Here is my presentation on the mini art school chapter from "White Space is not you enemy"

1. Mini Art School
the Elements, Principles & Theories of Design
By: Gemma Cocomello

2. In This Lesson
 7 elements of design
 6 principles of good design
 4 laws of Gestalt theory

3. How it can help
 Vocabulary to talk about what we see in our
visual culture
 Creates more effective visual messages
 Design professionals don’t need to know how to
draw (many can’t)

4. Element #1- Space
 Positive & negative space
 Positive space is what’s filled
 Negative space is not your enemy
 Space is a requirement

6. Element#2- Line
 Primary tool
 First graphic marks humans make
 May be straight, angular, curvy, thick or thin
 Illustrations drawn within lines are called “line
art”
 Associated with movement and eye flow

7. Element#3- Shape/Form
 Layout are mostly rectangle
 Inorganic and organic
 Inorganic are precisely geometric (perfect
cirlces, squares, triangles, etc)
 Organic are more natural
 Shapes can trigger instant recognition

9. Element#4- Size/Scale
 Important for composing layouts
 Can shout with importance or whisper
 Large headlines vs. small advertisement

10. Element#5- Color
 Most powerful communication tool
 Draws attention
 Evokes emotion

12. Element#6- Texture
 Illusions (2D, 3D, depth, dimensions)
 Paper itself
 Visual impression
 Patterns

14. Element#7- Value
 Tones of light,dark and in between
 Grayscale
 Use light or dark tones to highlight one thing
or de-emphasize another
 Black, white and gray are useful for giving the
sense of 3D in 2D and give color when you
can’t use color

17. 1. Have you ever been guilty of mixing
colors/textures/patterns that did not go
well together?
2. Share your artistic/design pet peeves.
3. Name or show some examples of when
combining black and white with color work.

18. Principle#1- Focal Point/Empahis
 Center of visual interest (CVI)
 Rule #1- Have one
 Rule#2- One per screen, page, story, or ad
 Can be anything, as long as it’s the most eye
catching piece of the visual information

19. Golden Proportion
 Ratio 1:1.618
 Also called the divine proportion or the golden
ratio
 Compositional grid suggesting asymmetrical
placement
 When we divide a line into two parts so that the
longer part divided by the smaller part is equal to
the whole length divided by the longer part.
 Artists and designers like this due to its production
of visual appeal

20. Rule of Thirds
 Simpler than the golden proportion
 3X3 gird that suggests layout placement
 Divides the layout into evenly spaced 3X3
grids, the focal point goes on one of the four
gridline intersections

22. Principle#2- Contrast
 Great deal of flexibility
 Limitless ways to achieve it
 Great way to avoid visual boredom

23. Principle#3- Balance
 Visually balanced
 Radial balance
 Symmetrical balance
 Asymmetrical balance

25. Principle#4- Movement
 Good design controls the eye’s flow
 Want the eye to move across the layout
 Lines create movements and different linear
movements communicate different symbolic
messages
 Horizontal: left to right or right to left
 Vertical: Stability or upward movements
 Diagonal: Exciting dynamic movement

27. Principle#5-Rhythm/Pattern
 In graphic design rhythmic movement has to do
with repeating items strategically
 Grouping several photos establishes a rhythm
 Repeating fonts generates a rhythm
 Visual sense of togetherness
 Helps lead the eye from one thing to another

29. Principle#6-Unity
 All parts of the design that work together
 Consistency
 Oneness
 Visually unified if different parts have links or
relationships to one another

32. Gestalt Theory
 20th century German psychologists studied how
the human brain perceives objects
 Discovered that the brain automatically
simplifies, arranges and orders objects the
eyes see
 Specific patterns of perception emerged from
the research.
 Became the Gestalt Laws

33. Law#1-Proximity
 Objects close together belong to the same
group
 Objects in the same direction are art of the
same group (Common Fate)
 To avoid a busy cluttered layout

34. Law#2- Similarity
 Group things with similar properties (color,
shapes,etc)
 In layout we can use similarity to create order
and organization through unity

35. Law#3- Continuity
 Our minds will continue a pattern beyond its
ending points
 Adds sense of direction and movement

36. Law#4- Closure
 Mentally filling in the gaps to complete a
perceived shape
 Idea of designing with only a part but having
the viewer perceive the whole.

37. Questions
 Find a web age, advertisement, etc that you feel passes
the lessons elements and principles. Or find one that
does not.
 Find and example that would pass the Gestalt theory

38. School’s Out!!!