3D Arts Design Elements and Functions

1.4 Role and Function of Elements of Design in 3D Arts

• Dimensions in Design:
  • 1D: Line
  • 2D: Shape/Image
  • 3D: Space (focus of this sub-unit)
  • 4D: Time
  • 5D: Behavior

Form and Content

• Form: Purely visual aspects of an object.
• Content: Subject matter, story, or information communicated by the designer.

Visual Communication

• Composition: Arrangement of elements.
• Designer's Intent: Designer's purpose and message.
• Seeing/Audience: How the audience interprets the design, influences, and understanding of the content vary across cultures & change over time.
• Meaning & Interpretation: Requires effort to interpret and create meaning from visual syntax.

Context

• Perception of the World: How personal perception of the world impacts the design one sees and its meaning.
• Haptic(Touch): Nonverbal communication involving touch.

Creative Problem Solving

• No Predetermined Answers: Design is a creative field without predefined solutions.
• Visual Literacy: Required to effectively communicate meaning visually.
• Goal of Design: Visual communication with intent and meaning.

Sources for Ideas

• Visual Effect & Message: Design ideas can vary from creating a visual effect to conveying an intellectual message.
• Inspiration: Ideas can come from any source that inspires creativity.

How We Visualize

• Three Levels of Visual Communication: Representational, Abstract, and Symbolic.

1.1.4 Design Elements

• Elements: Dot, Line, Shape, Direction, Color.

1.4.2 Texture

• Surface Characteristics: First characteristics perceived by the eye of the viewer(Texture)
• Tactile Experience: Aspect of a surface, that can be experienced directly(Tactile).
• Contextual Experience: The perception of texture differs in relation to other surrounding textures(Contextual).

Color

• Intrinsic Color: Objects retaining their natural color.
• Applied Color: Color applied to a surface (e.g., painting, glazing).
• Color Properties: A property of light, not a physical attribute of the object. (Property of light)
• Additive Color: Created by mixing lights (e.g., red, green, blue).
• Subtractive Color: Created from pigments or dyes absorbing parts of light.
• Time and Motion: Motion can be an illusion or kinetic or be emphasized visually through lines and sound.

Form

• Overall Shape: Overall 3-D shape of the object.
• Configuration: Complete configuration of the object's mass.
• Characteristics: Curvilinear, geometric, concave, convex, static, and dynamic form elements.
• Interior/Exterior: Includes pockets of negative space within the object.

Form Follows Function

• Principle: The shape of a building or object is primarily influenced by its intended use or purpose.
• Natural Examples: Found in nature, such as the shape of flowers.
• Applied Examples: Applied to various objects, such as airplanes, paper clips, and tablets.

Ergonomics

• User Interaction: Designed objects should work with the user's body.
• Examples: Ski poles, game controllers, chairs.

Mass and Space

• Mass: A body of matter, a collection of incoherent particles.
• Space: The negative/interstitial area surrounding mass. Defines an object's "boundaries."

Line

• Elements: Made up of points, the simplest elements of design.
• Role and Function: A dynamic element, expressing gesture, direction, and activating the surrounding space.

Plane

• Flat Surfaces: Generated by moving lines, ubiquitous in design.
• Examples: Walls, paintings, paper, and even 3D forms created using 2D surfaces.

Explore the role and function of design elements in 3D arts through this quiz. Learn about dimensions in design, the distinction between form and content, and how visual communication shapes audience interpretation. Engage with concepts like context and creative problem solving in the design process.