Visual and Design Vocabulary
Form: The shape, mass, and volume of things aside from their materials.
Two-Dimensional Form: Forms having 2 dimensions, height and width; the flat surface of a drawing or
painting - the picture plane.
Three-Dimensional Form: Forms having 3 dimensions, height, width, and depth; forms in actual space
and in reference to the illusion of mass and volume on a two-dimensional
surface.
The
Visual Elements: The fundamental visual vocabulary by which all
art & design is made.
Line: the fundamental mark used in describing the edges of forms. Lines
can be straight, curving, jagged,
broken, or
implied.
Value: refers to the degrees of light to dark - white being the lightest
value and black the darkest. The term,
lighting
refers to the degrees of value being created by one or more particular light
source such as
the
sun or a lamp.
Color: the phenomenon of light which creates the visible spectrum helping
us to distinguish one form from
another. Color has hue, value, saturation, and temperature.
Saturation: the quality or degree of the color content or
chroma from low intensity (neutral)
to high intensity.
Temperature: the apparent degree of warmth or coolness in
a color.
Shape: refers to the flat, 2-dimensional aspects of form.
Mass/Volume refers to the 3-dimensional aspects of form
(actual or illusionistic). Mass usually implies
solid forms and Volume usually implies 3d space as in a
room.
Space: an intangible element that artists are constantly manipulating in
order to achieve their goals in a
work
of art. Space, by its very nature, implies depth
Negative
Space: The space surrounding a positive shape or form; sometimes referred to as ground, empty
space, field, or
void.
Positive Space:
The shape of a form that serves as a subject in a composition. The relationship
between positive and negative
space is sometimes referred to as figure/ground,
figure/field,
foreground/background, or solid/void.
Ambiguous Space: space that is neither clearly positive nor
negative but that seems to carry
aspects of both and
often depending on the viewer’s point of view.
Linear Perspective: a technique for conveying an illusion of deep
space on a flat, two-
dimensional surface.
The technique uses precise mathematical concepts and is
based on the illusion that all parallel horizontal edges or lines of forms that are
receding from the viewer's position, seem to converge diagonally toward the
same point in space.
Atmospheric
Perspective: a technique for
conveying an illusion of deep space on a flat, two-
dimensional surface using various value contrasts where the
lowest contrasts
create the deepest space and the highest contrasts, the most
shallow.
Color Space: refers to the illusion of space created by
color temperature and saturation.
Texture: tactile qualities in a work of art which may
be either actual texture caused by the materials or the
way
the artist works the materials or it can be visual (illusionistic)
texture where the artist uses
materials
to mimic or look like the surface of another material.
Time/Motion: the depiction of time in art is used in both
actual and illusionistic ways. Time can
be
depicted as movement or as a moment stopped.
Principles of Design:
Design Principles have to do with how the visual elements are organized into compositions. Composition is the structure of a work of art as separate from its subject matter and style.
Format: refers to the shape of the outer dimensions of a composition including its orientation.
Unity: is the most important design principle as
it refers to how the artist or designer makes us sense that
separate
elements belong together in a unified wholeness.
Variety: refers to the
relative variety of form, scale, value, color, and texture in a work of art or
design.
Balance: refers to the visual 'weight' of a
composition that is the result of either a symmetrical,
asymmetrical,
or radial arrangement of the visual elements.
Repetition/ Rhythm: refers to the relative repetition and/or variation
of visual elements that often leads to
rhythm, visual interest, and control of the viewers eye
direction throughout a
composition.
Scale/ Proportion: refers to the relative scale or size of one
form in relationship to another form.
Contrast: refers to how value or lighting, color
saturation, and color temperature are used in contrasting
relationships to create mass or imply space.
Directional Forces: refers to how visual elements are arranged
to control viewer eye direction.
Emphasis/ Subordination: refers to how the visual elements and design
principles are arranged in order
to
create an area of emphasis or one or more focal points in a composition.
Simplicity /Complexity: refers to the relative complexity or simplicity
of a composition.
Relationship
to the Environment: a final consideration to design principles should be
how a work of art
is perceived in relationship to the actual space
or environment in which it may be an integral part.