Project Description
In this project, we were asked to explore how the elements and principles of design are used as compositional and communicative tools. We were asked to explore and create strategies for conveying meaning and intentional experiences in design work. Through this project, I had to illustrate complex ideas using essential elements such as Shape and Line activated by experiments through principle choices such as scale, symmetry, repetition and rhythm. In the end, I created a design, one digital and one analog, the analog having a black background and the digital having a white.
Research
Template Making
These were the templates I made to start this project:
Not everything always worked out as planned, and my work station got a little messy, but that is what designing is about right? Sometimes things have to be messy to get to where you want to go.
Inspiration
https://artofficialintel.com/principles.html
I was most inspired by the principles harmony, pattern, movement, and balance. I was really drawn to these because of the way they made me feel. I felt calm, content and inspired when looking at designs that involved these principles. As a result, I noticed that I incorporated these principles in my designs the most, even unintentionally.
Iterations
Analog Sketching
First, I freehanded some of my ideas on a scrap piece of paper to see how each shape fit together. I think this was a good transition period for when I actually started drawing on my tracing paper.
Next, I sketched out different compositions on my tracing paper and really just focused on what I thought looked aesthetically pleasing. I did not specifically focus on trying to abide by the principles, but I wish I would have paid attention to them a little more in this step.
I personally thought the circles were the hardest to come up with and I didn’t like those compositions as well as the squares and triangles. I am a perfectionist, so I think working with straight lines instead of curved is more my style.
From this step, I learned that rapid iteration is very enjoyable! But, I also realized that I worry too much about making things look “perfect” in this step, so I definitely need to work on just letting things go and see how they play out. I hope to get better at that as the project progresses.
Digital Sketching
This step was the hardest to catch on to, but I ended up really enjoying it. It was difficult to learn the software because I do not have any experience with these programs, but once I started to dive in and experiment, it got a lot better.
I loved the ease and quickness of digital sketching, I could easily color a shape by a click of a button. This allowed me to make more compositions in less time than analog, which is the main reason I liked this method. I did have some difficulty with making the triangles so they all aren’t properly positioned or the correct size, but I think those finer details will get better once I am more experienced with the software. I am really excited to play around with Vectornator and get better and faster with the controls.
Analog Part 2
In this step, I added shading and started refining different compositions to make them look more like a specific principle of design. I enjoyed trying to reconstruct and add to these sketches to make them better and more fitting to the assignment. I also added the composition’s corresponding principle and a word that describes my feelings towards the design (this is explained under “Meaning” below).
This part was my favorite. I loved seeing these designs come to life by simply adding a little shading and contrast.
Digital Part 2
In this step, I narrowed down my two favorite compositions from each shape and placed them into one template. I also added their corresponding principles.
After the critique and getting feedback, I realized some little details about my designs that needed to be fixed: I needed to clean up some edges, make correctly sized triangles, and rotate some shapes to make it look more clean.
Production
Final Product Sketching
I did some more loose sketching to further develop a design I did in analog, and then I also started experimenting in the digital platform to see what my designs would look like without the outlines of the shapes.
I thought it was interesting–especially in digital–how much my designs changed by simply taking away the strokes of the shapes. It was really captivating to see how combining a series of one shape could transform into other shapes.
Final Product Crafting
I decided to do both analog but decided I liked the white background better as a digital composition.
Final
Principle: Movement
Feeling: Conflicted
ANALOG:
DIGITAL:
Meaning of Work
“Conflicted”: In this composition, I feel conflicted. I see these triangles as “arrows” pointing me where to go. My eyes move along the black “arrows” but also move back down the white. This is kind of like in life when we are presented with two paths and don’t know which one to take, maybe one path is the path following your heart and the other is following your head.
Overall, I am obsessed with the messages and feelings I get when looking at these designs, and am already starting to look at the world through the principles.
View Final Project at Shape Grammar