MMA 122

DESIGN

indeed means to plan, to organize. Design is inherent in the full range of art disciplines from painting and drawing to sculpture, photography, and time-based media such as film, video, computer graphics, and animation. It is integral to crafts such as ceramics, textiles, and glass.

Architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning all apply visual design principles. The list could go on.

DESIGN PROCESS

Virtually the entire realm of human production involves the design, whether consciously applied, well-executed, or ill-considered.

CREATIVE

The arts are called ???? fields because there are no predetermined correct answers to the problems. Infinite variations in individual interpretations and applications are possible.

PROBLEM

???? in art vary in specifics and complexity. Independent painters or sculptors usually create their own “????” or avenues they wish to explore. The artist can choose as wide or narrow a scope as he or she wishes. The architect or graphic and industrial designer is usually given a problem, often with very specific options and clearly defined limitations.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

An idea in art can take many forms, varying from a specific visual effect to an intellectual communication of a definite message. Ideas encompass both content and form.

THINKING

Art and design are intellectual activities and are thoughtful by nature.

stage of the design process is often a contest to define this relationship of form and content. The solution may be found intuitively or may be influenced by cultural values, previous art, or the expectations of clients.

THINKING

GETTING STARTED

FORM AND CONTENT

FORM AND FUNCTION

BIOMIMICRY

a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges—and find hope. (FUNCTIONS LIKE NATURE)

BIOMORPHISM

LOOKS LIKE NATURE

BIOUTILIZATION

USE NATURE

LOOKING

THE INSPOOO

DOING

1.Trial and error, intuition, or deliberate application of a system is set into motion.

2. Redoing

3. Constructive Criticism

UNITY

a congruity or agreement exists among the elements in a design; they look as though they belong together, as though some visual connection beyond mere chance has caused them to come together.

UNITY

Another term for the same idea is harmony. If the various elements are not harmonious, if they appear separate or unrelated, your composition falls apart and lacks unity.

VISUAL UNITY

The whole must predominate over the parts.

VISUAL PERCEPTION

The designer’s job in creating a visual unity is made easier by the fact that the viewer is actually looking for some sort of organization, something to relate the various elements. The viewer does not want to see confusion or unrelated chaos.

GESTALT PSYCOLOGY

emphasizes that the whole of anything is greater than its parts.

FORM

SHAPE

PATTERN

CONFIGURATION

GESTALT

GESTALT THEORY

based on the idea that the human brain will attempt to simplify and organize complex images or designs that consist of many elements, by subconsciously arranging the parts into an organized system that creates a whole, rather than just a series of disparate elements. Our brains are built to see structure and patterns in order for us to better understand the environment that we’re living in.

GOOD FIGURE

objects grouped together tend to be perceived as a single figure. Tendency to simplify

SIMILARITY

objects tend to be grouped together if they are similar.

CLOSURE

visual connection or continuity between sets of elements which do not actually touch each other in a composition

PROXIMITY

objects tend to be grouped together if they are close to each other.

CONTINUATION

when there is an intersection between two or more objects, people tend to perceive each object as a single uninterrupted object

SYMMETRY

the object tend to be perceived as symmetrical shapes that form around the center

FIGURE/GROUND

Your brain will distinguish between the objects it considers to be in the foreground of an image (the figure, or focal point) and the background (the area on which the figures rest).

WAYS TO ACHIEVE UNITY

PROXIMITY

REPETITION

CONTINUATION

CONTINUITY AND THE GRID

VARIED REPITITION

EMPHASIS ON UNITY

UNITY WITH VARIETY

PROXIMITY

Simply putting the elements close together.

REPETITION

As the term implies, something simply repeats in various parts of the design to relate the parts to each other. The element that repeats may be almost anything: a color, a shape, a texture, a direction, or an angle.

CONTINUATION

naturally, means that something “continues”—usually a line, an edge, or a direction from one form to another.

CONTINUITY AND THE GRID

the planned arrangement of various forms so that their edges are lined up—hence, forms are “continuous” from one element to another within a design.

VARIED REPITITION

Charley Harper’s painting of a bird working on a sunflower seed (A) employs repetition in two distinct ways. The head repeats in a sequence with geometric clarity. This humorously depicts the characteristic pecking habit of the Tufted Titmouse. The leaves also repeat and are geometric, but in this case variety is emphasized as the shapes fold and pivot.

EMPHASIS ON UNITY

In Loretta Lux’s photograph (C) it is reinforced by the identical polka-dot dress. This cliché of twins dressed alike is heightened by the virtually blank background. We are left to search for the subtlest of clues to discern any difference between the two girls. In this case a strong unity produces a strange, even disturbing, challenge to any desire to see these two as individuals.

UNITY WITH VARIETY

An aggressive near ugliness pervades the chaotic jumble of battered texts in George Herms’s assemblage sculpture (C). A first impression might be of materials out of control and barely hanging together. One can find, however, a visual unity is at work in the strong crosslike structure and a limited range of colors dominated by brown, black, and white.

CHAOS AND CONTROL

Without some aspect of unity, an image or design becomes chaotic and quickly “unreadable.” Without some elements of variety, an image is lifeless and dull and becomes uninteresting. Neither utter confusion nor utter regularity is satisfying.

EMPHASIS

the use of techniques to create a focal point, or draw attention to specific sections within a piece. This can be achieved by making certain elements more dominant than others.

FOCAL POINT

the point of emphasis in an image or design