DESIGN PRINCIPLES - WEEK 1: CONTRAST & GESTALT

16/04/2020 (Week 1)
Rifath Ali (0335738)
Design Principles

Exercises

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LECTURE NOTES

Lecture 01: Elements & Principles of Design, Contrast, Gestalt Theory

Our first week lecture focused on the fundamental elements of design. These elements are the individual ingredients that comes together in a composition in order to produce a work of design.

Fig. 1.01: Elements of Design 

Next, we focused on the principles of design. They are concepts used to organize or arrange elements of design. It gives structure to design work and meaning to the artwork.

Balance: Refers to the distribution of visual weight in a layout. It can be symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, or approximately symmetrical balance.

Fig. 1.02: Principles of Design; Balance

Emphasis (Contrast): Its is created by visually reinforcing something we want the viewer to pay attention to. It can be achieved by contrast of values, use of color, placement, variation, alignment, isolation, convergence, anomaly, proximity, size, and contrast.

Fig. 1.03: Principles of Design; Emphasis 

Repetition: This strengthens a design by tying together individual elements and bringing a sense of consistency.

Fig. 1.04: Principles of Design; Repetition 

Movement: It is a visual flow through the composition.

Fig. 1.05: Principles of Design; Movement

Harmony & Unity: Harmony brings together a composition with similar, related elements. Unity is created by using harmonious similarity and repetition, continuance, proximity, and alignment.

Fig 1. 06: Principles of Design; Harmony & Unity

After going through the principles of design, we looked deeper into the principle of contrast. This refers to differences in values, colors, textures, shapes, and other elements. Contrast creates visual excitement and add interest to the work.

Fig. 1.07: Contrast

Next, we looked into Gestalt Theory. This is a theory about how people perceive the world around them. The human brain is wired to see patterns, logic, structure. Some forms of gestalt theory are:

Figure-ground: Our eyes tend to see if the artwork is in the foreground or background. Different people see these images differently.

Fig. 1.08: Gestalt Theory; Figure-ground

Similarity: If the images are similar to each other, our mind will tell us they belong together. This is commonly seen in magazines.

Fig. 1.09: Gestalt Theory; Similarity

Proximity: Closeness of visual elements.

Fig. 1.10: Gestalt Theory; Proximity

Continuity: Our eyes will look for a design without a break with a consistent flow.

Fig. 1.11: Gestalt Theory; Continuity 

Closure: Our mind tends to bring things together into being and make things real although it is not complete in the visual elements.

Fig. 1.12: Gestalt Theory; Closure

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INSTRUCTIONS

Exercises: Contrast & Gestalt Theories 

This week’s exercise consisted of 2 parts.

Part A: Contrast 

We were tasked to come up with an artwork based on the design principle of contrast. Instead of using a design software, we had to use paper for the final piece. I started by looking for some inspiration and came across an illustration of Mount Fuji. 

Fig. 2.01: Inspiration; Mount Fuji

I decided to use this as my concept. I drew up a sketch and got feedback from Miss Anis. 

Fig. 2.02: Contrast, Mount Fuji; Sketch

With the approval from Miss Anis, I proceeded to draw the final design on a white paper. I cut out the parts needed for the artwork and pasted on a red color paper to give the contrast effect. 

Fig. 2.03: Contrast, Mount Fuji; Process

Part B: Gestalt Theory

For gestalt theory, I decided to create a design based on the Figure-ground theory. This turned out to be much more challenging than I anticipated. My initial concept was designing a book cover with the theme of “A fisherman’s Tale”. The first sketch I drew had a fish and the silhouette of a boy on its tail. 

Fig. 2.04: Gestalt, Sketch 1; A Fisherman’s Tale

However, Miss Anis suggested that I put some more effort into it as the current design does not have much of a gestalt element in it. Therefore, I started doing some digital sketches of few more ideas I had. 

Fig. 2.05: Gestalt, Sketch 2; A Fisherman’s Tale

Fig. 2.06: Gestalt, Sketch 3; Cell Block Tango

Fig. 2.07: Gestalt, Sketch 4; Ladies in Heels

Miss Anis liked the Sketch 4 and asked to proceed further. But I was still not happy with the results I got. So, I decided to revert to my original concept and design a new sketch. This time I came across a design that inspired me a lot. 

Fig. 2.08: Gestalt, Inspiration: Peter and The Wolf

Keeping the design of that book cover in mind, I drew a new sketch. 

Fig. 2.09: Gestalt, Sketch 5; A Fisherman’s Tale 

After drawing the pencil sketch, I did a digital tracing of it to make the design smoother and streamline. 

Fig. 2.10: Gestalt, Digital Sketch; A Fisherman’s Tale

I redrew the design on plain paper according to the digital sketch. I filled in the details within the fish with a black pen. 

Fig. 2.11: Gestalt, Process; Paper Cut-out & Details 

Finally, I pasted the cut-out on a black color paper. 

Fig. 2.12: Gestalt, Process; Final Steps

Final Artwork

Contrast

Fig. 2.13: Contrast, Mount Fuji; Final Artwork

Gestalt Theory

Fig. 2.14: Gestalt Theory, A Fisherman’s Tale; Final Artwork

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FEEDBACK

During my consultation with Miss Anis, she mentioned that the design concept for contrast was good. However, she pointed out that my initial sketch for gestalt does not have much to offer. Upon my second consultation, she approved one of the 2 designs I showed her for gestalt theories. 

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REFLECTIONS

Although I was familiar with the elements and principles of design, during this week I got additional knowledge regarding contrast and gestalt theories. I found the gestalt theory very interesting and at the same time very challenging. This allowed me to try harder and at the end of the day I am happy with the outcome I was able to generate.