Elements and Principles of Design, Ornament and Lettering
Design questions ask you to name the element or principle at work and to justify a layout choice.
Elements
Line, shape, form, space (positive and negative), value, colour and texture. Space is the one candidates forget: the shape of the gap is as designed as the shape of the object.
Principles
Balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial), contrast, emphasis, movement, rhythm through repetition, proportion and scale, unity with variety. Rhythm is repetition with variation; a border repeating an identical motif at identical spacing reads as pattern, not rhythm.
Ornament
Motifs include the paisley (ambi), lotus, rosette, arabesque, jaali and chaitya arch. Placement types are border, corner, medallion, all-over repeat, half-drop and brick repeat. Indian ornament conventionally fills borders and corners while leaving the field legible.
Lettering
Learn the anatomy: baseline, cap height, x-height, ascender, descender, stem, bowl, counter, serif and terminal. Roman capitals are built on a square containing a circle; curved strokes overshoot slightly so they do not look smaller than straight ones. Spacing is optical, not mechanical: the area between letters should look equal, so tight-sided pairs such as H–I need room while open pairs like A–V tuck closer. In Devanagari, letters hang from a continuous headstroke (shirorekha) and vertical stress carries the rhythm.
Worked example
Laying out a title: draw baseline and cap height, letter the whole word lightly, then judge the gaps by squinting. If H–I looks crowded, widen it; if A–V looks gappy, close it. Consistent counter size is what makes a word look even.
Traps
Equal spacing mistaken for even spacing; a drifting baseline; lettering too large for the format; ornament competing with the message; naming a principle without pointing to the evidence.