DESIGN PRINCIPLES - WEEK 1: CONTRAST & GESTALT

DESIGN PRINCIPLEs - WEEK 1

1, April 2021

Mariam Ayman Mohamed 0347638 BDCM

Design Principles - Ms. Maria

Week 1 Exercise - Gestalt & Contrast

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LECTURES

Lectures notes 

Week 1 -  Gestalt & Contrast

For our first week we met our lecturer Ms. Maria and she briefed for us our module and instructions and what we should do throughout the 14 weeks.

For lecture one Ms. Jinchi talked about elements of design which are (Line, Shapes, Space, Texture and Colour) They work together to be an outcome.

She taught us also the difference between ART & DESIGN.

Any design made from individual ELEMENTS combined together which are (Dot, Line, Shape, Form, color, texture, Value, Space)

Elements of Design

Figure 1 Elements of design

Visual Research

Principle of design When you place different elements together.

1-Balance it has 3 types (symmetrical, Asymmetrical and Radial )

Figure 2 Principle of design Symmetrical balance 

Figure 3 Principle of design Asymmetrical balance 

Figure 4 Principle of design Radial Balance

2-Emphasis ( Contrast )

Figure 5 Principle of design Emphasis

3-Repetition

Figure 6 Principle of design Repetition

4-Movement ( Pattern, Rhythm) 

Figure 7 Principle of design Movement

5-Harmony& Unity

Figure 8 Principle of design Harmony and unity

Principle of Contrast

Figure 9 Contrast

Gestalt theory

She taught us about (Gestalt theory) as well, simply it means how people Perceive the world around them and it's applicable when studying design. 

She explained also about Gestalt Theory Principles which are;

1-Figure-ground - what is in the foreground and background

Figure 10 Gestalt Theory- Figure-ground

2-Similarity 

Figure 11 Gestalt Theory- Similarity

3-Proximity 

Figure 12 Gestalt Theory- Proximity 

4-Continuity

Figure 13 Gestalt Theory- Continuity 

5-Closure

Figure 14 Gestalt Theory- Closure

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INSTRUCTIONS

Exercises: Gestalt & Contrast

1- We are asked to make Research about contrast and gestalt and create one design for each.

After going through the principles of design, we focused first into the principle of contrast.

Contrast creates visual excitement and add interest to the work mainly it refers to differences in values, colours, textures, shapes.

Visual Research

Figure 15 Contrast Visual Research 

Then we moved into Gestalt Theory ,This is a theory about how people perceive the world around them. 

Figure 16 Gestalt Visual Research 

This week’s exercise consisted of 2 parts actually we asked to do design for both contrast and gestalt

Contrast

Idea Exploration

We were tasked to come up with an artwork based on the design principle of contrast. we had to use black and white paper and to cut them to build up the design. I started by looking for some inspiration for more than 1 design and it ended with me with those idea sketches 

I drew up a sketch and got feedback from Miss Maria. 

Figure 17 Contrast idea sketches and development

Figure 18 Contrast idea sketches and development

Out of the 6 ideas for Contrast , I liked the Allien the most. Therefore I further explored the idea with the paper cuts 

I reversed the background for the Allien with black instead of white as miss Maria advised me and it’s actually became more visible and better.

Figure 19 Contrast final design, Allien

Feedback 1

Miss Maria told me Good job , please proceed with the submission

Gestalt 

I did more than one idea using photoshop and sketching and here is my ideas

Idea Exploration

For figure 20 I made sketch for half moon half deer.

For figure 21 I made another idea which is deer with human faces with different generations in the deer horns.

The third idea is the guitar with bitten apple from both sides, I made two different designs for the hand of the guitar .

Figure 20 gestalt sketch half moon half deer

Figure 21 deer with human faces with different generations 

Figure 22 guitar and bitten apple

Figure 23 guitar and bitten apple

Feedback 2

Out of the 5 ideas for Gestalt , Miss Maria and I, liked the half guitar half apple the most figure 1.7 design for Therefore I further explored the idea with the paper cuts 

Figure 24 Final design with paper cuts

Figure 25 Final design with paper cuts

Feedback 3

Ms. Maria finds my design for Contrast interesting she told me that all is good and i did good job, She advised me with the contrast drawing to reverse the colours for the background and the Allien so it could be more clear and visible, she liked the Allien design and the guitar design figure 1.7
and she told me the most important for contrast is to have that significant comparison and number 1&2 full-filled the expectation , so i chose the 1st design ( Allien ). 

As for Gestalt Design , During my consultation with Miss Maria, she mentioned that the design concept for contrast was good.

she liked Figure 1.7 the most

she said "Good job"

Final Artworks in PDF

Figure 26 Final artworks outcome pdf

Reflection

Although I was familiar with the elements and principles of design because of my foundation year i took the same module before ,but during this week I got additional knowledge regarding contrast and gestalt theories i wouldn’t knew them before in foundation its more general than this module.
I found the gestalt theory very challenging for me ,at the end of the day I am happy and satisfied with the outcome and miss Maria's feedback about my work.