Principles of

Design

emphasis

Emphasis is the area or place in a picture where your eyes instinctively go when you FIRST view an image (also called the focal point). This area

attracts the viewer into the image and then allows their eyes to explore the remainder of the image.

Sometimes artists create two or three areas of emphasis in one

image. When there is more than one area of interest, the artist must emphasize which areas should be dominant over the

others, producing a hierarchy of emphasis to predict and maintain

viewer participation in your composition. The subordinate

elements need to compliment the primary area of emphasis while

giving the viewer more to explore.

This is an example of too much going on. The emphasis is everywhere at once, and it results in chaos.

A few techniques artists use to create emphasis:

contrastisolation

balance

repetition

convergence the unusual/unexpected

balance

Balance is the distribution of visual weight inside of a composition.

Visual weight means how dominant each area is compared to the other areas within that work of art.

To create balance, look at a composition and evaluate the visual weight of all contents. High-contrast objects have more visual weight than low-contrast objects. Even negative space can have weight. In this work, the small, high contrast rocks are balanced by the larger, subtle areas of color on the left.

The value, size, color, and spacial relationships of each shape dictates the visual weight it

carries. For instance, a bright red square on a gray background carries more visual weight

than a dull blue square on a gray background, even though both squares are the same size.

Balance can be:• symmetrical and evenly balanced

• asymmetrical and balanced• asymmetrical with planned tension

Types of Symmetry:

Bilateral Radial

Approximate Bilateral Symmetry (vertical axis)

Approximate Bilateral Symmetry (horizontal axis).

This is an example of poorly executed balance. With balance it’s usually best to either choose symmetry or

asymmetry, not making things “almost” symmetrical, which usually looks like a mistake.

However, rules are made to be broken if you know how to break them

effectively. These posters are asymmetrical and unbalanced on

purpose, using planned tension. The left poster is annoyingly unbalanced

just enough to make the viewer want to flick the cigarette out of the poster.

The right one makes you worry that the dog will wander off the page…

which is the intent, to bring discomfort, to make you want to take action.

CONtrast

An area or object which differs from its immediate surrounding environment. Contrast does not only mean value contrast! Anything can differ in appearance from what is next to it, whether it’s a difference in line, value, color, shape, space, or texture (any element can be contrasted). Creating difference is a powerful way to create interest and draw the eye of the viewer into the image; in other words, contrast creates emphasis.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between contrast and emphasis. The distinction is that contrast can create emphasis,

BUT

there are also other ways (besides contrast)to create emphasis, such as isolation, converging lines, etc. Keep this in mind and it will help to distinguish the two.

Contrast in value Contrast in color

Contrast in texture Contrast in shape and value

Depth

First of all, depth is a complete illusion in 2-dimensional art. Depth is the illusion of three dimensional space on a two dimensional plane. You can create the appearance of three dimensional space to make

the focal point LEAP off the page or PULL the viewer in.

Depth can be created in many ways:• by shading and modeling individual shapes to look 3-dimensional (chiaroscuro).

• by the simple overlapping of objects, making parts of objects “in front of” other objects.• by scaling objects bigger or smaller according to their “distance” from the picture plane (perspective).

• by applying the rules of linear perspective.

• by contrasting areas of blurriness against sharp, focused detail for emphasis to create depth.

Finally, you can achieve depth through Atmospheric Perspective.

This means adjusting distant objects to become...

• Lighter: Objects become lighter in value and hazy off in the distance.

• Duller: Objects lose most of their color intensity off in the distance.

• Bluer: Distant objects lean more toward blue the farther away you are.

This light blueish-gray appearance in the distance is due to tiny particles of water vapor and dust in the air. Bright green trees become grayer and cooler as you move farther away. That’s partly why warm colors like red, orange, and yellow seem to come closer, while blues and purples seem to recede (fall backwards) away from us.

If you’re photographing a distant scene, you could capture some depth by including a

framing device in the foreground. The object

included in the foreground will probably

appear out of focus, which is actually just like

real life.

People are in fact used to seeing objects

‘blurred” in real life since our eyes can’t focus on everything at once. We

literally can’t see the detail in our peripheral

vision or background when our eyes focus on an object in front of us.

Today our audience automatically understands all these tricks on 2-D surfaces, for instance objects that are larger are supposed to be closer, but this is a relatively new invention. Linear perspective was thought

up in the 1500s as a new device in art. Before that, the scale and proportions of shapes were only enlarged to show importance, not depth. This is why drawings of Egyptian gods and political figures

appear much larger than common people. Beginning with the Renaissance, artists began training each other in the connection between scale and the illusion of depth in 2-dimensional drawing and painting.

The School of Athens, painted in 1509 by Raphael

repetition &

variety

The repetition of an idea, concept, object or style in a composition and the variation of that idea to

create interest.

To create repetition and variation you repeat an object, idea, or

subject and then vary the object slightly as it is repeated. The

difference creates interest.

Pattern and rhythm show consistency

with the elements of

design. Rhythms can

be random, regular,

alternating, flowing, or

progressive. Classes of

pattern include mosaics,

lattices, spirals, meanders,

waves, symmetry and

fractals, among others.

Rhythm can make an artwork

seem active and it can be

created or disrupted.

Like a dance rhythm will have a flow

that will seem to

almost be like the beat

of music.

Tara Donovan

PATTERN&RHYTHM

Putting a red spiral at the bottom left

and top right, for

example, will cause the

eye to move from one

spiral, to the other, and

everything in between. It is

indicating movement

by the repetition of

elements.

Repetition & Variety Using

Unity & Harmony

Harmony is when each distinct object or element in a composition is actively complimenting and supporting the other elements or objects, regardless of how different they are. Color can produce harmony as can repetitions of related shapes. Even space can create harmony when the spaces between shapes in an artwork are uniform.

Unity is having a singular feel without interruption in an artwork. It demonstrates a

feeling of belonging and togetherness. If part of your composition intrudes or doesn’t

give the feeling that it belongs, it distracts from the feeling of unity, such as a green

field with a small piece of litter in it, or someone’s shadow in the bottom corner of

a scene. Distractions are the use of contrast in a negative or unintended way.

Linzy Bonner

Nate Mulroy

Movement

In visual art disciplines such as photography, graphic design, painting, printmaking, sculpture, etc. when we refer to movement, we speak of the movement of the eye, not the physical movement of

the art itself. The composition can be designed to take the viewer’s eye around the artwork dynamically: in sharp, angular zigzags, flowing or sweeping curves, or cascading diagonals.

Laura Widerhofer Eric Son