Recommended Design Vocabulary

Recommended Design Vocabulary-There will be a test on some or all of the following terms during finals week. Art is one of the principle ways people express themselves and communicate ideas. In this class we are exploring the principles and elements of

design and creating unique individual works of art. By learning techniques, terms and concepts related to design and art you can improve your ability to organize and express ideas visually. Acquiring language relevant to art and design allows you to discuss

your work and the work of others in a reasonable, artful way.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

These are the organizational tools available to the designer -- the ways the design elements are used.

unity - When elements in an image look as though they belong together, and separate parts are viewed as a cohesive composition.

emphasis/focal point - It is vital for designers to be able to control the attention of viewer of their artwork. You should determine what is to be seen first, last and in between. There are three major methods for controlling emphasis in a visual image: contrast, placement and isolation.

scale/proportion To communicate a designer must learn to control and direct a viewers attention. Proportion is a design principle that has to do with the relationship between size and scale. Scale is a relative size. It refers to how large (or small) an item seems.  Maintaining scale and scaling up or down accurately is essential to communicating design

with integrity. A range of sizes in a composition is important to creating a sense of balance and rhythm.

balance - The important things about balance are when to use symmetry and how to

balance with asymmetry. Your natural born sense of balance is enough to allow you to

notice when balance is not working. It is sometimes a bit trickier to get things back into

balance without being too obvious. It is not always desirable to achieve perfect balance.

You can use balance concepts to direct attention.

rhythm - Endowing your design with a sense of rhythm through repetition of shapes,

textures and or colors helps achieve unity and can provide a feeling of energy, movement

or direction.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

These are the visual tools available to the designer (for two-dimensional art) -- the ways

a blank page can be made into an image.

line- Lines are used to define contour (edge), divide space. Lines can be combined to

create texture and pattern. Line quality and variety are critical to creating an engaging

and effective design.

shape - Shapes are used to create balance and rhythm in a design. Essentially shapes

are the figure and space is the ground. But shapes in negative space, or shapes of

shadows can enhance positive shapes.

texture - Texture and pattern add can be visual or tactile. They can be repeated to create

a sense of unity, rhythm and movement.

space - The relationship between positive and negative space is critical to composition.

It is possible to create and control spatial illusions ranging from flat space to deep

space. The illusion of space can be created by using overlaping, shading, linear perspective

and atmospheric perspective.

motion - Motion is created through rhythm, repetition and balance. Diagonal lines are

frequently used by artists and designers because they create a very direct sense of

movement and energy.

COLOR THEORY

Color is a phenomena of light. The color an object reflects is the color we see.

Primary colors: Red, Blue and Yellow

Secondary colors: orange, green, violet

Tertiary colors: a mixture of one primary and one secondary color (yellow-orange,

blue-green, blue-violet).

Warm colors are vivd energetic, and tend to advance in space. They range from redviolet

to yellow-green.

Cool colors give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. They range

from green to blue-violet.

Hue is another word for color

Tints are a hue plus white

Shades are a hue plus black

Tones are a hue plus grey or the hue’s compliment.

Value - (light and dark relationships) is the most important concept for creating contrast

and visibility.

Saturation - is about intensity (bright and dull color relationships). As you add white,

black, grey or complimentary colors to a hue it losses intensity.