FND112 Introduction to Design

FND112 Introduction to Design

W1A3

On one of the assignment templates, use up to 7 of the provided shapes and arrange them to form a composition. Then, using the identical shapes from your first composition, create three additional compositions with differing arrangements. This will result in a total of four compositions.

Rules for each composition:

• You may utilize an individual shape more than once.
• You may rotate the shapes.
• You may not change the size of the shapes.
• Each composition should use the same set of shapes.
• Each composition should not have more than 7 total shapes.

Experiment with your arrangements to generate visual interest. Explore overlapping shapes of the black, alternating shapes of black and white, and moving shapes past the edge of the frame. Consider what is happening with the positive and negative space of each composition as you position the shapes.

Place each composition within the frames provided on the template and submit as a high quality JPEG file.

W1A4

Using only black and white, create two separate designs.
For the first design arrange the composition so that there is a clear background and foreground. 
For the second, create a design with equal positive and negative space so that the figure-ground relationship of the design fluctuates. In other words, it should be impossible to differentiate between the foreground and the background in the design.

Be creative with the compositions of your designs.

W2A1

Using only black and white, create a design that illustrates one of the six laws of perceptual organization:

• Pragnanz
• Similarity
• Good Continuation
• Proximity
• Common Fate
• Familiarity

Write 1 to 2 paragraphs explaining which of the six laws you included in your design. Define the law being utilized and describe how it is used to create a unified composition.

W2A2

Create a form group using 2–4 black and/or white circles of the same size. Then, duplicate the form group 2–4 more times, utilizing translation, rotation, and/or reflection to create a balanced composition. You may also explore the pathfinder tool in Illustrator to experiment with various distributions of black and white within the initial form group. Using the same form group, create a second composition with a differing arrangement. This will result in a total of two compositions.

Include the two designs in one JPEG file, along with a copy of your original form group. Use outlines and margins to separate the two designs and form group.

W2A3

Using only black and white forms, create a composition utilizing strict formal, radial, or crystallographic symmetry. Be creative with the composition of your design.

W3A2

Using only basic geometric shapes in black and white, create four different compositions that illustrate the principles of contrast. 

Begin by determining four word pairings that describe opposing qualities. For example: hot and cold, loud and quiet, bumpy and smooth, harsh and gentle. For each pair of opposing qualities, create a composition that visually illustrates the contrasting concepts. 

As you are designing, consider how the physical traits of your design, line quality, positive and negative space, overlapping etc. can illustrate the contrasting word pairs. For example, a jagged line might look sharp, while a straight line might appear smooth.

Place all 4 compositions onto one canvas and submit as a JPEG file. Be sure to additionally label the compositions with your word pairings..

W3A3

Using only black and white forms, create a design utilizing asymmetrical balance. Be creative with the composition of your design.

W4A2

Using only black, white, and shades of gray, create 2 different fields of texture that have the illusion of being tactile. Experiment with size, focus, and contrast to create a strong illusion of tactile texture.
Do not rely on the use of filters alone to create your texture studies. Here are some suggestions for completing this exercise:

• Try building a form group with a few elements, then significantly reduce the size of that group and repeat it many times to build your texture. 
• Avoid having too much variation in your texture. You'll have more reliable results by creating a fairly simple pattern that you multiply over and over again.

Include the two textures in one JPEG file. Use outlines and margins to separate the two textures from one another.

W4A3

Using only black, white, and shades of gray, create a design with the spatial illusions of both depth and volume. Be creative with the composition of your design.

W5A1

Final Project Objective: Create a design of your choosing that demonstrates an effective and creative use of design and color principles towards a meaningful portfolio-quality composition.

To accomplish your final project, we will use the step-by-step project development process outlined in this week's lecture notes to explore what you have learned and develop your final design. The first step is to write your proposal and create four thumbnail designs towards your goal.

Written Proposal

Begin by writing a proposal that is one to two paragraphs in length. Your proposal should explain the objective, motivation, and message behind your final project and the color and design concepts that will be used to accomplish these goals. It should serve as a written plan for the execution of your design and describe the choices made in your initial thumbnail drafts. Consider the following questions when writing your proposal:

• Message and audience: What is the message or theme of your final project? What is the intended audience? Why are you pursuing these goals?   
• Visual elements: How will you use the elements of design to communicate this message?
• What type of balance, line, composition, color, etc. will communicate the design's theme to the intended audience? Will you use Gestalt principles to suggest recognizable shapes or patterns? 
• What type of spatial arrangement will you use and why? Will you use visual elements to create three-dimensional depth and volume, or will the design be essentially flat and two-dimensional? Will the objects be textured or smooth?
• Execution: What challenges do you anticipate in executing your final project? How do you plan on overcoming these challenges?  

Your proposal should be based upon the course content and assigned readings, should utilize relevant vocabulary, and should be written using correct spelling and grammar. It should be one to two paragraphs in length and posted to the appropriate Discussion Area. 

Thumbnails

Using only black, white, and shades of gray, create 4 design thumbnails for your final project. Your design thumbnails should be initial visual representations of your plans outlined in your proposal. The thumbnails should each explore a variety of design principles towards a unified and interesting composition. Consider the various design principles explored throughout the course such as emphasis, scale, gravity, contrast as well as symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.

Week 5 Assignment 1
July 6, 2013
Professor Stalder

Week 5 Assignment 1

I have to say, this has been the most challenging assignment I have had so far in any of the classes I have taken!  I was drawing a blank and had no idea what I should create.  I started by reading quotes and idioms and I ran across a poem that immediately put me in mind of a design that would qualify for this assignment.  The message or theme of my final project will be a design that came to me when thinking of this poem:

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight.

Wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.

So I am envisioning a night sky with one special wishing star.  I plan to include planets and the moon and many stars.  I may add the big and little dippers.  I toyed with the idea of using a background behind all the design elements as I don’t want to leave too much negative space.  I want the design to be a 3D illusion.  The main colors I intend to use are navy blue, white, other shades of blue and perhaps a yellow gold.

To create the illusion of 3D, I intend to use translation, dilation, the law of similarity, the law of proximity, and possibly the law of familiarity.  I also plan to use various contrasts to emphasize the focal point(s) as well as add interest to the composition.  I want to give the piece movement and rhythm.  I intend to create the illusion of 3D in my design by overlapping objects, using diminishing size, and blurry vs. sharp focus.  I plan to use linear perspective but as of yet have not decided which would be most effective; one-point, two-point or three point.  I plan to use shading and possibly texturing to enhance the illusion of depth.

The challenges I expect to encounter would be the shading as I have not had much, if any, experience with shading in any software or even manual drawing.  I plan to overcome this obstacle by learning all I can through online tutorial videos as well as using the AIO online free class, Shading & Structure.

Work Cited

Art Institute Online, Fundamentals of Design, Week 1 through 5 Lectures

Personal Opinion and Observation

Hi,-

I enjoyed reading your proposal and about your source of inspiration! I am also excited to hear that plan on using many of the design concepts and techniques we have studied! 

I think all of your designs are interesting, but one stands out. Because the main goal is to suggest a special wishing star, I feel that the bottom right version best supports your goals. The star is "the star" of the design. It stands out nicely. This version thoughtfully uses contrasting shape and color and lines to direct the viewers eye to the star. I don't see translation, but I see rotation and dilation used with the "dippers". The idea of proximity could be pushed with some elements more closely grouped together and with more space between the grouping and the other elements. 

 ___

Thank you for your feedback.  I think the translation will show itself better as I fully develop the design.  I was thinking the smaller stars of the same sizes would be the translation.  I plan to use all different sizes of background stars to help show depth.  I like your idea of grouping the stars into groups spaced apart with more space in between.

W5A2

Select your strongest thumbnail design to work on towards the final project submission. Create at least four different color studies of that one design. Consider the various color schemes explored this week, such as monochromatic, analogous, warm, cool, complementary, neutral and achromatic. Consider the effectiveness of the overall aesthetic of each color study as you continue to develop your final project idea.

Be sure to state which color scheme is being utilized in each color study.

W5A3

Select your most successful color study and continue to develop and refine your color and design choices for a final draft. Be sure to assess and evaluate your color and design choices at this stage to strengthen the overall design. Consider the following:

• Is the overall composition balanced and unified?
• Does the composition have sufficient visual interest through variety?
• Does the selected color scheme work with the composition?
• Are you conveying the idea or message you initially described? How has it evolved? Is it effective?

W6A1

Final Project

Take into consideration all of the feedback you received on your final draft and refine it into its final state. Make necessary technical and aesthetic adjustments. Be sure the final presentation is of excellent quality.

Artist Statement

Compose a one to two paragraph artist statement to accompany your final project. Consider the following questions when writing your artist statement.

• What are the desired objectives or outcomes of your final project?
• In what ways is the design successful or unsuccessful in its composition and layout?
• How does the composition utilize unity, variety, contrast, and balance?
• What color schemes are at work in the final project: monochromatic, analogous, warm, cool, complementary, neutral, or achromatic .
• What challenges did you encounter in executing your final project? How did you overcome these challenges?
• Do you feel that you successfully accomplished the stated goals for your final project? What areas could have been improved?

Week 6 Assignment 1
July 12, 2013
Professor Stalder

Week 6 Assignment 1

My desired objective for this design was to illustrate a scene to fit with the poem, Star Light, Star Bright.  I feel that I was successful in this assignment; my design fits perfectly with the poem.  The poem is a wish made on the first star seen at night, and I have made the focal point of the design the special wishing star. 

I feel the design creates unity with the relationships between all the shapes it contains.  They are all objects found in outer space, yet there is a variety included.  It is a well balanced, asymmetrical design, with the shapes placed to purposely balance each other within the picture plane.  

Challenges I encountered in executing this project were trying to give the design a 3-dimentional quality.  I used pre-loaded Illustrator effects like inner glow and I used textures on the continents on the Earth and on the moon.   I changed the hue of the moon to fit more into the complementary color scheme I employed.  I made sure the hues were correct by using the web site, http://colorschemedesigner.com.  I feel that I could have executed the 3D effects better if I had a better knowledge of Illustrator and its capabilities.  I was able to create a very effective 3-dimenentional Earth, but I didn’t do as well when trying to do a similar effect on the larger star rays.

FINAL GRADE - A