PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

Have you ever wondered how elements of a photograph come together to form a successful
image? These principles of design will help you create better more interesting images.

What Are the 7 Principles of Art and Design?

The 7 principles of art and design are balance, rhythm, pattern, emphasis, contrast, unity and
movement. Use the elements of art and design – line, shape/form, space, value, color and
texture – to create a composition as a whole.

The elements of art and design are the tools of visual artists. The principles of art and design
represent how an artist uses these tools to create visual art.

By applying the 7 principles of art and design, photographers can create a cohesive image
grounded in the foundations of art theory.

7. Balance

Balance is used to illustrate the visual weight of an image. It can either unite a ephotograph or
create division. A carefully balanced image lends a sense of stability to a photograph. An
unbalanced image creates disunity or unrest.

You can achieve balance in three ways:

Symmetry – both sides of an image reflect the same subject matter, like a mirror image.

Asymmetry – contrasting elements balance the image. For example, a highly textured surface on
one side of an image, counterbalanced by a smooth, matte surface on the other.

Radial symmetry – elements spaced equally around a central point, like spokes on a wheel.

The symmetrical balance in this photograph of a bridge

creates depth and leads the viewer’s eye through the
image. Photo by Michael Drexler on Unsplash

6. Rhythm

In many ways, composition in music is very similar to composition in photography. The

photographic concept of rhythm borrows heavily from music theory.

Just like a musician reading the notes on a sheet of music, subjects in a space regulate the way
we view a photograph.
The rhythm dictates the recurring or organized/disorganized distribution of visual elements
throughout an image.

The spaces, correlations, and differences between subjects in a photograph reflect notes on a
sheet of music.

A still life photograph of flowers which demonstrates the principles of design in photography

5. Pattern

The pattern makes sense of the visual world through regularity.

From man-made objects to organic material and abstraction.

Elements of design can be organized in a predictable manner to form a pattern. Put simply,
patterns are repetitions of the elements of art and design. These work in unison within a single
frame.

The human eye is calibrated to seek out pattern. This can evoke surprising emotional reactions
from a viewer.

Patterns are an active principle of art and design, they lift an image off the page. Incorporating
pattern into your photography is as much about exploring as it is about photographic technique.

Pastel colored patterned tiles. Pattern lifts an image off the page, transforming a 2D image into
3D work of art. Photo by Andrew Ridley on Unsplash

4. Emphasis

Emphasis shapes the center of interest in an image. Colour,

space, texture, and line work together to determine the focus of
an image.

There are many ways to create emphasis in a photograph. Spacial emphasis involves the
orientation of a subject within the photographic frame.

A lone subject located in the center of an image will attract attention. It is the most readily
available component of the photograph.
 For a photograph with a number of subjects, selective grouping guides
the viewer’s eye to particular focal points.

The size of a subject also dictates the way the viewer will ‘read’ a
photograph. A larger subject suggests a closeness to the surface of the
photograph. It commands greater attention than that of a smaller
subject in the background.

Incorporating size tells a story about the physicality of the subjects in a

photograph, adding depth and perspective.

Colour is another tool that can cultivate emphasis. A brightly colored

subject within a dark scene gives a sense of vibrancy and life to an
image. It draws the viewer’s eye.

A small yellow flower in a dark forest. Photo by Matthew Smith on

Unsplash

3. Contrast

Contrast is created when two or more opposing elements are present in

a photograph. Light against dark, warm against cool.

But contrast includes physical elements too. The texture is another way to utilize the principle of
contrast in photography. Including two or more textures in a photograph not only introduces
tactility, it creates a sense of place.

Contrasting subject matter brings the narrative to a photograph. You can also try juxtaposing
attributes like sharpness and softness, old and new or curved and straight.
An abstract street photography shot demonstrating contrast. Photographing contrasting
attributes plays with our understanding of the world around us. Photo by Alex Rodríguez
Santibáñez on Unsplash

2. Unity

Unity describes the visual relationship between elements in a photograph. It helps create a
cohesive image.

Using similar colors or tones, concepts or elements cultivates a sense of unity.

Disunity is the opposite. Bad cropping, awkward perspectives or over and underexposure
disrupt an image and can cause disunity.

Another aspect that underlies a unified image is the clear idea of a photographic outcome. A
photographic outcome, or goal, is the idealized mental image of a photograph before it’s taken.

A pile of rocks outdoors, demonstrating unity in photography. Unity in photography is achieved

through the conscientious use of the principles of art and design. Photo by Sean Stratton on
Unsplash

1. Movement

The term ‘movement’ in photography often describes the

relationship between the camera’s shutter speed and a
subject. When it comes to art and design, movement refers to
the path the viewer’s eye takes while reading a photograph.

Movement is shaped by the elements and principles of art and design. Jagged lines create
excitement, shifting the viewer’s gaze from one point to the next. Curved lines are more subtle.
These reduce the speed at which a photograph is viewed.

Understanding the nature and psychology of human sight is an important part of controlling
movement. For example, the human eye is more sensitive to certain colors over others.

Red is attention-grabbing. Soft blues are gentler and more subtle. Movement can be directed
through the selective use of color and saturation.
There are a lot of different ways to guide the viewer’s eye through a photograph. Movement
studies the nature of the eye as well as the psychology behind how we absorb visual
information.

The eye of a female model looking through a gap in a large green leaf. Shaped by the principles
of art and design, movement is the path the eyes travel around an image. Photo by Drew
Graham on Unsplash

Conclusion

The seven principles of art and design in photography; balance, rhythm,

pattern, emphasis, contrast, unity and movement, form the foundation
of visual arts.

Using the seven principles allows you to take greater control of your
photographic practice. This will lead to better photos and more
photographic opportunities.

READING IMAGES
Every picture tells a story, but it takes an original mind to interpret plot and

characters properly. Alberto Manguel reclaims the right to 'read' images in

Reading Pictures

PLANES IN ART
In two-dimensional art, plane refers to a flat or level surface of a material body which can also
be imagined in space.

The picture plane is the extreme front edge of the imaginary space in the picture. The picture
plane can be thought of as being like a plate of glass behind which pictorial devices are used to
render the elements of the picture in depth.

In three-dimensional art, a plane surface is flat like the faces of a cube or pyramid, but sculptors
also use the term for any area of a surface which is distinguishable as a seperate part and which
faces in more or less one direction, even though it is not completely flat.

Planes of reference are imaginary planes to which the position, direction, and movement of the
axes and surfaces of the forms of three-dimensional objects may be related. The three principal
planes of reference are the frontal, the horizontal and the profile planes. These planes are
mutually perpendicular. They provide a complete spatial frame of reference for the forms of the
sculpture. Like the vertical and horizontal axes they provide fixed positions and directions from
which other positions and directions are regarded as deviations and against which movement
may be measured.

RULE OF THIRDS
The Rule of Thirds is a general guideline for how to create an interesting
composition which states that any image—painting, photograph,
graphic design—should be broken into a grid with two vertical and two
horizontal lines, creating nine equally proportioned boxes. Important
compositional elements should then be placed either on the lines or at
their intersections. This results in dynamic, interesting compositions
that draw the viewer’s eye across the scene.

This technique is often employed in landscape painting and

photography, but really can apply to any genre. As one of the beginning rules of composition
taught to visual artists, it’s a quick and easy way for anyone—from beginner to expert—to
improve the visual impact of their work. And while today the Rule of Thirds is most often
associated with photography, it should come as no surprise that it originates from painting.

One of many compositional tricks that artists use, the Rule of Thirds was first written down in
1797, when an author quotes English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. In discussing the balance of
light and dark in an artwork, Reynolds refers to the Rule of Thirds, discussing it as a more
general principle of balance. It would later be transformed into the grid system we know today.

Rule of Thirds in Painting

Photographers aren’t the only ones who use the Rule of Thirds. Long before the world’s first
photographs , famous artists frequently employed the technique in order to achieve harmony
and balance in their compositions.

JOHANNES VERMEER

‘A Maid Asleep’ by Johannes Vermeer (ca. 1656–57)

This early painting by Vermeer shows a use of the compositional trick by the manner in which
the sleeping maid’s head lines up with the upper horizontal line.
Interestingly, the top of the jug on the table matches with the lower horizontal line, creating a
pleasing distance between foreground and background subject.

Even the door cracked open has a compositional purpose. The door itself fall exactly on the right
vertical line running through the painting. These choices, combined with Vermeer’s use of light
and shadow, lend dramatic tension to this seemingly everyday scene.

J.M.W. TURNER

‘The Fighting Temeraire’ by J.M.W. Turner (1838)

This famous landscape painting by acclaimed English Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner makes
great use of the Rule of Thirds. Not only does the horizon fall on the
lower horizontal line, the ships intersect along the first vertical line.
Placing the ships slight off center gives the piece a sense of dynamic
movement that helps make it one of Turner’s most acclaimed paintings.

Impressionists may be known as rule breakers, but that doesn’t mean

they didn’t practice the fundamentals of good composition. Renoir’s
1873 oil painting, now part of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia ,
shows the careful placement of his subjects, letting them hit along
multiple lines in the grid. Renoir’s masterpiece is a good reminder of
how the Rule of Thirds can be used to create natural groupings of people within a composition.