Design Principles

Hey all, did you all have a great week?  My week was super busy and out of the ordinary.  I worked a crazy shift that I am not used to.  The great thing about this week was that I was working for a different section of the company like I will be doing for a while more.  I learned so much this week about my job.  It was truly exciting and amazing.  I got to see so many things that I had never before seen.  I love this! 
This week was also my 4th week of classes.  It's hard to believe that we are already almost half-way through the term.  I thought I would share with you a really simple assignment that we had in my design fundamentals class.  Let me know what you think of it!

Upper Left – Rhythm/Movement

I’m interested in progressive rhythm. Starting at the top of the design and going toward the middle, soft background lines appear closer and closer until meeting and then begin pulling further apart again as the eye continues to the bottom of the design. This rhythm involves repletion of lines, however the lines ( or rectangular white negative space shapes) are changing in a regular manner that creates a progressive rhythm with a calming effect that is enhanced by the horizontal lines. Where the lines converge in the center, it creates a visual focal point enhanced by the addition of the darker jagged line that crosses through the design. While the horizontal lines create a peaceful effect, the jagged line creates a sense of motion. The line begins on the left and travels to the right. As it pulls our eye across the design, the line change abruptly at each point and begins traveling in a new direction. The diagonal slices suggest rushed and impulsive movement. The overall design is balanced in two ways. First, it is balanced between calming and jarring. Second, it is balanced by a dynamic combination of top to bottom symmetry in the background, and left to right asymmetry in the foreground.

Upper Right: Emphasis

In this design, the light value of the letter R is in complete contrast to the rest of the elements. It is centered in the design. Obviously, it is the focal point of the design. The use of a letter helps in creating this focal point. The subtle use of lines coming in from the edges of the design leads our eyes to the center as well. As one last use of emphasis, a bold dark shape that resembles a comic book style thought cloud or a star-like sparkle surrounds the letter R. The viewer’s eyes are first drawn to the center of the design, then they follow the directional points toward the edge of the design as they would follow an arrow , are finally brought back into the center through the subtle lines and once again focus on the emphasized focal point – the letter R.

Lower Left: Scale

To enunciate scale, this design uses both large scale and small scale to directly oppose each other. Initially the eye is drawn to the large white circles heavily contrasted by the black background. There is an obvious diagonal separation running from lower left to upper right where the black background gradually becomes a white background through the use of pointillism. This transition draws the eye upward to the smaller scale black dots that that gradually decrease in number the closer the eye comes to the top left corner of the design. Balance is obtained through the amount of texture and value on the opposing sides of the diagonal. The combination of asymmetry, pointillism, value transition, and repetition creates a unified design.

Lower Right: Proximity/Repetition

The proximity of the tightly grouped line combinations in the center of the design create the focal point or main component of the design. As the shapes ripple outward, they grow further apart and less defined. This creates less of a draw to the eye. Despite the change in shape as the eye moves outward, there is still a repetitive implication through the use of curves that imitate the initial shape running through the center of the design. Adding more visual interest, the soft stripes of the background repeat the vertical lines that format the edges of the design. This subtle mimicking of the formatted edges in close correlation to the calmness of a ripple, the repetitive elements of this design combine to create a soft design that also mimics a cloudlike shape of weightless dreamlike tranquility.

I'm super excited for this weekend.  Tomorrow night, my friend is coming over so that we can work on decorations for the party we are having on Saturday.  It is a gender reveal party for some friends who don't yet know the gender of the baby they are having.  My friend that is coming to help me decorate and I are the only ones that know!  Super exciting!
I hope your weekend is just as wonderful!
Loves!!!