CLASS 2
DESIGN ELEMENTS
DESIGN
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Nothing can exist without these ingredients?
What are they?
Basic Design Elements
 Dot (point)
 Plane
 Line
 Volume
Conceptual
Element
 Shape
 Tone
 Color
 Texture
Visual
Elements
 Scale
 Dimension
 Direction
 Gravity
Relational
Elements
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
CONCEPTUAL ELEMENTS
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Conceptual
Elements
Dot
Line
Plane
Volume
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Conceptual
Elements
Dot
Line
Plane
Volume
Conceptual Element
are not visible.
If they are really
there, they are no
longer conceptual.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Dot (Point)
Primary
focused area
•
•
•
The dot is the minimum unit of visual
communication.
Dot doesn’t have length or breadth.
Dot has a strong visual power to attract.
• It is a position in space that holds the
primary attention of the viewer.
• It signals the start, an end or an area of
primary focus for the eye.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Line
• A line is not thought of as a shape, but a
shape can appear linear.
• Lines articulate shapes
• It can be seen because it differs in value,
color or texture from its background.
• With the proper tone or perspective, a
line can create depth.
• Real Line (Visual Element):
Create objects
• Imaginary Line (Conceptual Element):
Show directions, movement and emphasis in
a design
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Line
• Real Line (Visual Element):
o Contour Line
A line depicting the outer edge of a shape
or group of shapes.
o Symbolic Line
A line or combination of lines that stands
for, or reminds us of, something our realm
of knowledge.
• Imaginary Line (Conceptual Element)
o Directional Line
A line or lines which direct our visual
attention in specific direction.
o Boundary Line
A line that confines our visual attention. It
may be serve to separate areas.
o Implied Line
A perceived continuation of images or
symbols that imply a line.
o Line as Value
o Line as Texture
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Shape
• Shape are made by connecting lines.
• Line creates two dimensional or flat shapes.
• When shapes are three dimensional, we call
them forms.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
• Natural Shape
Shape
• Abstract Shape
Shapes found in nature; sometimes called
organic shape.
A recognized image that has been distorted or
simplified.
• Geometric Shape
Usually man-made shapes that are precise,
exact. Triangles, squares, circles, rectangles, etc.
• Nonobjective Shape
• Positive Shape
An active shape or line placed in a negative or
empty space, not determined by the darkness or
the lightness of the color.
• Negative Shape
The implied shape produced after two or more
positive shapes are placed on a negative
(non-active) space.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Color
A shape is
distinguished
from its
surroundings
because of
color
Color is described with the words hue,
value and intensity.
• Hue refer to the name of the color we know.
• Value (tone) tells the lightness or darkness of a hue.
• Intensity refers to the brightness or dullness of a hue
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Tone
The range of
light values
Tone (value)
is the intensity of darkness or lightness of anything
we see. Variations in tone allow us to see
complicated visual information.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design Any surface structure can be “felt” visually.
Elements Texture can be another way to give dimension
Texture
surface quality
to space.
• Visual texture can be used to stand-in for the
sense of touch.
• Texture can also be used to communicate mood.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Scale
The relative
size of an
element in
relation to
another
Scale is the relative size of an element in
relation to another.
Size is relative if we describe it in terms of
bigness and smallness.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Dimension
Dimension can be
• Felt by touch and feel
• Seen by two-eyed stereopticon sight
Representation of dimension in two-dimensional
space depends on illusion
• Perspective
• Tone
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Direction
Direction of an element is relative to the
position of observer or other elements. It can
be felt by touch and feel, and seen by two-eyed
stereopticon sight.
Four basic directions are…
• Horizontal Lines
Suggest calmness and usually makes
people feel relaxed.
• Vertical Lines
Suggest strength and stability.
• Diagonal Lines
Suggest tension
• Curved Lines
Suggest flowing movement
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
Basic Design
Elements
Gravity
• It is not visual but psychological.
• As we are pulled by the gravity of the earth,
we tend to attribute heaviness or lightness,
stability or instability to individual shapes.
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
SPACE
Basic Design
Elements
Space
Canvas of a
designer
It’s the area of message, the boundaries of the
viewers’ perception of the message.
• Positive, Figure:
If it is dominant, in the foreground or in the
center of attention
• Negative, Ground:
If it is in the background of the design
• Crowded:
If the space seems uncomfortably occupied
• Open:
If the space seems free and unrestricted
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BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS