Design Principles Exercise 1: Elements & Principles of Design, Gestalt Theory & Contrast

August 26, 2021

Design Principles Exercise 1: Elements & Principles of Design, Gestalt Theory & Contrast

23/08/2021 - 17/09/2021 (Week 1 - Week 4)
Evaleez Voo Lian Yun / 0350275
Design Principles/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Exercise 1: Elements & Principles of Design, Gestalt Theory & Contrast

Index

Lectures

Lecture 1.1

Elements of Design

1. Point

It is the first and simplest element of design. They can form complex shapes, patterns, textures etc. Points on combination can imply direction and movement, i.e. when several points are combined together, it will make a line

2. Lines

Lines can be straight or curved. It can be smooth, roough, broken, thick, thin, textured etc. They can be used to bring movement and direction. Besides connecting elements, they can also separate it from the "space" that we have.

3. Shapes

Shapes happen when a two-dimensional line encloses an area. It can be geometric, i.e. rectangles, triagles and circles; or organic, i.e leaves, flowers and animals.

4. Form

Forms are three-dimensional. Similar to shapes, there are geometric forms (man-made) and organic (natural) forms. A digital or physical form can be measured by height, width and depth. Colour and texture can be used to enhance the form.

5. Colours

Colour can stand alone, act as a background or highlight certain elements in our design.

Properties of colour:

Hue: Refers to the name of the colour in the colour spectrum. For example, red, blue and green are all hues.
Saturation: Refers to the intensity or purity of a colour. It can be vibrant or dull.
Value: Refers to the lightness or darkness of colour. Colour can be tinted by adding white or shaded by adding black.

Fig 1.0 Hue, Value and Saturation (28/08/21)
Source: Google

6. Texture

Texture is the way a surface feels or how it is perceived to feel. It can attract or detract the viewer's eyes and can be applied to lines, shapes and forms.

7. Space

In design, space refers to the area above, around, below, or behind and object. It occurs in both 2-D and 3-D. Shadows, shading, overlap and sizing can help define an object's place in space.

Fig 1.1 Space (28/08/21)
Source: invision

Principles of Design

The principles of design include:

Balance
Emphasis
Rule of Thirds
Repetition/ Pattern/ Rhythm
Unity
Movement
Hierarchy
Alignment
Harmony
Proportion
Contrast

Fig 1.2 Principles of Design (28/08/21)
Source: artwithV

Lecture 1.2

Constrast

The juxtapoisition of strongly dissimilar elements.
Helps evade from monotonous designs.
Can provide visual interest, emphasis and express content.
The more the difference between the elements, the greater they are to compare and comprehend.

Examples:

Fig 1.3 Contrast in Movies (04/09/21)
Source: Google

The colour of Joker's costume, which is very bright red and yellow, is set againts a very dull background. This allows him to stand out.

Fig 1.4 Contrast in Websites (04/09/21)
Source: Facebook

The two different colours, i.e. green and blue contrast with each other to help the user differentiate between the "Log In" button and "Create New Account" button.

Fig 1.5 Constrast in posters (04/09/21)
Source: thiscomputerart2

Black against the bright red-orange creates a strong contrast and you can see the black figure coming out at you.

Gestalt Theory

The first Gestalt Principles were devised in the 1920s by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler - who aimed to understand how humans typically gain meaningful perceptions from the chaotic stimuli around them. According to this, the mind “informs” what the eye sees by perceiving a series of individual elements as a whole.

1. Priniciple of Similarity

The human eye tends to perceive similar element in a design as a complete picture, shape or group, even if those elements are separated. The brain seems to craft a link between elements of a similar nature. Example:

Fig 1.6 Principle of Similarity (04/09/21)
Source: Nutrition Education Store

2. Principle of Continuation

The human eye follows the paths, lines and curves of a design and prefers to see a continous flow of visual elements rather than separated objects. Example:

Fig 1.7 Principle of Continuation (04/09/21)
Source: Google

3. Principle of Closure

The human eye prefers to see complete shapes. If the visual elements are not complete, the user can perceive a complete shape by filling in missing visual information. Example:

Fig 1.8 Principle of Closure (04/09/21)
Source: Ryan H

4. Principle of Proximity

The process of ensuring related design elements are placed together. Any unrelated items, should be spaced apart. Close proximity states that items are connected or have a relationship to each other and become one visual unit which helps to organize or give structure to layout. Example:

Fig 1.9 Principle of Proximity (04/09/21)
Source: UserTesting Blog

5. Principle of Figure/Ground

Objects are instinctively perceived as being either in the foreground or the background.They either stand out prominently in the front (figure) or recede to the back (ground). Example:

Fig 2.0 Principle of Figure/ Ground (04/09/21)
Source: Toptal

6. Law of Symmetry and Order

This law states that elements that are symmetrical to each other tend to be perceived as a unified group. Similar to the law of similarity, this rule suggests that objects that are symmetrical with each other will be more likely to bw grouped together than objects not symmetrical with each other. Example:

Fig 2.1 Law of Symmetry and Order (04/09/21)
Source: Canva

Personal Notes

Fig. 2.2 Personal Notes 1 (28/08/21)

Fig. 2.3 Personal Notes 2 (28/08/21)

Fig. 2.4 Personal Notes 3 (28/08/21)

Instructions

Visual Research

Gestalt Theory

To be honest, I was pretty confused at the start as to what I was supposed to do, especially since we missed a week of class due to Merdeka Day. With that in mind, I looked through some references online and also past work by students who enrolled in this module as well. Some of the references include:

Fig 2.5 Gestalt Reference 1 (01/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Fig 2.6 Gestalt Reference 2 (01/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Contrast

Contrast is defined by the state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association. The are some references I found online:

Fig 2.7 Contrast Reference 1
Source: Pinterest

Fig 2.8 Contrast Reference 2
Source: Pinterest

Idea Exploration and Description

Gestalt Theory

1. The Earth is dying. Send help.

After seeing Gestalt Reference 1, I was inspired to create a design which involved the use of smoke to create something else for people to percieve themselves (Gestalt Principle of Closure). At the same time, I wanted to raise awareness on climate change and how the earth may not be inhabitable in the future. So, I decided to incorporate an hourglass into the design to show the flow of time and also the Earth.

Moodboard:

Fig 2.9 Earth (04/09/21)
Source: Google

Fig 3.0 Factory (04/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Fig 3.1 Hourglass (04/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Outcome (Week 3):

Fig 3.2 The Earth is Dying. Send Help. Sketch 1 (06/09/21)

As a whole, the viewer will notice an hourglass. However, it is actually formed from gases emitted from the buuildings on the ground level. The top part of the hourglass takes the shape of the Earth, representing how little time we have left before the Earth becomes inhabitable.

Outcome (Week 4)

Fig 3.3 The Earth is Dying. Send Help. Sketch 2 (12/09/21)

After receiving feedback from Dr. Charles, I edited the top part of the smoke to look more like faces, but still tryin to retain the shape of the Earth.

Process:

Fig 3.4 Lineart for Gestalt (06/09/21)

Steps:

Draw lineart based off my moodboard
Fill in necassary spaces
Touch ups and redos according to feedback

Contrast

1. Broken Vows

Since Contrast the juxtapoisition of strongly dissimilar elements, I wanted to apply two words that have a huge disparity between their meanings - marriage and infidelity. Hence, I started my search to find something that could represent marriage and thus we see a ring in my moodboard below. Besides that, I chose a kissing scene from one of Brad Pitt's movies to showcase infidelity.

Moodboard:

Fig 3.5 Kiss (06/09/21)
Source: Google

Fig 3.6 Ring (06/09/21)
Source: Google

Outcome (Week 3):

Fig 3.7 Broken Vows Sketch (07/09/21)

I broke up the ring into two peicees, with the diamond in the middle shocasing the secret affair that exists inside their marriage. I used red to symbolize passion andblue to represent loyalty and unity (Fun fact: Blue also represents unity in our Malaysian flag!). The ring is evidently broken similar to their broken vows.

2. The Homeless Man

Another idea I had for contrast was how different people's lives are and. In order to show an extreme disparity I ecided to look up on homeless people living in the streets. Besides that, I also searched up for an act of kindness/ charity to homeless people and ended up with ta girl giving an umbrella to a stray cat.

Moodboard:

Fig 3.8 Homeless Person (11/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Fig. 3.9 Giving an Umbrella (11/09/21)
Source: Pinterest

Outcome (Week 4):

Fig 4.0 The Homeless Man Sketch (12/09/21)

A working lady is helping a homeless man on the street who has no cover for the rain. He is a kindhearted person but circumstances led him to lose his home, hence the white fill. Meanwhile, thw woman is up to you to interpretate! I am also a firm believer than there is more kindness than evil in the world, so the background is mainly white.

Process:

Fig 4.1 Lineart for The Homeless Man (12/09/21)

Fig 4.2 Right side colours for The Homeless Man (16/09/21)

Steps:

Draw lineart based off original sketch.
Lineart clean-up.
Fill in base colour.
Add shadows/ highlights
Add textures to different objects.
Final touch ups and redos.

Feedback

Week 3

Gestalt Theory

1. The Earth is dying. Send help.

The idea is good and overall design is okay
Need some tweaking with the lineart
A screaming face can be seen on the Earth part, try an encompass that more

Contrast

1. Broken Vows

Can't really tell that its a ring, maybe reduce the amount of details on the side and just make it a simple ring that can be easily comprehended.
The cheating part in the middle doesn't look too much like two kissing faces, shoule try and explore for sensual poses/ drawing to showcase the affair better.

Week 4

Gestalt Theory

1. The Earth is dying. Send help.

He can't really see the other face that I created.
You don't have to make it 100% alike but more to something that resembles the Earth.
Linework and touchups needed i.e. thick/thin of lines and balance.

Contrast

1. The Homeless Man

A good base, but can be manipulated further.
What is it that's gonna make people question you?
Spark more constrast i.e. colour
Maybe make the dude be actually in the rain.
Make sure the disparity is clearly visible.

Final Outcome

Gestalt Theory

Fig 4.3 Gestalt Final Outcome (17/09/21)

PDF:

The Earth is dying. Send help.

In my final edits, I changed the shape of the outer lines to give it more curves and accentuate the smoke feel of it. Besides that, I balnaced out both sides of the hourglass to give a sense of completeness. I believe that this piece achieves the goal I was aiming for, which was a simple design with Gestalt Principle of Closure that can also raise awareness on the current climate situation humans are facing.

Contrast

Fig 4.4 Contrast Final Outcome (17/09/21)

PDF:

The Homeless Man

This piece was orignally just a figure ground design that used black and white as the main colour medium. I would like to thank Dr. Charles for opening my mind to reattempt this as a foundation to create a better project by implementing colours and the question, "What is it that is going to make people question you?" This design showcases the disparity between people of different economic status from the extreme - a homeless man to the other extreme - a rich CEO with their own office overlooking the city. The umbrella also helps reflect how there is still kindness in this world and not all rich people are selfish (like the stereotype).

Reflection

Week 1

The class this week was pretty relaxed as it was the first class of the semester. We were introduceed to the module information booklet and given instructions on what to do during the Merdeka Day public holday which clashed with our class on Week 2. We also created our names with materials we found around us. This exercise made me realize that as a designer, space is subjective. A piece of paper can be your space, you can think of space outside of what you are given and much more.

Week 2

Merdeka Day!

Week 3

On week 3, Dr. Charles gave feedback on our projects. Most people here used a digital medium to produce their designs with onlt a few using physicla items. I realized how we could incorporate the two to produce our ideas better (however I don't have any art supplies at home for that ಥ_ಥ). Moreover, I was amazed at how people used colour in their illustrations and how complex some were, because I thought this exercise only limited us to the most basic ones (as per some of the examples in the lecture videos like the one about gestalt).

Week 4

This week we received more feedback on our assignments. A metal note to myself: PLEASE UPDTAE YOUR EPORTFOLIO REGULARLY SO YOU HAVE TIME FOR TOUCH UPS WHEN YOU NEED TO SUBMIT IT.