Basic Design Principles - K. S. Wildermann.pdf - grafika & design - bahor

BASIC

DESIGN

PRINCIPLES

 2003 K S Wildermann

[This version dated 15 April, 2003 supersedes previous ones]

This document aims to provide very basic information related to design, to help put the

novice on the right track. Design students could spend a full year just to grasp the theory of

design. So, you can imagine how much material could be written. If anything, this document

is merely a sketch and, therefore, will not turn you into an award-winning designer.

In order to keep it slim, I have excluded several important pieces of information. These can

be found in my tips thread in the General Swish Help forum ( http://www.swish-

tutorials.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=8030&s=aceefe888a4b3da9733b115ac6bd3a8b) .

Our slant is towards web site design. Before we plunge into that subject, we need to have

some foundation work; and this is catered for in the first two parts.

My appreciation to –

Ms Lisa Abke for providing the logos of a few well known companies

Mr John Clark for pictures of groups of people

email: wildermann@swish-tutorials.com

This document was prepared especially for you. It may not be distributed nor sold.

Part I

GENERAL

In everything we create, choose only one master, Nature

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Design is subjective

Whether a design is good or bad, it is in the eyes of the beholder. As with music and

literature, our taste for design is very much dictated by the culture we belong to, and our

environment, upbringing, and training. In this short discussion, we shall confine ourselves to

what is generally accepted as good design practice from a Western viewpoint. The reason for

the choice of this perspective is simply that most, if not all, readers would either be from the

West or have been schooled in the Western system of education and exposed to the Western

culture.

Colours, shapes and textures

Design involves three elements – colours, shapes and textures. All three must be present,

otherwise there would be no design to speak of. Where is line, you might ask. Line is

included in shape, as shapes are defined or delineated by, or composed of, lines. As these

three elements are critical, let us take a look at how we employ them in our design.

Colours

The study of colours is a science in itself. Discussing it in detail would fill volumes and is

beyond both the scope of this discussion as well as of my limited knowledge. For example,

colours can be turned pure, cold and warm, depending on the time of day and the source of

sunlight. This is important for Interior Designers to know.

Colours can affect our mood or psyche subtly. Red, for example, is supposed to help to whet

our appetite. That is why tablecloths in restaurants are traditionally red or, at least, have the

colour as the dominant one. It also signifies anger and danger. Blue helps us to feel relaxed; it

promotes calmness and harmony. Yellow is refreshing; it signifies happiness, and promotes

activities in which we use our power of reasoning. Of course, yellow is also associated with

cowardice. Green is soothing – to our eyes and psyche. That is why Nature gives us plenty of

it in the form of forests. Too bad we are decimating our forests like there is no tomorrow.

How do we use colours?

To start with, we need a colour wheel. It can be obtained from good stationery shops or shops

selling art materials.

A typical colour wheel looks like the illustration above. It contains twelve colours, which

vary continuously. Each of these colours can have millions of shades.

The main or primary colours are indicated in red. They are red, yellow and blue, although in

the modern sense there are four, green being the fourth. Incidentally, black and white are also

colours, but they are usually not considered so by the layman.

You can create your own wheel with additional colours. For example, you can add four more

between, say, yellow (Y) and yellow-green (YG) by having them in the following proportions

(in percentage) – 80Y20YG, 60Y40YG, 40Y60YG, 20Y80YG.

The more shades you have, the easier it will be for you to determine which colour matches or

contrasts with which.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Colours diametrically opposite each other on the wheel (Fig A) complement one another.

They should not be used in the same amount, that is to say, each occupying 50% of a given

area; rather, one should be used on most of the area, while the other is used a little, just to set

off the overall effect.

Any three or four colours adjacent to each other (Fig B) are harmonious. We can see this

happening in Nature, for example, yellow flowers amid green leaves. If we do not know how

to match colours, going this path is the safest thing to do.

Fig C illustrates any three colours separated by a third. Choosing any set creates relationships

based on colour purity and makes for a well-balanced design. However, we do not have to

use all three colours. Using two will suffice in many cases. Whether we use two or all three,

one should be the dominant colour, or, occupying most of the space.

Take a look at Nature, and we can see excellent examples of good colour combinations. We

note the colours of flowers on leaves supported by branches and trunk which sprouts out of

the soil; of seawater, beaches, and rock outcrops; and so on.

As a point of interest, the genius Leonardo daVinci advised to choose only one master in

anything we create, Nature.

Shapes

Using of shapes of different sizes and types

can help to make for an interesting design.

One must not go overboard, however. A

page still can look nice even with only two

types of shapes, say, square and rectangle;

however, we ought to vary their sizes and

positions.

On the right are two sample pages. The left

page is clinically clean and precise, but it is

boring due to the squares being in the same

size and the way they are arranged. On the right page, we have shapes of different sizes that

are positioned to divide the area occupied by copy to present a balanced look. Notice how

much more interesting, lively, warm it is. If the left page is a group of soldiers marching in a

drill, the right page is a fun-filled party in progress.

There are other ways we can use shapes on our

pages as illustrated by the two sample pages on

the left. The left page has its background divided

into two vertically, so that what we see are five

shapes. Five? – yes, the page itself and the area

covered by the text are shapes, too. On the right

page, the text is formatted to assume shapes, an

upended triangle and a circle.

In photography and painting, we are taught to have the horizon about ⅔ down our frame or

canvas. We ought to bear in mind, though, that such a rule should not be followed to the letter

T. It applies if we paint or photograph, say, a scene from ground level. Take a picture of, say,

part of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the rule does not apply anymore. The rule

can work well for our web page if we want to divide it into two horizontally.

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