Two-Dimensional
DESIGN
The
language of Visual
Communication
“To design is to plan and
to organize,
to order,
to relate
and to control.”
Joseph Albers
The Study of
Design How it got started

The Bauhaus School started in
Dessau, Germany in 1919 by
Walter Gropius, an architect.
He brought together artisians
from different training
backgrounds to organize the
foundation of the teachings in the
school. The intention was to blend
art with industry. Craftsmanship
was the prime importance as well
as function and beauty. In
formulating this foundation
criteria similar in all the classical
arts emerged. These similarities
were studied, written about and
discussed. Thus, the basic
concepts of design have evolved
and are studied today as we will
do in this course.
The Vocabulary of Artistic Composition
 Elements
 Principles
 Content
 Style
Elements
Line
 Shape
 Texture
 Space
 Color

LINE
The path of a moving point.
Types of Line
Broken Horizontal
Jagged
Whimsical Curved
Expressive
Implies Line
Contour
Bold
Implies Shape
Diagonal
SHAPE
S
hape is the result of a line that travels back to its beginning,
an enclosed space.
Types of Shapes
Curvilinear
Square
Organic
Triangle
Circle
TEXTURE
The surface character of a material that can be experienced
through touch or the illusion of touch.
SPACE
The interval, or measurable distance, between points or images.
COLOR
The Visual response to the wavelengths of sunlight identified as
red, green, blue, and so on; having the physical properties of
hue, intensity, and white.
Principles of Organization
Harmony
 Variety
 Balance
 Proportion
 Emphasis
 Movement

Composition

Gestalt

Abstract
Gestalt

A branch of psychology developed in the 1920’s
that says visual images are perceived as unified
wholes before they are perceived as parts. The
need for wholeness is so great that the mind
naturally seeks to find order in Chaos.

Knowledge of this phenomenon is especially
useful in to artists. They can creatively control
and engage the viewing audience in their art by
the way in which they organize and apply the
elements and principles of visual art.
This is how Gestalt works
Engaging
Disturbing
“Our heads are round so that our thinking
can change directions.”
Francis Picabia
Great Workshop!