The Visual Elements / Principle of Design

Hello, everyone! I will be writing out the notes of each class and posting them on this blog for you all to see! Now, I want to make sure that these notes help you guys as much as possible. So if anyone has questions that they would like me to answer in the notes, or even ways to make the notes clearer or more interesting to read, send me an email and let me know!
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Things to know:

• Things written and highlighted like this are terms our professor would like us to remember. They will be on the test.
• For quotations that are written in light gray and italicized, they are simply quotes from either the professor or other classmates during our discussions.
• Things written in red were emphasized in class.

I'm sorry this week's notes have been late! I'm sure I'm not the only one who got really sick recently! Thank you so much for your patience!

The Visual Elements / Principle of Design

CLASS LECTURE: (January 17, 2017)

Elements

• Line
• A "path of action", "abstract necessity"
• A set of lines can create an abstract profile of a person's face. An abstraction from the truth.
• Lines can betray themselves.
• Line quality
• "character" of a line
• calligraphy
• thin/thick, grainy/smooth, dark/light, fast/slow.
• The use of line is EVERYWHERE!
• Types of line:
1. actual
2. implied
3. edges

• Shape
• A "line turned back on itself"
• It encloses space and creates shape.
• Organic & Geometric Shapes
• Geometric Shapes
• man-made
• Organic Shapes
• nature-made
• following the path of least resistance
• ex: the paths of streams and rivers
• We prize both of these qualities of design.
• Negative / Positive Shapes
• The objects we see as objects are considered "positive" shapes.
• Everything around the objects are considered "negative" shapes.
• You can't just draw the object, you have to draw what is around it.
• Figure / Ground

• Texture
• Rough / Smooth
• Actual VS Implied
• actual = it's real
• implied = it's not real

• Value
• "Lightness or darkness of something"
• Typical gray scale.
• Usually 9 steps.
• High Key / Low Key
• High Key = light and happy!
• Low Key = dark and moody.
• Full Range = everywhere from black to white and all of the grays in between.
• CHIAROSCURO (light / dark)
• "shading"
1. highlight (brightest)
2. light
3. halftone
4. core shadow
5. reflected light
6. cast shadow

• Color 
• "The most emotional element"
• Color effects us on a subliminal level.
• The color wheel
• Primary Colors
• Secondary Colors
• Tertiary Colors
• Primary Colors
• Red, Yellow, and Blue
• They need to come first.
• They exist to create any other colors.
• Secondary Colors 
• Orange, Green, and Violet (Purple)
• Tertiary Colors
• Red Orange, Yellow Orange, Yellow Green, Blue Green, Blue Violet, Red Violet.
• Color Temperature
• Warm Colors
• Reds, Oranges, and Yellows.
• They "come forward".
• Cool Colors
• Blues, Violets, and Greens.
• They "fall behind", and are "visually receding".
• Hue
• The name of the color.
• Value
• It's lightness or darkness.
• Intensity
• It's saturation (brightness / dullness). 
• Color Form
• Color + White
• "tint"
• Color + Gray
• "tone"
• Color + Black
• "shade"
• Color Schemes
• Monochromatic.
• One color + Black and White
• Analogous
• Color + adjacent color (in the color wheel)
• Complementary 
• Color + it's opposite color (ex: Red and Green)
• Split-Complementary
• Color + adjacent of it's opposite 
• Triadic
• Color = Equidistant Triangle (ex: Red, Yellow, and Blue)
• Optical Effects of Color
• Simultaneous contrast
• Optical VS Mechanical Mixing
• Optical
• If we put a red and blue dot next to each other, our eyes will se purple.
• Mechanical
• We would actually mix the colors red and blue before painting.
• Pattern / Texture

• Time
• Space
• Linear Perspective
• When you use vanishing points on a horizon line.
• Atmospheric Perspective
• As something goes away from you it gets less distinct, lighter in value, and cooler in color.
• Scale
• An expected or relative size
• Proportion
• The relation of the part to the whole

• Motion

-End of Class Discussion-

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CLASS LECTURE: (January 19, 2017)

Simultaneous Contrast

• "Opposites intensify"
• If you want something to look really blue, you put it in a field of orange.
• If you want to see a color in the most exquisite form you can, put it with the opposite color.

After Image

• Mechanics of your eye register color opposites.
• Color opposites.
• There is a tremendous amount of psychology involved with color.
• Psychological effect of bright colors on laundry detergent (in stores) make you think that it will be "fresh" and "clean". We want our clothes to be bright, clean, and fresh.
• Steak is surrounded by fake green parsley to make it look more red.
• "Red" increases your appetite, which is why many restaurants use this color.

Principles

• Unity & Variety
• Unity = Sameness
• Variety = Differentness
• Unity
• monotonous
• boring
• Variety
• chaotic
• It's more interesting if something is a little more in unity or has a little more variety, not exactly between the two.
• Emphasis & Subordination
• Subordinate
• Try to make it blend into its surroundings
• Emphasis
• Make it stand out.
• Scale & Proportion
• Scale
• mini, big, etc.
• Proportion
• ... 
• Balance
• Formal / Symmetrical Balance
• Think of a teeter toter
• Informal / Asymmetrical Balance
• Imagine a small square on one side of the teeter toter with a large square on the other with the balancing triangle placed just right to keep them from falling.
• Radial Balance
• A group of repeated elements.
• Creates unity, motion, and progression.

-End of Class Discussion-

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