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PrinciplesofDesign

 

“The principles of a work of art are balance/contrast/ emphasis/movement/pattern/rhythm/unity and variety. They are essential qualities of a work that produce a desired expressive effect. As with the elements, an artist may use these principles independently or in conjunction with another. “ (Katz p79

 

This online presentation gives some examples of the principles at work.

 

This link will also give you some more explanations.

 

 

 

Principles of Design

Balance in a work of art refers to the arrangement of things in such a way that they are comfortable to look at, and have a sense of stability and equilibrium. Portions of a composition can be described as taking on a measureableweight or dominance, and can then be arranged in such a way that they appear to be either in or out of balance, or to have one kind of balance or another.

 

There are three main balance arrangements:

 

Symmetrical Balance

Sometimes called formal balance; this is an even placement of visual weight in the design.

Radial balance

 

Radial balance happens when the parts of a design seem to radiate out from a central point like spokes on a wheel or ripples from a pebble tossed into a pond. It usually takes a round shape or form.

Asymmetrical balance

 

Sometimes called informal balance; asymmetry means unbalanced. It can refer to a psychological or "felt" balance where space and shape don't need to be evenly dispersed on the page.

 

Contrast

In order for a design to be interesting, it must have contrast and variety. Contrast refers to having different things in the same design; differences in values, colors, textures, shapes, and other elements.

 

Contrasts create visual excitement, and add interest to the work. If all the art elements - value, for example - are the same, the result is monotonous and unexciting.

 

 

Contrast Continued...

 

 

Elements used to create contrast can include:

 

Pattern contrast: intricate pattern vs. no pattern Edge contrast: hard edge vs. soft edges Value contrast: dark, middle and light values Intensity contrast: pure colors vs. muted colors Temperature contrast: cool colors vs. warm colors Texture contrast: textured vs. smooth Shape contrast: organic shapes vs. geometric shapes Size contrast: large shapes vs. small shapes

 

 

http://www.bluemoonwebdesign.com/art-lessons-6.asp a place to see more contrast info

Emphasis

Emphasis refers to making one part of a design or picture more important than the rest. Other details are less important than the dominant part, but they also add to the composition. 

 

Emphasis says "Center of Interest."

 

 

 

It’s a way of combining elements to stress the differences between those elements and to create one or more centers of interest in a work. An artist can make something stand out by its size, color, texture, shape, position, or any combination of these. Various kinds of contrast can also be used to emphasize a center of interest. For instance, in a drawing of black shapes that are the same size, a smaller red shape would be dominant. Or a single triangle can be dominant over a group of triangles if it is away from the group.

Emphasis Continued...

 Often, emphasized elements are used to direct and focus attention on the most important parts of a composition — its focal point. The focal point is the place where the eye keeps returning, usually in the dominant area. All design should have some kind of center of interest.

 

Designers often, but not always, make the center of a picture the dominant area and most artists put it a bit off center and balance it with some minor themes to maintain our interest; though some artists avoid emphasis on purpose. They want all parts of the work to be equally interesting. However, a design lacking emphasis may result in monotony.

 

Movement

Visual movement is the arrangement of the parts of an image to create a sense of motion by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures that cause the eye to move over the work. It is used by artists to direct viewers through their work, often to a focal area. Movement can be a way of combining elements of art to produce the look of action and can be directed along lines, edges, shapes, and colors within the works. In a painting or photograph, for instance, movement refers to a representation or suggestion of motion. In sculpture, movement can refer to implied motion or of actual motion as with, mobiles and kinetic sculptures.

In graphic design, movement is also known as flow. Flow is the combination of elements to guide the viewer around the design in the correct direction. Flow begins and ends with the dominant element to help keep the eye moving constantly around the design. You never want the eye to stop. You want the viewer to see everything in order and you want the viewer to look at your design for as long as possible. Flow can achieve this.

  

Implied and actual curved lines in Benton’s piece keep our eyes moving around the picture; Gauguin provides a path that leads our eye to the focal point, and the diagonal lines in Pereira’s work prevent our eyes from resting in one spot for too long.

Movement Continued...

Pattern

Pattern (often paired with rhythm and spoken of as repetition and rhythm) is the repetition of anything — shapes, lines, or colors. The elements of art are used in planned or random repetitions to enhance surfaces of works of art. Pattern increases visual excitement by enriching surface interest.

Patterns often occur in nature, and artists use similar repeated motifs to create pattern in their work. There are ten classes of patterns, each with a particular function, that make up the entire physical world — natural and human-made — at all scales:

spheres mosaics or nests lattices polyhedra spirals — helixes and volutes meanders branching and circulation waves symmetry fractals

Pattern Continued...

Rhythm

Rhythm (often paired with pattern or repetition) is a visual tempo or beat. Repetition and rhythm are the principles of design that refer to repeating of parts within a design, such as shapes, colors, or lines. Repetition involves using similar things over and over again, while rhythm refers to using them in an order or pattern. This regular repetition of elements produces the look and feel of movement.

 

Repetition and rhythm are just as important to art as they are to music. The rhythm is the beat, and the repetition is the chorus sung again and again. In music, our ears pick out the rhythm. In art, our eyes pick out the pattern in a drawing and follow it.

Rhythm Continued...

Rhythm's importance can be demonstrated by noting how many important rhythmic cycles we observe in nature — consider the alternating tension and relaxation in the heart's beating or in the ocean's waves, the revolutions of the earth around the sun, the comings and goings of generations. Each of us has personal rhythms to our days, weeks, and years. Life, indeed, would be chaotic without rhythm. We naturally use rhythm to organize and unify our work because they are an inherent part of our lives.

 

There are several types of visual rhythm. These include: Regular, alternating, flowing, and random rhythms.

Unity

A single theme or idea may unify a design. Repetition, such as a color that is repeated, a series of lines similarly curved, or a large triangle dominating several smaller triangles can also create unity. Similar textures or materials used to create a design can be unifying. For instance, in a fabric collage, the unifying factor is that all parts of the design are made of fabric.

 

When nothing distracts from the whole, you have unity. However, unity without variation can be uninteresting.

 

Here are additional definitions for Unity And Variety

Visual unity is one of the most important aspects of a well-developed work of art. Also known as harmony, unity pulls together all the elements of design into one pleasing composition. Each part of a design has to relate to other parts of the design. It provides a cohesiveness that makes an artwork feel complete and finished.