Elements and Principles of Visual Communication in Architecture
Elements and Principles of Visual Communication in Architecture
Design elements are the things that are used to create pieces of visual
communication while design principles are the things that we do with the design
elements to communicate the information in a certain way.
Perhaps the best way to think about these terminologies is to consider design
elements as the basic building blocks of a visual communication while principles
define the way the building blocks are arranged.
Design Elements
Design elements could be considered as the marks we make on the surface or page.
Point
This is a mark which may indicate position and location. It can represent
a point of measure or be used in a purely decorative way.
Line
Shape
Form
Tone
Texture
Colour
Letterform
A A A
These are essentially abstract physical representations of the spoken
work. The English language uses 26 characters and 10 numerals for
communication. Letterform can be manipulated to have an impact on the
quality of the visual message.
Design Principles
Just like the Design Elements, the Design Principles are an important part of the
vocabulary of visual communication.
Composition
Figure/Ground
Are terms that are used in conjunction to describe how elements are
placed on the page.
Figure
This usually refers to images which become more visually dominant than
the ground on which they are placed within a composition. It may also
mean ‘positive space’.
Ground
Balance
Contrast
Cropping
Hierarchy
2
1
Visual information can be arranged in order of importance. Factors
determining the hierarchy may be the size, colour or placement of the
3 visual components and/or the arrangement of the information. For
example, the focal point of a composition draws attention to specific
information.
Centre of Excellence in arts & design
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
Visual Communication
Ar. Irfan Ali Brohi
Scale
Proportion
Pattern
In order to convey this information well, designers need to attract their intended
audience to the piece.
The audience then deciphers and decodes this message. How well this message
decodes is up to the designer.
The designer uses design elements and principles are used in conjunction with one
another to help define areas of interest within a piece of visual communication. This
is important as designers wish to attract the viewer's attention to a piece of visual
communication. In order to achieve this a visual hierarchy is established.
What is visual A hierarch of any kind is a system of ordering or ranking which can apply to
hierarchy? people, animals, objects and so on.
hierarchy is established by what the eye is drawn to and in what order. In any
given visual communication the eye tends to be drawn to the most visually
dominant aspect(s) first or the focal point. The eye then proceeds to areas of less
visual dominance.