Visual elements are the most important elements in designing web pages. They help to organize and structure your content, highlight what is most important, and draw the reader’s eye to specific points in the content.
There are several visual elements that can be used to structure a web page. These include borders, grids, columns, layers, and arrows. Each of these has its own function that contributes to organizing and highlighting content.
Borders can create distinct sections of a page or document, grids can help organize content, columns can separate content into different kinds or types, layers can hide some content while showing other content, and arrows can direct the reader’s attention to something on the page.
This article will discuss one of these visual elements: the path of a moving point.
Circles
The circle is the most fundamental shape in geometry. All other shapes can be created by fusing, dividing, or stretching circles.
Circles can be described in several different visual elements. The color of the circle, whether it is matte or glossy, and how long and thin or thick it is all contribute to the perception of a circle.
The way a circle moves can also be described as a subtle element of perception. Does it rotate quickly or slowly? Does it move in a straight line or does it zigzag? All of these questions determine the answer to one question: Is it a straight line?
The answer is no- circles zigzag! Circles that rotate in a straight line are actually squares that have been rotated. This adds another level of complexity to identifying circles.
Angles
When we talk about angles in design, we are actually talking about the relationship between two lines or edges.
Angles can be defined by their size (measured in degrees) and by whether they are obtuse, acute, or right. Obtuse angles are larger than 90 degrees, acute angles are 90 degrees, and right angles are 90 degrees.
Knowing this can be useful when trying to figure out which angle is which. For example, if you have a shape with a right angle corner, then it is a square!
Aside from defining shapes by their edges, you can also define shapes by their relation to one another. For instance, a triangle has two obtuse angles and one acute angle. You can also name the acute angle first and then say “the other two are obtuse”. This is helpful for identifying more complicated shapes.
Triangles
Triangles are one of the most fundamental shapes in geometry. They can be viewed both dynamically and statically.
Triangles can be seen in many aspects of design, especially in the way designers arrange elements on a page or screen. Shapes can form triangles, lines can form triangles, and even text can form triangles.
How color is used and distributed also creates triangles. Mixing colors creates new colors, which forms new shapes on the page or screen. These new colors can either complement or contrast each other, creating a sort of triangle shape with the two colors.
The way designers use typography also creates triangles. Designers often use all capital letters at the beginning of sentences to highlight something important. By doing this, they are forming a sharp point at the beginning of the sentence, creating a little triangle on the page or screen.
Squares
The first element is squares. Squares can be used to create basic shapes, backgrounds, and more.
Squares are a fundamental shape that is used in many disciplines. In art, the square is one of the few pure forms of representation. It can be used to outline something, or can be filled with something to represent something.
In architecture, squares or rectangles are often used to lay out floors or walls. In music, rhythm is often described as a series of square beats.
You can find squares almost everywhere! To add some creativity to your art, try experimenting with different sizes and shapes of squares. You could even try making your own unique shape that looks like a square at first glance, but has some twists and turns that make it your own creation.
Paths
Paths are a very important visual element in most designs. They can be described as the line or lines that something moves along as it changes position or position and shape.
Paths can be subtle, like the line that a pencil makes as it writes on paper, or very obvious, like the road that leads to a destination. Both are important in our everyday lives!
In design, paths can be used to create borders, edge treatments, and can even contain color or texture. They can also be used to illustrate movement or transformation in a piece.
Using paths instead of solid lines is a great way to reduce weight in your work, making it easier to manage file size and play down the sharp edges of your art. It also gives a more natural appearance to your art, especially with nature-themed pieces.
Distances
In our everyday life, we use distance as a reference point quite often. For example, when talking about the cost of something, we usually mention the price compared to what else you can buy for a similar price.
Other times, we use distance in relation to what you can achieve with something. For example, if you invest in something that increases in value, you have gained distance in that you have more of something than you did before.
Designers use the concept of distance often when designing spaces. They will use elements such as lines and shapes to create the perception of depth on a surface using color and shading. This creates the feeling of walking into a space and seeing what is there.
Using the element of distance is important to understand as it shows how far one thing is from another. It can help detect threats and show what is around you.
Directions
The next element of visual design to discuss is the concept of directions. Visual elements can be in a number of different locations, or have a number of different paths they can take.
Everything in the world has a direction it is moving in, or a direction it is positioned in. Even something that seems stationary is actually moving in a very small degree.
All colors have a tint or shade to them, which means they all have a starting point and an ending point. This makes it easy to describe where they are coming from or going to.
With shapes, even if they are distorted or skewed, they still have an underlying shape that can be described as the starting point for their appearance. This makes it easy to understand their position as well.
Motion can be described by the starting point and ending point of an object’s location, or by describing its position at each moment in time.
Areas
The area element is best described as the path of a moving point. The area element refers to the shape of the space that is filled or covered by an object or object group.
Area can be thought of in terms of shapes, like a square or a circle, or in terms of dimensions, like width and height. How you think about these dimensions will depend on the context of your visual art project.
For example, if you are painting a landscape scene, thinking about the area in terms of height (how far into the distance it goes) and in terms of width and depth (of the scene itself) will help you convey a sense of depth and breadth.
Using only one dimension may not look very impressive, though. Adding more dimensions will add more complexity and detail to your art piece.
