DESIGN PRINCIPLES

28/03/18 - 28/05/18 (Week 1 - Week 15)

Isaac Lee (0330747)

Design Principles

NOTES

11/04/18 (Week 03)

Symmetry

• One part has another identical part
• Types of symmetry, line symmetry, rotational symmetry, point symmetry

Asymmetry

• Creates an equal balance but the visuals do not mirror each other

Emphasis

• Makes one specific element in a composition stand out either through size, shape, & color

18/04/18 (Week 04)

Surface

• The outermost/innermost objects of a space
• A surface is what we see in two dimensions, we can find perceptible characteristics on the surface such as texture

Texture

• What we feel, and can see, we can imagine the texture by seeing it
• Real texture is something you feel by touching

Repetition

• Even, regular, or irregular or uneven
• Radiation is repeated at a center point
• Anything that is visually recognized in a repetitive element can be seen in a bold font, a thick rule line, a certain bullet, color, format
•  It creates a sense of unity

Pattern

• Repetition of one design, a seamless pattern for example, it can create depth by using colors
• Is an underlying structure that organizes surfaces or structures

25/04/18 (Week 05)

Direction

• Something that leads your eyes to a specific place in the composition. There are vertical, horizontal, & diagonal. Each direction gives off a different feeling, horizontal is calm, vertical gives off formality & balance, & diagonal are dynamic or action
• The main direction has to be decided first, objects are placed at that direction, other ways to imply direction is trough color & saturation

Alignment

• It’s the placement of visual elements so they light up a composition
• There are two principles: Edge alignment, either to the left, right, top, or bottom. The other principle is center, where things are aligned in the center

Hierarchy

• It’s where the eyes look first, & where they look after
• In scale, is thin to thick, the bigger scale is more dominant
• Dark colors are more dominant regardless of size
• In perspective, our eyes are focused to look at the bigger thing before the smaller

Placement

• Is where individual or groups of visual elements are placed on a paper
• There can be no placement without shapes

02/05/18 (Week 06)

Dots & Lines

• Are the most fundamental elements in design
• It is the starting place for most artistic creation whether one is starting a fine drawing or painting

Dots

• Dots are the smallest unit in art
• Building block for all other elements of art

Lines

• Used to separate every object
• Have different weight & strokes

16/05/18 (Week 07)

HARMONY

• It’s achieved when unity & variety are combined

- A principle that holds all elements together

- Compositions with harmony are mainly focused on unity & not contrast

- Two types of harmony: Visual & Conceptual

Visual harmony:

• Grid
• Repetition
• Color
• Harmony
• Consistent

Conceptual harmony:

• Has a common theme/concept through it

MOVEMENT

• It’s the path our eyes follow when we look at a work of art
• Artwork becomes stagnant without movement
• Give a sense of movement by using: lines, diagonals, tilted elements; blurring; placement; direction; & motion lines &/or afterimages

Lines & Diagonals

• Lines at a direction & spirals can create movement

Tilted Elements

• Tilted elements, & things out of balance or unsupported will anticipate movement

Blurred

• Fast-moving objects can be made to appear blurred, because that is how our eyes perceive them
• The subject may be relatively frozen in place while the background around it is blurred

Placement

• The 4^th type of movement found in artworks deal with the way a viewer’s eye moves through the artwork
• It is dictated by the placement of objects inside of the artwork
• Placement of the objects will lead & guide a viewer’s eye

Motion Lines

• Common in comics / graphic narratives
• Motion lines trail from the back of the subject in a direction of a path
• Speed is emphasized by the length of the lines; the longer the lines, the faster it looks, vice versa

Afterimages

• Happens when the subject leaves a residual copy of itself as it moves
• Fades as they get further away from the subject

RHYTHM

• Unifies & shows consistency
• Gives a sense of order
• Allows the viewer to relax & better comprehend the rest of the design

Why designers use it

It is used to create:

• Excitement
• Reassurance
• Overall setting the mood of your design
• Can be achieved by repeating any element of design: line, dot, color, scale, proportion
• Applied in bold statements that make an obvious suggestion about a path of travel, or more subtly applied to move the viewer’s eye naturally

Types of rhythm

• Regular

Follows the same intervals over & over again. The user’s eye will instantly recognize a regular rhythm, scanning it for any irregularities in the process

• Random

Repeating elements with no specific regular interval creates random rhythms

Examples: falling snow, pebbles on the beach, traffic movements

• Alternating

You can repeat more than one element in a design. In an alternating design, you use a 1-2-1-2-1-2 pattern

• Flowing

A flowing rhythm shows the repeated elements following bends, curves, & undulations

• Progression

Changing one characteristic of the motif as you repeat

23/05/18 (Week 08)

SHAPE

• The external boundary, outline, or external surface of an object in 2D

Used to:

• convey mood & emotion
• create focal points with different visual weight
• lead the eye from one design element to the next using hierarchy
• organize information through connection & separation
• create movement, texture & depth

3 Types of Shape:

Geometric

• Mainly have angles
• Regular & precise
• Often use rulers & compass to create
• Give a feeling of control & order

Organic

• Also call natural shape as this shape can be found in nature
• Flowing lines
• Complex & Irregular

Abstract

• Created by abstracting the most basic & recognizable aspects of a real-life shape
• Create a simplified representation

FORM

• Shape with volume by the addition of tone or color transitions within the shape
• Objects that are 3D
• A form has height, width, & depth

Used to:

• Define space, create contrast, & visually ass volume to a composition

2 Types of Form:

Geometric

• Most often constructed or man made
• Precise based on mathematical descriptions
• Found in architecture

Organic

• Irregular in outline, free-flowing, curvy, & often asymmetrical
• Often found in nature

 FIGURE & GROUND

• The relationship between shape & visual perception
• Known as positive space (foreground) & negative space (background)
• In Gestalt psychology, it is the act of identifying a figure from the background

3 Types of Figure/Ground:

Stable figure

• A form/figure stands clearly apart from its background

Reversible figure

• The positive & negative space attracts our attention equally & alternately

Ambiguous figure

• Elements can appear to be both figure & ground at the same time where viewers decide on which part is the focal point

EXERCISE

28/03/18 (Week 01)

For the first week of Design Principles class, we were given a task to create an art piece that represents contrast after looking at examples given by our lecturer. We were allowed to use any medium to create our product (A4 size).

This was just a random art piece I made with no ideas put into whatsoever. I basically just go with the flow.

This was the result from my previous artwork, the 'Random' art piece. This artwork became my final product for this assignment.

This one was also a random art piece, a side project I'd say.

04/04/18 (Week 02)

In this week's lecture, we learned about Gestalt. It's basically a shape/form that has no connecting edges that directly translate it as a 'shape/form'. Gestalt is a term that means 'unified whole', and it describes how we tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes.

Here you can see my Gestalt artwork, and as you can clearly see it, it's a car.

11/04/18 (Week 03)

This week's lecture, we were learning about symmetry, asymmetry, balance, and emphasis. I chose symmetry because it seems like it's the only subject where I can conjure up many ideas. And the problem was, I had many ideas. In the end, I ended up combining both ideas I had for symmetry into one; and it turned out good. Not only was it symmetrical, it also has balance in it.

This is my final outcome of the two ideas I had for symmetry. The first idea being the Eiffel Tower, and second was regarding Egypt. It looks very psychedelic, and I was told by my peers that I was probably 'high' while making this. It's so full of colors and randomness. It almost looks like as if I had created a new religion.

19/04/18 (Week 04)

For this week's critique session, I chose to create an artwork that represents pattern. There were other design principles as well: repetition, and texture.

This was my first idea/artwork for pattern. At first, I didn't really have any idea for what to make. So, I just made repeating dots. But then, I realized that it was too plain; and I scratched this idea, and made a new one.

This is my final product. How I got this idea to use eyes as a pattern is beyond my knowledge. But anyhow, I just made an eye and start repeating it until the whole page is covered with them. After that, I added a huge eye in the center so that it doesn't look to plain and boring. The background color is red because it's the only color that suits this artwork. Other colors were kind of 'bright', and it sort of overpower the eyes.

25/04/18 (Week 05)

So, for this week's assignment I chose to create something that has both direction and also alignment.

I was inspired by Tron: Legacy and Ready Player One, so I thought that maybe I could do something that looks and  feels futuristic.

I actually sketched out the whole idea; city, character, bike, hills. And then, I transferred them into Photoshop and start my work from there. There are four different textures that I used for this and they all can be found in their respective subject; hills, road, city, and the ground.

The road gives a sense of direction, as well as the tunneling lights, all directing towards the city. Lastly, the hills show alignment as its getting smaller and darker from left to right.



02/05/18 (Week 06)

I chose to create something using lines. The first thing that came to my mind was 'woman', so I wanted to create something that includes a figure of a woman. And, this is what I came up with.

First, I covered the whole page with lines. Then, I cut out the shapes as you can see. After, I cut out a figure of a woman from the lines. I'd say it turned out the way I expect it to. I combined both lines and Gestalt together into one composition.

16/05/18 (Week 07)

This week work was about: harmony, movement, and rhythm; I chose movement instead. I wanted to do something different. Instead of having a static artwork and anticipating the 'feel' of movement. I wanted to make an artwork that actually moves on the paper. Sounds magically, but it's not.

Before making the 'magic' happen, I had to choose a subject. And, the subject I chose was a pocket watch. After that, I made frames of the pocket watch from left to right. Then, I make consistent cutouts from the pocket watch.

Next, I made the bars corresponding to the cutouts of the pocket watch. This part is the most vital one because if there is a slight 'offset'. The magic wouldn't work. And, in order for the pocket watch to actually 'move', the bars has to be printed on a transparent surface.

Here's where the magic happens. After printing the bars on a transparent surface, place the bars on top of the pocket watch frames. Then, move the bars to the left or right. And voila, the pocket watch actually 'move' on a piece of paper.

23/05/18 (Week 08)

This week's composition was about shapes, figures, and form. I wanted to create something regarding my girlfriend. So, I got a picture of her and made a geometric art out of it.

ASSIGNMENT

PORTRAIT


Our first assignment was to create a self portrait. Sounds easy but getting the idea is hard. The first thing that I thought was when I think of a portrait is a picture. So, I asked a friend to help me take my picture. You can see below that I'm holding a baguette, when in reality I'm not. I Photoshop-ed the baguette in the picture.

When I was deciding on the background, I imagined three things: field, sea, cloudy sky; and so, I added those in. After that, I find the background very plain. So I thought to myself "What would make it 'interesting'," and I just randomly added the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Title: Oui Oui Baguette

PLACE

So, the place that I chose to create an artwork from is my condo that I live in. I took pictures of the surroundings of the condominium.

At first, I didn't know what or how I wanted to create my artwork. I tried making a collage out of it and I didn't really like how it looked.

But after some editing here and there, I got a different kind of collage.

Process of the artwork via GIF

Final product

Why I decided to choose this as my product is because I wanted to portray what I see when I'm drunk, that's basically the reason. Through this artwork, you can see what I see. Except for the color purple. I only added the color so it doesn't look plain. I tried using different colors such as blue and red. But it didn't go well together. So, I combine both blue and red to get a purple color.



BILLBOARD

For my final assignment, I wanted to do something futuristic/cyberpunk-ish. Something that inspired by the Blade Runner series, and also follow the art movement known as 'Synthwave' and 'Vaporwave'.

Below here are the billboards that I borrowed the design principles from.

The design principles that I found in both the billboards are: rule of thirds, hierarchy, placement, and alignment.

Process via GIF

Title: Synth

The size of the artwork was A3. The reason why I added the road there is because I wanted to portray 'uncertainty'. Uncertainty about the future. That's why it leads to nowhere. The way I envision the future is mostly bright neon lights everywhere.