DESIGN PRINCIPLES - [Exercise 1]

on


28.3.2022 - 4.4.2022 (Week 1- Week 2)
Loh Qiao Yin / 0348923 
Design Principles / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Topic 1 -:
[Elements and Principles of Design]
[Gestalt Theory and Contrast]

LECTURES

Elements of design:

  • LINE - can be actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and/or contour.
  • SHAPE/FORM - Shape -> 2D with area on a plane; form -> 3D with volume.  
  • SIZE - the relationship of the area occupied within shapes.
  • SPACE - area around or between design subjects in a situation.
  • COLOUR - hue.
  • VALUE  - lightness or darkness of an object. Also known as tone.
  • TEXTURE - the surface of a shape, how it feels or looks like. Texture can be visual or tactile.


Principles of design:

  • EMPHASIS - the first thing you see in an artwork.
  • BALANCE - nothing is overdone; a sense of visual equilibrium or stability.
  • CONTRAST - eye-catching juxtaposition of opposing elements
  • REPETITION - regularity for consistency, when used strategically can create rhythm (regular, alternating, flowing, random, progressive) and patterns. A powerful move when combined with variation.
  • MOVEMENT - a flow, preventing you from feeling like getting a stroke or heart attack due to 'visual blockage' is what I call it as.
  • HARMONY - imagine a choir performance.
  • UNITY - imagine school uniforms with the male and female versions. Different but still look like they belong together.


Gestalt Theory and Contrast:

I really like how Ms. Jinchi used a variety of examples ranging from anime to graphic design to explain Gestalt theory and contrast. Giving examples as such teaches us how the theories are applied in artworks/movies and as a result, we as students would have a better understanding of how to create designs with the theories (application aspect).


  
                                   Fig 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 Notes analysis from myself, 28 March 2022

 

Ignore the ugly handwriting (congrats if you understand it). I dislike writing but I have to 'discharge' my train of thoughts after listening to any lectures by making notes, it makes space for my brain to learn more new knowledge and prevents over-heating it. It is also convenient to flip back when I need to refresh my memory about certain theories while working on my designs.

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Exercise 1: One design of Gestalt Theory + One design of Contrast
  • Recap of selected design principles
  • Design process: 
          - visual research 
          - idea exploration and description 
          - final outcome in PDF and short rationale 
          - feedback given by the lecturer 
          - reflection on the particular exercise

VISUAL RESEARCH

I remember seeing useful 'art tips' on this topic previously so I spent time searching back the original posts on social media. Then, I recalled all the beautiful visuals I saw on books/ everyday-life/ social media and analysed the design principles in them. 

Contrast


Fig 2 Notes on contrast made by Tyler Edlin (@thetyleredlin on Instagram), 28 March 2022

I am a fan of Tyler Edlin's content as he is very generous in organising and giving out top quality illustration tips and tutorials for free. This particular note is easy to understand and it covers the topic of contrast in a complete way while also using small orange diagrams at the top corner to simplify the notes even further. This would be extremely helpful when I am creating artwork with contrast applied in different aspects.


EXAMPLES: Gestalt Theory/ Contrast

I decided to put forward examples of Gestalt theories that I have stumbled across in real life.

Fig 3.1 My laptop keyboard cover, 1 April 2022

Principle of proximity & Contrast: The first example of Gestalt theory and contrast is right in front of me. Mostly, alphabets, numbers and symbols are grouped in black colour whereas function/ action keys are grouped in white colour to show they belong to the similar category. Besides, the usage of black and white colour (the letter and the background of the letter itself, as well as the overall keys) created a strong contrast for ease of readability.

Fig 3.2 Yee Sang that I ate during CNY,  27 January 2022 

Principle of proximity/ Law of symmetry and order/ Balance: I thought of how Yee Sang is always arranged in an organised way before everything becomes a mess, and I am able to see that the ingredients are always grouped according to colour and type, showing proximity. For law of symmetry and order, the face of the tiger is arranged using separate ingredients yet we are able to see the tiger's face as a whole, instead of each and every ingredient.

Fig 3.3 Splash art designed by League of Legends, n.d.

Principle of continuation/ Movement/ Harmony: Our eyes will continue to look in a direction from downwards to upwards to the character as the flow is directed by a triangle shape and diagonal line direction in the illustration. I believe that the golden ratio is also used in the composition to establish the direction of moving the viewer's eyes.

Fig 3.4 Drone light performance by Firefly Drone Shows, 23 September 2021

Principle of common fate/ Movement/ Rhythm: I know I could have chosen swarms of fishes or flocks of birds to represent this theory. However, I was most mesmerised by the drone performance instead as it feels more surreal and I like stuff that glows in the dark.
IDEA EXPLORATION & DESCRIPTION
Gestalt theory
Focused on Law of Pragnanz and Principle of Similarity but I wouldn't want to purposely limit myself in those either. I decided to make 2 rough drafts for my design using collage. I hoped to elaborate the design even more as the exploration is too minimal at this point.

Fig 4.1 Design concept for Gestalt theory, 1 April 2022
All illustration samples for collage derive from J.C. Leyendecker 

The message behind the collage is to record the 'mask' era due to Covid-19. I chose three portraits artwork with different facial expressions and head angles. The first woman on the top represents hope, the man on the left shows a sense of worry, whereas the little girl's face is painted with sadness. I really like all of J.C. Leyendecker's illustrations as he is great at painting realistic portraits yet push the expressiveness of facial gestures without making them cartoonish but enough to make them look lively. Also, I am a fan of the brush strokes and visual textures in his painting style. Thus, I decided to make his artwork a part of my collage.

Fig 4.2 Analysis of design concept for Gestalt theory, 1 April 2022

Fig 4.3 Reference pictures that inspired the mask part, 1 April 2022
Left: Design by Eduardo Argoud: Right: Design by Klawe Rzeczy



Contrast
Chose a few concepts of contrast and made 3 different rough draft of illustration in greyscale.



Design concept #1

Fig 5.1 Design concept for contrast #1, 1 April 2022

I missed playing action games so I thought of drawing a scene with a suspense build-up between a protagonist fighter and the evil monster. I realised the suspense can be represented by showing a huge contrast in size between 2 characters. 

Fig 5.2 Analysis of design concept #1, 1 April 2022

Fig 5.3 Reference pictures that inspired design concept #1, 1 April 2022
Left: Design by Phoebe Morris; Right: Design by @supernatural_grandma

Design concept #2

Fig 6.1 Design concept for contrast #2, 1 April 2022

Fig 6.2 Analysis of design concept #2, 1 April 2022

I got the inspiration from observing my surroundings on rainy days and also recalling how cartoon characters act in an exaggerated way when bracing against the wind. I was interested in the opposing motion that causes visual tension.

Design concept #3

Fig 7.1 Design concept for contrast #3, 1 April 2022

Fig 7.2 Analysis of design concept #3, 1 April 2022

Fig 7.3 Reference pictures that inspired design concept #3, 1 April 2022
Photography by myself 


DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Fig 8.2 Development progress for Gestalt theory design, 6 April 2022

I realised I did not highlight J.C. Leyendecker's art style enough (his distinguish brush strokes). Thus, I sampled and cut out some parts of his illustration that showcase the brush strokes (White cream parts) and I made that as the background for the portraits because previously the portraits do not look connected to each other. Next, I changed the main background colour as well as added parts of his illustration in rendering clothes (I love the way he does shadings for clothes). But it was too dark, so I lowered the transparency while maintaining the texture of the look.


For the design in contrast, I just added shadings and further polished the artwork, inspired by the brush strokes found in black
and white 'cult paintings' mentioned by Ms. Jinchi.
FINAL OUTCOME

Fig 8.1 Final outcome of design for Gestalt theory and contrast, 6 April 2022

I am glad that I got to express my love for J.C. Leyendecker's art style in an assignment work and also discover a new type of art style while doing my 'contrast' design.


PDF File

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Fig 8.3 Exercise 1- Gestalt Theory and Contrast in PDF form, 6 April 2022
FEEDBACK

Gestalt theory
The feedback given was that the 2nd composition (portrait) is more comfortable to the eye but I have to be aware of the unbalanced visual weight. The circle shape in the background is overpowering. Thus, Ms. Jinchi suggested switching that up with something else that 'spreads' outwards instead. There was also too little space at the bottom of the collage and looked cramped.

Contrast
Design concept #1 which also happens to be my number one favourite was chosen to be finalised. Ms. Jinchi recommended that I stick with black and white colour like in cult paintings as it would suit the subjects I am drawing. 
REFLECTION

I am quite pleased with the idea of illustrating whatever we want as long as we are applying the design theories to it. The freedom of medium (although it was stated afterwards that we are encouraged to create our own 'materials' literally, instead of doing collage or photography) and theme helps to fuel my creativity even more and makes the exercise so much more enjoyable. After going through this topic especially Gestalt theory, I have a deeper understanding of why I find some visuals memorable and impactful as well as how can I create that feeling.

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