Design Principles - Exercises
6/9/2021 - 2/10/2021 / Week 2 - Week 5
Lim Wei Xian / 0342559
Design Principles/ Bachelor of Mass Communication (HONS) (Advertising and Brand Management)
Exercises
INSTRUCTIONS
Select 5 design principles from the list below:
1. Gestalt theory
2. Contrast
3. Emphasis
4. Balance
5. Repetition
6. Movement
7. Harmony & Unity
8. Symbol
9. Word and Image
Create 1 Design for each chosen principle
PROGRESSION
Here are the 5 Design Principles that I've chose to work on:
- Gestalt Theory
- Contrast
- Emphasis
- Movement
- Repetition
Gestalt Theory
Visual References
Figure 1.1 Gestalt Theory
Figure 1.2 Visual Reference to focus on (Figure and Ground)
Idea Exploration and Description
The idea was to focus more on 'Figure and Ground' in Gestalt Theory as I feel like it will have more stories to cover. I sketched out all the principles of Gestalt and decided to work further on my 'Figure and Ground' sketch using Adobe Illustrator.
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Figure 1.3 Sketches based on the Gestalt Theory that I've understood
The design will look like a cup of water, as well as a man looking like as if he is drowning. To complement this design, the choices of colours are important as well. I chose the complementary colours of purple and yellow to show contrast between the 2 elements of the design.
Final Design in JPEG and a short rationale
This is my final design for Gestalt Theory. It has Figure and Ground, as well as contrast in colours. It was definitely an interesting execution to utilise the organic 'waves' of the waters to form a face of a man.
Figure 1.4 Final Design for 'Gestalt Theory' (JPEG)
Feedback
Week 2: Ms Noranis had a look at my study and sketches during consultation. She mentioned that the "Figure and Ground" sketch is the one that would work when finalised. The sketch does portray the idea of "Figure and Ground" and Ms Noranis would like to see more of it.
Reflection for the week
Week 2: After receiving feedback from Ms Noranis, I went onto Adobe Illustrator and start to digitalise my work. Using the pen tool to get as much from the sketch as possible, I laid out everything onto Illustrator. Even though I focused more onto Figure and Ground, I played around with complimentary colours of purple and yellow to have some contrast. Overall, I was satisfied with the minimalist approach with the exercise, using simple vector shapes and exploration of contrasting colours.
Week 3: Good work, straight forward. Looking forward to the rest of the designs next week.
Contrast
Visual References
Here are some of the ideas that I would like to get inspiration from. These works are more towards the pop culture and I really love how the contrast in colours are presented.
Figure 2.1 Portrait of Nick Cave by Howard Arkley
Figure 2.2 Getting inspiration from pop art
Idea Exploration and Description
Figure 2.3 I will work my painting based on this photo as a reference
My idea was to get inspiration from the pop art and do a portrait of Australian artist, Howard Arkley. As Howard Arkley himself has a lot of work inspired by pop culture, I decided to use the artist himself as a work for my contrast study.
It was unfortunate that I didn't take any pictures of my progression as I was too focused on the painting. So here's proof that I did paint the work myself.
Figure 2.4 Myself (Lim Wei Xian) holding the 'Contrast' work
Final Design in JPEG and a short rationale
The final design as mentioned before is heavily inspired by pop art. The shadows and features of the face was to use solid colours as well as complementary colours to make the work pop. It was done with acrylic paint on watercolour paper.
Figure 2.5 Final Design for 'Contrast' (JPEG)
Feedback
Week 3: Good work on contrasting colours. Work on the rest of the designs.
Reflection for the week
It was definitely a fun piece of work to design on. Having to be inspired by an art movement and implementing it onto my work is an eye-opener. It also helped me understand better on how contrast should work in terms of the design principles.
Emphasis
Visual References
I went onto the internet to get some inspiration on what designs would suit the design principle 'emphasis'. Below will be the two main visuals that I'll take inspiration from.
Figure 3.1 Emphasis of the red apple
Figure 3.2 Orange object being surrounded by B&W, creating emphasis
Idea Exploration and Description
My idea was to design a flood scene, with waters flowing through at a high level. The whole scene would be blue, as the colour often gives off a moody impression. The thing that will show emphasis in this design would be a combination of a 'buoy' and a 'boat'. This would signify hope in the flooded scene, as both the buoy and boat are elements of the sea.
Figure 3.3 Flooded scene with the building and crates. Orange buoy/boat in orange to show emphasis.
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Figure 3.4 Flooded scene after feedback
Final Design in JPEG and a short rationale
I tried to played around with the gradient and below will be the final work for 'Emphasis'. The shape of the emphasised object, depending on the individual, will look at it either as a buoy, a boat, or both.
Figure 3.5 Final Design for 'Emphasis' (JPEG)
Feedback
Week 4: Have smaller windows and remove the crates for 'Emphasis'. Other than that everything else is fine.
Reflection for the week
Overall, this exercise helped me understand more on the importance of emphasis, as well as implementing the knowledge I have with contrast by using blue and orange (complementary colours) for this work.
Movement
Visual References
Another word that relates to movement is 'falling'. I find the act of falling quite interesting, therefore getting inspiration from the internet with some visual references.
Figure 4.1 The act of falling
Figure 4.2 A design with flow and movement
Idea Exploration and Description
I would want to design a man falling into a void, while also using some simple shapes to create flow and movement within the design. The falling man should have some type of blur effect in order to signify that he is in fact falling.
Figure 4.3 Silhouette of a man falling and its shadow. Green 'waves' to give the design more movement.
Figure 4.4 Added the blur silhouette to signify the fall
Final Design in JPEG and a short rationale
I adjusted the colours and background to show that as if the man is falling through a void. The blur effect definitely made the design look like there is movement from the man. Below will be the final design for 'Movement'.
Figure 4.5 Final Design for 'Movement' (JPEG)
Feedback
Week 4: Not much comment from Ms. Noranis as she just approved and said that it's good and everything was fine.
Reflection for the week
This 'Movement' principle made me think of how a design could make something more lively. What I've discovered is that the blur effect is one of the things that makes it look like the movement is happening in real time. The elements around the design may complement it as well, as the whole design that I've made had some flow and movements.
Repetition
Visual References
When it comes to the idea of 'repetition', what I have in mind was a series of patterns.
Figure 5.1 Repetition of black dots
Figure 5.2 Pattern of ducks
Idea Exploration and Description
I wanted to repeat the design of a duck's face and make it a pattern for this exercise. The whole idea was simple and to also represent the design principle of 'repetition'.
Figure 5.3 Drawing out the head of the duck
Figure 5.4 Pattern of the duck's head
Final Design in JPEG and a short rationale
The work did represent the repetition of the duck's head. The pattern is a simple impression on this specific design principle.
Figure 5.5 Final Design for 'Repetition' (JPEG)
Feedback
Week 4: Not much comment from Ms. Noranis as she just approved and said that it's good and everything was fine.
Reflection for the week
Even though this design compared to the other works that I've done was much simpler, I'm satisfied with it showcasing the principle of repetition. The duck's head got repeated in the form of a pattern, therefore I was happy with what the outcome came out to be.
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