Elements of GD_Alexis Garcia

 1. Grid

Key Points

• Grids are guidelines that help the designer align elements in relation to each other.
• Consistency creates underlying structure that unifies the pages, making it more efficient.
• Grids create structure for negative space (white/blank space), making it participate in the rhythm of the system.
• Grids offer a starting point for each composition, blank page -> structured
• Grids are actively being used everywhere, books, magazines, websites, social media, apps.

2. Patterns

Key Points

• Patterns come from different cultures and traditions from different periods of time
• "They travel from place to place and time to time, carried along like viruses"
• 3 Basic Forms
• isolated elements (dots)
• linear elements (strips)
• criss-crossing (grids)
• Iconic Patterns; images with personal significance to the artist: popsicles, bombs, yellow camp
• Regular / Irregular; abstract and unrecognizable imagery
• Random Repeat; patterns are pieced together to create a larger pattern
• Grid as Matrix; every grid doesn't need to be square
• Changing Color, Scale, and Orientation transforms its visual impact
• Code-Based Patterns
• designer creates the rule, but the end result may be unexpected

3. Point, Line, Plane

Key Points

• Building blocks of design
• Point -> marks a position in space
• Line -> infinite series of points; can be a positive mark or negative gap
• Plane -> a flat surface extending in height and width
• a graphic object that encloses a 3D space has volume 
• Linear perspective simulates optical distortions and the angle at which elements recede reflects the position of the viewer

4. Rhythm & Balance

Key Point

• Balance and rhythm work together to create works of design that pulse with life, achieving both stability and surprise
• in asymmetrical designs, designers achieve balance by placing contrasting elements in counterpoint to each other. creating compositions that allow the eye to wander while achieving an overall stability
• when working across multiple pages designers place imagery, typography, rules, color fields, and so on with mindful intention to create focal points and to carry the viewers eye through the piece

5. Hierarchy

Key Points

• is the order of importance
• Basic Typographic Hierarchy is a table of contents purpose is to help readers locate relevant information 
• a poorly designed table of contents creates contradictory alignments and a cluster of graphic elements
• types of hierarchy
• code
• flat 
• through contrast
• menu of options
• dimensional
• unexpected

6. Modularity

Key Points 

• modularity is a special kind of constraint
• a module is a fixed element used within a larger system or structure
• working within constraints
• essentially picking a style or shape and working with it all throughout the design