TASK 1-Exploration

February 3,2025

3/02/2025 - 17/02/2025(Week 1 - Week 3)

ZHOU YUTONG / 0378676

Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media  

Task 1  Exploration

LISTS

Lecture

Instructions

Task

Feedback

Reflections

Lectures

Week 1 :The document looks at two theories, Gestalt and Contrast, and goes through several Gestalt principles. These include similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, symmetry, order and uniform connectedness.

Week 2 :There are two main types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.The Golden Ratio is a rule that can be used in architecture, painting and design to create visual balance, harmony and structure, making a design more appealing.The Rule of Thirds is a composition guideline used to add dynamism to design, photography, film or painting.Emphasis is used to create dominance and focus in a design, achieved through elements such as colour, shape or value. By highlighting certain elements, designers can guide the viewer's attention and enhance the impact of the design.

Week 3 :
Repetition:

Repetition can make a design look dynamic.

The repetition of design elements creates rhythm and patterns.

Variety is essential to keep rhythms exciting and active, and avoid monotony.

Patterns make a design more visually exciting by adding interest to the surface.


Movement:

Movement refers to how a design guides the viewer's eye into, around, and through the composition.

The sense of motion in a visual image comes from the use of shapes, forms, lines, and curves.


Hierarchy:

Hierarchy is basically how you organise your content to communicate information and convey meaning.Visual hierarchy helps viewers to see the most important information first and guides them through the rest.Alignment is all about arranging your elements so that their edges line up in rows or columns, or their bodies align along a centre.Alignment creates a sense of unity and cohesion, which contributes to the overall aesthetic and perceived stability of the design.


Instructions

Assignment submission requirements:

TASK

1. The Design Principles

1) Gestalt theory

Definition:A psychological theory that emphasizes the holistic study of psychological phenomena, believing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Human perception and thought are holistic and organized. When a person perceives, he or she automatically organizes stimulus elements into meaningful wholes.
And there are organizing principles such as figure and background, proximity, similarity, continuity, and closure.

Fig1.1Posters with similar principles: Publicis Singapore (10.2.2025)
  • Work Name:  Publicis Singapore Festival Greeting Card Advertisement".

  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information is not shown.

  • Creation Year: Information is not shown.

  • Work Size: Information is not shown.

  • Medium Used: Poster
Reasons: to convey the relevance of the elements by arranging and grouping them closely together, as the proximity principle of the Gestalt theory suggests that elements in close proximity are seen as a whole, and to make the main elements stand out by contrasting colors to differentiate between the graphic and the background.

2) Contrast

Definition:Contrast is the process of consciously arranging and combining different elements in a design so that they present significant differences in certain aspects to create visual or conceptual tension and impact, thus attracting the audience's attention and enhancing the expressive and communicative power of the design. 
In the category of visual design, contrast is mainly reflected in the visual attributes of the elements, such as color, shape, size, thickness, light and dark, texture and other differences.
 Common expressions of contrast are color contrast, shape contrast, size contrast, thickness contrast, light and dark contrast, texture contrast, etc.


color contrast
Fig 1.2  color contrast Poster (10.2.2025)
  • Work Name: No clear conventional work name. It can be understood as "Suntory Orange Presso and Grape Presso Beverage Advertisement"

  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not shown

  • Creation Year: 2020
  • Work Size: Information not shown

  • Medium Used: Poster

Reasons: It attracts the viewer's attention through the use of contrasting colors, where key information such as promotional content, product names or campaign deadlines can stand out from the background and increase visual impact.

3) Emphasis

Definition:In design works, special treatments are applied to certain visual elements to make them visually more prominent and significant compared to other elements, thus becoming the focus of the viewer's attention. These special treatments can include changing the size, color, shape, position, etc. of the element, so that the element to be emphasized stands out in the overall visual environment.
Fig 1.3 the principle of emphasis (10.2.2025)
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not available
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used: Poster

Reasons: The text “TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” is enlarged and colored to immediately attract the viewer's attention. By highlighting the word “MURDER” to direct the viewer's attention, the design conveys a feeling of tension and suspense, and enhances the viewer's sense of anticipation.

4)Balance

Definition:Balance refers to the visual distribution of various elements in the design can be mutual restraint, to achieve a state of equilibrium of force, like the balance in physics, the visual weight of the various parts of the counteract each other, so that the audience will not feel that a certain part of the viewer is too heavy or unbalanced
Fig 1.4 Balance Poster (10.2.2025)
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not available
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used: Likely digital drawing

5)Repetition

Definition:In a design work, certain design elements, such as shape, color, pattern, line, text, etc., are repeated several times. These repeated elements can be exactly the same, or they can be maintained on the basis of the basic features with some slight changes, such as gradient of color, fine-tuning of size, etc.
Fig 1.5 ORLA KIELY BIRDS (10.2.2025)
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not available
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used: Likely digital drawing

6)Movement

Definition:Movement is the use of graphics, lines, colors and other elements of the changes and combinations, so that the audience visually produce the illusion that the object is in motion or has a tendency to move, through the clever design of the layout, guiding the audience's eyes to follow a specific path to move in the work, thus creating a visual “movement”
Fig 1.6 Graphic design inspiration (10.2.2025)
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not available
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used: Likely digital drawing
7)Harmony & Unity

Definition:
Harmony refers to the mutual coordination and balance among various elements in a design, creating a sense of visual comfort and consistency. Harmonious design achieves a natural and fluid overall effect through the thoughtful combination of elements such as color, shape, texture, and proportion.
Unity refers to the collective interaction of all elements in a design, forming a complete and cohesive whole. It emphasizes the integrity of the design, enabling viewers to clearly perceive the theme and intent of the design.

Harmony& Unity
Example of harmony in style by Georges Seurat. He utilized a pointillism style, which involved painting small dabs of distinct color to depict form.
  • Work Name: "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte"
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Georges Seurat (1859 - 1891)
  • Creation Year: The work was started in 1884 and completed in 1886.
  • Work Size: 207.5×308.1 cm
  • Medium Used: Oil on canvas

  • Color
Seurat adopts the pointillism method, using large pieces of green as the main tone, mixed with a variety of carefully analyzed and processed blues, purples, reds, yellows and other color dots, after a year's time dotted all over the canvas, the overall color of the picture is in contrast and yet maintains the harmony, such as the green meadow, the blue water, and the figure of the rich and varied, but coordinated colors, which intertwine with each other to create a sense of visual harmony.

  • Composition
Utilizing the golden ratio, the changes in the size ratio of the figures are altered according to the composition, making the picture orderly as a whole. Seurat's arrangement of the figures follows the rule of near-large, far-small perspective, which makes the proportion of the figures harmonious and scientific, but also makes people feel that the tone is bright, interesting, and full of vitality. Seurat divides the work into three main parts, namely, the near view, the middle view and the far view, with a large piece of dark green tone in the foreground to indicate the shadows; the middle view is interspersed with a piece of yellow tone in the bright part, showing the strong sunlight in the afternoon, and the grass is yellowish-green; and in the far view, the turquoise-blue lake is in the foreground. The foreground, midground and background are layered to form an organic whole.

  • Theme and Style
The work depicts scenes of people relaxing on the island of Grand Bowie. The overall theme is clear and unified, showing the diversity of French society at the end of the 19th century, including the leisurely posture of the upper class and the simple image of the laborers, and putting people of different classes into the same painting, as described in the play, to achieve “harmony”. Although the painting depicts a dynamic scene, Seurat's painting style makes the figures appear as if they are still as sculptures.
Harmony& Unity
Fig 1.8 Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1916 (15.2.2025)
  • Work Name: Water Lilies
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Claude Monet
  • Creation Year: 1916
  • Work Size200 x 200 cm
  • Medium Used: Oil on canvas

8)Symbol

Definition: symbol is a visual element that conveys specific meanings, concepts, or information through simplified and abstracted graphics or forms. Symbol design aims to quickly communicate complex ideas or messages through concise and easily recognizable forms, often transcending language and cultural boundaries.

                                                 Fig1.9   Yin Yang symbol (15.2.2025)

  • Name of the Artist/Designer: Information not available
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used: Likely digital drawing
9)Word and Image

Definition:Word and Image refers to the combination and interaction of text (Word) and visuals (Image) in design, where the synergy between the two enhances the effectiveness of information delivery and visual impact. This design approach emphasizes the complementary relationship between text and visuals, making the design more visually appealing while ensuring clearer and more efficient communication of information.

Fig 1.10 visual arts (15.2.2025)
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: WEST SIDE STORY
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used:Poster
2.Selected Design
Word and Image
  • Name of the Artist/Designer: WEST SIDE STORY
  • Creation Year: Information not available
  • Work Size: Information not available
  • Medium Used:Poster
Reasons:
  • This poster is a great example of the design principles of text and image, blending the image with the intended text, and the author has done a great job of transforming the text into a dynamic visual experience. The design presents fragmented words such as ‘DIRECTED’, ‘REORDERF’, ‘WISE’ and ‘ROBBINS’ in an asymmetrical arrangement. ROBBINS’ so that the boundaries between language and image are not so strong and blend well together. Each word is transformed into a structural element that is constructed in three dimensions by scaling, rotating and deepening the word arrangement, and then enhancing the three-dimensionality by using shading, perspective, superimposition and size contrast.
  • The design uses the typeface itself as a narrative vehicle: ‘WISE’ and ‘ROBBINS’ are arranged vertically and horizontally to create a visual hierarchy, and the staggered alignment of the two bold and contrasting words gives the whole poster a sense of movement; by transforming the text into three-dimensional geometrical forms, the effect of the poster goes beyond the simple passage of the words. By transforming the words into a three-dimensional geometric form, the poster goes beyond simply expressing the meaning of the words and invites the audience to participate in the opera performance.
  • In this poster, the author's design blends the arrangement of the words with the image to form a visual image that conveys the spatial sense of the poster and the intended message, rather than just the literal meaning of the words.

Feedback

Week 2

Specific feedback:While grading the assignment, the professor pointed out that my choice about the balance was not very correct and asked me to revise it, while at the same time expressing his approval of the design of the contrasts

General feedback:no


Week 3

Specific feedback:Integrates information from multiple sources and able to describe the principles accurately. Diligently shares positive progress with lecturer in a timely manner.

General feedback:no

Reflections

Experience:

I use Pinterest to search for relevant designs or posters and go to Wikipedia to search for some classic paintings and use AI to search for the authors of some of the designs, but unfortunately the authors of the web works are hard to find, so I'll just have to put up some of the information that I can find


Observation:

The universality of design principles in our daily life, life is design everywhere, the rational use of design will make life better!


Findings:

I've found many great designs and designers in my collection, and here's an interesting artist I found while collecting one of them


Probably the last one – Work Over Easy






Comments

Popular Posts