DESIGN PRINCIPLES ✦ TASK 1: EXPLORATION ✦

Design Principle Task 1: Exploration

February 10, 2024

5.2.2024 - 19.2.2024 (Week 1 - Week 3)

Liu zi yu / 0367533 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

Design Principle

Task 1 Exploration

1.Lecture summary

    Week 1:  The teacher explained to us the expectations and outline of each project this semester, and then we watched the videos sent by the teacher in the team to learn different design principles.

Week 2:  This week, the teacher asked me to watch videos posted on the team to learn and understand different design principles, and then write down my understanding and knowledge of each design principle.

2. Design Principles

Balance

• Balance refers to the distribution of visual weight in a design work.

• Visual balance of elements makes the entire image appear balanced

• Balance is also divided into two types, one is symmetrical and the other is asymmetrical.

Symmetrical balance

  • Elements on both sides of a central axis (horizontal or vertical) are arranged equally, resulting in   bilateral balance.

  • Radial balance is achieved by evenly arranging elements around a center point.

 

The Taj Mahal in the picture is a typical symmetrical balance.

asymmetrical balance

   • Uneven visual weight on each side of the composition.

   • Asymmetric balance provides more visual variety, although it may be more difficult to achieve because the relationships between elements are more complex.

Yesterday's Clear Sky movie poster

Emphasis

• Emphasis means that the artist uses the dominant objects in the work to visually tell people what the work wants to express by using prominent colors and layout sizes.
• Emphasis is used to create dominance and focus in a design work.
• Various elements can be used to create emphasis, such as colour, shapes or value, to achieve dominance.

CONTRAST

• Contrast is the juxtaposition of strongly dissimilar elements.
• Without contrast, visual experience would be monotonous.
• Contrast can provide visual interest, emphasize a point and express
• Contrast can also use the relativity of colors to contrast and impact human vision.

Gestalt theory

• Gestalt principles or laws are rules that describe how the human eye
• perceives visual elements.
• These principles aim to show how complex scenes can be reduced to more simple shapes.
• They also aim to explain how the eyes perceive the shapes as a single, united form rather than the separate simpler elements involved.

similarity principle

• The human eye tends to see similar elements in a design as a complete picture, shape, or group, even if the elements are separate.

• The brain seems to make connections between elements of similar nature.

continuation principle

• The human eye follows the paths, lines, and curves of a design, preferring to see a continuous flow of visual elements rather than separate objects.

closure principle

• The human eye prefers to see complete shapes. If visual elements are incomplete, users can perceive the complete shape by filling in the missing visual information.

The principle of proximity

• The process of ensuring that related design elements come together. Any unrelated items should be kept separate. Close proximity indicates that items are connected or related to each other and become a visual unit that helps organize or give structure to the layout.

Figure/Ground Principle

• Instinctively perceive whether an object is in the foreground or background. They either stand out in front (figure) or recede to the back (ground).

The laws of symmetry and order

• This law states that elements that are symmetrical to each other tend to be seen as a unified group. Similar to the law of similarity, this rule states that objects that are symmetrical to each other are more likely to be grouped together than objects that are asymmetrical to each other.

Repeat

pattern and rhythm

• Repetition can enliven a design.

• The repetition of design elements creates rhythm and pattern in the work.

• Patterns add visual stimulation by adding surface interest.

Sports

Movement is the way design guides the eye through visual composition. Motion and movement occur when objects move within a visual image. Movement can arise from the shapes, forms, lines and curves used. It can also be described by hierarchy and alignment.

The following poster is very sporty：

Harmony

Harmony involves choosing the right elements with the same characteristics, diversity is needed in harmony otherwise it becomes monotonous. Harmony also refers to elements complementing each other – whether of the same theme or style. Here is a representative poster I found:

Unite

Definition: Unity refers to the repetition of certain design elements throughout a design. Unity occurs when these elements are arranged in a way that brings unity, creating a specific theme. They can also be done with scaling and scaling.

Symbol

A symbol, shape, or object used to represent something. In design, symbols are used to convey information or messages that may amount to sentences or even paragraphs. Symbols are divided into graphical representations and non-graphical representations. We will study graphic symbols, such as pictorial symbols, abstract symbols, arbitrary symbols, and other concrete representations.

Text and Images

Whether it is print or digital design, images are an important part of the design and if used correctly, it allows the audience to connect with the concept or brand. It is crucial to choose wording that complements the image and they go hand in hand to achieve good balance and hierarchy in the design. Typography is the design and arrangement of text to ensure that the message is conveyed.

3.UNSDG goals and artwork

Among the seventeen themes I chose Goal 6. Ensure water and sanitation are available and sustainably managed for all.

Goal 6. Ensure water and sanitation are available and managed sustainably for all. Brief description:    One issue we must be aware of is the relationship between good ecosystems and human health. Most of Earth's freshwater resources have been degraded due to unsustainable extraction, pollution, climate change, eutrophication pollution (eutrophication), and other human activities. The final result of humans' improper use and management of freshwater resources is: decline in water quality and insufficient freshwater resources for use. Protecting and enhancing the integrity of freshwater lakes, rivers, wetlands and groundwater ecosystems is critical to ensuring that contaminants and pathogens do not contaminate drinking water . Operating freshwater ecosystems have many self-regulating mechanisms that naturally purify drinking water (such as riparian buffers that absorb stormwater runoff). The development of sanitation infrastructure is critical to protecting freshwater resources from eutrophication. Eutrophication is a huge challenge to operating freshwater ecosystems. Balancing the relationship between maintaining natural assets and providing ecosystem services, developing and increasing productivity is key to ensuring a sustainable future for drinking water resources.

Here are the artworks I chose to represent the protection of water resources and the environment:

The writer of this artwork is named Benjamin, who creates a series of works about protecting the marine environment.

Benjamin also hopes that people who see his work will do three things today:

• Buy yourself an inexpensive, reusable water bottle or thermos.
• Make a promise: When the next plastic product (plastic bag, straw) comes to you, think about whether you want to accept it.
• Understand some of the disadvantages of plastic pollution and convey this knowledge to other friends around you.

    Click to learn more about Benjamin's works in the same series.

Reason Why I Chose This Artwork

First of all, I chose this topic because I think people should pay attention to and protect water resources and the environment now. And I chose this work because the author of this work is Benjamin, and I have the same philosophy as him. The design principles found in the artwork for my painting are the design principles of movement, color contrast, Asymmetrical balanced design.

motion design principles：

The author uses plastic bottles to create the flowing texture of sea water, showing the form of waves. The movements of the model in the pile of plastic bottles are also designed to look like asking for help, just like the sea water is full of plastic bottles slowly swallowing up marine life after not caring for the environment.

principle of color contrast

The author uses plastic bottles of different colors and the colors on the model to form a sharp contrast, placing the limited edition yellow mermaid in the relatively dim blue plastic bottle to stand out.

Asymmetrical balanced design

In addition, I think this picture also has a bit of asymmetrical balance design. Although it is not symmetrical at first glance, the whole picture is relatively balanced.

Extracurricular Reading

• The value of interaction designers
• In Internet design work, the main task of the interaction designer is to design a complete user operation process and user interface, and at the same time ensure that the designed operation process and user interface conform to the user's cognitive model, thereby reducing the user's errors in the process of using the product. The operation task fails due to confusion.
• Interaction designers undertake the roles of upstream (product managers) and downstream (visual designers), and their value is reflected in two aspects: on the one hand, the value is reflected in the team work process, and on the other hand, in the user experience improvement work value expression.
• The value reflected in the team work process is that the product manager's needs come from the iteration of product business, user demands and the product's own functions. Product managers translate business goals into product goals and propose product requirements according to the pace of development. After the product manager puts forward product requirements, the requirements review will begin. After that, the interaction designer begins to participate. What the interaction designer needs to do at this stage mainly includes interaction design and interaction review.

Emotional design

Emotion is a physiological reaction of people's external things acting on themselves, and is determined by people's needs and expectations. When a person's certain needs and expectations are met, emotions such as pleasure and joy will occur; otherwise, emotions such as distress and disgust will occur.

Whether users can have pleasant emotions when using the product? Such delicate emotional design mostly requires visual designers and interaction designers to complete it together. Common emotional designs can start from expressions, copywriting, illustrations and animations.

As shown in the figure below, when users use the Chrome browser, a hidden "Easter egg" operation will appear on the drop-down page. The user can close the current page or create a new window by swiping left or right.

Extracurricular Reading

4.Feedback

Week 1 :

In the first week, the teacher just briefly told all of us online what we were going to do this semester.

Week 2 :

In the second week, I was a little confused about what to do. The teacher told me the specific homework requirements. After that, I showed the teacher the artwork I chose. The teacher asked me to go back and watch the video carefully and explain the artwork I chose.

5.Reflection

I learned a lot of useful design principles through the teacher’s teaching videos, and fully understood each design principle. I think these design principles can be well applied to my design works in the future. In addition to design works, I also have a good understanding of each design principle. It became easier for me to interpret the work of other artists and learn from it.