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Four Black Squares Design Concepts

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James Brown
James Brown

This document discusses key design concepts used in creating compositions including framing, balance, touching, overlapping, illusory space, contrast, and positive/negative space. It provides definitions and examples of each concept. Framing refers to how objects are positioned within the boundaries of an image. Balance means arranging elements so they appear stable. Touching and overlapping involve placing distinct elements in contact or overlaying one another. Combining size and position creates an illusion of 3D space. Contrast uses differences in size, direction, space and position to suggest meanings. Positive space is the recognizable foreground object while negative space is everything around it.

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DESIGN CONCEPTS Used in ¡°Black Squares¡± and ¡°Nursery Rhyme¡± Problem
DESIGN CONCEPTS ?Framing ?Balance ?Touching ?Overlapping and cropping of forms ?Illusory space ?Contrast of elements ?Negative and positive
FRAMING Think of the outside edge of a picture as a frame. Framing is the position of an object within the boundary of the image. When you crop a picture to a smaller size, you¡¯re changing the relationship to the frame. When you make a composition from scratch your elements can be within the frame, touching the frame, or appear to extend beyond the frame, like looking out a window and seeing objects partially hidden by the wall around the window.
BALANCE As you make a composition from scratch your elements need to be arranged so they appear balanced. This is like balancing objects on a See- Saw (a flat plank on a triangular fulcrum); if you put a large object on one end and a small one on the other you must change the position of the fulcrum or add more small objects to balance the big one.
TOUCHING Distinct elements within a composition don¡¯t have to be separate; they can just touch at a corner or along part or all of one edge. The way things touch can tell you about their relationship to each other.
OVERLAPPING Distinct elements within a composition can overlap each other or be cropped by the frame of the image. When combined with changes in relative size this can imply position in illusory space.
ILLUSORY SPACE Since images on paper are flat (2D) you can only create an illusion of 3D space by the position and relative size of the objects within the composition. Since we usually can¡¯t see through objects we assume that when one overlaps another, the one in front is closer. As things get closer to the eye they appear larger, so if two things look similar but one is larger it¡¯s probably closer. In a composition this is called relative size. By using different sizes and overlapping you can create a plausible illusion of position in 3D space.
CONTRAST You can create or suggest many different meanings just by the contrast of elements in terms of size, direction, space, and position. ? Size (larger or smaller) ? Direction (rotation of objects, or groups of objects ? Space (separating objects) ? Position (of elements, relative to each other and the image frame)
NEGATIVE+POSITIVE 01 If you put a single element onto a page, say a large black letter ¡°A¡± on a white background, you¡¯d say that the ¡°A¡± is in the foreground. We¡¯re used to thinking about the recognizable, foreground object as being more important; in art and design it¡¯s called positive. Everything else, the white space around it and the white triangular hole in it is said to be negative.
NEGATIVE+POSITIVE 02 Design tends to treat positive and negative elements as having equal value, as interlocking parts of a whole like a yin- yang symbol. Negative can even become positive, and vice versa. In a good composition there is a dynamic relationship between positive elements and negative space (dynamic in this sense means moving or changing).

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Four Black Squares Design Concepts

  • 1. DESIGN CONCEPTS Used in ¡°Black Squares¡± and ¡°Nursery Rhyme¡± Problem
  • 2. DESIGN CONCEPTS ?Framing ?Balance ?Touching ?Overlapping and cropping of forms ?Illusory space ?Contrast of elements ?Negative and positive
  • 3. FRAMING Think of the outside edge of a picture as a frame. Framing is the position of an object within the boundary of the image. When you crop a picture to a smaller size, you¡¯re changing the relationship to the frame. When you make a composition from scratch your elements can be within the frame, touching the frame, or appear to extend beyond the frame, like looking out a window and seeing objects partially hidden by the wall around the window.
  • 4. BALANCE As you make a composition from scratch your elements need to be arranged so they appear balanced. This is like balancing objects on a See- Saw (a flat plank on a triangular fulcrum); if you put a large object on one end and a small one on the other you must change the position of the fulcrum or add more small objects to balance the big one.
  • 5. TOUCHING Distinct elements within a composition don¡¯t have to be separate; they can just touch at a corner or along part or all of one edge. The way things touch can tell you about their relationship to each other.
  • 6. OVERLAPPING Distinct elements within a composition can overlap each other or be cropped by the frame of the image. When combined with changes in relative size this can imply position in illusory space.
  • 7. ILLUSORY SPACE Since images on paper are flat (2D) you can only create an illusion of 3D space by the position and relative size of the objects within the composition. Since we usually can¡¯t see through objects we assume that when one overlaps another, the one in front is closer. As things get closer to the eye they appear larger, so if two things look similar but one is larger it¡¯s probably closer. In a composition this is called relative size. By using different sizes and overlapping you can create a plausible illusion of position in 3D space.
  • 8. CONTRAST You can create or suggest many different meanings just by the contrast of elements in terms of size, direction, space, and position. ? Size (larger or smaller) ? Direction (rotation of objects, or groups of objects ? Space (separating objects) ? Position (of elements, relative to each other and the image frame)
  • 9. NEGATIVE+POSITIVE 01 If you put a single element onto a page, say a large black letter ¡°A¡± on a white background, you¡¯d say that the ¡°A¡± is in the foreground. We¡¯re used to thinking about the recognizable, foreground object as being more important; in art and design it¡¯s called positive. Everything else, the white space around it and the white triangular hole in it is said to be negative.
  • 10. NEGATIVE+POSITIVE 02 Design tends to treat positive and negative elements as having equal value, as interlocking parts of a whole like a yin- yang symbol. Negative can even become positive, and vice versa. In a good composition there is a dynamic relationship between positive elements and negative space (dynamic in this sense means moving or changing).