Elements and Principles of Design
What this domain tests
You must name the elements, apply the principles to a described composition, and justify a layout decision in design vocabulary rather than in vague praise.
The elements (the ingredients)
- Line - length, direction, character; it directs the eye.
- Shape - a flat enclosed area, geometric or organic.
- Form - three-dimensional shape implied by shading or perspective.
- Value - the lightness or darkness of a tone.
- Colour - hue, value and intensity together.
- Texture - actual surface, or simulated visual texture.
- Space - positive and negative, shallow or deep.
The principles (how the ingredients are arranged)
Balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial), rhythm and repetition, emphasis or focal point, proportion and scale, contrast, harmony and unity, variety, movement, pattern. The standard exam judgement is unity with variety: too much unity is dull, too much variety is chaos.
Worked example
A square poster places a large orange circle exactly at the centre and a small black text block at the bottom-left. Asked to improve it: the centred circle is static and the text hangs loose. Move the circle up and right along a diagonal, enlarge the text block slightly and align it to the same diagonal. The unequal masses now balance around the visual centre - asymmetrical balance - and the diagonal supplies movement.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling colour or texture a principle; they are elements.
- Writing balance when you mean symmetry; symmetry is only one kind of balance.
- Ignoring negative space, which is part of the composition.
- Describing what you see without naming the principle or its effect.