ELEMENTS OF

VISUAL DESIGNMARICRIS TAPICERIA

Some photos work for some but not for others... WHY?

•Effective images are those that command attention and communicate feelings to an audience•How a viewer responds to an image depends on their past experiences, interests, and what it is that they are looking for.•This is why the same picture often receives a variety of responses from different viewers.

The Elements of design are like the ingredients in

a recipe• LINES• SHAPE (2D)/FORM

(3D)• COLOUR AND VALUE• TEXTURE • SPACE

Lines• Direction and orientation of a line can imply feelings• A mark with length, width and direction; created by a point that

moves along a surface

LINESTwo-dimentional• A pencil line on a paper

Three-dimentional

• Wire, string, and etc.

Line Directions

Horizontal Lines (at rest)

• Imply tranquility, rest, and stability

Vertical Lines (at attention)

• Imply power and strength

Line Directions

Diagonal Lines (on the run)

• Imply action, change and dynamic energy

Curve Lines (dancing)• Imply quiet, calm, and sensual

feelings.

SHAPESWhen a line meets itself or crosses another line to surrounds a space, it creates shape

SHAPESGEOMETRIC

• often easy to recognise such as circles, squares and triangles

ORGANIC

• represent the free-flowing aspects of growth. Organic shapes are often irregular shapes.

FORMAny threedimentional object, has height, width

and depth. It also has mass and volume

FORMGEOMETRIC ORGANIC

Colours•Colour affects humman beings. Men and women respind to colours differently.•Colour affects us emotionally, with different colours evoking different emotions.

Analogous colours• Colours that get along and are

referred to as being harmonious.• Colours that are often used in

visual design and have soothing effect

Complimentary colours• Exhibit more contrast

when positioned adjacent to each other

Colour Schemes• A plan for selecting and organizing colours

– Warm colours– Cool colours

Warm Colours• Yellows, reds, and

oranges. We associate these with blood, sun and fire.

Cool Colours• Violets, blues and greens. With

association to snow and ice

Colour Value-Lightness or darkness of a colour

• TINTS (lighter colours)• SHADES (darker colours)

VALUE-created with shading and highlights

SHADING• Gradual change from light

to dark

HIGHLIGHTS• Emphasizes the brightest

areas

Texture• Surface quality or “feel” of an

object- smooth rough soft, etc.

ACTUAL TEXTURE

• Textures when we feel when we touch something

IMPLIED TEXTURE

• Illusion of of actual textures

INVENTED TEXTURE

• Abstract and symbolic

SPACE• Creating the illusions of three dimensions

(depth) on a two dimentional surface.

Unity• Refers to an ordering of all elements in an image so

that each other can contribute to a unifiedaesthetic effecr so that image is seen as a whole

Coherence• Belonging together within the confines of colour, shapes,

and size. Visual coherence can be achieved through similar shape, colour size or texture

Dominance or Emphasis• Can be done through size, shape, and colour. Large objects dominate

similar ones and war coloured objects dominate cooler coloured objects