Down & Dirty Design Principles
"Good Design – is a great combination of common sense, unusual imagination, and clarity of purpose with a prerequisite knowledge of structure, values, color, aesthetic insight and a deep reverence for the love of life." Millard Sheets
In March 2004, there was an article in Wired magazine entitled "15 Rules for Rebuilding the World" at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.03/play.html?pg=1 that summarizes the work of Christopher Alexander, who has written four books about what makes good architecture, but the rules apply to any form of art. Go to this site, print out the short article, and read through these rules, applying them in your mind to quilt design. The pictures are well worth the effort, since they illustrate his points so beautifully, even if he is talking about architecture as opposed to quilts.
After reading this work and going through several other sources, I finally composed my "Down and Dirty Design Principles," which are all the principles of design I can keep in my head while I'm working, to make my conception fit the rules of good art. I use them when I get stuck and have one of those "What's Wrong with This Picture?" moments. I created my Elements in Fabric class, using these principles to create Earth, Wind, Fire and Water pieces, none of them based on a photo, but just based on the design principles.
Before we get into all that, though, you must keep three very important thoughts in mind.
Odd numbers of things are more interesting and easier to work with than even numbers of things.
Balance is important - it is better to have heavier colors and shapes at the bottom of the piece, lighter and airier ones at the top.
Try not to cut a surface in half diagonally or vertically.
Try not to make a target by putting the focal point in the very center, unless you are making a radial design. Instead, divide your surface into thirds, horizontally and vertically, and put your focal point near one of the intersections of these lines.
Keep the eye moving about the piece, but give the eye a place to rest. Try to slant shapes and objects so the eye is continually redirected around or toward the center of the piece, not out of it.
Connect the dots –shapes should touch, overlap, intermingle, connect, not remain separate entities.
Repetition is good – repetition of shape, of color, of line, draws the eye and makes the viewer feel comfortable looking at the piece.
Think about value, don’t let it just happen.
Think about colors, don’t just choose your favorites.
Think about Perspective
Think about Light & Shadow
Texture is good – Wrinkles, ribbons, sheer and slick fabrics, pleating, depth of fibers, an interplay of textures is more interesting than one static surface.
Transparency and Layering are good – Try to create layers of meaning and layers of fabric. Make the viewer peer through the layers to find the mystery; correlate the elements to make a cohesive whole. It’s usually better to quilt in two and a half bricks than to quilt in the whole wall or make it with a cheater fabric.
Real is better than perfect – We live in an imperfect world; where time takes its toll on things. Unfinished things, things that are only half seen, used objects, crumbling plaster and mossy bricks are more interesting than a brand-new objects. Things that have been touched by time and life are more interesting than new things, since they have a history.
Shimmer is good – The eye is drawn by fabrics and substances that add a glimmer, a shine, a reflection; but be cautious, since glitz is addictive and it is easy to slip over into the tacky.
Odd shapes are more interesting than squares or rectangles – Think out of the box, or figure out how to make your box a more interesting shape.
Beware of words, animals, and people, especially children. They will take over the piece. Hide the words, camouflage the people, if they are not the message of the piece.
Movement is good – Many times a piece is static, with a block that just sits there, the same fabrics repeated over and over; how much more interesting it is with 50 shades of red instead of one. Landscapes/portraits are interesting, but more interesting if they’re doing something rather than just sitting there, posed for the portrait.
Don’t always take the easy way out. Don’t just follow a formula; thousands already have. Don’t just follow a pattern; it’s already been done. There is such a thing as creativity, there is such a thing as Evidence of Effort, there is such a thing as throwing your heart out there for all the world to see. "When the eye, the hand, and the heart come together, that's when you get the greatest art." (David Hockney)
If it is not working, Take Out Your Favorite Fabric, (TOFF) because you've been trying to make all of your other fabric choices work around that one.
In March 2004, there was an article in Wired magazine entitled "15 Rules for Rebuilding the World" at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.03/play.html?pg=1 that summarizes the work of Christopher Alexander, who has written four books about what makes good architecture, but the rules apply to any form of art. Go to this site, print out the short article, and read through these rules, applying them in your mind to quilt design. The pictures are well worth the effort, since they illustrate his points so beautifully, even if he is talking about architecture as opposed to quilts.
After reading this work and going through several other sources, I finally composed my "Down and Dirty Design Principles," which are all the principles of design I can keep in my head while I'm working, to make my conception fit the rules of good art. I use them when I get stuck and have one of those "What's Wrong with This Picture?" moments. I created my Elements in Fabric class, using these principles to create Earth, Wind, Fire and Water pieces, none of them based on a photo, but just based on the design principles.
Before we get into all that, though, you must keep three very important thoughts in mind.
- First: You must BEGIN. As Goethe said: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (& creation),there is one elementary truth—the ignorance of which kills countless ideas & splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents & meetings & material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."
- Second, you must FINISH. A quilt is not a quilt until it's quilted, bound, labelled, and done. We don't want a bunch of TOADS (Trashed Object Abandoned in Despair) out there.
- Third, you must not get discouraged. As Maya Angelou said: "Not everything you do is going to be a masterpiece, but you get out there and you try and sometimes it really happens. The other times, you're just stretching your soul." Or, as Flavia says: "Those who dream may not touch the sky, but they walk in stardust.
Odd numbers of things are more interesting and easier to work with than even numbers of things.
Balance is important - it is better to have heavier colors and shapes at the bottom of the piece, lighter and airier ones at the top.
Try not to cut a surface in half diagonally or vertically.
Try not to make a target by putting the focal point in the very center, unless you are making a radial design. Instead, divide your surface into thirds, horizontally and vertically, and put your focal point near one of the intersections of these lines.
Keep the eye moving about the piece, but give the eye a place to rest. Try to slant shapes and objects so the eye is continually redirected around or toward the center of the piece, not out of it.
Connect the dots –shapes should touch, overlap, intermingle, connect, not remain separate entities.
Repetition is good – repetition of shape, of color, of line, draws the eye and makes the viewer feel comfortable looking at the piece.
Think about value, don’t let it just happen.
- On a dark background, light values advance.
- On a light background, dark values advance.
- If you alternate these, they will stair-step and give you DEPTH (in capital letters).
- The more value contrast you have, the more dramatic and interesting the piece. If you want drama, think about moving all the way from light (white) to dark (black) values when you are choosing your fabrics.
- If you want it to be peaceful, keep the value range smaller.
Think about colors, don’t just choose your favorites.
- Green is neutral and tends to stay put
- Blues/purples recede.
- Red advances.
- Yellow pulsates back and forth and calls attention to itself
- Black makes other colors sparkle.
- Complements of colors make those colors more vivid.
- Colors that have gray in them (shades) recede.
- Gray itself is dead, unless you use it as a bridge in a gradation, when it is MAGIC, or if you use it in a gray/black/white color scheme, where it can make an image come alive.
- Warm colors (red, yellow, orange) are happy, vibrant, dancing and dangerous.
- Cool colors (blue, green, turquoise, blue-purple) are serene, pensive, peacemaking.
Think about Perspective
- Close up things are more detailed, more vibrant, clearer, more color-saturated, warmer, father apart, and more three-dimensional
- Far away things are blurrier, more indistinct, grayed, closer together, cooler, lighter and flatter.
- Once you go into three dimensions, you cannot go back to two dimensions because the genie is out of the bottle
Think about Light & Shadow
- Light falling on things makes part of them lighter than other parts
- Strong light casts darker, sharper edged, longer shadows (Noon)
- Dimmer light casts hazier, fuzzier edged, longer shadows (Morning & late afternoon)
- Shadows must be consistent
- Shading makes objects seem to be 3-D, especially if they cast a shadow.
- Strong light casts reflections in water and glass.
- Reflections are the same height as the object, but can be blurred or fragmented
Texture is good – Wrinkles, ribbons, sheer and slick fabrics, pleating, depth of fibers, an interplay of textures is more interesting than one static surface.
Transparency and Layering are good – Try to create layers of meaning and layers of fabric. Make the viewer peer through the layers to find the mystery; correlate the elements to make a cohesive whole. It’s usually better to quilt in two and a half bricks than to quilt in the whole wall or make it with a cheater fabric.
Real is better than perfect – We live in an imperfect world; where time takes its toll on things. Unfinished things, things that are only half seen, used objects, crumbling plaster and mossy bricks are more interesting than a brand-new objects. Things that have been touched by time and life are more interesting than new things, since they have a history.
Shimmer is good – The eye is drawn by fabrics and substances that add a glimmer, a shine, a reflection; but be cautious, since glitz is addictive and it is easy to slip over into the tacky.
Odd shapes are more interesting than squares or rectangles – Think out of the box, or figure out how to make your box a more interesting shape.
Beware of words, animals, and people, especially children. They will take over the piece. Hide the words, camouflage the people, if they are not the message of the piece.
Movement is good – Many times a piece is static, with a block that just sits there, the same fabrics repeated over and over; how much more interesting it is with 50 shades of red instead of one. Landscapes/portraits are interesting, but more interesting if they’re doing something rather than just sitting there, posed for the portrait.
Don’t always take the easy way out. Don’t just follow a formula; thousands already have. Don’t just follow a pattern; it’s already been done. There is such a thing as creativity, there is such a thing as Evidence of Effort, there is such a thing as throwing your heart out there for all the world to see. "When the eye, the hand, and the heart come together, that's when you get the greatest art." (David Hockney)
If it is not working, Take Out Your Favorite Fabric, (TOFF) because you've been trying to make all of your other fabric choices work around that one.