Design Basics - 7e - c 03.pdf - po ang - Januszek66

Whitney Darrow, Jr. 1946.

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CHAPTER

EMPHASIS AND

FOCAL POINT

INTRODUCTION

Attracting Attention 56

WAYS TO ACHIEVE EMPHASIS

Emphasis by Contrast 58

WAYS TO ACHIEVE EMPHASIS

Emphasis by Isolation 60

WAYS TO ACHIEVE EMPHASIS

Emphasis by Placement 62

DEGREE OF EMPHASIS

One Element 64

ABSENCE OF FOCAL POINT

Emphasizing the Whole over the Parts 66

THE ROLE OF PERCEPTION

Optical and Psychological 68

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INTRODUCTION

ATTRACTING ATTENTION

The painting by Henri Matisse (B) does not have the

central, obvious target that is evident in A , but the focal

point is unambiguous and even humorous. The small red

turtle is emphasized by contrast of size, unique color, and

isolation. The ﬁ gures direct our attention as well as we

follow their gaze to the focal point. In this case even a very

small area of emphasis is powerful enough to need balancing

counterpoints such as the bright hair of the left-hand ﬁ gure

and the abstracted blue stripe of water at the top of the

painting.

The photograph in C is a view of an ordinary street

scene. The large pine tree might go unnoticed in a stroll

through the neighborhood. Several things contribute to the

emphasis on this tree in the photograph: placement near the

center, large size, irregular shape, and dark value against the

light sky.

There can be more than one focal point. Sometimes an

artwork contains secondary points of emphasis that have

less attention value than the focal point. These serve as

accents or counterpoints as in the Matisse picture. However,

the designer must be careful. Several focal points of equal

emphasis can turn the design into a three-ring circus in

which the viewer does not know where to look ﬁ rst. Interest

is replaced by confusion: When everything is emphasized,

nothing is emphasized.

Very few artists or designers do not want people to look

at their work. In past centuries, when pictures were rare,

almost any image was guaranteed attention. Today, with

photography and an abundance of books, magazines,

newspapers, signs, and so on, all of us are confronted

daily with hundreds of pictures. We take this abundance

for granted, but it makes the artist’s job more difﬁ cult.

Without an audience’s attention, any messages, any

artistic or aesthetic values, are lost.

How does a designer catch a viewer’s attention?

How does the artist provide a pattern that attracts the eye?

Nothing will guarantee success, but one device that can

help is a point of emphasis or focal point . This emphasized

element initially can attract attention and encourage the

viewer to look closer.

Using Focal Point for Emphasis

Every aspect of the composition in A emphasizes the

grapefruit at center stage. The grapefruit shape is large,

centered, light, and yellow (compared with darker gray

surroundings), and even the lines of the sections point to

the center. All these elements bring our focus to the main

character or subject. This is the concept of a focal point.

Susan Jane Walp. Grapefruit with Black Ribbons.

2000. Oil on linen, 8”

8 1 / 4 ”. Tibor de Nagy

Gallery, New York.

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CHAPTER 3 EMPHASIS AND FOCAL POINT | 57

EMPHASIS BY CONTRAST

Very often in art the pictorial emphasis is clear, and in simple

compositions (such as a portrait) the focal point is obvious.

But the more complicated the pattern, the more necessary or

helpful a focal point may become in organizing the design.

Creating a Focal Point through Contrast

Henri Matisse. Bathers with a Turtle. 1908. Oil on canvas. The St. Louis Museum of Art, Missouri.

Jeff Wall. The Pine on the Corner. 1990.

3’ 10 3 / 4 ”

1.48 m). Edition

of 3. Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.

3’ 10 1 / 4 ” (1.19

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WAYS TO ACHIEVE EMPHASIS

George Stubbs. A Zebra. 1763. Oil on

Paul Mellon Collection, USA/The

Bridgeman Art Library.

EMPHASIS BY CONTRAST

Very often in art the pictorial emphasis is clear, and in simple

compositions (such as a portrait) the focal point is obvious.

But the more complicated the pattern, the more necessary or

helpful a focal point may become in organizing the design.

Creating a Focal Point through Contrast

As a rule, a focal point results when one element differs from

the others. Whatever interrupts an overall feeling or pattern

automatically attracts the eye by this difference. The possi-

bilities are almost endless:

When most of the elements are dark, a light form

breaks the pattern and becomes a focal point.

When most of the elements are muted or soft-edged,

a bold contrasting pattern will become a focal

point (A) .

In an overall design of distorted expressionistic

forms, the sudden introduction of a naturalistic

image (B) will draw the eye for its very different

style.

Text or graphic symbols will be a focal point (in this

case, the eye is drawn to the number 16 ) (C) .

When the majority of elements are shapes, an

irregular line will stand out, such as the black

line with a loop at the center of D .

James Ensor. Self-Portrait Surrounded by Masks. 1899.

Oil, 3’ 11 1 / 2 ”

2’ 7 1 / 2 ” (121

80 cm). Sammlung

Cleomir Jussiant, Antwerp.

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Design Basics - 7e - c 03.pdf

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