionalsurfaceseemthreedimensional.
Highlight,TransitionalLight,CoreoftheShadow,Reflected
Light,andCastShadowgiveanobjectathreedimensional
look.[5]
LinearPerspectiveistheconceptrelatingtohowanobject
seemssmallerthefartherawayitgets.
AtmosphericPerspectiveisbasedonhowairactsasafilterto
changetheappearanceofdistanceobjects.

Form
Formmaybedescribedasanythreedimensionalobject.Formcan
bemeasured,fromtoptobottom(height),sidetoside(width),and
frombacktofront(depth).Formisalsodefinedbylightanddark.It
canbedefinedbythepresenceofshadowsonsurfacesorfacesofan
object.Therearetwotypesofform,geometric(manmade)and
natural(organicform).Formmaybecreatedbythecombiningof
twoormoreshapes.Itmaybeenhancedbytone,textureandcolor.
Itcanbeillustratedorconstructed.

Thetree'svisualtextureisrepresented
hereinthisimage.

Principlesofdesign
Principlesappliedtotheelementsofdesignthatbringthemtogetherintoonedesign.Howoneapplies
theseprinciplesdetermineshowsuccessfuladesignmaybe.[2]

Unity/Harmony
AccordingtoAlexWhite,authorofTheElementsofGraphicDesign,toachievevisualunityisamaingoal
ofgraphicdesign.Whenallelementsareinagreement,adesignisconsideredunified.Noindividualpartis
viewedasmoreimportantthanthewholedesign.Agoodbalancebetweenunityandvarietymustbe
establishedtoavoidachaoticoralifelessdesign.[3]
Methods
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Perspective:senseofdistancebetweenelements.
Similarity:abilitytoseemrepeatablewithotherelements.
Continuation:thesenseofhavingalineorpatternextend.
Repetition:elementsbeingcopiedormimickednumeroustimes.
Rhythm:isachievedwhenrecurringposition,size,color,anduseofagraphicelementhasafocal
pointinterruption.
Alteringthebasicthemeachievesunityandhelpskeepinterest.

Balance
Itisastateofequalizedtensionandequilibrium,whichmaynotalwaysbecalm.[3]
Types
Symmetry
Asymmetricalbalanceproducesaninformalbalancethatis
attentionattractinganddynamic.
Radialbalanceisarrangedaroundacentralelement.The
elementsplacedinaradialbalanceseemto'radiate'outfrom
acentralpointinacircularfashion.
Overallisamosaicformofbalancewhichnormallyarises
fromtoomanyelementsbeingputonapage.Duetothelack
ofhierarchyandcontrast,thisformofbalancecanlooknoisy
butsometimesquiet.

Hierarchy
Agooddesigncontainselementsthatleadthereaderthrougheach
elementinorderofitssignificance.Thetypeandimagesshouldbe
expressedstartingfrommostimportanttotheleastimportant.

Scale/proportion
Usingtherelativesizeofelementsagainsteachothercanattract
attentiontoafocalpoint.Whenelementsaredesignedlargerthan
life,scaleisbeingusedtoshowdrama.[3]

Thetopimagehassymmetrical
balanceandthebottomimagehas
asymmetricalbalance

Dominance/emphasis
Dominanceiscreatedbycontrastingsize,positioning,color,style,orshape.Thefocalpointshould
dominatethedesignwithscaleandcontrastwithoutsacrificingtheunityofthewhole.[3]

Similarityandcontrast
Planningaconsistentandsimilardesignisanimportantaspectofadesigner'sworktomaketheirfocal
pointvisible.Toomuchsimilarityisboringbutwithoutsimilarityimportantelementswillnotexistandan
imagewithoutcontrastisuneventfulsothekeyistofindthebalancebetweensimilarityandcontrast.[3]
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Similarenvironment
Thereareseveralwaystodevelopasimilarenvironment:[3]
Buildauniqueinternalorganizationstructure.
Manipulateshapesofimagesandtexttocorrelatetogether.
Expresscontinuityfrompagetopageinpublications.Itemstowatchincludeheaders,themes,
borders,andspaces.
Developastylemanualandadheretoit.
Contrasts
Space
Filled/Empty
Near/Far
2D/3D
Position
Left/Right
Isolated/Grouped
Centered/OffCenter
Top/Bottom
Form
Simple/Complex
Beauty/Ugly
Whole/Broken
Direction
Stability/Movement
Structure
Organized/Chaotic
Mechanical/HandDrawn
Size
Large/Small
Deep/Shallow
Fat/Thin
Color
Greyscale/Color
Black&White/Color
Light/Dark
Texture
Fine/Coarse
Smooth/Rough
Sharp/Dull
Density
Transparent/Opaque
Thick/Thin
Liquid/Solid
Gravity
Light/Heavy
Stable/Unstable
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Movementisthepaththeviewerseyetakesthroughtheartwork,oftentofocalareas.Suchmovementcan
bedirectedalonglinesedges,shapeandcolorwithintheartwork.

Seealso
Composition(visualarts)
Interiordesign
Landscapedesign
Patternlanguage
Elementsofart
Principlesofart
Colortheory

References
1. Lidwell,WilliamKritinaHoldenJillButler(2010).UniversalPrinciplesofDesign(2nded.).Beverly,
Massachusetts:RockportPublishers.ISBN9781592535873.
2. Lovett,John."DesignandColor".Retrieved3April2012.
3. White,Alex(2011).TheElementsofGraphicDesign.NewYork,NY:AllworthPress.pp.81105.ISBN9781
581157628.
4. CindyKovalik,Ph.D.andPeggyKing,M.Ed."VisualLiteracy".Retrieved20100327.
5. Saw,James."DesignNotes".PalomarCollege.Retrieved3April2012.

Kilmer,R.,&Kilmer,W.O.(1992).DesigningInteriors.Orland,FL:Holt,RinehartandWinston,
Inc.ISBN9780030322334.
Nielson,K.J.,&Taylor,D.A.(2002).Interiors:AnIntroduction.NewYork:McGrawHill
Companies,Inc.ISBN9780072965209
Pile,J.F.(1995fourthedition,2007).InteriorDesign.NewYork:HarryN.Abrams,Inc.ISBN978
0132321037
AnthonySully(2012)InteriorDesign:TheoryandProcess.London:(Bloomsbury).ISBN97814081
52027

Externallinks
Art,Design,andVisualThinking(http://char.txa.cornell.edu/first.htm)
The6PrinciplesofDesign(http://visual.ly/6principlesdesign)
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title=Design_elements_and_principles&oldid=687767437"
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