Vocabulary

TERMINOLOGY
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GESTALT –Unified whole. 1920’s German psychologists developed a mode of organizing visual elements into groups or unified wholes. How the eye organizes what it sees.

Design Principles Vocabulary– COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS

1.    Scale/Mass/Extension= INCREASING AND DECREASING SIZE. GROWING, STRETCHING, CROPPING ARE EXAMPLES.
2.    Number/Frequency/Density=CROWDED, HEAVY, VARYING THE THICKNESS, SPACING, AND NUMBER OF MARKS.
3.    Positive/Negative= FIGURE GROUND AND CONTRAST. BLACK ON WHITE OR WHITE ON BLACK.
4.    Orientation/Direction=MARKS THAT INDICATE MOVEMENT AND CHANGE IN DIRECTION, ROTATION, REFLECTION AND REVERSION
5.    Alteration=AT LEAST TWO IMAGES THAT CREATE DIFFERENT VARIABLES and COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS
6.    Sequence=ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, CONTINUITY
7.    Rhythm=MOVEMENT BY REPETITION. REPEATED POSITIVE SHAPES SEPARATED BY NEGATIVE SPACES. IT CAN BE REGULAR AND HAVE VARIOUS SPEEDS OF SLOW AND FAST.
8.    Repetition=ELEMENTS ARE REPEATED IN PATTERN OR SYSTEM.
9.    Proportion=COMPARISON IN DIMENSION BETWEEN TWO OR MORE ELEMENTS OR RATIO IN A COMPOSITION. 
10.  Axis=APPLIED LINE OR DIRECT THAT RUNS FROM BOTTOM TO TOP AND TRAVELS THROUGH THE MIDDLE FOR BALANCE AND MOVEMENT. NON- STATIC.
11.  Focal point=WHAT THE EYE IS FIRST DRAWN TO ON A PICTURE PLANE. 
12.  Contrast=OPPOSITION
13.  Balance=OPPOSITES ARE EQUAL IN STRENGTH AND WEIGHT.
14.  Dominance=ELEMENTS HAVE A STRONGER PRESENCE THAN OTHER PARTS. CAN POSSESS CONTRAST, OPPOSITION, LARGER SCALE, COLOR DIFFERENCE, WEIGHT IMBALANCE. APPLIES TO (CONTOUR, TONAL VALUE)
15.  Symmetry=USE OF IDENTICAL OR SIMULAR ELEMENTS TO MIRROR EACH OTHER
16.  Proximity= DEGREE OF DISTANCE.
17.  Continuance= GROUPING IN A CONTINUING DIRECTION OFTEN SUGGESTING MOVEMENT.
18.  Closure=GROUPING INTO FORMS OR SHAPES. SIMILARITY, PROXIMITY, AND CONTINUANCE.