ACTIVITY 2 from WEEK 5 :12 March 2014
Dr. Jamal ask us to choose any 2 principles of design and discuss in blog. There are many types of principles of design :
Last week class Dr Jamal already discuss contrast, unity, and repetition/consistency. So here Im going to discuss Balance, Rhythm or Harmony, Emphasis and White Space
Last week class Dr Jamal already discuss contrast, unity, and repetition/consistency. So here Im going to discuss Balance, Rhythm or Harmony, Emphasis and White Space
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Balance
Parts of the design are equally distributed to create a sense of stability.
There can be physical as well as visual balance. There are 5 types:
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Rhythm or Harmony
Repeated use of line, shape, color, texture or pattern. There are 4 Types:
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White Space These are the spaces not occupied with text, images or other visual elements. But it doesn’t mean that negative spaces are all white in color. It refers to a SPACE regardless if it is white or not. There are two types of white spaces. 1.Active White Space: Space intentionally left blank for a better structure and layout. It also gives emphasis to the content area. It leads a reader from one element to another. 2.Passive White Space: Empty space around the outside of the page or blank areas inside the content which is the by product of the layout process. Reason use white space. a. White Spaces Attract the Eyes. Consider the poster below. This is a poster used by a group of young people to boycott USA products. But the purpose of the ad doesn’t matter here. It is the design that matters. With the use of a plain background, it attracts those who could see it even in a distance. Usually designer use white color to attract the eyes. It also creates a clean and relaxing visual effect. b. Used to Create a Balanced and Harmonious Layout. Spaces create a balance in your output. Without white spaces, your design or the texts you use will seem to create unsteadiness in the eyes. Imagine reading a magazine or an advertisement with no spaces between letters and images. You wouldn’t want to read that anymore! These spaces could also show the relationship of one element to another. Look at the layout below. c. Improves Readability. We can observe that books and other printed materials always have white spaces in order to allow the reader to read and understand the text well. The same is true with online reading and designing. A research shows that more white spaces give more reading comprehension. d. Gives Focus and Emphasis to an Object. This uses a generous white space for emphasis. Another way of doing that is to use white or other colors as a border for your pictures so that the viewer will look inside the border, thus emphasizing your subject. e. Directs a Viewer’s Eye. Eye flow is very important. The use of white space directs the reader or the viewer as to where he could view next. Consider the picture below. It used a huge space in order for the reader to look directly into the text. This is catchy for anyone would be curious as to what the long vertical line of words is trying to say. f. Acts as a Separator. It separates unrelated elements in the design.Take for example the magazine layout below. It uses white space thus separating the images from each other and giving emphasis to the pictures.It also separates the images from the black background used by the artist. |