AestheticsThe set of principles concerned with the qualities of appearance, visual appeal, good taste, and beauty and the rules that determine how beautiful or pleasing to the eye something is. Design elements within this principle include: shape, form, colour, texture, finish, environment, point, line, plane, proportion, contrast, pattern, movement, balance, harmony, style and rhythm.
movementAn object with strong "visual movement" tends to be shaped in a way that draws the eye in a certain direction. Its shape or shapes may be assymmetrical, flowing, or dynamic. Objects with less visual movement tend to have more static and symmetrical shapes.
pattern + rhythmA pattern is a repeated design element. Patterns are found on many plants and animals, in nature (for example leaves and tabby cats) as well as on manufactured products, such as fabrics, and wall and floor coverings. Rhythm is related to pattern in that it uses repeated elements, but they may have a stronger quality of movement and be in the form of sequences or series.
Herzog and deMueron's textured copper skin for the New de Young Museum in San Francisco. Beautiful photo of pattern from the New York Times
proportionProportion has to do with the relationship between different parts of an object or its component pieces (or between those parts and the object as a whole). The proportions of an object made to be used, such as a teapot or a jug, may have a functional as well as an aesthetic purpose.
Many shapes in nature have the proportions of the golden section, a ratio identified by the Greeks and used in their buildings. Throughout history, harmonious proportion in architecture, painting, and sculpture has often been arrived at using the golden section, which works on he principle that an object's proportions are most pleasing when they are based on the ratio of 1.618. balanceThere are 3 main types of visual balance: Radial, where the design elements radiate out from a centre, as in the petals of a daisy or the face of a clock. Formal (or symmetrical), where design on one side of a centre line is identical to the other side, as in the front view of an animal or of a chair. Informal (or asymmetrical), where the elements of a design are distributed unequally, as in the side view of a teapot.
harmony
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functionHow a product, system, or environment works or performs for its intended use. Key elements include strength, durability, efficiency, safety, stability, reliability, ergonomic fit, construction (and its cost), optimisation, user-friendliness, and fitness for purpose.
strength
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