Shape Grammar

"Calm"

"Bubbly"

For this project, I explored how the elements and principles of design can be used as a communicative tool in both the digital and analog creation space. I was able to utilize line and shape to illustrate these various design elements and principles, which included scale, symmetry, and repetition. From utilizing these, I was able to communicate a word through the illustrations I made (calm and bubbly).  Within this project, I continued to practice the iterating techniques I picked up from the project before, while also expanding on them by diving deeper into the design topics we were learning at the time. My goal for this project was to develop a better understanding of the elements and principles that would affect all of the different design forms from here on out. After first creating many different digital iterations, I decided to base my final analog compositions on the one shown below. The final outcome was the chosen design made twice, but they were inverted black and white colors of each other on 8-inch by 8-inch cardstock paper.

After working on this project, I have learned how changing the colors of art compositions can change the feelings evoked from them. I also gained an understanding of how art can influence the way someone feels because as I asked my peers to explain how they felt when viewing my work, they answered with similar words to those I chose for each piece. Before working, I did not know any of the design elements and principles, as well as how they could be integrated into my work.

Upon completion of this project and reflecting upon it, I see how much I have incorporated what I learned into the projects I completed. This includes the elements and principles of design, as well as how shapes and colors can influence the way a person feels about what they are viewing. Now that I've reflected back on this project I noticed that while iterating on the different designs, I focused a lot on movement and shape, which isn’t something I usually work with. By pushing myself out of my comfort zone and challenging myself, I gained confidence in my ability to create meaningful designs. I can now use this experience to continue to push myself in my future projects.