Welcome back to Jewelry Design Basics

In this series, so far, we have been building our base knowledge in order to lay a good foundation for professional design artists. 

We talked about Drawing Surfaces, Design Aids & Templates, Artistic Media and Art Papers. 

Today we are switching gears and exploring the key elements of visual design so we can move forward into Design Principles. 

A visual design element is any characteristic that we can see, including line, shape, space, size, texture, color, and value. The design principles for using these elements include Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, White Space, Proportion, Hierarchy, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Variety.
 

The 7 key elements of design are Line, Shape, Size, Space, Color, Value and Texture.

We have plenty to talk about so let’s take a look at each one. 

Point and Line

A line is an element of art defined by a point moving in space. A line may be two-or three-dimensional, descriptive, implied, or
abstract.

Lines connect two points and can be used to help define shapes, make divisions, and create textures.  All lines, if they’re straight, have a length, width, and direction.

A Point is basically the beginning of “something” in “nothing”. It forces the mind to think upon its position and gives something to build upon in both imagination and space.

Some abstract points in a group can provoke human imagination to link it with familiar shapes or forms

Shape/Form

Shapes are self-contained areas.  To define the area, the graphic artist uses lines, differences in value, color, and/or texture. Every object is composed of shapes. 

A Shape is an element of art that is two-dimensional, flat, or limited to height and width.
A Form is an element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume; includes height, width and depth (as in a cube, a sphere, a pyramid, or a cylinder). Form may also be free flowing.

Two-dimensional artwork can achieve the illusion of form and volume,  with the use of perspective and/or shading or modelling techniques.

Size/Scale/Proportion

Size, scale, and proportion are all related concepts. Let’s define them quickly and then talk about each in a little more detail.

  • Size: the physical dimensions of an object
  • Scale: the relative size of different objects or of an object to a common standard
  • Proportion: harmony of scale

In visual design, size can be used to define importance, create interest and attract or draw the eye into the design.

Scale and proportion in art are both concerned with size. Scale refers to the size of an object (a whole) in relationship to another object (another whole).  Proportion refers to the relative size of the parts of a whole (elements within an object).

We can refer back to our discussion on how paper is sized to see a good example of size, scale and proportion.

Size measurements are used to define two dimensional objects while Volume measurements are used to define three dimensional objects. 

Space

Space is an element of art used to identify any conducive area that an artist provides for a particular purpose.

Space includes the background, foreground and middle ground, and refers to the distances or area(s) around, between, and within things.

There are two kinds of space: negative space and positive space. 

Negative space is the area in between, around, through or within an object.

Positive spaces are the areas that are occupied by an object and/or form.

Using positive space and negative space, in drawings, can provide a sense of depth, volume and dimension.

This drawing represents the use of space, as a visual design element very well. The use of dark and light, convey not only depth and volume, but dimension as well.

Color and Color Theory

Color is the element of visual design that is produced when light, striking an object, is reflected back to the eye. 

In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidelines that define the aspects of color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination.
 
In color theory, there are definitions (or categories) of colors based on the color wheel:
  • Primary colors
  • Secondary colors
  • Tertiary colors 

Color palette choices and combinations are used to differentiate items, create depth, add emphasis, and/or help organize information.  Color theory examines how various choices psychologically impact users.

There are three properties to color.

The first is hue, which simply means the name we give to a color (red, yellow, blue, green, etc.).

The second property is intensity, which refers to the vividness of the color. A color’s intensity is sometimes referred to as its “colorfulness”, its “saturation”, its “purity” or its “strength”.

The third property of color is its value, meaning how light or dark it is. The terms shade and tint refer to value changes in colors. In painting, shades are created by adding black to a color, while tints are created by adding white to a color.

When it comes to color theory, there are volumes of information available to help you build a strong design foundation. 

Understanding color theory will aid you choosing visually pleasing and aesthetic color palettes for your designs.

Value

Value, in visual design is the lightness or darkness of tones or colors.

White is the lightest value while black is the darkest value. The value halfway between these extremes is called middle gray or halftone. 

The difference in values is called contrast.

Value can relate to shades, where a color gets darker by adding black to it, or tints, where a color gets lighter by adding white to it. 

A value scale is the scale of a color or tone from lightest to darkest. 

Texture

Texture, as an element of design, is used to add definition to the object by portraying how it feels or is meant to feel.

Examples of texture descriptions include furry, bumpy, brittle, smooth, rough, soft, and hard.

There are many forms of texture; the two main forms are actual and visual.

Visual texture is strictly two-dimensional and is perceived by the eye that makes it seem like the texture. Visual texture can be created by a repeated pattern of lines, or by using tiled images of textures. Above, the diagonal lines add a ‘grip’ effect to an otherwise ‘smooth’ rectangle.

Actual texture (tactile texture) is one not only visible, but can be felt. It rises above the surface transitioning it from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. Actual texture can be added to drawing by using rough or textured papers, adding layers of media. 

In the next post....

Once you have an understanding of the 7 key elements of visual design you will have a firm foundation on which to build your design skills. 

In the next post, we are going to learn about Design Principles and how they are used in conjunction with these elements.

The principles and elements of design work together to create something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the user experience.
 
  • Contrast
  • Balance
  • Emphasis
  • Movement
  • White Space
  • Proportion 
  • Repetition/Pattern
  • Unity
  • Variety

Thank you for stopping by today...