Homework Chapter 1

Elements of Design

• Point
• An image on a design that draws the attention of the viewer.
• When combined with another point it creates a line, and when a third point is introduced the brain interprets it as a triangle.
• Line
• A line is a mark made when a point is moved across a scene.
• The line creates a psychological impact when it takes into regard direction, weight and variation of the two can have an impact on the emotions of the scene or design.
• Form
• Form is an area or a mass that defines an object within space.
• Form is categorized in two groups, two dimensional form and three dimensional shape
• Two dimensional form has width and height, and can create the illusion of depth.
• Three dimensional shape actually has depth as well as width and height.
• Organic and geometric are other descriptions of form.
• Organic forms are naturally occurring, and are irregular in shape.
• Geometric forms resemble more normal shapes like squares, rectangles, etc. These forms are viewed as typically constructed.
• An image can also be realistic or abstract.
• Abstractions are distortions of reality, such as a caricature, which a distortion of a quality of a person to bring out its presence.
• Movement
• Movement is the element that operates in the dimension of time. It is spoken of as being either literal or compositional.
• Literal movement is the actual movement of an object within an image. This was first able to be achieved in film.

ú  Prior to motion pictures, the usage of a diagonal like and the positioning of images was the way that static media artists created movement.

• Compositional movement is not concerned with the presence of movement, but is instead focused on how the viewer perceives the image.
• Color
• Color is the entire subject of shades and hues, and is one of the most powerful elements of composition.
• Hue is the spectrum of colors, the range of colors to choose from.
• Value is the relative lightness and darkness of a color.
• Value creates spatial illusions and defines the form.
• Contrast separates objects in space, while gradation suggests the mass and shape of a continuous object.
• There are three basic primary colors that all hues can be created from, these include cyan, magenta and yellow for printers and red, blue and yellow for painters.
• Complements are colors that are opposite each other on the spectrum of hues. When mixed the colors are desaturated or dulled.
• Afterimage is a phenomenon that occurs when a very specific defined set of complements are near each other, this can cause the image to be more intense and even cause the boundaries between the colors to vibrate.
• Color illusions are created by the eye and the brain, but are not actual properties of light waves or pigment.
• Color proportion is the impact of the relative quantities of a given hue or value used in a color composition. A different arrangement of similar colors can result in a much different image than if the original colors were used.
• Simultaneous contrast is when colors appear to change when seen against a different background. Changes in hue, value, saturation and area will alter the appearance of a selected color.
• Optical mixture is when small particles of different colors are blended together in the eye. This mixture is based more on differences in light than pigments.
• Color Psychology
• Market researchers study the emotional responses of people to color, to decide which color is best suited for their products.
• The responses vary from culture to culture.
• Red: associated with blood
• Positive- energetic, passionate or exciting.
• Negative- aggressive feelings, anger or violence.
• Orange: associated with flesh, a warm fire and friendship.
• Positive- approachability and informality
• Negative- A lack of quality or indiscriminate
• Yellow: Color of sunshine
• Positive- optimistic, upbeat, modern
• Negative- overwhelming
• Green: associated with nature
• Positive: life, stability, naturalness, restfulness
• Negative: infection, sickness, decay
• Blue: associated with water
• Positive- coolness, distance, spirituality and elegance.
• Negative- sadness, passivity, alienation, depression.
• Violet: associated with fairy tales
• Positive- fantasy, playfulness, impulse and dreaming
• Negative- nightmares or madness.
• Color trends are studied by researchers. Color trends are simply where one color becomes more popular for a period of time.
• Pattern
• An underlying structure that organizes surfaces or structures in a consistent, regular manner.
• Harvard professor Peter Stevens suggests that there are only a finite number of patterns in nature, and by connecting points of a grid in different manner you can show all the possible patterns in nature.
• Flow is following the path with the least resistance, such as water in a river.

ú  Meander patterning is related to flow because it builds upon the repetition of an undulating line.

• Branching is a form of pattern found in plants and some rivers and crystalline formations.
• Spiral patterns are circular patterns found anywhere, from the galaxies to microscopic animals.
• Packing and Cracking refers to the way that compacted cells define each others shape. In nature this occurs when a cluster of mushrooms forms and the caps mold to fit each other.
• Texture
• The quality of an object which we sense through touch. Textures come in many forms.
• Bristly, rough and hard are examples of what is typically referred to as texture, but smooth, cold and hard are texture too, as well as wet and dry and many others.
• All objects can be described in terms of texture because of this, making texture a very important tool in many artists work.

Principles of Design

• Balance
• Visual equilibrium, is related to our own sense of balance. Most successful compositions achieve either symmetrical or asymmetrical balance.
• Symmetrical balance is like having weight press on the sides of an image equally to provide fulcrum.

ú  This is referred to as formal balance, bilateral symmetry is achieved on an axis because of this.

ú  Symmetrical balance can be achieved by arranging elements around a central point as well, creating radial symmetry.

ú  Approximate symmetry is the forms are not completely identical, but are arranged along a fulcrum line.

• Asymmetrical balance is more complex and difficult to envision. It involves placing objects in a way that the varying visual weight causes balance along the fulcrum point.

ú  In some paintings this is done by placing many small objects on one side to balance out the fulcrum point.

• Proportion
• The relative size and scale of various elements in a design.
• The issue is the relationship between objects, or parts, of a whole image.
• We tend to judge appropriateness of size and scale based on its relation to our own height.
• Churches and government buildings are built with such towering roofs to cause people to feel dwarfed, making them look in awe at the power of the buildings owner.
• Homes on the other hand are smaller because smaller it results in a comfortable environment.
• Rhythm
• Timed movement through space, and in art an easy path for the eye to follow.
• Rhythm creates predictability and order for a image.
• Visual rhythm can be created in a number of ways.
• Linear rhythm is a characteristic flow of an individual line. Linear rhythm is not dependant on pattern.
• Repetition involves using a pattern to create a “beat” for the piece. It can be clear or subtle, depending on what the artist prefers.
• Alternation is a pattern where a sequence of elements are repeated in turn. (ex. Short and long, round and square)
• Gradation uses a series of patterns to relate one shape through a progression of other shapes, can be used to create a series of events.
• Emphasis
• Point of focus or interruption. It marks the spot on an image that should draw the viewers attention.
• Most works have only one primary point of focus, with a secondary point or two in other parts of an image to help highlight the primary point of emphasis.
• The emphasis is usually a break in a pattern or movement to break rhythm.
• Emphasis can be achieved in a number of ways.
• Repetition creates emphasis by calling attention to the repeated image through volume of images.

ú  Color repetition, like on some maps, draws attention to certain clusters of color.

• Contrast is when an element sets apart from the rest of the image.

ú  The use of a neutral background to isolate to point of emphasis.

ú  Differences in color, texture or shape to call attention to a specific area.

ú  Size and scale to make certain images more important.

ú  Strategic positioning calls attention to a particular element.

• Contrast of detail is unusual, but consists of many points of emphasis that cause more attention to detail.
• Unity
• The combination of all other elements of design, it important because without it there would be no harmony between the parts.
• Can be achieved through the usage of patterns and consistency of form and color.
• Unity also exists in variety, not all elements need to be identical in form providing they have a quality of meaning or style.

Non-EuroAmerican Modes of Thinking

• China
• Historical Background
• China has been the goal of European merchants and travelers since ancient times.
• The civilization has been around since about 3500 BC, before India and the Middle East.
• Chinese religion has had a major impact on their art.
• For example the terra cotta soldiers in the imperial tomb at Shanxi.
• Confucianism
• Developed around the 6^th century BC around a moral code of proverbs written by Confucian.
• Confucian symbolism is drawn upon ancient interpretations of plant and animal imagery and mythology.

ú  This is evident in the stylized animal and plant images seen on the rank badges of civil servants, or on imperial robes.

• Taoism
• Dates back to the 6^th century BC, taught that the individual should surrender to the vastness of nature in order to find their true place in the world.

ú  The famous Yin-Yang symbol in many other forms of art is the religious symbol for Taoism.

ú  The focus on nature causes it to have a strong presence in Chinese art.

• For example landscapes with small people in the foreground are meant to emphasize the vastness of the natural world.
• Buddhism
• Arrived from India in the 6^th century AD, focused on an inner path of spiritual peace through mediation and study.
• Is very similar to Confucianism, except for the inner path to spiritual peace.
• There are two forms of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana.

ú  Theravada stresses the teaches of the historic Buddha, with a focus on moasticism.

ú  Mahayana has a pantheon of Buddhist saints, or Boddhisatvas. This form of Buddhism is focused on enlightenment.

• Buddhist art shares features with older religions, but tends to stress teaching and meditation aspects of the faith. The worlds largest Buddha is in China standing at 44 feet.
• Chinese Visual Art
• The most distinctive factor in Chinese art is the nature of Chinese writing.
• Unlike the languages of most other regions of the world Chinese writing is pictographic.

ú  The symbols have changed over time, becoming more decorative, but each symbol has more meaning.

• The usage of certain things in nature in art are never random. Such as:
• Crane- Longevity
• Dragon- Power and immortality
• Phoenix- renewal and fertility
• Flowers- different seasons have different meanings, but it usually means fertility.

ú  And unlike Euro-American art there is not always a separation between words and images, and poetry and pictorial images tend to mingle.

• Chinese painting
• Began as fragmentary sets of images on scrolls, but developed to more coherent and structured compositions that took full advantage of the scroll form of most paintings.
• As time went on the paintings became more stylized, followings set conventions. The scroll form had distinctive effects on the visual images placed on these surfaces.

ú  Chinese paintings do not have single point, linear perspective that Euro-American paintings do, instead the perspective points shift as the viewer’s eye moves through the landscape.

• Chinese architecture
• Symbols dominate Chinese architectural design.
• Public structures are typically timber with curved roof beams and extended edges that reach over the roofs edges because of that construction method.

ú  In Chinese culture it was believed that demons could travel through straight lines, so buildings were built with curves, broken lines and articulated surfaces.

• Embellishing the surface was also important in Chinese architecture.

ú  Surfaces were carved and painted with colors and images, which were established by tradition in accordance to function and status of the house owner.

• For example, palaces were usually blue green and red with occasional usage of black, white and yellow.