Principles of Design

The principles of design can be understood as the fundamental rules in the field of design. these rules are used for the organization of elements of design. In the development of any composition the principles of design play a very vital role as the artist has to decide the role of participating elements in the composition, philosophically quite similar to movie making where all the participating members are given their role and they have to follow the script. Similarly in the field of fine arts or architecture, these elements are also allocated with their roles like which element is going to dominate? or which element is going to maintain the visual equilibrium in the picture. so it's all about organizing the visual script with the help of principles of design.

So let's discuss all the principles of design in detail;

1)  Balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical, & radial balance):

The term balance is self-explanatory which means all the composition or the scene is going to be visually balanced. 

Here you can see the picture is divided from the center by means of a central visual axis and from that central axis the visual weight is 100% mirror, such types of visuals are considered balanced visuals. There are three types of balanced visual (symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial balance).

Symmetrical balance:

In the case of symmetrical balance it is necessary that the visual must be 100% mirrored from the central visual axis either the vertical axis or the horizontal axis.

Now coming to the next i.e. asymmetrical balance.

Asymmetrical balance:

it can be achieved by organizing the scene or composition in a way that they are not 100% mirrored but somehow the visual mass of both sides seems to be in equilibrium. as compared to symmetrical balance asymmetrical balance is a little difficult to achieve. 

In the above mention picture, you can clearly see that both the pictures are having different shapes and are filled with different colors but it is very hard to find out something which can clearly state that both the image's visual mass is not equal. Such conditions where images are not mirrored but somehow are balanced by the visual mass lead to the Asymmetrical Balance.

2)  Unity

In a composition or any visual scene, it is composed of various principles of design (balance, harmony, rhythm, etc) here unity plays a pivotal role in clubbing or harmonizing the visual scene by bringing all the principles of design together like a song where all the instruments give the feeling of togetherness. 

3)  Scale & Proportion 

This particular principle of design gives the opportunity to play or alter the size of the elements of the composition to attain the highest value of aesthetics. In the given example you can clearly observe the variation of the scale among the elements. 

4)  Harmony 

It is the principle that provides the sense of understanding in a  composition or visual scene to attain the degree of visual saturation where nothing can be added anymore or nothing can be subtracted anymore. In a such composition where arrangement or organizations of elements reach the level where any kind of intervention of other elements is not possible, this degree of the visual presentation leads to Harmony.