Lecture 6 - Visual Principles (Part 1)

Today Dr.Julian talked about several principles of interaction, including topics of "unity and contrast, harmony, and control of attention". I would like to reflect my understanding of the lecture briefly below.

Unity is important in a design since it conveys the consistency of the design. Unity can be achieved through similarity in rhythm, shape, value, color, etc. A design that has a theme color is a better one than a colorful but unconnected piece.

Contrast is another aspect to consider in a design. Contrast can help draw audience's attention to a focal point in a design. Contrast can be in terms of composition, value, size, shape, etc. For instance, if a movie poster has a white background and an object in a contrasting color placed in that white background, that object will become a focal point of the poster, which likely to draw the viewer's first attention prior to seeing the text and other elements.

The next element is Harmony in design, the most noticeable component of which is visual balance, referring to the degree of equilibrium in a composition, determined by the arrangement of elements in relation to each other in the frame.

The last element is the control of attention, which refers to the arrangement of items in a frame to lead the eye through a certain sequence of viewing, and to keep audience's attention within the frame.