Elements of Design
Name the seven elements of design.
Colour, line, shape, value, form, texture, and space.
Name the seven principles of design.
Proportion, contrast, gradation, repetition, emphasis, movement, balance (composition).
These colors are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, like blue-green or red-violet.
Tertiary colors
One of the most basic and effective compositional techniques. By dividing your canvas into a 3x3 grid, you place key elements along the lines or at their intersections, creating a balanced and dynamic composition. Used in photography, painting, graphic design, and web design to create visual interest and avoid static or boring compositions.
The rule of thirds
The human sense of touch is closely connected to our visual perception, which is why one certain element can play such a significant role in design. Even when we look at a 2D design, we feel this element mentally. What is this element?
Texture
What element of design refers to the range of lightness or darkness of a color, and plays a crucial role in creating contrast, depth, and emphasis within a composition?
Value
The distribution of visual weight within a composition, creating a sense of stability and equilibrium, ensuring the design doesn’t feel too heavy or too light on one side. Can be symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial.
Balance (composition)
This colour scheme contains colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, like red and green or blue and orange. When used together, they create a high-contrast, vibrant look that makes each color pop!
Complementary
A three dimensional piece of art which lifts off of its wall, but can only be observed around a curve of <360 degrees.
High relief
The human eye can distinguish over 10 million different colors, yet one is the rarest color in nature. This is why it tends to stand out when used in design! What is this colour?
Blue
When an artist uses zero saturation of colour, one is left with what range of value?
The greyscale
A principle which highlights a particular part of a design to make it stand out as the focal point. This can be done using contrast, color, size, placement, or other design elements.
Emphasis
Colours can have a psychological impact on both humans and animals, with one colour in general being primarily known to increase ones energy levels and heartbeat.
Red
A design and artistic technique that uses diagonal lines to create a balanced and dynamic layout. It's based on the mathematical concept of the Golden Ratio, which is associated with visually pleasing proportions.
The golden triangles.
The first thing our brains process when looking at a design is the following element, even before we recognize shapes or colors. This is why this element is so important for creating structure and guiding the viewer’s eye in a composition. What is this element of design?
Line
This element of design is the continuous mark made on a surface, which can vary in width, length, direction, or curvature. It can also define shapes and contours.
Line
Which element of design refers to the relative size and scale of different elements within a composition, and ensures that elements are visually harmonious and appropriately sized in relation to each other?
Proportion
These colors go together naturally and are easy on the eyes, making them perfect for designs that feel cohesive due to their proximity on the colour wheel.
Analogous
Sculptures in the round, often made with stone or marble, with a focus on personality, most commonly depicting from the sternum upwards.
Busts
One certain colour scheme is often used in logos and marketing to grab attention. Think about brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi or superheroes.
Primary colours.
This design element involves the selection and placement of shapes and forms within a composition, often to create a sense of a separate dimensional plane.
Space
Not a common principle of design, which organizes the elements of design cohesively to create a sense of unity.
Harmony
A numeric ratio of colour distribution, consisting of three main colours, acting as a guideline for your palette.
The 60-30-10 (60% of the dominant color, 30% of a secondary color, and 10% of an accent color)
When an artist cognitively arranges the elements of design to control and guide the viewers experience through the art.
Eye movement or visual flow.
This composition is often connected to the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones (e.g., 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.). If you draw a square whose sides are the lengths of Fibonacci numbers and then draw quarter circles within each square, the resulting shape forms which composition?
The golden spiral.