Use letters as a design element. Looking for the different styles or fonts can be fun and some letters just look good as a design. We will be using color schemes and characters to create the compositions.

 

California Visual Arts Standards

  • 2.3 Develop and refine skill in the manipulation of digital imagery (either still or video).
  • 2.5 Create an expressive composition, focusing on dominance and subordination.

National Educational Technology Standards

  1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

 

  1. Look at the document and by using the rule of thirds choose a focal point or area of emphasis.
  2. Choose a colorscheme and a letter you will use.
  3. You will need a Photoshop document that is 6 x 6 inches and has a resolution of 200 pixels per inch.
  4. Begin layering letters on top of each other, overlapping, rotating, changing the size, even explore different fonts. The letter itself may become lost in the composition and be seen as more of a shape than the letter.
  5. While working with the type tool in Photoshop, it may be necessary to hide some existing type layers so you can create new layers.

Color schemes:

Monochromatic - limited to variations of one hue, a hue with its tints and/or shades.

monochromatic

Triadic - uses three equally spaced colors on the color wheel.

triadic

Complement- any complementary pair. Two colors opposite each other on the color wheel. Add black and white for value changes.

complimentary

Split Complement- Any complementary pair is chosen, then discard one color replacing it with the two colors on either side of that color on the color wheel. Such as Blue plus Yellow-Orange and Red-Orange. Again use black and white to change values and tones of gray.

split-compliment

Analogous- Any three to five colors located next to each other on the color wheel, plus black and white for value changes and tones of gray.

analogous

Colorwheel example.

colorwheel

Abstract:

Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.[1]

Dominance and subordination (emphasis):

You should be able to control what will be noticed first, what is dominant in an image, and where the viewer's attention will go from there.

Charles Demuth, an American painter did this piece: I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold Date: 1928.

demuth