Nostalgia:Design Principles

May 25th, 2009

“Design Principles”.

A lot of artists and students who are taking up design majors tend to forget to use these basic principles so much that their designs ended up being cluttered and trying hard to be different. It’s the use of these principles (or breaking them properly) that make designs pleasing to the eye and appealing for the target audience.

I myself admit that during the early years of my career, I seemed to use these principles in a more functional manner. I noticed that somehow my designs didn’t seem to grab anyone’s attention. Whether it be motion graphic videos or even print work, these design principles should not be taken for granted.

This post is both a nostalgic and educational post. As I was looking for some cardboard paper to print some “Thank you” cards, I stumbled upon most of my works during my freshman year in college. I saw some of my works in freehand drawing, mechanical drafting, and Design Principles or what we used to call, “DESPREL”. To my surprise, all my Design Principles plates are still in good condition. Imagine, 8 years and the drawing paper still smells fresh and clean. I’m amazed at how my past seems to come back to me without any form of decay.

(Click on the thumbnails to see each image and their descriptions)

: Plate No. 1: Lines, Form, Color
A line is the physical representation of the distance between two points. There are many form of lines that can enhance designs. Lines like zig-zags, spirals, curved lines and etc. can also be combined to form amazing designs on their own. In this plate, an oceanic landscape was achieved using only basic forms of lines. Form or what most people call, "shapes", are really useful in a design and in fact would look dull without them. But of course too many shapes in a design can make it look cluttered. Color is the visual stimuli on which the human perceives based on the object's projection. I'd love to get to color theory but maybe on another post.

: Plate No. 2: Space, Value, Texture
Space is distance between two objects. In design it's a whole different thing. There are two elements of space,which is the positive space and the negative space. Whatever object that doesn't fit with the background is the positive space, and the background is the negative space. Negative space is most of the time referred to as the White space or the absence of graphics or text. Value in design could probably summed up in layman's terms is the brightness or darkness of an element. Texture, is the softness or roughness of an element on a design. Most people sometimes forget to use this in graphic design. Some even tend to forget how useful visual textures can be.

: Plate No.3:Rhythm
Rhythm can be used in a design mainly for pattern purposes. It can be repetition of form where the color of the subject changes but the shape remains the same. Alternation means exactly what it says. Alternating 2 different shapes in continuously. Sequencing means making variations of the same object but in alternating forms or size just like the variation of sizes. Lastly, the all over pattern is quite self explanatory right? Don't mind my work, I think I was in a bad mood when I made this plate. Obviously, I didn't have a ruler.

: Plate no. 4: Balance
Balance oh balance. All if fair in love and war and in design having an equilibrium can really enhance an image. Formal balance is a strict for of principle where in there are two same things on different sides of the design. Informal balance can have two different objects as long as there are elements on both sides of the canvas or design area. The axial balance is like formal balance but there should always be a focal point in between the symmetrical elements. Radial and radiation balance almost have the same properties like a circular focal point but radiation balance involves circular movement towards the focal point. Just like a spiral.

: Plate no. 5: Emphasis
The one thing most of my students have a problem is emphasizing what they want to say in their poster. Which one is the focus? Here are some principles on how you could focus your subject. Accentuation refers to the contrasting property (which is the sun here which is the only warm color) towards the other elements of the design. Decorative means adding more detail to the subject if it is among a group of objects with the same form. Grouping is a means of dividing the subjects among each other. Contrast is like accentuation. A extreme change in color or value can help emphasize a subject in a design. In this plate, my professor indicated that I needed to add more elements even if I needed to provide space around my subject. Maybe, a table should have sufficed.

: Plate No. 6: Linear and Planar Form Development
This is basically incorporating both 3D planar elements and 3D linear elements. These plates are one of my most favorites since I get to use a lot of creativity and I guess this is where my sense of 3D animation started to grow.

: Plate no. 7: Linear and Solid Form Development
This is just like the previous plate except that instead of using planar elements, it was replaced with solid form. Once again, a really exciting and intriguing plate for me.

: Plate no. 8: Planar and Solid Development
This last one is combining both planar and solid elements. This was pretty hard durign that time, but hey, look at that hamburger!