This document provides an overview of key principles of design, including: - Visual weight, which draws attention based on size, color, contrast, etc. - Balance, including symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial types. Symmetrical balance mirrors elements across an axis while asymmetrical balance allows more variety. - Emphasis and subordination, where certain elements are made more prominent through size, color, isolation, etc., directing the viewer's attention. - Unity and variety, where a composition achieves a coherent whole through techniques like proximity and repetition while also including differences for visual interest.

1. Art 1100
Joan Jonas
“They Come to Us without a Word”
U.S. Pavilion,Venice Biennale, 2015

2.
Chapter 5: Principles of Design
The organization of elements is called
composition or design.
• Visual Weight
• Balance
• Symmetrical Balance
• Asymmetrical Balance
• Emphasis & Subordination
• Focal Point
• Unity vs.Variety

3. Visual Weight
Visual weight is the ability
of an element within a
composition to draw
attention to itself.
Visual weight is often
created through the use
of high value contrasts
and/or the use of color.
Blue (Blau)Vasily Kandinsky
(French, born Russia.
1866-1944) 1927

4. A large shape is heavier
than a small shape.
Cool colors weigh less
than warm colors.
Dull tones are lightweight,
bright hues are heavy.
High contrast values
weigh more than low.
Textures have more visual weight
than smooth shapes.

5. Black Relationship
(Schwarze
Beziehung)
Vasily Kandinsky
(French, born
Russia. 1866-1944)
1924

6. Balance - “some equal distribution of visual weight -
is a universal aim of composition.”
Imbalance - an artist may chose to use imbalance in
a composition to enhance a theme or topic, or to
create a response. Causes a tension to be
created.
! More on bottom = stable and calm.
! More on top = unstable and dynamic.
Visual Weight

7. Balance
An unbalanced object or scene can cause discomfort in
a viewer, like a room with all of the furniture pushed to
one side or a painting that is crooked on the wall. So,
unless this is a desired effect, compositions should
strive to be balanced.
Physical objects will balance on
a scale if they have equal
weight, not equal size. For an
image, the unit of measure is
visual interest,
a.k.a. “Visual Weight”.

8. Symmetry
1). balanced proportions; also : beauty of form arising from
balanced proportions
2). the property of being symmetrical; especially :
correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of
parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or median plane
or about a center or axis —
Types of Balance
Symmetrical
Asymmetrical
Radial
Crystallographic

9. Symmetry

10. Symmetrical balance:
Mirror image of shapes/
forms on either side of an
imaginary axial dividing line;
elements correspond to
one another in size, shape,
and placement
Figure 5.7 Newar artists at Densatil
Monastery,Tibet, Thirteen-Deity Jnanadakini
Mandala, 1417-47.
Symmetry

11. Bilateral Symmetry the
simplest kind of balance
to recognize and see.
! The same shapes are
repeated on the left and
the right side of the
vertical axis.
! Popularly considered to be
the “basis” for beauty in
facial features.
Audrey Hepburn’s face reflected bilaterally.
Symmetry

12. Roger Brown
American,
1941-1997
Cirrocumulus and
Nimbus, 1978

13. Using Symmetry of Nature: Many things in nature are
symmetrical. Vertical Axis and the human body – We relate
forms to our own human shape. Symmetry as Emphasis
Ed Ruscha. Step on
No Pets. 2002.
Acrylic on canvas,
5' 4” x 6’.
Gagosian Gallery,
New York.

14. 14
Asymmetrical balance:Two sides that do not
correspond to one another in size, shape, and placement
Figure 5.10
Gustav Klimt,
Death and Life,
Before
1911-1915.

15. Asymmetrical balance tends to allow the most variety;
therefore, it tends to be more interesting.The heaviness or
lightness of each form varies depending on its size in relation
to other forms around it; its color in relation to other colors
around it; and its placement in the composition in relation to
other forms.
The asymmetrical balance emphasizes the opposition between
life and death.The woman Death has come for is placed in the
center of the painting, a symbolic border between life and
death. She is the only waking person, and gestures as if to say,
“Me?” What links the two halves of the painting is the gaze
that passes between Death and his victim.The figure of Death
is so compelling that Klimt consciously balances this visual
weight with a myriad of patterns at the lower right of the
painting.

16. Asymmetrical balance:
Two sides that do not correspond to one another in size,
shape, and placement. Balance can be achieved with...
1). Dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight.
2). Contrasting a “heavy” side with a “light” side.
Asymmetrical balance tends to allow the most variety,
causing compositions to appear spontaneous, energetic
and in motion as visual weight shifts from one place to
another.

17. Asymmetrical Balance = Informal Balance
Ham Steinbach. supremely black. 1985. Plastic laminated wood shelf, ceramic
pitchers, cardboard detergent boxes, 2’ 5”5’ 6” 1’ 1” (74 x168 x33 cm).
Sonnabend Gallery and Jay Gorney Modern Art, NewYork.

18. Asymmetrical Balance:
Appears casual and less
planned, but in fact, is
harder to create.
Carefully planning symmetry
gives a less rigid, more
casual impression.
Nan Goldin. Siobhan with a Cigarette.
Berlin. 1994.
Photograph.

19. Figure 5.11 Tawaraya (Nonomura)
Sotatsu,The Zen Priest Choka, late
16th-early 17th century.
Japanese artists often use dramatic
asymmetrical compositions.This image is
an example of economy, resulting in a
peaceful, meditative scene.This ink painting
of Choka is placed so far to the left as to
be barely on the page.An implied line of
vision is used both to balance the
composition and to reveal its meaning.We
naturally raise our eyes to look at the
priest- that’s all there is to look at.We then
follow the direction of his gaze down to…
nothing. Meditation on emptiness is one of
the exercises prescribed by Zen Buddhism,
and Sotatsu makes it clear in this daring
composition.

20. 1. Balance byValue or
Color
2. Balance by Texture
and Pattern
3. Balance by Position
and Eye Direction
3 Way to Achieve Asymmetrical Balance:

21. Camille Monet (1847–1879) on a Garden Bench, 1873
Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
Asymmetrical Balance

22. ! Texture draws the eye more
then smooth flat color.
Using Texture and Pattern for
Balance
! A large shape can be balanced
by a smaller textured shape.
! Texture can be balanced by a
more complex shape.
2. Balance by Texture and Pattern

23. Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese, 1760-1849

24. ! In Physics, to balance two
objects of different weights
place the larger one closer
to the center.
! The “see-saw” metaphor.
3. Balance by Position and Eye Direction

25. Joan Miro, Person Throwing a Stone at a Bird, 1926.

26. Crystallographic Balance:
“All over” composition. Or compositions whose elements
are evenly distributed. Or that correspond to a hidden
structure. Gives the impression that the repetition goes on
forever outside the boundaries of the composition.
Campbell's Soup Cans, AndyWarhol , 1962

27. 'Contained' Crazy Quilt
United States, Pennsylvania, circa 1880
Textiles; quilts
Quilted printed cotton
80 1/8 x 80 in. (203.52 x 203.2 cm)

28. Emphasis:
The viewer’s attention will
be centered more on
certain parts of the
composition than on others
Focal point:
A specific spot to which
one’s attention is directed
Subordination:
A less visually interesting
area
Figure 5.14 Henry Tanner, The Banjo
Lesson, 1893.
Emphasis and Subordination

29. Tanner uses size and
placement to emphasize the
figures in the foreground. It
is as if they have combined
to form a single mass,
emphasizing their bond.
Additionally, he uses
strongly contrasting values
to create further emphasis.
The directional lines of sight
create a small focal point of
the banjo.Tanner has
subordinated the
background, blurring the
detail and working in a
narrow range of light values.

30. Figure 5.15 Paul Cézanne, Still Life With
Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit, 1892-94.
This artist arranged a white napkin to create a central focal area and
subordinated the rest with earth tones.The napkin is peaked at the
center, like a domestic version of Mont Saint-Victoire, the mountain that
Cézanne painted so often.The white fruit dish (compotier) and white
pitcher flank the peak, lending additional visual weight to the center.
Patches of intense color are scattered throughout the fruits.This busy
still life is ordered through the white cloth and pyramidal form.
Emphasis and Subordination

31. " There can be more then one
focal point in a picture.
" A second focal point might
be referred to as an accent or
counterpoint.
" Too many points of focus can
lead to visual confusion.
" Abstracts and patterns can
also have focal points.
Henri Matisse. Bathers with a Turtle. 1908. Oil on canvas. © St. Louis
Art Museum, Missouri, USA/© Succession H. Matisse/DACS/The
Bridgeman Art Library.
“When everything is emphasized, nothing is
emphasized.”
Emphasis and Subordination

32. Dancing in
Colombia, 1980
Fernando Botero
(Colombian, born
1932)
A focal point (or point of emphasis) results when one
element is significantly different from the others. In this
case the scale of the couple in the front.
Emphasis by Contrast

33. Thomas Eakins.The Agnew Clinic. 1889. Oil on canvas, 6’ 2 1/2” 10’ 10
1/2” (1.9 3.3 m). University of Pennsylvania Art Collection,
Philadelphia.
Emphasis by Isolation

34. The Banquet of the
Starved, 1915
James Ensor
(Belgian, 1860–
1949)
By placing objects in a prominent position
they become focal points.
Emphasis by Placement

35. Unity: The sense of
oneness, of things
belonging together
and making up a
coherent whole
Variety:
Differences that
provide interest
and contrast
Unity vs.Variety
Stuart Davis
American, 1892-1964
Ready-to-Wear, 1955

36. This is NOT about getting along in a narrative or
emotional unity.This is aVISUAL “getting along”
Creating Unity

37. John F. Peto,American, 1854-1907
Lights of Other Days, 1906
Unity: Proximity
By placing different parts closer together, because of
Gestalt proximity they tend to be seen as a unified group
despite their differences.

38. Unity: Proximity
The migration gained in
momentum
Jacob Lawrence (American,
1917-2000)
1940-41

39. Untitled
David Moreno (American,
born 1957)
2001
Unity: Repetition (Similarity)
Pattern because of its
repetition of similar shapes
creates unity.

40. Balthus (Balthasar
Klossowski de Rola).The
Living Room. 1941ﾐ1943.
Oil on canvas, 3ﾕ 81/2ﾓ 4ﾕ
93/4ﾓ.The Minneapolis
Institute of Arts.
# The main figure’s limbs or forms can intersect with an
object or they can point at it, which leads the viewer’s eye
to and through the composition.

41. These are the two principles that must be present in a work of
art. A piece with little or no variety can become boring, causing
the viewer to scan quickly.Variety is what holds our attention
for longer periods of time. On the other hand, a piece with too
much variety can be chaotic or overwhelming. Color and shape
provide the variety in this piece, but the colors are repeated to
create unity and visual connections for our eyes to follow.
Unity vs.Variety

42. Compositions with too much Unity can
become Static and boring.
Untitled Number 5
Agnes Martin
(American, born
Canada. 1912-2004)
1975

43. Broadway BoogieWoogie
Piet Mondrian (Dutch,
1872-1944)
1942-43
Unity withVariety: Heavy on the Unity

44. Unity withVariety : Heavy on theVariety
Frans Snyders, Flemish, 1579-1657
Still Life with Dead Game, Fruits, andVegetables in a Market, 1614

45. Compositions with too muchVariety can be chaotic.
Jackson Pollock, Number 27, 1950, 1950. Oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on canvas,
49 × 106 in. (124.5 × 269.2 cm).Whitney Museum of American Art, NewYork