Maharashtra HSC Design & Colour cheat sheet

Seven elements of design: line, shape, form, space, texture, value, colour; these are the raw ingredients a designer manipulates.

Seven principles of design: balance, rhythm, proportion, emphasis, unity, contrast, movement; these are how elements are arranged.

Balance types: symmetrical (mirror across an axis), asymmetrical (equal visual weight from unequal forms), radial (elements radiate from a centre).

Line direction carries meaning: horizontal suggests rest and stability, vertical suggests strength and formality, diagonal suggests action and tension, curve suggests flow.

Shape is two-dimensional and enclosed by a boundary; form is three-dimensional and has volume, mass, and a relationship to light.

Proportion concerns the ratio of parts to whole; the golden ratio is approximately 1:1.618, and the rule of thirds divides a frame into a 3x3 grid with interest at intersections.

Positive space is occupied by the subject; negative space is the ground around it, and equal attention to both strengthens composition.

Rhythm in design is created by repetition, alternation, progression, and radiation of a motif at regular or varied intervals.

Unity is achieved through proximity, repetition, continuation, and alignment; contrast prevents unity from becoming monotony.

Additive primaries are red, green, blue (light); subtractive primaries are cyan, magenta, yellow (pigment/print); traditional artist primaries are red, yellow, blue.

Secondary colours mix two primaries; tertiary colours mix a primary with an adjacent secondary (e.g., red-orange, blue-green).

Complementary colours sit opposite on the colour wheel and neutralize each other when mixed; analogous colours sit adjacent and harmonize.

Split-complementary uses a colour plus the two neighbours of its complement; triad uses three colours evenly spaced; tetrad uses two complementary pairs.

Hue is the colour name; value is lightness or darkness; saturation (chroma) is purity or intensity; tint adds white, shade adds black, tone adds grey.

Munsell system describes colour in three dimensions: hue on a 10-step circle, value 0-10, chroma from neutral outward.

Ostwald system arranges colours by content of white, black, and pure hue, using a double cone and the concept of a full-colour standard.

The CIE system quantifies colour physically using standard observer functions and coordinates such as XYZ, Lab, and LCh.

Simultaneous contrast (Chevreul) means a colour appears changed by its surrounding colour; successive contrast is the afterimage effect.

Warm colours (red, orange, yellow) appear to advance; cool colours (blue, green, violet) appear to recede, affecting spatial balance.

Mixing two complements in unequal proportions yields a dulled or broken colour; equal proportions approach neutral grey or brown.

To darken a colour without dulling it, shift the hue toward the adjacent darker hue on the wheel rather than adding black alone.

Tinting with white raises value but lowers saturation; shading with black lowers value and can shift hue perception toward blue.

Opaque mixing is subtractive: each added pigment removes wavelengths, so mixtures reflect less light and appear darker.

Glazing mixes optically: thin transparent layers allow light to pass through and reflect back, keeping mixtures luminous.

Earth colours (ochre, sienna, umber) are low-chroma and useful for neutralizing without greying too fast.

A colour match is checked under the intended lighting; metamerism occurs when two samples match under one light source but not another.

Scumbling is a thin opaque layer over a dry layer, letting the underlayer partly show; wet-in-wet blends directly on the surface.

Colour wheel mixing is approximate: pigment primaries in practice are closer to cyan, magenta, yellow than to red, yellow, blue.

Pigment provides colour and is dispersed in a binder; the binder determines the medium's drying, gloss, and handling.

Watercolour uses gum arabic binder; it is transparent, re-wettable, and relies on the white of the paper for highlights.

Gouache is watercolour with added opaque white or chalk, giving flat matte coverage suitable for design rendering.

Acrylic uses an acrylic polymer emulsion binder; it dries fast, becomes water-resistant, and can be thinned with water or medium.

Oil paint uses drying oils such as linseed; it dries slowly by oxidation, allows blending, and yellows with age in some oils.

Tempera traditionally uses egg yolk emulsion and dries quickly with a matte, durable finish; poster colour is a gum-based opaque distemper.

Fresco applies pigment in lime plaster; buon fresco is painted on wet lime, fresco secco on dry lime with a binder.

Ink media: Indian ink uses shellac or gum with lamp black and is waterproof; water-soluble dye inks stay re-wettable.

Paper weight is given in gsm; watercolour paper is sized to resist absorption, and surface is described as rough, cold-pressed, or hot-pressed.

Toxic pigments include lead white, cadmium, and vermilion; modern substitutes are titanium white, cadmium-free hues, and synthetic reds.

Contour drawing records edges and boundaries; cross-contour lines describe the form's surface curvature in three dimensions.

Gesture drawing captures movement and mass in a short time, usually 30 seconds to 5 minutes, prioritizing action over detail.

Construction drawing builds a figure or object from simple solids (sphere, cylinder, cube) before adding detail.

Perspective rules: parallel lines converge at a vanishing point on the horizon; one-point uses one VP, two-point uses two, three-point adds a vertical VP.

In two-point perspective, the closer a corner is to the picture plane, the wider the angle between its receding edges.

Foreshortening compresses an object along the line of sight; the axis pointing at the viewer shortens most.

Chiaroscuro models form with light and shadow; the sequence is highlight, halftone, core shadow, reflected light, cast shadow.

Hatching uses parallel lines for value; cross-hatching crosses them; stippling uses dots; hatching density controls apparent tone.

Ellipses in perspective: a circle seen at an angle becomes an ellipse whose minor axis aligns with the receding axis of the plane.

Rule of thirds places key elements near the intersections of a 3x3 grid rather than at the centre.

Visual hierarchy orders elements by size, contrast, colour, isolation, and position so the eye reads the message in a planned sequence.

Leading lines and sight lines direct the viewer's eye toward the focal point; converging lines add depth.

Framing uses foreground elements to enclose the subject and create depth layering: foreground, middle ground, background.

Cropping and the picture edge are active decisions; cutting a form at the edge creates tension and implies space beyond the frame.

Repetition with variation produces rhythm; three is the smallest number that establishes a pattern in a composition.

Figure-ground relationship: a strong composition reads clearly when subject and background are distinguishable in value.

Notan is the study of light-dark balance using only two or three values, useful for testing a composition before rendering.

A thumbnail sketch tests composition cheaply; several variants should be compared before committing to a final layout.

Surface design covers ornament applied to textiles, ceramics, wood, paper, and walls through printing, painting, dyeing, or embossing.

Block printing carves a relief design into wood or linoleum; the raised area takes ink and prints, so the design must be cut in reverse.

Screen printing forces ink through mesh openings; a separate screen is needed for each colour, and registration marks align successive layers.

Batik uses wax resist on cloth; waxed areas resist dye, and crackle lines occur where wax fractures.

Tie-and-dye resists colour by binding cloth; bandhani ties small points for dotted patterns, and leheriya uses diagonal stripes.

Kalamkari is a pen-drawn resist and mordant painted textile tradition of Andhra Pradesh using natural dyes.

Stencil printing requires bridges to hold the floating parts of the design; a stencil with detached islands will not work.

Repeat types: straight repeat (block repeat), half-drop (offset by half a unit vertically), brick, and mirror repeat.

Registration is alignment of successive impressions; misregistration appears as gaps or overlaps at colour boundaries.

A motif is the smallest repeated unit; a pattern is the arrangement of motifs by a rule.

Pattern structures: border, all-over, medallion, diaper (repeating geometric grid), and stripe.

Symmetry operations in ornament: translation (repeat), reflection (mirror), rotation, and glide reflection; these generate the 17 wallpaper groups.

Motif sources in Indian tradition: lotus, paisley (ambi), mango, peacock, elephant, fish, kalash, and creepers (bel, buti, buta).

Buti is a small single motif scattered on a field; buta is a larger single motif; jaal is an all-over net pattern.

Borders anchor a composition and are classed as simple, running, or corner-and-centre schemes.

Ornament should respect material and scale: a motif sized for a saree border will not read on a small ceramic tile.

Geometric ornament relies on grid, circle division, and interlace; Islamic jaali and jali screens use repeating geometric perforation.

Stylization reduces natural forms to essential shape and rhythm, while naturalism retains observed detail.

Craft practice links material, tool, technique, and maker; design decisions follow the material's properties and limits.

Textile crafts: khadi (hand-spun, hand-woven cloth), handloom weaving, bandhani, patola double ikat, kanjivaram silk, and chikan embroidery of Lucknow.

Kalamkari, Madhubani, Warli, Gond, and Pattachitra are named painting traditions with distinct iconography and regional roots.

Clay processes: wedging removes air, throwing forms on the wheel, leather-hard for joining, bisque firing, then glaze firing.

Metal crafts: Bidri ware inlays silver into blackened alloy; dhokra uses lost-wax casting; Meenakari is enamel work.

Wood craft: Channapatna turned lacquered toys, Sankheda lacquer work, and Saharanpur carving.

Bamboo and cane work relies on splitting, bending, and weaving; the node limits bending radius.

Design process: brief, research, ideation, roughs, prototype, testing, refinement, final production, documentation.

Ergonomics and user context govern applied design: dimensions, grip, weight, and cultural use determine form.

Sustainable craft practice considers local material sourcing, low-energy processes, and fair maker economics.

Indus Valley art includes steatite seals with animal motifs and the bronze Dancing Girl; terracotta figurines show early modelling skill.

Mauryan art: Ashokan pillars with lotus-and-animal capitals, and the polished sandstone lion capital of Sarnath.

Buddhist art: stupa form (Sanchi), chaitya halls (Karli), and Gandhara (Greco-Roman influence) versus Mathura (indigenous) sculpture schools.

Gupta period is a classical high point in sculpture and painting; Ajanta murals use fresco-secco-like techniques with natural pigments.

Hindu temple forms: nagara (north, curvilinear shikhara) and dravidian (south, pyramidal vimana with gopuram gateway).

Mughal painting: Akbar's illustrated manuscripts, Jahangir's naturalism, and the fusion of Persian and Indian idioms.

Raja Ravi Varma blended European oil technique with Indian mythological subjects; the Bengal School (Abanindranath Tagore) revived wash technique and Indian imagery.

Modern Indian art: Amrita Sher-Gil's portraiture, the Progressive Artists' Group (Husain, Raza, Souza), and Santiniketan's craft revival under Tagore.

Design education in India traces to the Sir J. J. School of Art (1857) and later the National Institute of Design (1961).

Bauhaus principles: form follows function, unity of art and craft, and systematic study of material, colour, and form.

A design portfolio typically includes a brief, research pages, ideation sketches, process shots, final work, and a written reflection.

Journal pages should be dated and show thinking: thumbnails, colour trials, material tests, and rejected options with reasons.

Presentation mount: keep a consistent margin, align works to a grid, and label with title, medium, size, and date.

Photographing work: use diffuse daylight, avoid flash glare on glossy surfaces, keep the camera parallel to the work, and include a scale reference.

Colour accuracy in documentation depends on neutral white balance and a grey card; screens and printers render colour differently.

Time planning for a practical exam: allocate roughly 10-15 percent to planning, 60-70 percent to making, and 15-20 percent to finishing and cleanup.

Assessment criteria usually weight idea and process alongside finish; a resolved concept with evidence of exploration scores above a polished copy.

Health and safety: ventilate for solvent and fixative use, wear gloves with dyes and mordants, and keep blades and hot tools controlled.

Digital portfolio files should be exported at print resolution (about 300 ppi at final size) with consistent naming and a PDF index.

Colour temperature describes the light source: tungsten is warm (about 2700-3000 K), daylight is cooler (about 5000-6500 K).

Colour rendering index (CRI) measures how faithfully a source shows colours; a low CRI distorts colour matching.

Value scale: a 10-step grey scale from white to black is the standard tool for judging tonal relationships.

A colour scheme is described by its structure - monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split-complementary, triad, tetrad - plus its value and saturation range.

Colour harmony rules of thumb: dominant colour about 60 percent, secondary about 30 percent, accent about 10 percent of area.

Colour blindness: red-green deficiency (protan/deutan) is most common, so designs should not rely on hue alone to carry meaning.

Perceptual colour spaces: HSL and HSV are device-friendly but not perceptually uniform; Lab and LCh are closer to uniform perception.

Cool light on a warm object raises apparent saturation of the object; warm light on warm objects flattens contrast.