DESIGN PRINCIPLES: WEEK 1

 

Name  : Ravvetaran Thillai A/L Thillai Kumar 
I.D      : 0346025
Course: Bachelor of Mass Communication (honors) (Advertising & Brand Management)

WEEK 1

Introduction/Briefing

 

To me, this was the first Design Principles class of the semester. As is traditional, the first class focussed on the module's introduction, and the instructor was Mr. Charles. Our class began with a brief icebreaker, during which Mr Charles encouraged us to turn on our cameras, making the class more vibrant and engaging, as our classes were still held online. After the session, he began briefing us on the module, going through the evaluation criteria and how our classes will operate for the next seven weeks. Because we were all confused, he showed us a previous student's e-blog portfolio.

Lecture  : Elements and Principles of Deisgn, Contrast and Gestalt Theory 

He started off the class by explaining to us, what our visuals are. Mr Charles informed that " Visual what the eyes see". He also mentioned that the mind creates the pattern and naturally does it by itself, no efforts are needed for this. 

I also learned that Visual communication is the use of design to communicate with a target audience. So the design must be well-thought-out. To effectively communicate through design, one must understand and use design aspects and principles.

Elements of Design

Figure 1.0 Elements of Design

Principles of Design

Figure 1.1 Principles Of Design

1. Balance- to spread things out evenly to make things feel more stable
2. Contrast-  colour distinctions that are noticeable enough to draw attention to them.
3. Emphasis - a design element that draws the viewer's attention
4. Movement - flow or feeling of action
5. Repetition / Pattern / Rhythm - colour, font, or form re-use in a variety of compositions
6. Hierarchy - Design elements can be shown to be more important by their positioning, typeface and so forth. It's crucial that the most critical parts stand out.
7. Unity - to create harmony and make sure that ideas are being conveyed in an understandable manner
8. Alignment - improves the clarity and order of the design in order to foster a sense of unity among the elements.
9. Harmony - design elements such as colour, texture, shape, and form repeating in the same way to generate harmony and build a composition
10. Proportion - a comparison of the relative sizes of design elements

Gestalt Theory

An important principle of Gestalt theory is that the sum of a thing is larger than the components that make it up. Thus, it is impossible to determine the characteristics of a system by analysing its elements alone. It's common in modern German to refer to a thing's "placement" or "configuration" as "gestalt."

1. Principles of Proximity - According to gestalt law of proximity, 'things or shapes that appear near to one another to form groups. " Even though the objects are dissimilar in terms of size, form, and color, they will still seem as a group if they are situated close enough

Figure 1.2 Principles of Proximity

2. Principles of Similarity - This principle suggests that we naturally group similar items together based on elements like color, size, or orientation.

Figure 1.3 Principles of Similarity

3. Principles of Continuity- According to this principle, we will perceive elements arranged on a line or curve as related to each other, while elements that are not on the line or curve are seen as separate.

Figure 1.4 Principles of Continuity

4. Principles of Closure (Completion) - This suggests that elements that form a closed object will be perceived as a group. We will even fill in missing information to create closure and make sense of an object.

Figure 1.5 Principles of Closure (Completion)

 

5. Figure ground- "figure" is the focal image , "ground" is the background image

Figure 1.6 Figure ground

 

In a nutshell, In this topic, I learned about the necessity of contrast in image composition, which allows for greater visual awareness while also creating visually appealing visuals in the composition of an image or poster design. Aside from that, I also learned about Gestalt theory, which refers to the terms'shape' and 'form' in its terminology. This theory has helped me to gain a better understanding of the concept of decreasing the complexity of a very complicated design by merging or composing the repetitious or vast amount of pieces into a more simple form, which is useful in many situations. Without a doubt, this is an extremely vital consideration, since no one would be interested in looking at complicated designs that do not depict any meaningful elements or tell a storey.

Task 1 : Figure Ground Exercise 

Dr Charles provided us with an exercise involving Figure Ground during our lecture to help us have a better understanding of it. We were assigned the task of creating a monogram using any alphabets from our given names as inspiration. Initials or any alphabet from our names can be used as a symbol.

I decided to go with "A" since i have many A's in my name.

Figure 1.7 Monogram

This monogram was created for the sole purpose of being different from the conventional ones used.  While the majority of individuals will pick a rectangle or square form for their close-up background, I wanted to be a circle. I wanted to keep it simple and wavy around the perimeter of the circle, so it would be visually appealing. Mr. Charles provided me with good comments.

Instructions