PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

Organization of elements
that work together to give
Unity…
 PRINCIPLES OF
DESIGN
Making a design is like making a
cake…The ELEMENTS are the
ingredients…The directions for mixing
them together are the PRINCIPLES.

How the different elements are used….

 PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

The Principles are concepts used to

organize or arrange the structural
elements of design.
They are the
objects to be arranged…
 THE PRINCIPLES ARE:
♣ White Space…
Movement…
Contrast…
♠ Balance and alignment…
♣ Proportion…
♠ Rhythm/Repetition…
♣ Emphasis…
 EMPHASIS
♠ When we look at a room, some parts
easily catch our attention and interest
while other parts are not noticed at all.
This quality of design is called emphasis or
subordination.
 EMPHASIS
♠ Emphasis is produced by
the design or form that
catches our attention while
the rest are subordinates.
 EMPHASIS
♠ Color is also used to create emphasis.
Contrast of colors can be used to produce a
center of interest. A black object placed
against a white background will easily catch
our attention. Emphasis is important to relieve
monotony.
EMPHASIS
EMPHASIS
 BALANCE
Balance is the concept of visual
equilibrium, and relates to our physical
sense of balance. It is a reconciliation
of opposing forces in a composition
that results in visual stability.
 BALANCE
• If all parts are equally
distributed around a central
point, we achieved balance.
If weights are equally
distributed on each side of
center or fulcrum, as in a see-
saw, we have balance.
 BALANCE
Balance gives a feeling of
stability and rest. Most
successful compositions
achieve balance in one of
three ways: symmetrically,
asymmetrically or radial
balance.
 SYMMETRICAL BALANCE

• It is also called Formal balance. This is

achieved by making both sides exactly
alike. Objects at the same size and shape,
when arrange on two sides of a center,
will produce formal balance
 SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
-BOTH SIDES OF AN ARTWORK, IF SPLIT DOWN
THE MIDDLE, APPEAR TO BE THE SAME.
 BALANCE (SYMMETRICAL)

VERTICAL AXIS HORIZONTAL AXIS

 ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
• It is also called Informal balance and
Occult balance. It is achieved when
objects of unequal weights or
unequal attractions are placed at
the correct distances from the center
as when a large object or an object
with a stronger attraction is placed
near the center, while the smaller
object or one with less striking
attraction is moved farther from the
center.
ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
SYMMETRICAL AND
ASYMMETRICAL
 RADIAL BALANCE
• Occurs
when
elements
are
positioned
around a
central
point…
CONTRAST
CONTRAST
CONTRAST
 RHYTHM/REPETITION
• Rhythm can be described as
timed movement through
space; an easy, connected
path along which the eye
follows a regular arrangement
of motifs.

• Organized beat, movement or

repetition
RHYTHM
RHYTHM/REPETITION
 PROPORTION
• Proportion is determined by a comparison
of sized of different parts of an object or
of an arrangement.
 PROPORTION
• Proportion is the manner in which the
parts of a work relate to each other and
to the whole.
 MOVEMENT
• Visual flow through the composition…
• How we get around in a work of art.
• Suggestion of motion in a design as you move from object to object by way of
placement and position…
MOVEMENT
 WHITE SPACE
• All of the other
elements deal with
what you add to your
design. White space (or
negative space) is the
only one that
specifically deals with
what you don’t add.
 HOW TO USE
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN