Elements of Design

Direction

This picture of a car has a lot of diagonal lines that represent movement and action, parallel lines that gives it a feeling of speed, and curved lines that give it a graceful look.  The direction of the lines also gives the image a perspective. This picture creates an emphasis on the car; the company wants you to focus on the car because they are trying to sell it.

Line and Color

This picture has a lot of narrow, sharp, and jagged lines going in all directions that give it a feeling of excitement and chaos.  The color of this image is very blue, with the center being lighter and the outside being darker, which makes the background more interesting and gives it a cold feeling. This picture is very asymmetrical. There is lots of negative space around the picture, and there is nothing that looks like a duplicate of something else. There is also a rhythm of repetition because they use the same straight, jagged lines on the "hair" over and over and over again.


Texture

I

 I think that this picture of seashells has a rough texture.  The ridges on all the seashells makes it feel rough but also orderly because the ridges are spaced very evenly.  There are lots of broken fragments of seashells which adds to the rough and jagged feel of the image.  The sand scattered over the seashells also adds a gritty texture to the picture because of how sand looks and feels. I think this image has a rhythm of repetition. It uses the seashells over and over and over again to create a patter, creating a sort of uniform look.

Shape

This picture of the house "Falling Water" has a lot of square and rectangular shapes.  It think that all the squares give it a feeling of stability, uniformity, and rigidity, so even though half the house is hanging precariously over a waterfall, it still looks stable. I think this picture represents unity because of the way everything fits together. The house was built over the waterfall, and it looks like the house was meant to be there. The house also fits well in the forest and river.

Size

 This picture of a chameleon on a person's finger helps you see how small the chameleon actually is using comparison.  This also helps because if it was just a picture of the chameleon, you wouldn't be able to see how small it actually is. This picture is in proportion; it is a real chameleon and a real finger. It shows how this chameleon looks compared to the finger... very small.

Value

 The lighter hue of the grass shows that it is sunny outside, but the darker hues in the sky, the mountains, and in the bottom of the clouds make it seem dreary, like a storm is coming. This picture uses a rhythm of gradation because it is darker at the top and gets lighter towards the middle; however, from the bottom it goes from lighter colored to darker when it reaches the horizon. I think this focuses your attention on the center of the picture.