Famous Artists Course Fomous Artists Schools, Inc, Westport, Connecticut Principles of experimental design Lesson Albert Dorne Fred Ludekens Norman Rockwell AlParker Ben Stahl Stevan Dohanos Jon Whiteamb Robert Fawcett Peter Helck George Giusti Austin Briggs Horold Von Schmidt“These diagrams sho you sound bse ways to arange design cle rents within a space, You can apply the same priniplesto areas cof diferent sizes and proportions such as wide and horizontal, tall-and. vertical, or perfectly square. Your pictorial material and the copy may not ft thee diagrams exactly, but the basic teructure you see here does pro Wide a foundation for the more fected and finished designs G‘jos ond design re based onthe sume princes thse you have bean cing to compere plctres Wel ew har loses earns snc, oto op te hor ett oo wl wa Tonos Principles of experimental design — Gees coors cio ‘The artist who specializes in layout or design i very much ikea builder. And his layout or design problem is similar to one in ‘onstruction. The proportions, weights ofthe elements, harmony ‘of materials and details~all must blend perfectly to produce beautiful sructure, whether itis 3 hose a package design, 2 picture, or a layout for an advertisement. ‘The designer, like the builder, must Hirst find slid footing for his basic idea. He builds hs construction on drm founda tions. He divides his space into logical sections, He beste his serueture, not with useless ill, bue with all the richness ofthe simple materials used. The texture of concrete reminds Us of eso. The quality of glass suggests the smooth, transparenc tints for washes used by ailfl arts ‘The basic principles of design and layout are both simple and ancient. The early Chinese, Egyptians ad Greeks all face the same problem —how to create the most elective design for a siven space. The Greek artist worked long and thoughtfully to Droduce the perfect design for an urn of a certain shape. ‘The contemporary designer faces exactly the same challenge ~ but his ates may bea magarine cover tha eases 11 by It inches, ‘on which be mast ereate something symbolic of sprig, ‘The Greek artist didn't know he was creating such lating beauty, but he must ave fet the sme deep, inner reward atthe “designer of today who knows chat his creation is sound an aes theticaly valid, and that it communicates his mesage — whether on a magusine over, a book jacket on an adver emer The artist entering the feld of advertising or editorial layout and design will nl arch and varied area of work open to him, I is by no means limited o the comparative lew who work for the big magazines, publishing howses and advertising agencies ‘There are posers, newspaper sdvertiements of all types and sins, brochures of every description, house organs, annual re ports. These and counties other forms of visual communication ae ised by everyone imaginable — from the New Vork Stock Exchange to the food manufacturers, steel makers, automobile ‘manufactures, publications, drug companies, communications inustries— the lise endless All of thee organizations and thowssnds more bo large and smal, national and lea, whole- sale and retail, need the artis o plan and design ther selling and mailing pieces and many other kinds of printed mater. Creating new design ideas ‘To provide fresh new design ides forthe endleuly varied kinds of printed mater that roqute them, the artist must have an ‘open mind at all mes. He must experiment with forms coor, textures type and every ather design mations available. Only by experimenting can he exape frm the sate old pattems and create fresh new concepts of layout and design that will eapture the attention of readers. If artists had not been willing to exper ‘ment, we would not have had the great an varied frms of art of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, the men of the Renaisance, and today's modern artists and countlex artistic diretions. The ‘same monoconous kind of art would be repeated year after year and centory after century. It was the experimental artists who rete the great at of the past and it willbe the experimental artists who create the new trends of tomorrow, I is they who will be sought after by adverters apd editor, ‘Although we stress the value of new ideas and creativity, we donot mean to imply tha there are no guideposs forthe exper imental designer. Your experiments in design should be based fon a background of principles that have alealy proven their worth. In previous lessons we have taught you the priniples of ‘composcon, and these are just valid in the layout and design ‘of the whole page as they are for making ptutes In this and the following lesions we show you ail more fundamentals by ‘which you can ateract attention, hold interest, and create a rea tion in the viewer. Take advantage of this Knowledge ~ out of your imaginative application of thee principles will come your ‘own highiy individual and erative work, Division of area —our first consideration Layout is the art of organizing the two essential elements — the copy and the ae, whether ibe Hhatrations ot style signs and arranging them in a logical and pleasing manner Wwithin the boundaries of your area. There ate countless ways to divide the space and arrange the pictorial material and the copy. mn the bai arrangements on the oppesite page the black and fray areas represent the elements design or pictures, and copy and the whitespace represents the remaining background ae ‘The firs six arrangements use geometric shapes (like circles, triangles and rectangles) ia symmetrical motifs Since thee si designs are symmetrical, they present no problem of balance ‘every symmetrial arrangement balances itll. Later we discuss the methods of balancing irregular designs like the lst two. You will ao learn in tis leson how to apply these geometric Aivisions of area t actual layouts, You'll see how pitures oF symbols of objects can replace the geomettie shapes The hor ‘ontal bat inthe fist design for instance, could become a block of text ora row of buildings. The black dot inthe third design ‘ould be a tennis ball, am apple, othe wheel of an automobile, (rit could represent a complicated illstration, ‘The important thing to remember i thatthe basis ofall good design ~ no matter what object or symbols you may wse — 1 the simple, geometric division of your spaceLesson 1 8 Famous Arts's Course 4 Principles of experimental design Sefer ls oo or Home Dominance and the geometric division of space tn mathematics the symbol of two dots separated by a erosbar means ‘ivision Since we ate primarily concerned withthe division of spac, jt makes a good symbol for us to use here as our motif. By changing is foe in relation tothe white area we can change is importanee and pro duce many different impressions and effects, il the Variations shown here ae geometric because we are using geo etre shapes the circle and the rectangle. At the same time they are [ymmetrcal because the space is evenly divided, at Fest on the two sides, The actual lnerpretations ofthe moui ean vary itis were a avout for 2 ood alvertsement, for example, the two black dots might become real iui renderings of to oranges, oF they might concainilustraions, Or the Grcular shapes could be ino apples, divided by a block of copy oF a Colored or black bar of solid toneActual or symmetrical balance “The design above is perfectly balanced, If ether one of the balls were moved even a ltl bie toward the center this symmetrical balance would be destroyed. ‘When you do not have perfect symmetry, you can create a feeling of visual ‘valance by anchoring one of te elements to an eige of the aren a shown below Visual or asymmetcate tl a Bolance of nengeometric shapes 1s tne te wal ie Tied bi es Sih meneewes 1 Femow: Ais Come Principles of experimental design The use of nongeometric shapes ‘The two examples below are not geometrical, These irregular shaper donot divide the area into equal ports and donot balance themselves abtematially~as do symmetscal arange rents of geometric forms. The problem ist place these shapes ina way that erates the illsion of balance We mst fel here Tike a juggler balancing something on Balancing three elements Balancing two elements ‘T'teeta: ene ete sponmoty i ome are HESS Sheathing eat oar ats ue mere wade other sah” Spe bruv eeu son praprton8 | THE ART DIRECTOR AT WORKnm 3 Feomoxs Ais Conse 10 Principles of experimental design The effect of dark and light backgroundsTwos and three-dimensional effects uv12 Basic layout designs ‘When do you dete whether 3 layout or design should be hor zontal, or vertical, or centered, oF a combination? ‘The answer iss before you stare to draw Ie fe when you ~in the chinking process that presses any plysical acon ~ consider the probe Jem that faces you, To what shape or symbol is your subject related? How can you wie ie im your layout? Does your subjet Tend itself to a horizontal or a vertical page ~ for example dda you have along row of factory buildings and forms? Oris it a vertical shape like the simple smokestacks on the factory mages cet buildings? Each subject dentands diferent creative solution. Tewould be illogical, for example, to draw along tow of factory buildings and smoking tacks na vertical space. Hf the character Of the sack ithe important symbol, then you might erate a ‘erical design with the stacks alone The shape ofthe space determines the direction you will go in esablshing « design and limits the Hbertes you ean take However, in any given area itis possible to handle many sub- jets well in bonizontal or vertical designsApplying the basic designs= fmt The importance of black In design and layout, black fs the center ofthe color symphony. Al the Colors can be related to it. Compare these twin sets of coor layouts. Black dhs been aed to the econd one of cach pair see how it strengthens them. The prone of the black sakes the overall design much more Irilfiant, and gives the whole ar rangement far greter impact.16 The power of simplification This san anchor in its simplest form. Its the result of drastic elimination of details from designs like those below. This proces of simplification Teayes us the bare abelton of an anchor — it keeps only the characteristic structure ofthe strong upper crossform and the haf circle a the bottom. reel of details, ite simplicity ie strong and effective in communicating is rmesage. simple llhovett like this an be reduced toa quarter inch in sive and sll be clear and impressive. ‘Compate the clavty and impact of this simple design with the more complicated anchor designs shown below Nee roneay nde gtSimplifying and subtracting symbol ~ the clearest way 9 ps — should never sof deta Te should be inte. retain every identifying charac: ge dear, Note how much more ee: Wean 1 8 enous Ariss Course 1 Principles of experimental design Avoiding all detours Renee ipelbale Toba 2 in semeyv20e S&S SYour choice of techniques [Every syle and medium that serve the illutrator can be wed jst selectively by the designer. You can handle most subjees ‘quay well in many diferent ways. But asthe technique ean do ‘lotto express the fundamental meaning of the design, the ‘method your choose will be dictated by the message you Want to ‘communicate, Some techniques are gay and casual others are ignided sid serious ~ some are rigid, others are flowing, Tn design and layout yeu are also dealing with copy. So you can choone am att technique that conuass exicingly with the {pe une for the ext—or one that harmonizes with i cloely and etectively Since most designs compete for the viewer's attention, the nee fora fresh and original approach is wally important — the ploper choice of technique fs ewential to make your design and out above all its rivals “Line, for example, can be thin, brittle and wiry when that quali called for. Or it can be broad an spiced i you want 2 more powertul elect, A very valable act of line drawing is that it reproduces well on any Kind of paper. It can ali be reproduced with grea reduction in Sze Tike lin, the dy-brush technique will produce diferent tex- tural eflecte according to the roughness of the paper and the dryness ofthe brush Agni lke Fine, i reproduces easly and is ‘ey effective fr impact ina broad, powerful design or drawing. Tals fk dae wach gives god rage of surface texts elects witha particularly nice quality. Ifyou live fn an area Where the tap water causes the ink to edagulate, adding 2 few {rope of annmonia tothe water will prevent this, Vas Is transparent tint you ean get with ether watercolors or transparent dyes. With wash you cin exploit the fol range of {sign from the most meticulous, tight rendering to the most tncitingy casual and spirited interpretation ofa subject. This Imediuin must generally be reproiced on good quality paper. “Tempera or gouache can he use! to simulate of) pangs. Witlrit you ca create # wide range of mood and effets. Tis ood for poser subjects that are broad and fre, 38 well as for the mou meticulous photographic rendering The opaque qual jay lends ill admirably 10 overpainting and to many surface textures — aswell sto unsialfecnigues im combination with ‘other meds “The sitbrush shoul be wsed sparingly and never by isl You should sei oy in combination with stronger structural techniques, Actually, in movdern design the airbrush is wed ‘most exclusively to obtain a at face devo of brosh marks Ieisequally effective in modeling where brush strokes are unde: sirabe and extremely subtle gradations are required ~ for exam- pl, in moling precive mechanical surfaces Crayons, soft pencils or pastel are good where strang surface testure fr dered. The degree of texture depends on the paper Jou oe Here nun you hve a ne ecoigoe fr apie ren {sings and snot or unig extra ert asl ae oten tied in coobinaon with ther madi for example 1 tcere mh lec argh ger sot Lithograph yon wien ues on a mopoth soft, can gre yor wlle tigeal ones tom arch bens verry back IDery sue graaton of gay. Ir god fall when ted to tans other mediums sh crip pen Hine orto com. a a ; tecapplcd in many thine cing ether arin ors pale nif give ce dinenional fing and, no overdone, (cai ero espana te ety threcirenional den. “Testi aa we tcter pani, You cn get ey oe Seekers lokam or oer textured tater ard ten pring he Sevan an oor oper e jour dalgn in bbe Erion By cng nen to mek of the ares fm which you doy ot wt toa the new tex, 3 ea enol the areas Jou workin. Ruler volley ae ako a ret bei when ori Ue wet mural nate ppar Thee are len extra sibs and combinations se your gal iti fem v0 periment and you mn toner cet shat wil be very val aeeya Gola isan importante etgue for dhe digest f yon er predee my extra an treedimensional ees By Testing fxperewomls met or many ctr materials down an Four dao pated design. A word of caution ‘The important ching you most remember is that any technique is only & helping hand in the making of a goed design. ‘Tech- nique alone can never replace a diret approach and ineligent Aesig, Technique alone will never create anything lasting. Tes verong to think that a cleverly applied cechnigue ean make up Tor structoral shortcomings, It will not, inthe end, foo! anybody and it will ony rest In poor communication. I your design is sound in approach and concept, if your idea is larly express, very often the simples technique i ll you need to execute it sucestlly. 23sen Fomovs Aa Coure 24 1 3 Principles of experimental design Contrasting techniques eotruin s ROMA GIOCHI DELLA. XVILOLIMPIADE = MCMIXx; ‘CAMINO | q , BEAL F | TENNESSEE : p Wiiliaus iyro i fie Jo inte "Pali, called "yp evenly Segoe aes Collage In French, “collage” means “patenp." When you make 2 col lage, you create a design by pasting wp bits of materials like those above — either by themselves or with a painting, drawing for some other ft serface “The collage must sta o¢ fall on is structaral meris. The fact that you are using odd or varied materials may add to the ierest of your composition but will never conceal poor design ollage you ca produce many exciting effects by combi aviety of unusual substances. ut don't be tempted to se iy ~ this wll confuse the layout. Limit your materials to those that mos ellectively communicate your idea. I, fo exam ple you we finely detailed old engraving as the bass of Your Set Beka SDE LION Gg design, you'd beter apply only simple materials and fa shapes to it The same principles hold rue here as forall other good ‘ompesicion ~ you mus ws simple, quiet areas to complement find balance those that are busy in patern or texture “The simplest ype isthe fat collage — on your base you paste ‘materia so paper-shin tha they can't east deep shalows on the background, By contrast, tee dimensional collage uses objets that have real thickness that stand away fom the surface and throw strong shadows Here you can use pieces of wood, tin fil lass kitting wool, cloth —even stones and bits of metal. In fact thee’ almost no limit tothe material you can we imagine tively in collage.Ae Coe rinciples of experimental design “1B r Collage used effectively = was a stone and a28 ‘an imaginetive ire combination of diferent techniques NEW YORK AND PENN Pulp and Paper Manufacturers signee Gsorge Gia Ofte the white, bre, sn doublewrappedFee eee yeean entire 25SUe on France30 Unusual techniques that add interest32 Collage can be very exciting when your materials introduce real third dimension, As with twodimensional collage, the number of substances and textures available enormous, Once you have produced an interesting arrangement of your elements, you can Enhance the eect of your design by photography. By wxing light and shadow imaginatively you can create striking pictures of Ueedinnenstonel objec Tis up wo you to selec the most elective material for your collage, You must decide whether hatd objet, o volt ones, or a ‘Contin of thes, will bese Expreh your lex, Hard gl Suggest precision, a industrial feling. Sot materials lke sk ‘reellophane are more stable for 3 fashion or coxmetic layout “The above ilasirationshaws how even the mot contnonplace ‘materials can be wset co produce a striking eles. Here you sce 4 face male of thee pieces of woot mounted on 1 board. A ‘crap of metal mikes the mouth, ‘The eyes are hoes, the eye bows bit of wire, andthe har just ordinary twine, Notice how the horizontal grain of the bave board contrasts Interestingly ‘with the vertical textures of the wood face. ‘Using materials ike these just the way you pic them up will stow you what cin be done. Look around and se all the inter ning objects you can put together to make thre dimensional Adxign, I'you wish, you ean enhance your collages by decora fog er peincay toc Theedimensional collage is an ideal way to create designs showing products or materials, particularly those with textures ‘Sey te per3334 The Guitar Review36PAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE ‘Student vork Tesson 18 Principles of experimental design ‘HOW 10 PRACRICE AND PREPARE FOR THIS LESSON ‘This lesson denonstretes the value of simpli- city and shows you hov to reduce complicated subjects to essentials. It also shows you the value of experimenting With Yarious techniques ‘and points out basic arrangenents you can tse ae 8 starting point for aay design or layout. ‘As you read through this lesson ani study the designs in it, pay particular attention to the sizes, shapes and positions of the elenents Within the page or design space. Hotice that ‘these elenents are a certain size, no bigeer, no smaller -- snd they are carefully placed in ‘the best position. Keep in mind that although any" Of these design examples appear extremely simple - faze not. Zach one ins been done ‘and redone Critical eye tovard the best selection or use of each elenent. Just as nov~ Ang @ hand one-quarter of an inch evay from the dody may meen the difference between a clear, ‘convincing gesture and confusion in a figure @raving, £0 may an equally small adjustment in design mean the difference between beauty and nedlocrity. Here are some specific study and practice sug- gestions vhich vill help you get the most from thie design lesson: 1, Cut out of black, gray or colored paper ‘Scae simple shapes eintlar to those on page 7. Bay so create balanced ant interesting desiens by moving these shapes around within aif: spaces, some verticel, seme hovisental. Con centrate on the effect they create in combina~ ‘tions. Each time you move then, stuiy then and ask: Is it interesting? Does it bave moveneat? Is it too bare? Teo crowed? Mon- otonously spaced? Are all the elenents too much the sane size or shape? 2. Make a number of simple color designs which include effective use of black as denon strated on pages 1h and 15. They can be for posters or the covers of paperback books or catalogs. 3. Select some complicated pictures or designe ‘and reduce them to simple, bold desims as Show in the demonstrations on pages 16 through a. 4. tay out combinations of techniques ina single design like the exemples on pages 24 ant 25, 28, 29 and 30. Make soae collages out of various materials uch as those suggested on pages 26 and 27. ‘THE ASSIGNMENTS YOU ARE 0 SEND IN FOR CRITICTSN ASSIOWGNE 1. Moke four different designs us~ ‘ing any four of the eight basic errangenents shown on page 2. Your abject is the season of epring. Choose an elenent or elenents thet eay "spring" quickly and clearly. These elenente nay be different for each picture, ae long ae ‘they are appropriate for spring. You may do these in color or in black and vhite. Use any medium or technique you wish. It you choose to do a colinge, make 1t a two- @imensional coliege that is suitable for mtl- ing. Bo cure thet each part of it ie firmly attached to your wounting or illustration Board. Do not send in any three-dimensional collages for either Assignient 1 or 2. Weite the name of the basic arrangement beneath cach design -- for example, centered, vertical, Atagonai, ete. Page 36 shovs you how these basic designs can be used for a variety of sub- Sects. Don't foc] that your design mist corres ond exactiy or rigidly to the basic designs shown on page 2. What ve vant to see 1s a design that has a pre- Gominantly horizontal or vertical or centered feeling. Look at the examples on page 36 and ive particular attention and thought to the ‘ast Sentence in the caption. Make each design about, x 5 inches and do then on one piece of 11 x hainch {Iiustration board. Mark this toard -~ ASSIGNUET 2. ASSTONMNT 2, Make a design that sysbolizes ne of the folloving subjects: Gordening Fishing Sports car racing Sailing Hone building Rail transportation Wake your design 6 x 12 inches (either horizon- tel or verticel). You may do it in any tech nique you wish. If it is @ collage, be sure the finished ert is suitable for mailing, rite the nae of your subject under your de- sign. (over, please)‘student vork -- Lesson 18 Before doing this assigment, be sure you have researched the problen thoroughly. The ele- nents you choose for your design should sbove all be strong, quickly recognizable symbols of ‘the subject. Take advantage of all of your picture space to got the idea of your desien over clearly and foreefully. Renesber the yalue of sinpliesty -- don't put so sany things in the decign that they complicate or confuse it. Do this ona piece of 12 x ih-inch i1lus- ‘eration board. Mark this board -~ ASSIGMENT 2. Boge 2 In orsticizing your work, ve will be particu: larly interested in: --Your understanding of the basic prin- ciples show on pexe 2. --Your ability to reduce a realistic subject to the essentials of a design. --Your use of effective ent interesting ‘techniques. TMPORTANE; Be sure to letter your name, address ‘apd student mmber neatly at the lover left-hand corner of each assignsent. In the lover right corner, place the 1é number jon timber and assignment ‘Your lesson carton should contain: check Before mailing Assigment 1 Asstgment 2 L Return shipping label fi11ea out completely Mail this carton to: FAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE, WESTPORT, CONN. colaBea