Design Basics Glossary Flashcards
A visual representation that may have little resemblance to the real world.
Abstraction.
Abstraction can occur through a process of simplification or distortion in an attempt to communicate an essential aspect of a form or concept.
Black, gray, or white with no distinctive hues.
Achromatic
A color mixing system in which combinations of different wavelengths of light create visual sensations of color.
Additive system
The perception of less-distinct contours and value contrasts as forms recede into the background.
Colors appear to be washed out in the distance or take on the color of the atmosphere.
Aerial perspective. aka, atmospheric perspective
A branch of philosophy concerned with the beautiful in art and how the viewer experiences it
Aesthetics
Occurs after staring at an area of intense color for a certain amount of time and then quickly glancing away toward a white surface, where the complementary color seems to appear.
Afterimage
A composition that distributes emphasis uniformly throughout the two-dimensional surface by repetition of similar elements.
Allover pattern
A rhythm that consists of successive patterns in which the same elements reappear in a regular order. The motifs alternate consistently with one another to produce a regular (and anticipated) sequence.
Alternating rhythm
Obscurity of motif or meaning
Ambiguity
A dynamic and dramatic illusionistic effect created when an object is pointed directly at the viewer.
Amplified perspective
A color scheme that combines several hues located next to each other on the color wheel.
Analogous colors
A measure of the attributes and relationships of an artwork or design.
Analysis
Term used to describe an image that has been optically distorted
Anamorphic
The implication of movement on a static two-dimensional surface caused by the viewer’s past experience with a similar situation
Anticipated movement
A decorative style, popular in the 1920s, characterized by its geometric patterns and reflecting the rise of industry and mass production in the early twentieth century.
Art nouveau
An assembly of found objects composed as a piece of sculpture.
Assemblage
Balance achieved with dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or equal eye attraction.
Asymmetrical balance
The equilibrium of opposing or interacting forces in a pictorial composition.
Balance
Balance with respect to a vertical axis
Bilateral symmetry
Describes shapes derived from organic or natural forms.
Biomorphic
A visual device in which most details and the edges of a form are lost in the rapidity of the implied movement.
Blurred outline
Elegant, flowing lines suggestive of writing with an aesthetic value separate from its literal content.
Calligraphy
A law or accepted code that prescribes a aset of standards
Canon
An architectural column in the form of a human figure
Caryatid
The use of light and dark values to imply depth and volume in a two-dimensional work of art
Chiaroscuro
Relating to the hue or saturation of color
Chromatic
Suggestive of Greek and Roman ideals of beauty and purity of form, style, or technique
Classical
The placement of objects by which a composition keeps the viewer’s attention within the picture.
Closed form
An artwork created by aseembling and pasting a variety of materials onto a two-dimensional surface
Collage
A psychological compensation for changes in light when observing a color. A viewer interprets the color to be the same under various light conditions.
Color constancy
