Art & Graphic Design The Visual Elements

What is Graphic Design?

Definition of Graphic Design Graphic design is the process and art of combining text and graphics to communicate an effective message in the design of logos, posters, and any other type of visual communication.

It includes packaging of a product e.g. cans, cereal box & water bottles.

It also has brand identity e.g. a set of letterhead, business cards and envelopes.

Design a visual language, a heighten awareness of the way the world looks; i.e. it’s a way of seeing that is different from what is just physically there. Ex: Henri Matisse

Art vs Design Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of Art and Design: design: to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan art: the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects

Main Components of an Artwork Subject: the depicted object(s) Form: visual organization Content: the subject matter

Form & Content Piano Lesson, Henri Matisse, 1916Music Lesson, Henri Matisse, 1917

Elements of Art and Design 1. Line 2. Mass 3. Color 4. Texture 5. shape 6. Space

THE USE OF LINE IN ART & DESIGN Line is a path traced by a moving point. Picasso drawing a centaur in the air with a flashlight

Lines is descriptive. Telling a scene Brushstrokes = vivid, loose and free in spirit Those lines = a point set in Motion

THE USE OF LINE IN ART & DESIGN Picasso Line drawing studies We have drawn lines in color books since we were kids Lines are not strange to us Lines are used widely.

College Textbook Cover for International Business Cover conveys concepts of movement, transparency and the intersection of cultures within international business today.

THE USE OF LINE IN ART & DESIGN Lines can be used to record the borders of forms Blond Waiting, Roy Lichtenstein, 1964 Best Buddies, Keith Haring

THE USE OF LINE IN ART & DESIGN Lines can be used to create depth and texture: a good example of this is in the process of modeling. Self-Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh

Lines: texture From the lines on the trees, people knows that the texture is rough Cross-section of a cylinder marks on the surface Veins on a leaf are lines too. It shows texture

LINE QUALITY Lines can have infinite variety Different lines can create different moods Horizontal lines / Vertical lines / Angular lines / Curved lines Stable Not traditionalLively, emotional

In these 2 pictures, what are the difference in lines? What feeling do those lines give you?

Jittery Make people feel nervous Smooth Make people feel free

THE FUNCTION OF LINE IN ART Lines can be used to convey direction as well as to indicate motion The Biglin Brothers Racing, Thomas Eakins,

Art vs Design – FORM & SPACE Lines form a shape Strokes describe and identify shapes. Outline the contour. Lines define the boundary of the forms & shapes Line drawingPhoto

Form is a visual organization of the artwork. It is the way a thing looks – the shape, proportion, balance, harmony of it’s parts, etc. Art vs Design – FORM & SPACE Even both of them are horses, their forms are different.

Shape is a two-dimensional form. It occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. Boundaries can be created by line, a shift in color, texture, etc. DEFINITION OF SHAPE classical still life / lemonsCubist Still Life, Roy Lichtenstein

Objects - positive shapes. Spaces around objects - negative spaces. FORM (POSITIVE) & BACKGROUND (NEGATIVE SPACE)

Somebody calls it Figure-ground relationship Figure = object & form Ground = background or space At here, what’s FORM (POSITIVE)? what’s background (NEGATIVE SPACE)?

Rubin’s vase FORM (POSITIVE) & BACKGROUND (NEGATIVE SPACE)

an image inspired by Rubin’s Vase FORM (POSITIVE) & BACKGROUND (NEGATIVE SPACE)

POSITIVE SHAPES & NEGATIVE SPACE IN ART Negative Space Illustrations by Noma Bar

POSITIVE SHAPES & NEGATIVE SPACE IN ART An illustration by M.C. Escher

POSITIVE SHAPES & NEGATIVE SPACE IN ART

LAW of Closure: the object is disconnect but our basic instinct would connect together and form a shape. E.g. Those dots are separated by white space. Base on the Law of Closure, we see a big circle. It dominates our perception even though visual information is missing. In other words, Law of closure is the mind that creates a solid object from suggestions of contours and shapes. Even though the form is incomplete: Foreground triangle Background triangle Star shape

POSITIVE SHAPES & NEGATIVE SPACE IN ART What do you see?

POSITIVE SHAPES & NEGATIVE SPACE IN ART A dog sniffing on the ground!! Therefore, well use of positive and negative space. You don’t have to draw a complete closed line.

DEFINITION OF MASS 1 - DimensionWhat’s it? 2 - DimensionWhat’s it? 3 - DimensionMass & Volume

DEFINITION OF MASS 1 - DimensionLines 2 - DimensionShape & Form e.g. painting create from one point of view 3 - DimensionMass & Volume e.g. sculpture Cos of sense of depth Create from some many points of views Change each time we move

DEFINITION OF MASS A Mass is a three-dimensional form that occupies a volume of space. Ex: Mass of clay, the mass of a mountain, etc.

No matter they are Shapes and masses (2D or 3D), they can be roughly divided into two categories: geometric and organic. DEFINITION OF MASS geometricorganic

DEFINITION OF MASS Installation: Henry Moore & Julian Opie The artwork at the back is 2D painting. The heads are geometric shape. The artwork in the front is 3D sculpture. The shape is organic

In 1666 Isaac Newton passed a ray of sunlight through a prism 1)Rays refracted into different colors 2) Rays arranged in the order of the colors of the rainbow 3) What we perceive as color is reflected light rays COLOR

Complimentary Colors: across from each other tend to be more contrast Analogous Colors: next to each other, more harmony COLOR WHEEL

First Steps, Vincent Van Gogh COMPLIMENTARY or ANALOGOUS?

Henry Matisse

ATTRIBUTES OF COLOR Value (v) Relative lightness or darkness of a color. Hue (H) Hue is the pure color. The generic name of the color.

ATTRIBUTES OF COLOR Saturation (s) : it is how bright and dull the color is.

ATTRIBUTES OF COLOR

Primaries: Red, Yellow, Blue Secondaries: a mix of any two primaries. Orange, Green. Tertiaries: a mix of any two secondaries. Printing Primaries CMYK, center is black ink Used in printing Subtractive primaries Onscreen Color RGB, center is white light Used in Computer, TV, monitors Additive primaries

BRAVO warmer cooler WARM AND COLD COLORS

DKNY Ad: “Be Delicious!” by Gabriel Goldberg, 2008

Which box would you like to pick up? “HEAVY” & “LIGHT” COLORS

The Blind Man’s Meal, Pablo Picasso, 1903 (left) Acrobat and Young Harlequin, Pablo Picasso, 1905 (right) Exercise #1

Exercise #2

Exercise #3