Creating clear, accessible visual messages is something I strive to do with my process.
Plane and Mass
I don’t normally play with plane and mass unless with text, if I’m creating a drop shadow. I haven’t had enough experience to play with the dimensions of the design I create.
Surface Activity
Textures and patterns I stay away from as well, when done right they can look good but they seem very time consuming and you have to pay close attention to detail.
Static vs. Dynamic
We talked about this last week in trying to figure out what makes something static or dynamic. It all comes down to the proportions of positive and negative. The picture plane is already flat, and movement and depth must be created as an illusion.
Breaking Space
Space is neutral and inactive until it is broken by a form. Breaking the space means engaging the viewer, and transmitting important messages both literal and conceptual. I’ve never thought about the space as something that needs to be broken, but filled.
Arranging Form
Creating relationships among the forms, between the forms and in the surrounding space generates messages for the viewer and between themselves.
Symmetry
Asymmetrical arrangements provoke more rigorous involvement, while symmetrical arrangements can cause the viewer to not investigate any further. I don’t really know how this affects my design process because I don’t intentionally play with symmetry or asymmetry but I thought it was interesting.
Activating Space
Focusing the majority of visual activity into one area of a composition is an excellent way of creating emphasis and a contrasting area for rest. This can also cause other space to feel inactive.
Proportion
This is all about controlling the eye’s movement through, and creating harmonic relationships among form elements.
Identity & Difference
Creating comparisons between groupings of form or among parts within a group is identity. I like toying with identity and difference so the components don’t look identical but they look like they belong.