Principles of Design

What is design?

• to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan: devise, contrive

Design is working with a plan.
The Principles of Design help artists organize shapes, lines, forms, and colors to communicate effectively.

• Balance
• emphasis
• rhythm and movement
• proportion

to create a sense of unity
unity + variety
you don't want to much unity
Variety is achieved by introducing some differences into the picture to increase visual interest.

Balance is when the visual "weight" of an artwork feels equally distributed.

4 types of balance:

• symmetry-left is same as the right if you draw a line down the middle

• approximately symmetrical-subtle differences

• asymmetry-not symmetrical

• radial-circular symmetry

Emphasis- when one element in an artwork appears to be more important or attract the most attention.

3 ways to create emphasis:

• Placement-where things are placed
• Contrast-light vs. dark, small vs. big, differences
• Grouping-putting things together to attract attention

Rhythm and Movement-referring to how the artist guides the viewer through a work of art

• Repetition

-same elements
-alternating elements
-progression

• Leading Lines
• Implied Movement
• Optical Movement
• Actual Movement

Proportion-the size relationship of the parts to one another or to the whole

• Colors
• Shapes
• Forms

-Color to create contrast (Emphasis)
-Shape to create contrast (Emphasis)
-Using Proportion to show distance
-Using Proportion to show emotion

Story Collage Critique

I appreciated all the advice on my Story Collage. It was helpful to see how others interpreted my story. I liked the complements, because who wouldn't! The feedback I got from my peers were that I used anthropomorphic, geometric, and organic shapes well and that they could tell what the story was but it was somewhat confusing. It was helpful to see that the mountains could look like pyramids. Carly said she liked how it was 3D! The best advice I got was when people said that the story was confusing. It made me think that next time I can be more clear. I appreciated the critiques.

Shape Collage Reflection

In my Shape Collage, I used organic, geometric, and anthropomorphic shapes. I used an organic shape when I made my mountains. I used a geometric shape when I was making my road. I used an anthropomorphic shape when I made myself. I used everything from tiny shapes, like the bits of clothes on the ground and my facial features, to large shapes like the mountains. I think my Shape Collage doesn't give the viewer the direct story of what is happening but lets them use their imagination and really think hard and focus to see what it could mean. The story behind my Collage has a lot to do with my culture which is represented by the red, blue, and orange colors in my background because they are the colors of the Armenian flag. The figure of me, that is stood upon the paper, represents Armenians and the bumpy path ahead of it represents the struggles that Armenians have experienced in the past and continue to experience. The mountains are supposed to be Mount. Ararat which was historically located in Armenia and is still beloved to Armenians, even though it is now in Turkey. I really enjoyed making my Shape Collage!

Wire Sculpture Reflection

I enjoyed creating the wire sculpture. The most challenging part was connecting the wires to each other because it was hard to turn them and make them tight since it required a lot of arm strength. I think the most successful part of my sculpture are the eyes because I think their shape resemble my eyes very well and the circles that are my pupils look 3-D and cool. The drawing assignment slightly helped when making my wire sculpture because it helped me have a better sense of the shape of my facial features and pay attention to the detail but when using wire, it is very difficult to shape things perfectly and put in a lot of the detail. Drawing with a pencil is very different then sculpting with wire. The most important thing I have learned about using lines is that lines can be twisted and turned to form many different shapes and put together to form 3-D objects.