Balance and Layout
Lab 1 introduces balance and layout and the visual hierarchy concept of design. We were given a set of exercises in which our objective was to organize objects within squares so that they were well balanced as well as visually appealing. This activity also provided an introduction to Adobe Illustrator CS3, which we used to design future lab projects. The actual instructions are as follows:
1) Draw 6 squares, 180 points on each side.
2) Inside of square #1:
-Draw a circle that is 50 pts high by 50 pts wide;
-Fill the circle's interior, 100% black;
-Place the circle at the visual center of the square.
3) Inside of square #2:
-Draw 3 circles: one 10 x 10 pts, one 35 x 35 pts, and one 72 x 72 pts;
-Arrange the cirlces inside of the square so that they are balanced.
4) Inside of square #3:
-Again, draw 3 circles that are 10 x 10, 35 x 35, and 72 x 72 pts.
-Fill one small circle with 100% black;
-Fill the medium circle with 100% Magenta (including the border);
-Fill the largest cirlce with 75% cyan (again including the border);
-Arrange the cirlces inside of the square maintaining good balance.
5)
Inside of square #4:
-Make a right triangle so that the two adjacent sides are 72 pts long;
-Draw a rectangle, width of 120 pts, height of 35 pts, interior and border 50% black;
-Draw two circles, both 50 x 50 pts. Make one solid black, and the other 20% gray (both interior and border;
-Arrange
objects inside of the square maintaining good balance.
6) Inside of square #5:
-Draw a grid with lines that are spaced 36 pts apart (creating 5 rows and 5 columns);
-Draw solid black circles of sizes 9 x 9, 18 x 18, 27 x 27, 36 x 36, 52 x 52, and 72 x 72;
-Create a visual hierarchy so that 3 smaller circles appear 'above' three larger circles, that all circles appear above the grid lines, and that the horizontal grid lines appear above the vertical grid lines.
7)
Inside of square #6:
-Again draw a grid, but this tmie create 10 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines, evenly spaced apart (creating 10 columns and rows);
-The width of the first vertical and horizontal line (from left to right and top to bottom) should be 0.5 pts;
-The width of each subsequent line should increase by 0.5 pts;
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Indicate on the grid where the highest visual contrast is by drawing an open polygon around these areas.
8) When you have completed steps 1 through 7, arrange the boxes evenly on the page.
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