POINT- First of the Elements of Design
LINE - FORM - FLOW
SCALE
TEXTURE & PATTERN
COLOR

Elements of Design

Interior Design may be referenced as fine art. The principles & elements of design are universal in whatever context of arrangement that requires them.

While there are many definitions, there are the foundational unchangeable principles in design elements. Then secondary elements fall into the main categories.

The Specific Design Elements relate collective information, so be sure to link through to the pages indicated above.

POINT
LINE - FORM - FLOW
SCALE
COLOR
TEXTURE & PATTERN

There is much to be understood about design. This is by no means a concise analysis of Design Elements, but as way of offering some points to develop an understanding & help develop your ‘eye’. The way you see things critically affects & effects how you arrange your interior Living Spaces or a piece of art or any arrangement of the elements of design

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Design Critique
Developing a Critical Eye

You are the one really, who trains your ‘eye’ to really see, what is really present, in any given arrangement of the elements of design. You can be given information & pointers to why something does or doesn’t ‘look’ right but ultimately you learn to be watchful & mindfully discerning about the appearance of various design elements together & the effect they emote. (cont)

What Does Gary Cooper have to do with Interior Design, Anyway!?

Dover Counter Stool in Distressed Cherry

Well I discovered that he knew what he liked! However, remember that critical eye.

In my Design studies (years ago now!) I clearly remember a Design Critique assignment. We were to collect examples of Interiors, both of actual sites & magazine photographs, then critique them. You can find many examples of ‘real’ interiors that are badly designed, but I wasn't up to asking people for photos of them! We must respect people in their homes. In fact I tend to 'turn off' the designer's eye & especially the critique, unless I'm asked or professionally engaged.

Try to find magazine photos of bad interiors! But remarkably I did. I got lucky & found in Architectural Digest a retro spread of the late actor, Gary Coopers’ home interior.

You would think he could afford the best designers! However it seems that he enjoyed going out to furniture stores & buying his own stuff! The rooms featured in the photo images were terrific for my project critique.

I enjoyed this one critique far more than any other. It was very engaging fun. And I couldn't have asked for a better case study.

You never saw such a disjointed amassing of art & furniture! Black & white photos prevented color critique, but there was plenty for my use. Color likely would have been an essay on it’s own! Apparently the handsome Mr. Cooper was a Montana boy with a penchant for western style. He had gone & purchased whatever he liked – it was mostly beautiful stuff - as individual pieces go. (>>>)

Previous to studying design, I probably would have looked at the arrangement a long time & wondered what was wrong with it. But now because I was learning to see & define the principals & elements of design & how they work together or against each other, the clarity of the problem(s) jumped from the illustrious pages.

Clearly, scale form & style were all wrong. There were furniture pieces of many styles, scale & sizes. There was no flow whatever with the eye jerking from one object to the next. I seem to recall some taxidermy & western influence along with a Hodge-podge of European period pieces, some Spanish/Mexican – get the picture?

It was a cacophony worth critiquing, not so unusual really from what many people do with their home interiors. The difference here that made it excessively garish was the fact of the monetary availability average people don’t have access to.

Eclectic design arrangement has very wisely become elemental to a well decorated interior, but this was beyond all the way to what I call Eclectic Schmaltz!

The one thing that I remember most clearly because I am essentially practical, was the scale of the seating. I can’t imagine anyone feeling comfortable sitting together in the living room. There were many chairs & a sofa or 2, but no 2 pieces had even close to similar seat height. Tables were of inappropriate sizes & heights.

So, here was a room full of seating. Imagine sitting on a very high chair next to one very low & reaching down to a very low table to set your

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drink on. Or vice versa. Could you comfortably have a conversation sitting in a low-seated chair with someone seated high next to you. Can you see a room full of people seated this way? Can you feel it?

There is a definite psychology to design, which has either positive or negative effects. There are dynamics of energy created by the elements of design. Good design is not an accident. It is planned. Good Design is a result of thoughtful selection & arrangement to create livable harmonious balance & flow. Design creates psychological effect - of comfort & ease or disharmonious unease. (cont)

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