Composition & Layout
László Moholy-Nagy, Composition #19, 1921
1
Composition
is the arrangement
of all the elements
to make the piece
work as a whole
László Moholy-Nagy, Composition #19, 1921
Unity is created by using consistent style &
treating elements similarly
Henri Matisse, La danse (1909)
3
Creating Unity
1. Color of armor does not match the helmet
2. Details of the armor’s surface area differ
New media design requires unity because it requires
many images in one screen or across many pages or
screens
Bill Viola, Hall of Whispers, 1995
Unity Tools
1. Space--Grouping or arranging in a
pattern
2. Line--Similar line quality, direction
devices
3. Shape--Groups of similar shapes
4. Value--Similar values, consistent light
source
5. Texture--Similar textures
Mariko Mori, Birth of a Star, 1995
6. Color--Similar hues, tints, shades
6
Mariko Mori
Miko No Inori, 1996
Birth of a Star, 1995
Pure Land, 1996-98
Layout is the arrangement of all the elements of a design in
a way so that they work together
8
Most important elements are larger than rest
Important
elements near
top
Content
read left
to right,
top to
bottom
Captions near
images
“Next” or “continue” near bottom
9
Working with the Grid
Grid: A series of intersecting lines to align placement of
elements on page. See http://www.gdbasics.com/html/grid/grid.html
)www.gdbasics.com/)html/grid/grid.html
10
Raphael. The School of Athens. 1509. Fresco. Vaticano, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome
Summary
1. Composition is the
arrangement of all the elements to
make the piece work as a whole
2. Two important aspects of
composition are unity and layout
3. Unity is created by using
consistent style & treating
elements similarly
4. Layout involves arranging all of
the elements or images of a design
to work together
12