| DESIGN ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES DESIGN ELEMENTS: point line shape form tone texture colour letterform FOR TEACHERS DESIGN PRINCIPLES: figure-ground balance contrast cropping hierarchy scale proportion pattern |
 |
| INDEX Members only |
 |
| The surrealist painter Magritte often used distortions of proportions to create striking effects Click here or here to see the above image in full |
 |
| Here is a diagram which shows how to construct a golden rectangle 1. Draw the square (a) 2. bisect the bottom side 3. draw the arc from the upper right corner to the extension of the bottom side (b) 4. complete the rectangle or click here |
 |
| DESIGN PRINCIPLE PROPORTION PROPORTION refers to the size of one part relating to the size of another part. It also refers to how the size of one part relates to the size of the whole item. For more go to www.webreference.com/dlab/9702/proportions.html and char.txa.cornell.edu/language/principl/principl.htm scroll down below 'Balance' In the last 35 years the ideal personified by the fashion model has fostered a standard which idealizes exceptionally slender body proportions for women. Sports have provided models for ideal male body proportions. The Superhero is the mainstay of the modern comic book. The Superhero comes in many forms and interpretations. Drawing Superheroes involves determining proportions for the basic human figure. The "normal" figure is the basis for the muscular Superhero. Go to www.kubertsworld.com/courses/pages_jpegs/big_jpegs/heroes1a.jpg For more go to www.kubertsworld.com/courses/pages/heroes2e.jpg But what does all this mean for you - the designer? Proportion refers to the relationship of one part to another or to the whole with respect to size, quantity, or degree; a ratio. Often proportion is allied with another design principle - 'hierarchy'. For example, if one part of a layout is larger compared to another part, it may have greater importance. The Golden Rectangle The proportions of the 'Golden Rectangle' are thought to be the most pleasing of all rectangles The 'Golden Rectangle' is a rectangle where the two dimensions (length and height) are related by the 'Golden Ratio' - 1 : 1.618 www.ransen.com/Articles/Golden/Rectangle.htm The beauty of the golden ratio may be indicated by the fact that a golden rectangle subdivides into a square and another, smaller golden rectangle. This process can be continued ad infinitum, and similarly inversed by adding a square over the longer side of a golden rectangle. Since the Renaissance the golden ratio has been used extensively in art and architecture. It figures in the Venetian Church of St. Mark built early in the 16 th century, and has become a standard proportion for width in relation to height as used for facades of buildings windows paintings and picture frames There is something 'satisfactory' about the relationships of the proportion. In the l930's the Pratt Institute of New York did a study on various rectangular proportions laid out as vertical frames, and asked several hundred art students to comment on which seemed the most pleasing. The ratio of 1 : 2 was least liked, while the Golden Ratio was favored by a very large margin, which seemed to point to the actual dimensions as generating a pleasing response by their size. www.ewersarchitecture.com/golden_section.htm The Golden Section has been referred to as the Divine Proportion, the Golden Rectangle, or the Fibonacci Sequence (after Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa who pioneered some of the early mathematical phenomena and its connection with nature). This proportion has been demonstrated in the Greek architecture of the Parthenon, the Renaissance architecture of Leon Battista Alberti’s Santa Maria Novella in Florence, and used extensively by Le Corbusier in his quest for modular designs of modern architecture. HOME |
 |
| Right: "The Parade" by Searat A painting deliberately designed using the golden ratio. The ratios of all the dimensions indicated are all approximately 1 : 1.618 |