CHAPTER 1COMPOSITIONOverviewIntroductionThe greatest power of visual language lies in its immediacy. You see contentand form simultaneously. Properly developed and composed, visual messagesenter the brain directly without conscious decoding, translating, or delay.Themessage conveyed is not only a direct result of your ability to orderly arrangethe elements or visual syntax in a composition, but also the receiver’s ability toperceive, or his level of visual literacy. Your manipulation of negative andpositive space, tonal patterns, and implied spatial relationships as elements on apage is an intellectual problem-solving process. The cerebral process ofgeneralities without concrete rules that compose abstract visual syntax is auniquely human ability the computer has not yet mastered. Effectivecompositions require understanding the dynamics of visual patterns and howwe see, organize, and define those elements intellectually, emotionally, andmechanically.ObjectivesThe material in this chapter enables you to do the following:Understand the importance of developing comprehensive thumbnailsketches.Differentiate between formal and informal arrangements.Use the elements of design to create disturbing or discordant compositions.Use the elements of design to create balanced and pleasing compositions.Understand the difference between color and tonal compositions.Recognize the implications of the compositional elements of one-, two-, andthree-point perspective drawings.Use composition advantageously in technical drawings or blueprints.Continued on next page1-1
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