The Elements of Design
The Elements of Design are line, shape, value, texture, and color. These are the most basic/fundamental components of all two-dimensional art.
They are the “ingredients” that an artist uses to design and create compositions.
Basic Ingredients: In the Kitchen
An artist uses design elements like a cook uses ingredients. Recipes for cooking contain basic ingredients. Some basic baking ingredients include flour, salt, eggs, sugar, and butter.
These same ingredients can produce very different results depending on how they are put together. For example, flour, salt, eggs, sugar, and butter can become a cake, cookies, or bread, etc.
Basic Ingredients: In the Studio
Like a recipe, two-dimensional art has basic ingredients (the Elements of Design). As mentioned above, they are line, shape, value, texture, and color. Depending on the arrangement, organization, and application of these elements, we can create very different results within the fields of painting, graphic design, photography, illustration, etc. For example, a painting can show the closeup and texture of a tree trunk, or the vast expanse and atmospheric depth of a tree-covered valley.
Note: Three-dimensional art (e.g. sculptures, ceramics, etc.) has space as an additional basic element. Motion picture film has movement as an additional basic element.
