Progress Test II (Units 5,6,7)

Multiple Choice

1. A progression of whole numbers where each is the sum of the preceding two to determine proportionate ratios, such as 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, was used by which scientist?

 

a. Hall
b. Palladio
c. Munsell
d. Fibonacci

2. The degree of lightness or darkness of a color is called:

 

a. Saturation
b. Tone
c. Hue
d. Value

3. The hue that has the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum is called:

 

a. Red
b. Blue
c. Yellow
d. Violet (or purple)

4. A formula used by the ancient Greeks to establish the principle of proportion is known as:

 

a. Magic Triangle
b. Perfect Square
c. Golden Mean
d. Incident Angles

 

Fill in the Blanks

1. _____________________ is the study of beauty.

2. _____________________ is the element that describes the repetition of a motif.

3. _____________________ is the type of balance when elements are arranged uniformly around a central point.

 

4. _____________________ is the achievement of equilibrium that relies on dissimilar elements with equal visual weight.

5. _____________________ is the principle that relies on the existence of a dominant element within a composition.

6. _____________________ is the principle that describes the recurrence of successive elements in a periodic pattern of repetition.

7. _____________________ refers to the family name of a color.

8. _____________________ added to a hue produces a tint.

9. _____________________ added to a hue produces a shade.

10. _____________________ added to a hue produces a tone.

11. _____________________ is the warmest of colors in the visible spectrum.

12. _____________________ is the coolest of colors in the visible spectrum.

13. _____________________ is another name for general lighting.

14. _____________________ is another name for task lighting.

15. _____________________ is another name for key lighting.

 

List

1. Name four basic kinds of three-dimensional forms.

a.

b.

c.

d.

 

Essay

What do you think makes for a harmonious composition?

 

Suplementary Reading

Principles of Design

 

The second most fundamental way to analyze a design composition is to consider how the principles of design are applied. Design principles are thought of as more complex than elements. Whereas elements are singular components of a design composition, principles are the rules or guidelines that govern the use of these elements within the composition. Thus, the aspects we have previously identified as elements may be thought of as components of principles.

The discussion that follows focuses on six design principles:

• proportion

• balance

• rhythm

• contrast

• emphasis

• harmony

 

Proportion

In contrast to scale, which describes the relative size of an object to one or more objects outside itself, proportion is concerned with the relationships of parts within a whole. In other words, scale involves external relationships, and proportion involves internal relationships. Proportion may encompass the relationship of parts to a whole object, or the relationship of parts to other parts within a composition that is seen as a whole entity.

This concept is not limited to the study of interior design. In our day-to-day lives, we utilize the concept of proportion in a variety of situations. For example, in describing a woman as "short," we compare her overall stature with a known size, perhaps an average height for an adult woman of 5 feet, 5 inches. This is an example of scale, that is, a comparison of something with an external object. Alternatively, a description of a man as "stocky" denotes proportion: an internal comparison of parts and of width in comparison to height. Similarly, words such as "squat" and "elongated" denote proportion. They address the ratio of certain dimensions (in this case, length and width) within the whole, compared, with each other and with our expectations for that particular form.

Another everyday example that can help us understand this principle is a cooking recipe. One person's apple pie might be "sweeter" than another's because the ratio of sugar to the other ingredients in the recipe is greater in the former than in the latter. It is not the absolute quantity of sugar that makes for the sweeter taste, but its quantity relative to the amounts of each of the other ingredients and the total ingredients of the whole.

Much of our perception of proportionate or disproportionate relationships occurs instinctively. In fact, we are more likely to perceive "out of proportion" than we are to perceive "in proportion," which we consider the given or expected. However, over the years numerous mathematical formulations have been devised as a means of understanding and quantifying these ratios. One such formula, known as the Golden Sectionor Golden Mean, was utilized by the ancient Greeks. It was thought to approximate the best proportions, producing the most universally appealing relationship among parts.

This geometric approach was used by the classic Romans and later by Renaissance architects. Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio's Four Booths of Architecture, published in 1570, describes this sense of proportion.

In the 15th century, Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician, devised another mathematical way of describing proper proportions. His numerical calculation is presented as a series of consecutive numbers. Each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers: 0, 1, 1,2,3, 5, 8, 13,2i, 34, and so on. In other words, 3 is to 5 as 5 is to 8.

Consider the proportions we are accustomed to. Most rooms are rectangular, for instance, 8 feet by 13 feet, or 13 feet by 21 feet. Standard sizes of carpets come close to the 5-by-8-foot proportion that can be derived from Fibonacci's calculation. Pictures and picture frames also use similar proportions, such as 5 inches by 7 inches and 8 inches by 10 inches.

In the 20th century, the Swiss architect and designer Le Corbusier used a formula for proportion that relied on the examination of human dimensions.

Knowing these expectations, designers may wish to play or tamper with proportions to create the unexpected. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the late 1800s, the chair featured in Figure 1.8 was considered, in its day, an exceptionally distinctive and successful way of playing with the usual proportions that had come to be associated with chairs. Phillipe Starcke is a contemporary designer known for his dramatic play with proportion in the hotel spaces he designs.

 

Balance

Balance is the state of equilibrium. In design, it is the arrangement of parts in a composition to achieve equality. Equality in design is achieved when features have equal visual weight. It is not necessary for the components on either side of a room to actually weigh the same. The visual weight of objects may be influenced by their size, shape, texture, color, complexity, and position. The arrangement around a real or imagined centerline, or axis, will define the degree of balance. To have balance, the elements must have equality in effect, force, or importance. And that may be achieved in a variety of ways.

A typical axis is the vertical line from ceiling to floor through the midsection of a room. A less often utilized, but still significant, axis is the horizontal line at the midpoint of a room that separates the top half of the room from the bottom half. A design that considers both axes gives a more complex balance to a space.

Three types of balance may be used in design: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. Symmetrical balance is a formal, static, and traditional type of balance achieved with identical elements arranged around a common axis. This is also known as a mirror image. When a design relies on symmetrical balance, both the designer and the client need to recognize that change in one item will necessitate a change in its identical counterpart on the other side of the axis.

Asymmetrical balance is defined as the achievement of equilibrium through equal visual weight of nonidentical elements around an axis. The result is a composition that is flexible, dynamic, and informal. Although asymmetrical balance may be more difficult to achieve than symmetrical balance, its advantage is that it is a more fluid approach to design.

Asymmetrical balance should not be confused with a lack of balance, in which elements of the composition do not demonstrate equal visual weight. Lack of balance may be perceived as disconcerting and unstable.

Radial balance is an equilibrium that relies on a center point, which serves as the axis around which elements of equal visual weight are arranged. Although less commonly employed than either symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, radial balance is often used for ceremonial spaces such as churches.

Rhythm

Rhythm is characterized by a recurrence of successive elements in a periodic pattern of repetition. As with musical notes, the spacing may be regular or irregular.

: I

The interval between notes in a waltz, which is regular, may be contrasted to that in a jazz interpretation, with its stops and starts, representing less regularly spaced intervals. The cadence of the waltz is more orderly and stable than that of the jazz piece, although the rhythm of the jazz piece may be more exciting.

Rhythm in design may be created through the use of linear components, such as a series of architectural columns or windows. Other uses of rhythmic elements can be achieved with colors or shapes positioned thoughtfully around a space. A particular motif or color dispersed throughout a space may move us visually through the space without our even being conscious of it.

 

Contrast

Contrast is the way we perceive the differences between things. Although sameness or unity is an important desire in human nature, contrast is equally important. People thrive on variety, change, even opposition, but to varying degrees and under different circumstances. As with any other element or principle, there is no magic formula for how much is warranted for a particular client or application. For some people and in certain situations, a high degree of contrast may induce tension or stimulation overload. For others or under other circumstances, the same degree of contrast may be experienced as a pleasing level of stimulation or arousal.

Any two or more features placed in opposition may achieve contrast. It may be expressed in the difference between light and dark, curvilinear and straight, near and far, old and new, smooth and rough, plain and ornate, small and large, and so on. The differences may be striking or subtle. Contrast in color is often used.

 

Emphasis

When a designer employs the principle of emphasis, the result is a composition in which one feature demands attention. That feature is also known as a focal point. The concept of emphasis requires that something hold a dominant status compared with other components in the space.

Dominance, or importance, may be assigned by virtue of any of a number of factors. A feature may command attention because of its large size in relationship to the space or other objects within the space. Or, a focal point may be established by the interest of detailing, texture, architectural or historical interest, color (or lack of color), and so on. The tools available to a designer to create a focal point are numerous. However, the use of too many focal points may defeat the purpose of the design. Conversely, a composition with no focus may be perceived as monotonous and bland.

There can be no emphasis without contrast. However, the converse is not true. A design can have contrast and not achieve emphasis if all the dissimilar elements are equated visually. For example, a room painted with black walls, white ceiling, and an equal distribution of dark and light colored furniture will be high in contrast but may not create any focus.

 

Harmony

Harmony is the culmination of a designer's attempt to combine various parts into a pleasing whole. It represents the sum total of all the concepts discussed thus tar.

The various components of a harmonious composition are considered congruous. They belong together. Any feature removed or changed will affect the totality or the integrity of the composition. Harmony exists in the difficult to attain, delicate balance between unity and oneness on the one hand and contrast or variety on the other. It presumes a common thread among components to reinforce an overall design theme, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Although unity is essential to achieving harmony, a certain proportion of components in a composition should be varied to avoid monotony.

Unifying threads may be achieved in a variety of ways. There may be a similarity in shapes throughout the space, such as the repetition of circular forms. There may be harmony in the application of a unified color scheme. Or, the selection of a particular motif in a pattern, such as a floral theme, may be interspersed throughout the space to create a harmonious feeling.

 

Summary

Interior designers learn to analyze a composition to learn to create a composition. Although good design is expected to be aesthetic, it needs to serve a purpose. This is the balance between form and function.

The most basic of the building blocks of design are called elements. They include line, pattern, texture, scale, light, and color.

Derived from a point, a line is one-dimensional, a shape is two-dimensional, and a form is three-dimensional. Together, they provide a foundation for the design of a space. Patterns, either structural or applied, are a repetition of a motif. Many motifs are based on features in the natural world. Motifs may be imbued with much symbolism and feeling. Patterns are described as being either geometric or organic and are expressed in naturalistic, stylized, or abstract ways. Texture may be visual or tactile, or both. It is a tool that interior designers use to create interest, especially when the color scheme is muted. Scale is the relative size of one object compared with an external object of known size. Designers often rely on comparisons to human dimensions when demonstrating scale. A pattern that is made up of very small-scale motifs takes on the appearance of a texture.

Without light, there would be no visible form, color, or texture. Lighting, a powerful tool for the designer, serves many purposes, among them providing visibility and establishing a mood. Lighting solutions, whether natural or electric, may rely on one or a combination of the following layers: ambient, task, or accent lighting.

The human eye can perceive a wide range of color, known as the visible spectrum, from red, the warmest hue, to violet, the coolest hue. Color conveys feelings and mood.

Principles of design include proportion, balance, rhythm, contrast, emphasis, and harmony.

Although many mathematical formulas, such as the Golden Section or Golden" Mean, can be used to judge proportion, it is often perceived instinctively, based on our experiences. Whereas scale speaks to external relationships, proportion deals with internal relationships: the comparison of parts within a whole to one another or to the whole. Balance, or a state of equilibrium, is achieved through a system of visual weight. This can be accomplished symmetrically, asymmetrically, or in a radial way around an axis point. The repetition of features, like the notes of a musical composition, produces a rhythm that takes the eye through a space. Differences create contrast, a vital part of an interesting composition. Designers may contrast a variety of elements, such as shapes, colors, scale, or pattern. Juxtaposing features with contrasting importance creates emphasis or a focal point. The degree of importance a feature holds may be a factor of its size, intricacy, lighting, color, or location, among others.

A composition is considered to be successful, good, and whole if it has achieved harmony. Harmony presumes a pleasing balance between unity and variety.

 

Vocabulary

Accent lighting	a.a type of lighting that creates an emphasis or focus used to highlight a painting, object d’art, or sculpture; also called key lighting
Ambient lighting	b.diffuse, uniform illumination that provides for safe movement; also called engineered or laminated flooring
Applied pattern	c.a pattern that is achieved by applying the design to surface, as when printing a fabric
Artificial light	d.a type of lighting that includes incandescent, fluorescent, neon, high-intensity discharge, and LED(light-emitting diode).
Asymmetrical balance	e.the achievement of equilibrium through equal visual weight of nonidentical elements around an axis, resulting in a composition that is flexible, dynamic, and informal
Axis	f.the centerline of an arrangement or design.
Chroma	g.the purity, saturation, or intensity of hue; adding gray to a hue lowers its chroma
Element	h. Any of the six singular components that serve as the building blocks of a design composition: line, pattern, texture, light, scale, and color.
Electric light	i. A type of lightning that includes incandescent, fluorescent, neon, high-intensity discharge, and LED (light-emitting diode). Also called artificial light.
Form	j. The basic line, shape, and configuration of an object that serve to distinguish one object from another.
Geometric shape	k. A category of shape, whether or curvilinear, that is regular (e.g., square, rectangle, triangle, or circle). With knowledge of one dimension, a mathematical formula can be used to calculate other dimensions.
Golden Section (or Golden Mean)	l. The use of glass as a construction material or the process of fitting glass into frames as a construction method.
Hue	m. The family of a color or the way in which one color (e.g., red) is distinguished from another (e.g., yellow); often used interchangeably with the word color.
Human scale	n. A recognizable, constant range of expected human size, used in comparison with an object or a structure.
Line	o. A one-dimensional unit, either straight or curvilinear, that gives dimension to space and is created by connecting two points.
Mass	p. The spatial dimensions of a three-dimensional form; the property that gives it weight.
Natural light	q. A type of colored light that includes daylight, flame, candle, and skylight.
Organic shape	r. A shape that is based on nature and living objects, whether in the animal (and human) or plant kingdom. It includes amorphous or amorphic (i.e., without a definitive shape), biomorphic or zoomorphic (i.e., representing human or animal components), and botanical shapes (i.e., representing the plant world, including vines, leaves, flowers, and fruits).
Ornament	s. Visual detail that is purely decorative, not functional.
Pattern	t. The repetition of a specific shape, theme, or figure that is discernible as a distinct entity; it may be either applied or structural.
Plane	u. In the contract documents package, any several types of drawings depicting proposed layouts on particular plane (e.g., the floor of celling).
Primaries of color	v. The three primary color pigments that, when mixed together, produce black: red, yellow, and blue.
Primaries of light	w. The three colors of light that, when combined, produce white light: red, green, and blue.
Principles of design	x.
Radial balance	y. An equilibrium that relies on center point, which serves as the axis around which elements of equal visual weight are arranged. Although less commonly employed than either symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, it is often used for ceremonial spaces such as churches.
Scale	z. A proportion between two sets of dimensions; also, a comparison of the relative size of two or more objects.
Shade	aa.A lower value of a hue created by adding black, developing a darker version.
Shape	bb.A two dimensional unit, such as a square, created as line shifts direction, developing both length and width.
Solid	cc.A structure that is formed by the addition of the third dimension, depth or volume, to a two-dimensional object.
Structural pattern	dd.A pattern that is achieved by arranging the elements of a structure or its surface, as when weaving a fabric or arranging rectangular shapes of bricks.
Symmetrical balance	ee. A formal, static, and traditional type of balance achieved with identical elements situated on either side if an axis.
Tactile	ff. The sensory experience of touch, which receives perceptions of pressure or traction, usually through the skin.
Task lighting	gg. A type of lightning that illuminates certain areas of a space to facilitate specific activities, such as reading; also called local lightning.
Texture	hh. The features of a surface, comprising both its construction and its finish.
Tint	ii.A variation of a hue created when white is added, thus heightening the value, creating a lighter version.
Tone	jj. A muted version (lower chroma) of a hue, created by adding gray or a hue’s complement.
Trompe l'oeil	kk.An artistic technique that tricks the eye so that the viewer imagines a two-dimensional plane as having three-dimensionality rather than being flat; a decorative painting technique that simulates a material such as marble or details so realistic that they do not appear to be painted.
Value	ll. The degree of lightness or darkness of a color.
Visible spectrum	mm.The spectrum of light that humans are able to see (from red to violet).
Visual weight	nn.The visual emphasis given toa component as part of an arrangement in a composition. It may be influenced by size, shape, texture, color, complexity, and position.

 

References