Elements & Principles of Design

Design 11Prince Andrew High School

Elements of Design

• The Designer uses the following Elements of Design

•Space•Line•Shape•Form •Colour•Value•Texture

Can you think of words to describe what you see to the right?

Space• Is the area the artist

works on.• It can be paper, clay,

canvas, walls, etc.• It has two characteristics:

• positive…the object • negative… the voided area

surrounding the object.

Line

• Is a continuous mark. • It has five characteristics:

• length• width• curvature • depth • texture

Shape• Is an enclosed line.• It has height and width and is

usually considered flat…2-D.• There are four basic shapes

circle

square

rectangle

triangle

Form• Is two or more shapes combined.• It has height, width, and depth.• It is considered 3-D and you

usually can walk around and/or through it.

• There are four formsSphereCone

CylinderCubes

Color

• Hue is another word for color.

• There are:• 3 Primary colors• 3 Secondary colors• 6 Intermediate colors

placed evenly around the basic color wheel.

Primary Colors

Placed every fourth space away.

• These cannot be made by combining other colors.

Yellow is at 4 o’clock*Blue is at 8 o’clock

*

Red is at 12 o’clock*

Secondary Colors

• The formula for a Secondary is P + P = S

Red + Yellow = Orange at 2 o’clock

Yellow + Blue = Green at 6 o’clock

Blue + Red = Violet at 10 o’clock

Intermediate Colors• The formula for an Intermediate

color is P+S = I • R+O = RED ORANGE at 1 o’clock• Y+O = YELLOW ORANGE at 3 o’clock• Y+G = YELLOW GREEN at 5 o’clock• B+G = BLUE GREEN at 7 o’clock• B+V = BLUE VIOLET at 9 o’clock• R+V = RED VIOLET at 11 o’clock

TertiaryMixing two secondary colors together

create browns• Orange + Green = Yellow Brown

(Amber)• Green + Violet = Green Brown (Olive)• Violet + Orange = Red Brown (Rust)

– The formula for a Tertiary is S + S = T

Color Schemes• Monochromatic - different values of the

same color. Color + white, gray or black• Complementary - two colors opposite

each other on the color wheel.• Analogous - 3-5 colors next to each

other on the color wheel that have a family resemblance.

• Triadic - are three colors evenly spaced on the wheel forming a triangle.

• Warm colors are red, orange and yellow.• Cool colors are green, blue and violet.

Value

• Is the lightness and darkness of a color or neutral gray.

• White added to a color is a tint.• Gray added to a color is a tone.• Black added to a color is a shade.• These are called Neutrals.

Texture

• The feel of a surface.

• There are two kinds:• Actual or real

• usually made by nature

• Implied or fake • usually created by man

Principles of Design

• Balance• Repetition• Contrast• Movement• Emphasis• Unity

Balance• Equilibrium

• the feeling of being comfortable in artwork. Where the Elements are placed in the picture in a way so they have equal weight.

• There are two kinds Symmetrical or formal

balance which is objects centered

Asymmetrical or informal balance which is more objects on one side or off centered

Repetition

• Is repeated element– varied in

• size, • shape or • color

• Also known as Pattern

Contrast

• The opposite or varied elements that make an art work interesting.

• Such as color, thick or thin lines, large or small shapes, rough or smooth texture,etc.

Movement

• The path our eyes follow in art work.

• Usually it brings the viewer in, around, and through the piece.

• Also known as Rhythm

Emphasis

• Drawing attention to the main object.

• All elements; like line, color, and shapes, direct your eye to the main point.

Unity

• Oneness … makes all the elements and principals work together to form a piece of art.

• Also called Harmony