The Elements of Design

•Designers who create visual images, whether for artistic reasons or to communicate a specific message (as with advertising), use a variety of techniques to make those images powerful and effective.•Understanding the elements of design helps you better appreciate how visual images affect viewers.

Angle

The angle of a visual image is the direction from which it’s viewed. In this photo, the angle – looking up at the trees – pulls the reader into the visual and emphasizes the height of the trees.

Background, Foreground and Focus

These elements determine what the eye is drawn to in an image. In this poster, the emphasis is on the figure of Jake Doyle, which is in the foreground and in focus. The background in this picture – a downtown St. John’s street – is out of focus so that we pay attention to Jake. But the background also matters – it sets the context and reminds the viewer that the show is set in St. John’s.

Balance• How objects are balanced in an image can

create either harmony or tension in an image.• If an image is symmetrical, elements in the

picture are weighted evenly, right/left or top/bottom.

• If the image is asymmetrical, the two sides (or top/bottom) are not given equal weight.

• You can observe symmetrical vs asymmetrical balance in the two photos that follow. Both are images of abandoned Nfld outports by Scott Walden

Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

Colour

• Colour in a visual image can be used:– to draw the attention– to create contrast – for a symbolic purpose (e.g. the colour red is

sometimes associated with danger, emergency, sexuality, etc).

– black, white and grey can also create mood and contrast

– Observe the effect of colour (or lack of colour) in the following images

Colour, contrast, focus, balance and other elements may be used to draw the viewer’s eye to the focal point (or dominant image)– the main thing you’re supposed to pay attention to in the visual.

Contrast

Colour can also be used to create contrast between different elements of a visual image and to draw the viewer’s eye to a subject.

Many visual images use text to help convey their message. The font, or style of type chosen for the text,

can help communicate the message, as long as it’s carefully chosen. Here are some examples of POOR font

choices…

Here are some better ones…

In a cartoon or comic strip, a frame or panel is a single picture: one moment in the story being told. A comic can consist of a

single panel …

…or several panels which can be read consecutively to tell a story

Lighting – the source of illumination in a visual – can be used to create mood. Notice how different lighting

changes the mood in these pictures of trees.

How do you make a two-dimensional (flat) image on paper look as if it has depth? You don’t need 3D glasses -- you need perspective, a visual device that uses

intersecting lines and the spacing and size of objects to create the illusion of depth.

Fun Fact (well, fun to me, I don’t know about you) – even though you can see from a photo that perspective occurs naturally, artists didn’t always use it in paintings and drawings. If you look at paintings from the medieval era

you can see that the use of perspective was limited. Often, the most important element in the picture was the largest, whether or not it was

closer to the front of the scene. Over time, it became standard for artists to use perspective if their goal was to create a realistic image.

Proportion and scale refer to the relative size of elements in an image

Symbols in visual art are like symbols in literature – objects that represent a concept or idea. What does

each of these symbols represent to you?

If you’re like most North Americans, the first five symbols instantly carried meaning for you, while the sixth (the Hindu “OM” symbol) may not have. The meaning and usefulness of symbols depends on the audience sharing a common cultural context.

Elements of Design• Artists, graphic designers and advertisers use

these elements of design the same way writers use literary devices – to communicate.

• When you look at a picture, notice the visual elements used. Why this angle, not another? Why use this particular lighting, or use of colour?

• Think: What is the artist trying to communicate? How do specific visual elements convey the message of the piece?