Principles of Design
Design or composition is a process- the act of
organizing the visual elements to effect a
desired aesthetic in a work of art.
When artists create compositions, they
consciously draw upon design elements such
as unity, variety, balance, emphasis, focal
point, rhythm, scale and proportion.
Not all artists use these principles, in fact,
some prefer to purposefully violate them.
Unity and Variety
• Unity- is oneness or wholeness. A work of art
achieves unity when its parts seem necessary to
the composition as a whole.
• Extreme Unity- Unity of shape, by color contrast,
even unity between the figure and the ground.
• Absolute Unity- exaggerated extreme unityeverything is the same. This can become bland
or tedious, but can be use to comment on mass
production, mass marketing of products.
• Conceptual Unity- uses similarity of ideas rather
than visual similarities to hold a design together
“ 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans”, 1962, Andy Warhol, Synthetic polymer paint
And silkscreen ink on canvas.
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/Image-Library/Warhol/Warhol-200_Campbells_Soup_Cans-1962-NGA-MI-lg.jpg
“Saturday Night”, 1935, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Oil on canvas
http://www.uwrf.edu/~rw66/minority/minam/afr/oxford/60.jpg
Balance
• People respond positively to some degree
of visual balance in a work of art.
• We all prefer to have stability in our lives,
balance is about how weight is distributed.
• In art, balance refers to the distribution of
weight- of the actual or apparent weight of
elements used in the composition.
“Woman shaving her leg”,
1963, George Segal,
Plaster, metal, porcelain,
Masonite http://www.abbeville.com/
Products/InteriorImages/1558592555Interiors
Actual Balance and Pictorial
Balance
• Actual balance- is a state
of stability in an object
that has weight
• Pictorial balance- refers
to the state of visual
stability created in a work
of art.
– The “Spearbearer” by
Polykleitos of Argos is a
good example of both
actual and pictorial
balance
Symmetrical, Asymmetrical,
Horizontal, Vertical and Radial
• Symmetrical balance-occurs when there is
approximate symmetry in a work of art.
Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” is an
example of this.
• Asymmetrical Balance- occurs when the
visual “weight” of one side of a work is
“heavier” than another.
• Horizontal balance occurs when the right
and left of a work have great similarities.
• Vertical balance occurs when the top and
bottom of a work have great similarities.
• Radial balance- occurs when there are
similar characteristics that exist equidistant
from a center point.
• Imbalance is used by an artist to make a
viewer uneasy with the image
Emphasis and Focal Point
• Emphasis- is the visual amplification of
areas in a work to draw more of a viewer’s
attention
• Focal Point- is one area that has been
emphasized to a greater extent than
others
• Linear perspective can be a tool used to
create a focal point.
Target With Four Faces,
1953, Jasper Johns
http://news.oboe.ru/news.php?y=2004&w=13
Rhythm
• Rhythm- is the presence of orderly
progressions in a work
• Regular repetition is the reuse of the same
or similar elements to create a visual
rhythm.
• The interior of the Sanctuary of the
Mosque at Cordoba Spain is an example
of regular repetition.
The Mosque at Cordoba, Spain, 786-987
(Islamic)
Scale
• Scale- is the relative size of an element
compared to others like it.
• Hierarchical scaling is the use of scale to show a
relative importance. Most Egyptian artwork relied
heavily on this attribute of scale.
• In work like this, the most important figures in
the political and social order of ancient Egypt are
shown larger than ones of lesser importance.
Ice Cream, Claes Oldenburg
http://www.biologie.de/biowiki/Bild:Oldenburg_claes_eist%C3%BCte_k%C3%B6ln.jpg
Scale and Proportion
Swiss Army Knife, Claes Oldenburg
http://www.scottzagar.com/arthistory/images_gallery/210_swiss_t.jpg
Distortion of scale
• Is a process where the
artist uses an unfamiliar
scale on a familiar object
or image. Claes
Oldenburg’s artwork is a
great example of this. He
makes everyday objects
seem important and even
heroic by using large
scale.
Clothespin, Claes Oldenburg, 1976, Cor-ten steel and stainless steel
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/oldenburg_clothespin.jpg
The Parthenon
Acropolis, Athen, Greece
448-432 B. C.
architecture (Classical Greek)
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/sp04/art105-3.html
Proportion
• Proportion is the comparative relationship
between things
• Canon of proportions “Keeping things in
proportion” is a set of rules that propose
ideal proportion in common objects. Greek
art- especially statues- use such a canon
of proportions. (See the “Spearbearer”)
• The Golden Mean- is a set of ratios that a
dependent on one another.
Golden Mean
• Using the Golden Mean allows an artist to set up
logical proportional relationships in a work of art
or architecture. The Parthenon uses this
proportional model. The Greeks found that the
ratio of 1 : 1.618 occurred in nature and it
reflected their philosophical belief that Man, a
natural form, is also an ideal form.
• The spiral shows the attributes of the Golden
mean as it occurs in nature.
“Personal Values”, 1952, Rene Magritte, oil on canvas, 31” x 39”
http://www.hopkinsfan.net/ld/nook/PersonalValues.jpg
“The Annunciation to the Shepherds, From the Lectionary of Henry, II,
1002-1014
Hierarchical Scaling
Notice how the Angel Gabriel
towers over the rocky mound
and appears to be almost
twice the size of the
shepherds. The shepherds,
in turn, are depicted as far
larger than the animals they
tend. This hierarchical scaling
implies that the humans are
less significant than celestial
beings and that animals are
lower than humans.