ELEMENTS OF

DESIGN
M E A N S E M P LOY E D BY A RT I S T S T O E X P R E SS
T H E I R I D E A S ( C O S TA C H E , 2 0 1 2 - 0 4 - 0 9 )
LINE
• Most basic element of visual
expression.
• Often defines objects and forms.

• Artists have used lines not only

for descriptive purposes.
ITALIAN ARTIST PIERO
MANZONI (1933–1963)
• Line has symbolic meaning
• Between 1959 and 1961 the
artist created several works,
known as Lines, comprising a
container with a roll of paper
with a line drawn on it placed
inside. The length of both the
paper and the line varies
(Costache, 2012-04-09)
ITALIAN ARTIST PIERO
MANZONI (1933–1963)
• Line of Infinite Length (1960–)
– The mysterious and
unattainable existence of the
line, inside a box, invisible to
viewers, gives this basic formal
element a philosophical
dimension. (Costache, 2012-04-
09)
COLOR
• mostly associated with painting
• attracts audience
• widely used in sculptures, works made
of glass, photography, architecture,
ceramics, fiber arts, and so on
• often been used to emulate (match or
surpass) reality
• In contrast, Picasso suppressed color in Guernica
(1937) to visually amplify the death and destruction
depicted. The disturbing, distorted forms and lines
augment the intense drama of the event.
SPACE
• . In art, space underscores the three-
dimensional quality of our environment.
• In sculpture, mass represents the solid, three-
dimensional part of art.
• Mass is also called positive space, in contrast to
the negative space, or void, i.e., the air around
the sculpture, architecture, or monument.
• The nineteenth-century sculptor Auguste was
one of the first artists to think of sculpture as an
intertwining of mass and void, rather than a
monolithic presence.
SHAPES

• outlined and marked

by lines.
• can have geometric,
organic, or free forms.
• Overlapping shapes
can create a sense of
depth in two-
dimensional art.