DESIGN PRINCIPLES - EXERCISE 1

20/01/2023 Week 1-2

AMELIA INTAN CAHYANI 0355211

 Bachelor of Design in creative media

Instructions

WEEK 1

The introduction of the design of principles was taught to us in the first week, and we were instructed to watch a video regarding each of them to better understand how to prepare for upcoming exercises.

As learnt design focuses on communicating meaningful messages to a specific audience, it is crucial to include components like point, line, shape, form, texture, space and color. whereas principles of design contains Gestalt theory, Contrast, Emphasis, Balance, Repetition, Movement, Harmony & Unity, Symbol, Word and Image. 

The principles concepts i’ll be focusing on are Contrast and Balance.

CONTRAST

In my understanding, Contrast is the usage of elements that are visually distinct. Contrast can draw the viewer's eye to a focal point and emphasise certain things in a design in addition to drawing their attention, which is quite similar to emphasis. The difference between the two is contrast deals with the difference between two objects, and emphasis deals with the impact of an object.

Here are some examples of contrast

fig 1

 fig 2

VISUAL REFERENCES

fig 3

fig 4

fig 5

BALANCE

And for Balance refers to how objects, colors, textures, and space are distributed visually. These components ought to be balanced to create a design that feels stable, as if the design were a scale. There's various types of balance which contains; symmetrical balance, asymmetrical balance, radial balance.

Symmetrical Balance -The elements used on one side of the design are the same as those used on the other

Asymmetrical Balance - Although the sides differ, the balance appears to be kept

Here are some examples of balance

   

symmetrical fig 6  

                     

asymmetrical fig 7

 

VISUAL REFERENCES

   

asymmetrical fig 8

    

 asymmetrical fig 9

 IDEA EXPLORATION & PROGRESS

I use a mountain theme for the contrast design similar to my visual references above as mentioned. here is the sketch for Contrast.

fig 10

This are some basic drafts i came up with. Procreate is what I'm using to finalized my artwork here and do some paper sketches. And this is the sketch that i came up with for Balance with asymmetrical approximate techniques. It indicates that although the subjects on both sides are dissimilar, there remains a balance.

fig 11

FINAL OUTCOME

CONTRAST

I used the idea of a snowy mountains to complete my contrast design since I like the colour blue and I've always been drawn to the vibe because I've never seen or touched snow before.

fig 12

So I simply drew a mountain, and after experimenting with colours, I chose blue since, as I already mentioned, light beige and orange. which for me looks simple, clean and neat.

BALANCE

As for the concept of contrast between day and night, I used the symbols of the star and sun. I got the idea for this because I enjoy looking up at the sky so much, especially at night when you can see the moon, stars, and other things. I chose a softer colour scheme for the sun to mimic a sunset. Additionally, I chose a blue colour scheme for the star. It turns out quite nicely for me and how I expected it to.

    fig 13

FEEDBACKS

Dr. Charles Sharma gave me feedback on my Contrast art work during the first week, and I sent him a few sketches. I asked him to kindly give me his thoughts on the sketches because they had a unity-like concept because I thought contrast was just about playing with colours, but he corrected me that it is a lot more significant and advised me to continue exploring. I then improved the sketches with but kept the same snowy mountain concept.

And for Balance, I also sent him the design I had already finalised, emphasising the sun and the star, to get his feedback, he then asked me, to ponder the divide between the star and the sun. altogether, my art work was approved.

REFLECTION

 I watched the majority of the lecture video on design principles during the first week, and over the course of the next ten days, I actually learned a lot about these concepts. I've done design before going to college, so I think it will be very helpful working with pressure in the future. I was sick all week, which made it quite challenging for me to do the tasks at hand.

However, as I already indicated, once I start working and become a designer, I'll have to cope with a lot of pressure. Moreover, I learned how to create and maintain a blog through this exercise. Dr. Charles Sharma also taught us that a design principle is what you think it is and that it cannot be described. As a result, we engage in continuous brainstorming to sharpen our creative thinking.