Design is the organized arrangement of materials to satisfy a functional or artistic purpose. Design plays an important role in all the fine arts and in the creation of industrial products.
Visual artists or designers work with such elements of design as line, plane, texture, color, shape, form, volume, mass, and space. When these elements are combined in a satisfying manner, the design will have an interesting variety within an overall unity.
Repetition
consists of repeated lines or shapes. Japanese color prints are noted for their handling of repetition. Many of them have fine slanting lines of rain, or scenes with reflections on water repeated over and over.
Harmony,
or balance, can be obtained in many ways in design. It may be symmetrical (in balance). It may also be asymmetrical (out of perfect balance) but still pleasing to the eye. A small area may balance a large area if the small area has an importance to the eye that equals that of the larger area.
Contrast
is the opposite of harmony. It involves such relationships as large and small, thick and thin, dark and light, dense and sparse, and scattered and concentrated.
Rhythm and movement
are obtained either by using wavy lines or by placing motifs in contrast to static (set) patterns. This technique adds interest to a design.
Unity
occurs when all the elements in a design combine to form a consistent whole. A design has unity if its masses are balanced or if its tones and colors harmonize.
