Elements of Design-1

BASIC DESIGN
 COURSE CODE: EBS 130

williamnantwi28@gmail.com
Topic:
DESIGN
 (ELEMENTS OF DESIGN)
By: William K. Nantwi
Offinso College of Education
DESIGN
 The word ‘design’ may refer to a plan within a work of

art. It is the systematic arrangement, organization or
composition of elements according to the principles of art
to create a pleasing effect in a work of art.
 The arrangement should be such that, the observers’

attention can be held long enough onto it. He should be
able to perceive all the parts of the work and understand
their significance individually and an aspect of the entire
work.
William K. Nantwi
Offinso College of Education
IDENTIFICATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
The elements of design can be identified in nature and the

man-made world. Basic elements commonly used in
designing are dot, line, shape, space, texture, colour, value,
weight (mass), and volume. These are the basic or
component parts which are put together to form a design.
LINE
 A line is a continuous mark made by the moving point of a

tool such as pencil, pen, brush with paint or ink and eraser.
 It is an element of art that is used to define shape, contours,

outlines, and to suggest mass or volume. There are many types
of lines, which are influenced by many factors including the
kind of tool used, the pressure applied on the drawing
instrument, the speed with which the line is drawn and the
surface on which the line is made.
 Line exists in nature as structural feature such as the lines
made by the horizon or trees against the sky, the grains of
wood, foot path, river, spider webs, cracks in walls, falling
rain, lightening, sun rays and animal furs.
TYPES OF LINES
Types of Lines
Various types of lines can be identified. These are classified into three main types;
namely actual line, implied line and lines formed by edges.
• Actual lines are the visible marks made in pencil, ink or some other medium.
Actual lines are the lines which are most familiar to us. Examples of actual line are
as follows: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, zigzag, broken lines, undulating,
straight, converging, diverging, thin, thick, narrow, wide, short, long, dark, light,
solid, spiral, dotted and parallel. williamnantwi28@gmail.com
SOME EXAMPLES OF ACTUAL LINES
SOME EXAMPLES OF ACTUAL LINES (cont’d)
IMPLIED LINE
 Implied lines – these are assumed lines or suggestive lines.

For instance, when someone walking on the street stops
suddenly, and points his finger upwards as he gazes up, other
passers-by may also stop and look up to the direction
following the ‘line’ of sight. Artists often exploit this natural
response by using implied lines in their work.
DOT
 A dot may be explained as a simplest or basic mark made by a

tool or implement such as pen, pencil, pin, brush with paint or
ink can make on a surface. There are different types of dots.
These may be either big dots or small dots. Dots could be
found in nature, or created by man. Examples of dots found in
nature include pebbles, oranges, and human head in the
crowd, seeds, and the pupil inside the eyes, the moon and the
planets.
SOME EXAMPLES OF DOTS
TECHNIQUES OF MAKING DOTS
Dots can also be made by printing, stencilling, painting,

spattering and spraying or drawing. These include balls, dots,
buttons, and printed dots and coins. Dot is used in drawing
and shading i.e. Pointillism. It is also used for texturing, for an
identification of an area and giving expressions.
SHAPE
 Shape refers to the two-dimensional or flat surface as defined

by the outmost edge of any object. Shape means the structure
of an area of an object as defined by its edges or contour.
 Areas such as rectangles, triangles, circles that are created by
colours and lines are called “Geometric shapes (regular or
inorganic shapes).”
 Organic or irregular shapes
Irregular areas, especially curved ones, are called “free form” or

“amorphous” shapes. They symbolize natural objects, such as
trees and humans. Organic shapes convey spontaneity, sincerity
and unpredictability. Shapes in general suggest character and
setting and can be simple or complex. Shapes can be concrete
and easily recognizable or distorted to express abstract ideas.
TYPES OF SHAPES
FORM
 Form is a three-dimensional structure or solidity of the shape

through shading or the use of tones. Form is considered three-
dimensional; showing height, width and depth. It is three-
dimensionality of an object.
 You can hold a form, walk around a form and in some cases
walk inside a form. A form can be concave/convex;
regular/irregular; geometric/biomorphic. Examples are stone,
a piece of wood, and Geometric figures such as cube, cuboids,
cylinder and sphere.
MAKING FORMS FROM SHAPES
TEXTURE
 Texture is the surface quality of an object. It is the

quality of an object which was sense through touch.
It exists as a literal surface we can feel, but also as
a surface we can see, and imagine the sensation it
might have if we felt it. Some characteristics of
textures are smooth, rough, bumpy, soft, hard,
bubbly, grainy, glazed.
EXAMPLES OF TEXTURE
SOME EXAMPLES OF TEXTURE (Cont’d)
 Examples of texture in the natural environment

include tree barks, gravels, sand, rocks, sky,
vegetation, animal skins, animal fur, fish scales,
feathers, shells, grains, seeds, crustaceans, etc.
 Examples of texture in the artificial/man-made
environment include wall surfaces, floor tiles,
terrazzo walls and floors, cemented/concrete

surfaces, drawn surfaces, painted surfaces,
engraved surfaces, sculpted surfaces, woven
surfaces, polished surfaces, sprayed surfaces,
printed surfaces, etc.
CATEGORIES OF TEXTURE
 There are two categories of texture namely;
Physical/Tactile/Actual Texture and Visual/Simulated/Optical

Texture
 Tactile texture: This is the texture that can be felt with the hand.
Tree barks, sand, gravels, feathers and fur are few examples of
tactile texture in nature. In the artificial environment, sprayed
surfaces, glass, cement and concrete floors and walls, etc are
examples of artificial texture.
 Visual Texture: This is the illusion of physical texture. It is a
texture which is normally perceived by the eye. A purely visual
texture would be one that we can see, but not feel. For example is
terrazzo which surface appears to be rough but rather smooth when
touched. They are mostly created textures than natural and are so
referred to as simulated texture. Examples of visual texture in
artificial/man-made environment are the terrazzo floor or wall,
designs in fabrics, paintings, drawings, photographs, etc.
CREATING TEXTURE
 In Art, different textures can be created through

many different methods including the following:
Stippling, dabbing, spattering, crosshatching,
hatching, frottage etc.
SPACE
 Space refers to the area that a shape or form
occupies. It also refers to the background against
which we see the shape or form. It can also be an
area with no boundary.
 Space is an idea of distance (up, down, near, far)
which appears between, within and around objects.
Space can be deep/shallow; empty/filled;
vast/small; open/closed.
 The idea of space is suggested to the eye by scale,
size and position of objects, by changes in colour,
light and shade, and by the shape of the actual
enclosed volume of air.
TYPES OF A SPACE
 There are two types of a space: positive and

negative space. Positive space refers to the space of
a shape representing the subject matter. Negative
space refers to the space around and between the
subject matter.
VALUE:
 It is the degree of light and dark in a design.
 It could also be referred to as the darkness or lightness of
a tone of colour within a picture. It is the contrast
between black and white and all the tones in between.
Value can be used with colour as well as black and white.
Value is created by a light source that shines on an object
creating highlights and shadows.
 Categories of Values
 Tint is a process of adding white to colour paint in order
to create a lighter tones such as light red or pink.
 Shade is by adding black to a colour to create dark
values such as dark blue or dark green.
 Value Contrast is where light values are placed next to
dark values to create contrast or strong differences
EXAMPLES OF VALUE
COLOUR
 Colour comes from light; if it were not for light we
would have no colour. Light rays move in straight
path form light source. Within these light rays are
all the rays of colour in the spectrum or rainbow.
Shinning a light into a prism will create a rainbow
of colours because it separates the colour of the
spectrum.
 When the light rays hit an object, our eyes responds
to the light, that is, it bounces back and we see that
colour.
COLOURS ARE FOUND IN THE ENVIRONMENT
 We see many colours on leaves, flowers, fruits,

seeds, butterflies, feathers, animals, cars and cloths.
We also see colours in the rainbow. These are red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
COLOURS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
COLOURS IN THE ENVIRONMENT (Cont’d)
 THANK YOU
 THE END

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BASIC DESIGN

 COURSE CODE: EBS 130

 The word ‘design’ may refer to a plan within a work of

 The arrangement should be such that, the observers’

The elements of design can be identified in nature and the

 A line is a continuous mark made by the moving point of a

 It is an element of art that is used to define shape, contours,

 Implied lines – these are assumed lines or suggestive lines.

 A dot may be explained as a simplest or basic mark made by a

Dots can also be made by printing, stencilling, painting,

 Shape refers to the two-dimensional or flat surface as defined

Irregular areas, especially curved ones, are called “free form” or

 Form is a three-dimensional structure or solidity of the shape

 Texture is the surface quality of an object. It is the

 Examples of texture in the natural environment

terrazzo walls and floors, cemented/concrete

 There are two categories of texture namely;

Physical/Tactile/Actual Texture and Visual/Simulated/Optical

 In Art, different textures can be created through

 There are two types of a space: positive and

 We see many colours on leaves, flowers, fruits,

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