Organization is a foundational component of design that implies order. Unity is achieved when the whole is more important than the parts, and can be created through proximity, repetition, and other techniques. Variety and repetition can create dynamic partnerships, with unification providing order and variation creating interest. Symmetry, asymmetry, proportion, scale, and other principles provide tools to organize visual elements and create emphasis, rhythm, and harmony in design.

1. CHAPTER
43D DESIGN PRINCIPLES

2. Introduction
Organization
Portia Munson.
Top: Pink Project: Table. 1995. 2' 6” x 8’ x 14'.
Center: Pink Project: Vitrines. 1995. 5' 8” x 2' 8” x 1' 1⁄2".
Bottom: Pink Project: Mound. 2006 – ongoing. approx. 6’ x 12'.
Organization, the act of bringing separate
elements together to form a unit or a structure,
is a foundational component of the design
process.
Organization implies order, or at least an
ordering, but this is not to say that design must
be orderly.
Is one version of the pictured Pink Project better
than the others?

3. Unity
Gestalt
Unity is achieved when
the whole is more
important than the parts.
A unified design may be
• A simple monolith or mass.
• Many forms or objects brought together to construct a coherent whole.
There are several ways of creating visual unity including:
• Unity of the figure
• Use of a three-dimensional grid
Gestalt is derived from
psychology, and suggests
that experiences are
greater than the sum of
their parts
• Proximity
• Unifying Pattern

4. Unity and Variety
Dynamic Partnership
Unification provides an overall and simplifying influence; the use of variation creates
nuanced events and pockets of interest.
• A grid can bring order to
elements that are
different.
• Different colors can add
variety to elements that
are otherwise the same.
• The same color can add
unity to elements that
are dissimilar.
• Visual continuation can
move your eye from one
different element to the
other, creating complex,
interwoven forms.
Rock Garden. Ryoanji Temple. Kyoto, Japan. late 15th century.

5. Repetition
Visual and Structural
Repetitive elements in three-dimensional
work often provide structural stability as well
as visual unity.
West Façade of Reims Cathedral. Reims, France. c. 1225–1290.

6. Repetition
Modularity
A module is a standard unit.
Examples include
• Bricks
• Japanese tatami mats
• Toys like Legos and
Tinker Toys
• Architecture
Moshe Safdie. Habitat ’67.
Montreal, Canada. 1967.

7. Pattern
Ordered Repetition
Pattern is the ordered repetition of a visual element.
It can extend across a surface and never repeat.
However, repeat patterns utilize a modular unit, a
section of pattern that may be endlessly replicated.
In the third dimension, pattern can be
• Structural, as in some relief panels
• Decoration like mosaic tile on architecture
• Camouflage on plants and animals
Coiled Dumeril’s Boa.
Erwin Hauer. Continua Series Design 1. 1950. .

8. Rhythm
Fluid Form
In music another kind of rhythm,
staccato, is about sound that
changes abruptly.
Visually, this is often done with short,
angular elements.
Gerrit Rietveld. Armchair Red and Blue. 1918. Wood, paint.

9. Symmetry
Correspondence Across A Divide
Symmetry occurs
when there is formal
correspondence on
opposite sides of an
object’s central
dividing line—in
simpler terms, when
left and right sides
are mirror images.
Bilateral symmetry
• Is the symmetry of
many forms in our
environment: humans
and animals, classical
architecture,
automobiles.
• However, it is usually
only seen from one
perspective. When
seen from the side,
most of these objects
are no longer
symmetrical.
Pierce-Arrow. Silver Arrow. 1933. Design concept Philip Wright, body
engineer James Hughes. Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

10. Symmetry
Correspondence Across A Divide
Radial symmetry is based on symmetry around a central
axis. Trees, flowers, many circular patterns, and most
cylindrical configurations are radially symmetrical.
Spherical symmetry is the condition of having similar form
arranged regularly around a single point.
Ettore Sottsass. Transparent turquoise and yellow vase
Alioth. 1983. For Memphis, executed by Compagnia
Vetraria Muranese.
Knotweed pollen. Microscopic view.

11. Asymmetry
Dynamic Form
Every balanced configuration
that is not symmetrical is asymmetrical
Asymmetry is off center, out of
whack, confrontational and dynamic.
Daniel Libeskind. Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building.

12. Harmony
Unity, Balance and Order
The following are some traditional definitions of
harmony:
• Unity; its elements form an integrated whole.
• Balanced proportion.
• A pleasing or orderly arrangement of parts.
Harmony has a diminished, but not non-existent,
role in contemporary art and design, partly because
of the numerous competing ideas and principles in
modern and contemporary design culture that are
increasingly useful and compelling.
Kay Fisker. Decanter. Silver (also octagonal tobacco jar). 1926.
Manufactured by Anton Michelsen

13. Harmony
Unity, Balance and Order
Plato believed that objects in the world were flawed reflections of forms that were
true and ideal, and these perfect forms could exist only in the mental realm of
ideas. Idealism within art and design, strives for a perfection that seeks deep,
essential form.
Bronze statuette of a horse. Greek,
Late Hellenistic, late 2nd–1st century
BC. Bronze, 1' 3 13⁄16" high.
Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Dieter Rams and Gerd Alfred Muller,
designers. Braun record player. 1957.

14. Proximity
An Organizational Tool
The principle of proximity visually unites things that are
near one another and excludes those more distant.
Proximity can be a visual tool and/or a functional one.
King Taharga Offering a Libation. Egypt.
Central Park. New York, New York.

15. Emphasis
Contrast
Emphasis is similar to the pictorial idea of focal point. There are numerous strategies for
achieving emphasis, and often, these techniques are combined.
• Differences, or contrast,
of color, texture, shape,
and size
• Isolation of elements
• Relative placement of
elements
Ken Price. Sweet Paste. 1994. Fired and painted.
Clay. 1’ 6” high.

16. Proportion refers to the comparative relationship of size.
It can be expressed using a mathematical ratio and can
be observed by comparing:
• One form to another
• One part to the whole
Le Corbusier. Villa Savoye. Poissy, France.
Proportion
Ratio

17. Proportion
Ratio
Ideal Proportions and Convention
The notion of “correct” proportion is often
based on familiarity, norms, and
convention.
Ideals can relate to the human
body and accepted beliefs of
physical beauty, or to the design
of common objects.
Junya Nutanake. Lace ruff collar. Comme des Garçons.

18. Scale
Monumental
Monumental scale is often used for
political and propaganda purposes
because scale-increases of this
magnitude are humbling and
exhilarating.
However, it can also be used in a
playful manner, “making the familiar
strange”
Statue of Gomateshwara with worshipper. India.
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen. Binocular entrance to
Chiat/Day Building designed by Frank O. Gehry. 1991. Steel frame.
Exterior: concrete and cement plaster painted with elastomeric
paint. Interior: gypsum plaster, 45’ x 44’ x 18'.