Visual principles in a composition NATA drawing syllabus Part 1
July 19 | by NATA TRAINER | Posted in Architectural features of buildings, Drawing practice, NATA candidates
Visual principles in a composition simply like a grammar of a communication language. We enjoy poetry, story or a literature because of how it organized with its sentence structure, style of presentation, phrases used, etc. Similarly every touching art or architecture has a visual grammar. This visual grammar is also known as principles of design which is applied to the elements of a design for making the architecture or art meaningful.
Balance, Rhythm, Emphasis, Proportion and scale, Movement, Contrast, and Unity are known as the general principles of a visual design.
Balance
The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandum is a great example for a balanced architecture design. If we consider a center line or axis, the visual weight distributed to the left and right part in this image are same. This is known as symmetrical or formal Balance.
Figure No: 1 symmetrical or formal Balance – Visual principles in a composition
But in the figure number. 4, parts or the component of the design are not identical but are equal in visual weight. This is known as Asymmetrical or Informal Balance.
The figure No.2 shows Design elements in this creation is radiate outward from the center is known as Radial Balance.
Figure No: 2 Radial Balance- Visual principles in a composition
Rhythm
Repeated uses of design elements like line, shape, color, texture or pattern are the rhythmic design structures.
Roof pattern in the image (Figure No: 3 ) is repeated at the same interval each time is known as Regular Rhythm. But the figure number 4 shows the roofing elements are random or are at irregular intervals so it is known as Random Rhythm.
Figure No: 3 Regular Rhythm – Visual principles in a composition
Figure No: 4 Random Rhythm, Asymmetrical or Informal Balance – Visual principles in a composition
The repeated element in the figure no5 is exactly alike with the exception of one detail increasing or decreasing gradually with each repetition. This is called as Gradated Rhythm
Figure No: 5 Gradated Rhythm – Visual principles in a composition
Emphasis
In a composition, a component or a part consciously created to attracts one’s eye or to set the focal point is consider as a visual principle is known as Emphasis of a design. It can be accomplished through placement, color, size, shape, and/or use of lines. figure no shows the series of building, temple dome is different in color and structure and it is the main attraction of this picture.
Figure No: 6 Emphasis – Visual principles in a composition
Proportion and Scale
It deals with the comparative connections between design elements in a creation with respect to size. Golden ratio is the most discussed thing in this area.
Figure No: 7 Proportion and Scale – Visual principles in a composition
Movement
This Visual principle in a composition makes feeling like flow or an action
Figure No: 8 Movement – Visual principles in a composition
Unity
Unity is also called harmony. This important principle of design define the group of same shape, same color, same pattern etc. You can find this principle in all the pictures given with this writ-up for your reference. Especially the figure number 5 shows the unity of window shapes around the building. This is the coffee house building situated in Thiruvananthapuram is designed by the great Architect Laurie baker.
