Design Sparks

Design Sparks
Design Principles + Elements 2 POINTS DUE JAN. 21. MONDAY NIGHT @ 11:59 PM POST TO Adobe Behance and URL to Blackboard

Objective To gain a knowledge and understanding of the elements and principles of design and to be able to communicate this understand using Adobe Spark, a digital presentation tool.

Background Your participation is required and will count as 2% of your final grade. The inclusion of this component is intended to expand and enhance your learning experience via research and doing. Design is complicated. No question. The good news is that there are some basic principles that are at the design’s core. These organize information and communicate intention in a way that is often beyond words. The elements and principles of design direct your viewer’s eye (and mind) to the message you intend. Design Elements vs. Principles Elements ▪ Are the basic building blocks; ▪ The things inside, that make up a design, photo, shape ▪ Most designs will contain all of the elements (Think of as the ingredients)

Principles ▪ What we do with the building blocks (elements) ▪ Think of as your chef’s technique and preparation of a dish

The Assignment 1. Make a Spark page that is a visual presentation of the 15 design elements and principles. 2. How to begin: Open your web browser and visit spark.adobe.com. 3. At the top, you will see a plus sign (+) which allows you to add a new type of Spark object. The menu looks like this:

A post is a single graphic that can contain numerous design elements, much like an image you might share on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page. A page is a full web page which can be as long as you want it to be. It can be layed out with headings, images, hyperlinks, and it can even include embedded video. A robust, engaging, time-based journal can be created as a page. A video is actually more of a moving or animated vignette made up of a video, still images, music and a few other graphical accents. Great for “Ken Burns” style photo essays or creating a dynamic, engaging learning object students can view before they come to class ready for discussion. 4. Create a Spark page presentation by finding photos (your own or ones you search out via Spark’s image sources) that represent each of the elements and principles of design. Include copy describing each one using the definitions on pages 3 and 4.

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Grading You are required to submit 15 images as examples of each design element and principle. This is worth 2 points, 2% of the total points for MKT494. Your work will be graded using the following criteria: 2 Exceptional / The Spark is focused and coherently integrates examples with definitions. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic. 1 Satisfactory / The Spark is reasonably focused, and images are mostly based definitons. Fewer connections are made between visuals what they represent. The page reflects moderate engagement with the topic. 0 Underdeveloped / The Spark is mostly a description or summary, without appropriate visual examples. The post reflects passing engagement with the topic. – 10% grade assessment for each day your post is late

Netiquette: 10 Ground Rules for Online Work 1 / Respect Others. 2 / Be Concise. You want to be clear—and to articulate your point—without being preachy or pompous. Be direct. Stay on point. Don’t lose your readers in an overly wordy sentence or paragraph. 3 / Respect Diversity. It’s a multi-cultural world in which we live. Use no language or visuals that are offensive—or could be construed as such— toward others. Racist, sexist, and heterosexist comments or images are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities, and age. 4 / No YELLING! Be friendly. Using bold, upper-case letters is bad form, like yelling at somebody, NOT TO MENTION BEING HARD ON THE EYES. 5 / Proper Writing Style. Correct spelling, grammatical construction and sentence structure are expected in every other writing activity associated with scholarship. 6 / Cite Your Sources. Another big must! If your contribution includes the intellectual property (authored material) of others, e.g., books, newspaper, magazine, or journal articles—online or print—they must be given proper attribution. 7 / No Flaming! Criticism must be constructive, well-meaning, and well-articulated. Please, no tantrums. Rants directed at or about others are simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The same goes for profanity. W.P. Carey expects higher-order language. 8 / Emoticons and Acronyms. The rise in text messaging popularity has spawned a body of linguistic shortcuts that are not part of the academic dialogue. Please refrain from 🙂 faces and c u l8r’s. 9 / No take backs! Language is your only tool in an online environment. Once you’ve hit the send button, you’ll find your statements harder to retract. 10 / Read [out loud]. Review your written posts and responses to ensure that you’ve conveyed exactly what you intended. Practice your proofreading, revision, and rewriting skills—valuable assets in the professional world for which you are now preparing.

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Elements of Design The elements of design are the building blocks used by people in their creative work.

Line is a mark with greater length than width. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; straight or curved; thick or thin.

Shape is a closed line. Shapes can be geometric, like squares and circles; or organic, like free-form or natural shapes. Shapes are flat and can express length and width.

Forms are three-dimensional shapes expressing length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders, boxes, and pyramids are forms.

Space is the area between and around objects. The space around objects is of- ten called negative space; negative space has shape. Space can also refer to the feeling of depth. Real space is three-dimensional; in visual art, when we create the feeling or illusion of depth, we call it space.

Color is light reflected off of objects. Color has three main characteristics: hue (the name of the color, such as red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is). • White is pure light; black is the absence of light. • Primary colors are the only true colors (red, blue, and yellow). All other colors are mixes of primary colors. • Secondary colors are two primary colors mixed together (green, orange, violet). • Intermediate colors, sometimes called tertiary colors, are made by mixing a primary and secondary color together. Some examples of intermediate colors are yellow green, blue green, and blue violet. • Complementary colors are located directly across from each other on the color wheel (an arrangement of colors along a circular diagram to show how they are related to one another). Complementary pairs contrast because they share no common colors. For example, red and green are complements, because green is made of blue and yellow. When comple- mentary colors are mixed together, they neutralize each other to make brown.

Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures do not always feel the way they look; for example, a drawing of a porcupine may look prickly, but if you touch the drawing, the paper is still smooth.
Source: 2011 J. Paul Getty Trust

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Principles of Design The principles of design describe the ways that people use the elements of design in their creative work.

Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.

Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Usually the artist will make one area stand out by contrasting it with other areas. The area could be different in size, color, texture, shape, etc.

Movement is the path the viewer’s eye takes through the work of art, often to focal areas. Such movement can be directed along lines, edges, shape, and color within the work of art.

Pattern is the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art.

Repetition works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. The repetition of elements of design creates unity within the work of art.

Proportion is the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or number) relate well with each other. When drawing the human figure, proportion can refer to the size of the head compared to the rest of the body.

Rhythm is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement. Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential.

Variety is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and to guide the viewer’s eye through and around the work of art.

Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness. Source: 2011 J. Paul Getty Trust