Design School- Overview Elements of Design

Elements of Design

Line

 Line is generally a mark made by a brush, pen, pencil, or chalk. Line may also be the edge created by objects overlapping together, or in close proximity.

These two papers illustrate line.  The first, is My Minds Eye, and the second is Basic Grey.

Shape/Form

A defined area creating a geometric or organic shape or area. Geometric shapes include but are not limited to rectangles, squares, and triangles. Organic forms reflect those found in nature, and usually indicate dimension, as opposed to a flat geometric shape.

These two papers by Basic Grey illustrate Geometric shape and organic form.

Color

Refers to specific hues, and has three properties: chroma,

intensity, and value. These properties influence the interaction between colors.

This mix of cardstock illustrates how the properties of a color creates many differentiations of the same color, in this case, pink.

Texture

Texture is the apparent roughness or smoothness of the surface area, and may be real or implied.

In these examples, there is a slight texture to the Kraft paper, but in comparison to the pattern paper, the Kraft comes across relatively smooth. 

The texture of woodgrain is implied by this Authentique paper. Placing a smooth paper against this paper would create an interplay of contrast between a visually smooth and a visually rough paper.

Value

Value is the interaction of lightness and darkness, and includes black and white, as well as all colors in between.

These  7 gypsies and Theresa Collins papers illustrate a large contrast between the values of the colors selected.  Squinting your eyes at papers laying next to each other is a way to see if they have similar or different values.

Space

Space includes the area an artist works within as well as the size of objects within the work. Size is the relationship of the area of an object in comparison to another. Space may indicate two or three dimensions.  The way you would use space is different if you are working on a 12x12, 8x8, Card, or Artist Trading Card. Being aware of the space of the work allows appropriate design decisions to be made.

Over the next few weeks, we will play with the Elements of Design.