ELEMENTS AND

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
Elements of Design
• Point
• Line
• Plane
• Volume
1. POINT
• has no length, breadth or depth.

• It marks:
• -the 2 ends of a line,
• -the single place where lines intersect,
• -the meeting of lines at a corner of a plane, and
• -the angle of a solid form.
2. Line
• One of the most fundamental art elements:straight,
curved, horizontal, vertical, and combination, thick
or thin (line weight)
• Created as a movement of a point. Its path
becomes a line.
• A conceptual line has no breadth or depth. It has
position and direction.
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• It marks:
• The border of a plane,
• the place where 2 planes join or intersect each
other.
• A line is a critical element in the formation of any
visual construction.
• is capable of visually expressing direction,
movement, and growth.
3. PLANE
• Created as a movement of a line in a directional
movement.
• A conceptual plane has length and breadth, but no
depth.

• It defines the external limits of a volume.

4. VOLUME
• Created as a movement of a plane in a directional
movement.
• A conceptual volume has length, breadth and
depth. But no weight.
• It defines the amount of space contained or displaced by the volume.
5. SHAPE AND FORM
• A shape is created when a line meets itself;
geometric or organic; 2 dimensional (2D)
• A form has volume and is 3 dimensional (3D) In
photography, you turn 3D forms into 2D shapes
6. COLOR
• painters medium is oil or watercolor
• A photographers medium is light
• There are three characteristics that apply to all
colors; hue, saturation, and value.
• Hue – (another word for color) is the name of a color
like green, blue, or yellow.
• Saturation/Intensity – is the intensity or purity of a
color.
• Value – refers to the lightness or darkness of a color
(in photography, availability of light)
HUE
• Primary and Secondary Colors of LIGHT are different than
those of PAINT.
• The primary colors of light are Red, Green, Blue
• Light plus more light makes a LIGHTER color.
• Red and Blue make Magenta.
• Green and Blue make Cyan.
• Red and Green make Yellow.
• Which means, magenta, cyan, and yellow are secondary
colors of LIGHT.
• Red plus Green plus Blue Light = WHITE LIGHT
• No Light = BLACK h
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• The primary colors of light are Red, Green, Blue
• Red and Blue make Magenta.
• Green and Blue make Cyan.
• Red and Green make . Yellow.
• Red plus Green plus Blue Light =
WHITE LIGHT
• No Light = BLACK
SATURATION

• Low Saturation/Intensity. -High Saturation/Intensity

VALUE
• Value: refersto the quality of light and dark
• It is important because photography is
a medium of light.
• When you capture a photograph,
you are recording the light and
dark tones in a scene.
Values in a scene:

• Low key – mostly dark scenes create

sadness, suspense, or dread

• High key – mostly bright scenes

create positive, upbeat
feelings
7. Space
• Within your viewfinder, it’s the specific area
contained within the frame

• Space can be
positive or
negative.
• Positive space is
the subject, and
negative space is
the background.
8. TEXTURE
• appeals to the sense of touch
• It is a physical sensation and a memory.
• Texture makes a photograph look real and suggest
it’s 3D rather than 2D like it is.
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
• The way the artwork is arranged; the intangible
plans and organization for creating and arranging
the elements.
• Principle of balance
• Principle of movement
• Principle of emphasis
• Principle of symplicity
• Principle of contrast
• Principle of proportion..........
PRINCIPLE OF BALANCE
• is the appearance of equal visual weight within a
composition; symmetrical balance, asymmetrical
balance, radial balance
• 1. Symmetrical Balance: best described as a mirror
image composition.
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• 2. Asymmetrical Balance: still looks balanced but
the objects are not centered in the frame.
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• 3. Radial Balance: circular style of balance that
• occurs when things radiate from a central point.
 PRINCIPLE OF MOVEMENT
• Movement in a photograph is real or implied.
• Shutter speed controls the amount of actual
movement and time you capture. Sports
photographers use the fastest available shutter
speeds, which go up to 1/8000 of a second.

• Movement can also

refer to how a
viewer’s eye travels
through a picture.
PRINCIPLE OF EMPHASIS
• One of the most important decisions in making a
photograph is to decide what your image is about,
the main idea.
• Emphasis refers to domination and subordination,
giving some objects greater visual importance
• To increase emphasis, adjust
your focus, get closer to
make it bigger, or put more
light on it.
PRINCIPLE OF SIMPLICITY
• Something which is easy to understand or explain is
simple, in contrast to something complicated. In
some uses, simplicity can be used to imply beauty,
purity or clarity.
PRINCIPLE OF CONTRAST
• As a principle of art, contrast refers to the
arrangement of opposite elements and effects. For
example, light and dark colors, smooth and rough
textures, large and small shapes. Contrast can be
used to create variety, visual interest, and drama in
an artwork.
PRINCIPLE OF
PROPORTION
• is the size relationship between the sizes of objects
or components in an image.
• Using a wide-angle lens and moving in close will
make your subject look much larger than it really is.
• Using a wide-angle
lens and backing
away from the
subject will make it
seem to disappear
into the distance.
PRINCIPLE OF SPACE
• Space in a work of art refers to a feeling of depth or
three dimensions. It can also refer to the artist's use
of the area within the picture plane. The area
around the primary objects in a work of art is
known as negative space, while the space occupied
by the primary objects is known as positive space.
PRINCIPLE Of UNITY
• is when all of the individual parts of your
photograph come together and support each other.
• Using different elements can add interest to an
image, however too much variety can lead to
chaos.