The elements of design are the basic components used

as part of any composition.

They are the objects to be arranged, the constituent
parts used to create the composition itself.
In most situations the elements of design build upon
one another, the former element helping to create the
latter.
 A point is an element that has
position, but no extension.
It is a single mark in space with
a precise, but limited, location.
Alone it can provide a powerful
relation between negative and
positive space, but when
grouped with other points the
Gestalt grouping principal of
closure tends to kick in and the
brain compulsively connects the
points together. Line or form is
a natural result of multiple
points in space.
 A line is the simplest most primitive, and most universal
means for creating visual work. They may be broad,
faint and hardly seen, ragged or clear and distinct.
A line is an element characterized by length and
direction.
Lines create contours and form, and are often used to
convey a specific kind of feeling or point to an important
feature in a design.
Lines are also used to create perspective, and dominant
directional lines are often adopted to create a sense of
continuance in a composition.
In addition, lines that are grouped together often create a
sense of value, density or texture.
 Vertical line the line
of potential action
though it is not acting,
dynamic and forceful,
suggestive of authority,
dignity, majesty and
balance
 Horizontal the line
of rest and quietness,
relaxation, and
contemplation, and
suggests infinity.
 Diagonal line the
line of action.
The degree of action
is determined by its
angle.
 Curved lines show
action , life and
energy
Quick curve or small
arc of circle is more
exuberant
Slow curve or the arc of
large circles suggest
daintiness and grace.
A double curve that
turns back on itself is
an S shape. The double
slow curve is the
famous line of grace
or line of beauty.
 Architecture is primarily an art of space
and other art exist in space while in
painting the most obvious technique in
creating space are the various types of
perspective.
Perspective is a technique for creating
space. This is the technical means by
which we perceive distance in painting.
 Linear perspective is a mathematical,
scientifically proven system for creating the
illusion of multidimensional objects and distance
on a two dimensional surface.
The great architect and artist Brunelleschi (1377-
1446) first presented its principles, but it wasn't
until Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) put down
mathematical perspective in his book: De
pictura (1435; On Painting), that artists begun to
learn and follow this system.
It has something to do with the direction of lines
and the size of objects.
 The horizon line runs across the canvas at the eye
level of the viewer. The horizon line is where the sky
appears to meet the ground.
The vanishing point should be located somewhere
on the horizon line. The vanishing point is where all
parallel lines (orthogonals) that run towards the
horizon line appear to come together.
Orthogonal lines are "visual imaginary rays"
helping the viewer's eye to connect points around
the canvas to the vanishing point. An artist uses them
to align the edges of all elements.
 Foreshortening is a
linear perspective
applied mainly to the
human figure.
Example, an arm may
appear full-length in
paintings seen from
one point of view but
from another it seems
foreshortened.
 Ithas to do with the
changes in
appearance due to
atmosphere. Object
becomes lighter in
color and hazier in
outline as they
approach the
horizon.
 The simplest definition of shape is a closed contour, an
element defined by its perimeter.
The three basic shapes are: circle, rectangle (square) and
triangle.
Form is the shape and structure of a dimensional
element within a given composition.
Form can be both two-dimensional and three-
dimensional and can be realistic, abstract or somewhere
in between.
The terms form and shape are often used synonymously,
which is why they are both included here.
In reality, form is derived from the combination of
point, line and shape.
The path of a moving point. A line may
define the edge of a shape; repeated, it
can create texture or value. It may be
thick or thin, smooth or rough, short or
long, light or dark.
o It has to do with the
perception of touch.
o It is the element that
appeals to our senses of
feeling things rough,
smooth, bumpy or
slippery, etc.
o used to create surface
appearance, and relates to
the physical make-up of a
given form
o often refers to the
material that something is
made of, and can be
created using any of the
elements previously
discussed
o is both a visual and a
tactile phenomenon.
 Color is the response of the eye to differing
wavelengths of radiation within the visible
spectrum.
The visible spectrum is what we perceive as
light. It is the part of the electromagnetic
spectrum that we can see.
The typical human eye will respond to
wavelengths between 400-700 nanometers
(nm), with red being at one end (700 nm), violet
at the other (400 nm) and every other color in
between these two.
 There are many different kinds of color
systems, and many different theories on
color.
There are three main components of color:
Hue: Where the color is positioned on the color
wheel. Terms such as red, blue-green, and mauve all
define the hue of a given color.
Value: The general lightness or darkness of a color.
In general, how close to black or white a given color
is.
Saturation: The intensity, or level of chroma, of a
color. The more gray a color has in it, the less chroma
it has.
 Movement is the design element that operates in the
fourth dimension - time. Movement is the process of
relocation of objects in space over time.
We can speak of movement
as literal or compositional.
The physical fact of movement is part of certain
designed objects; we are speaking here of literal
movement. Sometimes the physical movement is
signaled by symbolic forms that suggest speed and
motion.
For example, cars, when first invented met their movement
function, but the form did not suggest movement.
o

Dance is probably
the oldest art form
that involves
movement. It is the
ultimate expressive
use of the element of
movement of objects
through space in
time.
 Another way to think about The eye will always
movement is to consider how
the viewer's eye moves move through the
through the composition. composition in some
This is what we refer to
as compositional movement. way, so there is always
In this case we are not some sort of
concerned with the presence
(or lack of) implied motion in compositional
the image. We are concerned movement.
instead with how the viewer
perceives the composition-- All compositions can
how the components relate be described in terms
and lead the viewer's
attention. of one or the other of
these concepts - or
both.
o The question for painters and others
working in static media was how to
capture the sense of implied movement in
the fixed image that could not literally
move.
o Prior to motion pictures, artists tried to
show movement through diagonal (off-
balance) use of line and positioning of
images in the composition.
o However, new approaches were suggested
by the multiple frame images of motion
picture film, and stop action photography.
o Futurist painters such as Balla used these
ideas to celebrate speed and movement.
Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a
Staircase also attempted to capture the
entire sequence of action through "stop-
action" imagery.
o Finally, Alexander Calder began to create
sculptures that actually moved, which he
called mobiles. Subsequently many artists
have used movement involving
mechanical or electronic means that
bridged the worlds of art and engineering.
 Compositional movement
may be classified as static:
that is, movement of the eye
that jumps and hops between
separate components of the
image, attracted by
similarities and simply
shifting to shapes with
related shape or color
Compositions exhibiting
static movement are
characterized
by repetition of closed,
isolated shapes
and contrasts of color and/or
value.
 Movement may also be
classified as dynamic.
Dynamic movement is
characterized
by movement of the eye
that flows smoothly from
one area of the composition
to another, guided
by continuations of line or
form, and by gradations of
color or form.
Dynamic movement is
characterized by open
shapes or shapes that
closely relate to adjacent
shapes.
1. It is a single mark in space with a precise, but
limited, location.
2. A ________is an element characterized by
length and direction.
3. the line of potential action though it is not
acting, dynamic and forceful, suggestive of
authority, dignity, majesty and balance
4. the line of rest and quietness, relaxation, and
contemplation, and suggests infinity
5. the line of action
6. The double slow curve is the famous ____________.
7. This is the technical means by which we perceive distance
in painting.
8. _________ is a mathematical, scientifically proven
system for creating the illusion of multidimensional objects
and distance on a two dimensional surface.
9. The ___________ is where all parallel lines that run
towards the horizon line appear to come together.
10. These are "visual imaginary rays" helping the viewer's eye
to connect points around the canvas to the vanishing point.
11. ________ is a linear perspective applied mainly to
the human figure.
12. It is a closed contour, an element defined by its
perimeter.
13. _______ is the response of the eye to differing
wavelengths of radiation within the visible spectrum.
14. It is the element that appeals to our senses of feeling
things rough, smooth, bumpy or slippery, etc.
15. ________ is the design element that operates in the
fourth dimension - time.
11. foreshortening
12. shape