Point, line and plane are the most fundamental and basic elements of design. All designs begin with something or somewhere, whether it is a single point or line on a page. These elements can lead designers to create images, icons, patterns etc.
A point can be made up of a single pixel or dot on a page although it still carries significance. Some refer to it as an atom, the smallest particle that exists, equally it is the smallest graphical element in design. We started off looking at a few different designs that were created using the point method in class such as designer Josh Worth’s website, “If the moon was only one pixel” which compares the scale of the universe to the moon. It is a good demonstration of scale of the moon as one pixel in comparison to the rest of the universe.
If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system
Lines are used to visualise a connection between two points. Through different thicknesses it can create emphasis on a design and communicate with the viewer by directing their eyes to certain areas of the piece that you want them to take notice of. They are also used to define shapes as well as indicate motion and express emotion. They are found everywhere within design on web pages, borders and essentially in text. We looked at how some companies have chosen to use simple line designs for their logos for a more memorable signature look such as HP.
Planes are used for very minimalistic designs. A plane is just a surface set to a particular width and height with certain areas sectioned off and/or different shades. It could be used as a wireframes to organise webpages for deciding where certain things will go on the screen. We looked at some of Josef Miller Brockmanns work regarding planes, how he avoided decorative, complex items and focused on each design having a function and objective. Also how despite only working in Switzerland he made the use of grid systems go global.
During week one, we were asked to create a 3x3 grid, increasing the frequency 2, 3 and 4 (5 for the plane), to experiment with point, line and plane, creating a style and layout . As always, I started off on paper to build an understanding and discover what different designs I could create. Through my designs I used methods such as reflection, scale, multiply and symmetry to an extent.
After I used Figma to digitise these ideas, drawing them to scale using the inbuilt grid function and cleaning up the designs.
https://www.figma.com/file/rTLHqYLfIcVl73MEVYp7dE/Point---class?node-id=0%3A1&t=KTZWLSY1mLeRWy4H-1
https://www.figma.com/file/YXxfF8dk7dURrVO1wKkwg0/Line---class?node-id=0%3A1&t=unugN1nC603hQbch-1
https://www.figma.com/file/LfMqu98hLWZBWQRikwHiV4/Plane---class?node-id=0%3A1&t=YOxqgJM2gSaEvrmJ-1