UNIT 6: PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
Lesson : Principles of Design
Principles of Design
Design is the overall visual structure/organization of a work of art. It is a means by which
the artist makes comprehensible the ideas he wishes to express and communicate.
Principles of design are guides for making effective choices for the artists, and for the
observer, it gives greater insight into works of art. These principles explain systematically our
sense of “rightness”, and help to show why certain designs work better than other. However,
principles of design are not ends in themselves and following them will not always guarantee the
best results.
Harmony
Harmony is one of the important principles of design. In the visual arts, it refers to the
adaptation of the visual elements to each other, the agreement between the parts of a composition
which results in unity. It is achieved by the repetition of characteristics which are similar in nature,
such as shape, size, and color.
Thus, repetition and rhythm are essential to harmony.
Repetition is the use of the same visual element a number of times in the same composition.
It reemphasizes visual units again and again in a marked pattern. It binds the work together to
achieve unity.
Repetition does not always mean exact duplication, but it does mean similarity or near-
likeness.
Rhythm
Rhythm can be described as timed movement through space; an easy, connected path which
the eye follows a regular arrangement of motifs; a flow or a feeling of movement achieved by the
repetition of regular visual units.
The parallels between rhythm in music are very exact to the idea of rhythm in a visual
composition. The difference is that the timed “beat” is sensed by the eyes rather than the ears.
Rhythm can be achieved through repetition, alternation, and gradation.
Repetition involves the use of patterns to achieve timed movement and a visual “beat”.
This repetition may be a clear repetition of element in a composition, or it may be a more subtle
kind of repetition that can be observed in the underlying structure of the image.
Alternation is a specific instance of pattern in which a sequence of repeating motifs are
presented in turn (long/short; fat/thin; round/square; dark/light)
Gradation employs a series of motifs patterned to relate to one another through a regular
progression of steps. This may be a gradation of shape or color. Some shape gradations may
create a sequence of events, like a series of images in a comic strip.
Variety
Variety prevents utter uniformity and monotony in the environment of man. The use of a
quality or an element which contrasts with or is slightly different from those that surround it
prevents sameness. If shape is repeated, variety in size can prevent uniformity. To make
differences dramatic, a contrasting quality may be introduced. If bright colors are used, a cool,
dark color can provide a refreshing change.
Unity and organization in art are dependent upon dualism—balance between harmony and
variety. This balance does not have to be of equal proportions; harmony might outweigh variety,
or variety might outweigh harmony.
Balance
Balance is the concept of visual equilibrium which gives a feeling of equality in weight,
attention or attraction of the various elements. It suggests the gravitational equilibrium of a single
unit in space or a pair of objects arranged with respect to an axis or a fulcrum. It is a reconciliation
of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual stability.
There are many factors which contribute to a sense of balance. These are the position, size,
proportion, quality and direction of all the elements.
Position plays the most important role in balance. The position of objects, shapes or colors
in relation to a central axis creates a feeling of balance or lack of it.
In painting, a small patch of intense red may be all that is required to balance the visual
weight of a large area of blue gray.
Balance can be symmetrical or formal, asymmetrical or informal and radial.
Symmetrical balance is the most obvious type of balance. It is achieved by the use of
identical compositional units on either side of an imaginary vertical or horizontal axis within the
pictorial space, or when one-half of a work mirrors the image of the other half.
There is a variant of symmetrical balance called approximate symmetry in which
equivalent but not identical forms are arranged around the fulcrum line.
Asymmetrical balance or informal balance is more complex and less obvious. It involves
placement of objects in a way that will allow object of varying visual weight to balance one another
around a fulcrum point. For example, it is possible to balance a heavy weight with a cluster of
lighter weights on equal sides of a fulcrum; in a picture, this might be a cluster of small objects
balanced by a large object. It is also possible to imagine objects of equal weight but different mass
(such as a large mass of feathers versus a small mass of stones) on equal sides of a fulcrum.
Radial balance. Radial balance means that elements in the composition radiate outward
from central point. More common in architecture and the crafts.
Proportion
Proportion refers to the relative size and scale of the various elements in a design. It deals
with the ratio of one part to another and of the parts to the whole. It is expressed in size, number,
position, and space. The space surrounding the object also assumes an important relation to the
object.
According to one convention of proportion, if a mountain were shown ten feet high, a tree
should be one feet high, a house a tenth of a foot high, and the human a size of a pea.
In addition to these artistic conventions about proportion in figurative art, there have been
theories that we have an innate abstract sense of ideal proportion. The Greeks formulated this idea
of mathematical perfection called the Golden Rectangle: one in which the short side is to the longer
side, as the long side is to the sum of the two sides. It is now a familiar shape, for its proportions
of length and height have been used for centuries as an approximate format for paintings. Although
the Greeks worked out the Golden Rectangle as a mathematical formula, they also recognized that
our visual perception is not flawless and that it is influenced by our mental assumptions.
Proportion is a matter of relative size and never of absolute size.
Emphasis and Subordination
They are the principles that concern the giving of proper importance to parts and to the
whole. They involve the differentiation between the more important and the less important.
There are various ways of showing emphasis in painting. The artist may depict the object
as a single unit. An element may stand by itself. The artist may make use of size. When more
than one object is depicted, the larger ones may have more importance than the others. Also, the
important objects may be made to appear close to us than the less important elements. Emphasis
may also be achieved through the use of colors.
