Principles of Design - Unity

Principles of Design - Unity
I thought it was time to finish the blog posts about the elements and principles of design.

Principles of design are applied to design elements to bring them together into one complete design.  The way the principles of design are applied determines how successful a design of a space can be.

Unity means keeping your design in a sort of harmony in which all sections of the pattern make other sections feel complete.  Unit helps the design to be seen as one design instead of randomness.

To achieve visual unity all elements are in agreement.  No individual part is viewed as more important than the whole design.  A good balance between unity and variety must be established to avoid a chaotic or lifeless design.

When I am designing space it is hard to explain when something is not unified so I tend to go with my gut and feel when the interiors is unified.  There is a sense of coming together and when you have success  it is when the space feel complete.  Before that point it was missing something or something was just not right.

There are a few methods used to create unity:

• Proximity
• How items are placed within a space is key.  As you see in the picture above, the Eames side chairs are located within the room.  They bring together the white wall and the white sofa along the windows.  They also fill the space since they are located in the middle of the space.
• Similarity
• You can see how using similar finishes create unity in the photo above.  The same color of wood in the trim, ceiling, floor and Eames chairs bring the space together.  The other finishes in the room are white or in a neutral tone so one one piece stands out it all works together.
• Rhythm 
• Rhythm is illustrated above with the light grey wood wall in the photo above.  The strong horizontal lines of the wood wall create a flow which adds depth to the space and complements the strong lines in the wood ceiling and floor.   The key reason this works in this space is that the lines of the wood don't fight with each other, they create the unity in the space.

References:

1. White, Alex (2011). The Elements of Graphic Design. New York, NY: Allworth Press. pp. 81-105. 

Fall shoe trends

2012 Fall shoe trends
I love fall and I really love shoes so I had to write about some of the new fall shoe trends I have been reading about and seeing.

There are so many shoe trends this fall so there is one for everyone!  I do have my favorites....

We need to start off talk about boots!












Knee-High boots:
This style is back and looks even sleeker this fall.  I recommend having at least one black and brown pair of knee high boots for fall/winter.  I also have a blond pair which I love and I am looking for a grey pair.  If you want to elongate your legs find a boot with a pointed toe.  It makes you legs look so long and amazing!

Flat Knee-High boots:
Another great boot style for a more casual look and great for weekends!  A flat boot is comfortable and look great with jeans, dresses and skirts.  Find a pair with some fun details on them to really show your personal style.

High-Heeled lace up boot:
A new boot trend this fall.  The lace up boot is very edgy and the high heel adds a level of sexiness.  They are a fun way to add a fun shoe if you have the a standard knee high boot.

Low-Heeled ankle boot:
These are always in style (thank God!) but this fall you are seeing more fun leather colors, animal prints and a more causal boot.  The style has a more rounded toe.  I am a huge fan of pointed toe shoe so I tend not to wear my grey rounded toe ankle boots.  I think this fall I need to pull them out of my closet.

Now let us shift gears to the menswear trend this fall in shoes.

Cap-Toe Oxfords:
The shoe is very comfortable and the cap-toe adds a pop to sharpen up any outfit.
They look great with jeans or if you want a men's wear twist to an outfit.  I don't own a pair but I might need to try these for a fun casual shoe.

High-Heeled Loafers:
The 90's loafer has had a face lift and looks sophisticated and sexy.  The high heeled loafer has a slimmer profile and added the high heel really makes a statement.  It is a great shoe to wear with a more traditional outfit to add a twist of freshness.  I am looking for a pair of these but not super high.  I need my heels 3" or lower.

Finally we shift to the 3 trends for the heel for this fall.

Evening T-Straps:
This retro style heel has reached new heights and are perfect for a night out!  Have fun with crystals, details, metallic colors, and shine.  This is the way to show your personality in your shoes.  They are very sexy and make a statement.

Ankle-Strap Pumps:
The little strap across the ankle is very flattering.  Find a pair in a fun color, material or animal print to make a simple outfit pop.  I have a few pairs of ankle strap pumps that I wear to work and they also are great with jean or going out.


High-Heeled Mary Janes:
I do love the simple school girl Mary Janes and this fall they are making them sexier.  The profile is slimmer and I also have seen some Mary Janes with a pointed toe instead of the standard rounded toe.  I would love a pair of these in my closet. I think the desire happened when I watched Sex and The City and Carrie found the black patent leather  Manolo Blahnik Mary Janes in Vogue.  I love that show and I think there is a little bit of Carrie in me.








Shoe love affair

Many of you how do know me knows I love shoes and I express myself and my mood through my shoes and fashion.  I also have been very inspired by Sex and the City so I wanted to share my shoe closet with you all.

I will never count how many pairs I own but I love my shoe collection and ladies, you just need to have fun with shoes since they can make any simple outfit make a statement.

Enjoy the fall shoe trends and I am looking for my high heeled Mary Janes!

Houzz.com - Home design ideas and more!

Houzz.com- Ideas for modern design

A few weeks ago I found a wonderful website that has images, ideas and great articles for home design for any style.  It is called Houzz.com  I LOVE it!  

I am building a house and it has really helped me get inspired for my residential project since I am a commercial interior designer and things are different.

I highly recommend everyone to check it out.  They have great articles about all types of styles, rooms and more.  





Modern Kitchen design by New York Architect Chelsea Atelier Architect, PC

Below is a link to a few articles I found that I really enjoy.  They are are about modern design, modern kitchen design and the use of a fun accent color as a front door (orange).

So Your Style Is Midcentury Modern

Modern Hall design by Austin Architect Webber + Studio, Architects

Kitchen Workbook 8 Elements of a Modern Kitchen

Modern Kitchen design by Austin Architect Alterstudio

Front and Center Color When to Paint Your Door-Orange

Contemporary Entry design by Dallas Architect NIMMO American Studio For Progressive Architecture

I am planning on using the midcentury design style in my new house and having an orange front door too.  It is my signature color and it would be fun and unexpected.

I hope you find Houzz.com as interesting as I have.  Feel free to follow me at houzz.com,  My profile name is thediva.

Enjoy!!!

Fall 2012 Pantone Fashion Colors

Fall 2012 Pantone Fashion Color Tends

It is my favorite time of the year, FALL!  I love everything about fall and most of all the new fall fashion and color trends.  Below is a quick summary of the Pantone Fashion color report fall 2012.  

I love the 2012 fall color trends this year.  They are very rich and bright this year with a hint of rose and lavender.  The bright colors from summer do continue a bit but some are toned down for fall.  

The ankle colored pant is still very hot and I have found it in stores in most of the colors above!

I will write more about fall fashion trends in my next post.  

Design Inspirations

The Pantone report shares some top designs inspirations and other thoughts around the fall color trends so I wrote up my thoughts on the fall colors;

Inspirations:  I look toward fashion and fabrics for my color inspiration when designing interiors and my jewelry.  I love the use of bright rich colors with texture, and rich neutrals   The current project I am working on uses the rich french roast browns, light titanium grey colors, and white as the foundation to the design with pops of red, orange, gold, blue, teal and bright chartreuse.

Prominent colors:  I love the rich grey Titanium color with golds but I have falling in love with the Ultramarine green fall this fall.  It is so rich and makes a statement when used with neutrals.  

Signature color:  Bright orange!  It is bright, fun and unexpected

Must-have item: Menswear tweed pencil skirts.  I love the classic sexy line of a pencil skirt and the rich texture of tweed in fall will never go out of style.

Cosmetic accents: I love wearing a red lip with a very neutral eye.  It is a fun way to add a hint of color.

Below is the men's fashion color trends.  I really like the rhubarb color and will be using that in my own fall fashion and interior design.  

Here is a link to the full report if you are interested.

http://www.pantone.com

Happy fall shopping and try a new color this fall!  I tried purple this year and I love it!

Elements of Design - Form

Elements of Design - Form
The final element of design is form.




Form is any 3D object.  Each form has depth, height and width.  Forms also are defined by light and dark












 Types of Form:
There are two types of form;

• Geometric or man made forms
• Squares, circles, etc..
• Natural or organic forms 
• leaves, snowflakes, etc..

Forms may be created by the combining of two or more shapes.  They can also be enhanced by tone, texture and color.

Form follows function

A principle associated with modern architecture / design in the 20th century that the shape of a building or object should be the primary based upon its intended function or purpose.  

The American architect Louis Sullivan lead the form follows function concept.  Below is his full quote:

    "It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, or all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things super-human, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, That the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function.  That is the law."

I love modern design and the simple concept of form follows function.  The image above some one of my favorite classic furniture, the Knoll tulip table and chair.  They form of the chair follows the line of the back to make a comfortable sit.

Using the correct forms can make or break good design.  They are very powerful elements in design.

References:

1. Saw, James. "Design notes". Palomar College.
2. "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered," published Lippincott's Magazine (March 1896).

What is next?

I have finished writing about the elements of design and I am going to start writing about my favorite time of year, fall!  

It is that time and I am going to shift to fall color and fashion treads before writing about the design principles.

I hope the blog series of design elements have been helpful understand the core of design.

Elements of Design - Space

Elements of Design - Space    
Space is concerned with the area the design will take place on.  

Categories of Space: 
There are four types of space:

• Positive space - It is similar to positive shape that it is the figure or foreground space and the focus of the design.
• Negative space - It is similar to negative shape that it is the empty space that is the background or what surrounds the subject matter.
• Shading - Shading adds gradation marks to make an object in 2 dimensional surface seem it is 3 dimensional.  Below are the 5 kinds of shading light which used together create 3 dimensional look. 
• Highlights, Transitional Light, Core of the Shadow, Reflected Light, Cast Shadow
• Perceptive - It is the graphic arts that is an approximate representation of and image that is perceived by the eye on a flat surface.
• Non Linear Perspective - Is the method of showing depth that incorporates the following techniques:
• Position - The placement of an object higher on the page which makes it appear farther back than the other objects place on the lower part of the page.
• Overlapping - When an object overlaps another object it appears closer and the object behind the object appears farther away.
• Size variation - Smaller objects look farther away in the distance and larger objects look closer.
• Color - Bright colors look like they are closer to you and neutral colors look like they are farther away.
• Value - Lighter values look like they are farther back and darker value looks like they they are closer.
• Linear Perspective - Is the method of using lines to show the illusion of depth in a picture.
• One point perspective - When lines are created by the side of objects and they all meet at one point on the horizon.
• Two point perspective - When two lines look as they are meeting at two points on the horizon line.

References:

1. Saw, James. "Design Notes". Palomar College.

Elements of Design - Texture

 Elements of Design - Texture
The next design element and one of my favorites besides color is texture.

Texture is the way a surface feels or is perceived to feel.  Texture can be added to attract or repel interest to an element depending on the pleasantness of the texture.

Types of Texture:
There are two main types of texture.

• Tactile Texture is the actual three dimensional surface that you can feel.  The photo above is one of the design projects I worked on that used a lot of types of texture.  The wall is a drywall tile that creates a three dimensional texture to a wall which created the look of frosting in this space.
• Visual Texture is the illusion that a surface has peaks and valleys.  Lots if images of nature and art appear they have a texture but it is smooth to the touch.  

Most textures have a natural feel but still have a repeat in some way.  The regularly repeating of a motif will result in a texture that appears as a pattern.

 The images in the blog post are from a project I worked on which used lots of different textures to create the sophisticated look and feel of the space.

The feature wall is a drywall tile that when installed creates a tactile texture of waves on the wall.  I also found a light fixture used at the bar that has the same waving tactile texture as the wall to tie the space together.

The kitchen wood is very smooth maple with a tight grain which is a contrast to the wavy texture of wall.  The final texture used in the kitchen is a small 1"x1" mosaic tile which adds texture and a hint of sparkle.

  The rest of the space is in a deep red and brown paint color with a hint of greenish tan.  The meeting space across from the kitchen has a large dining table which are two large pieces of rustic walnut which created the top which adds visual texture into the space. It is smooth so people can use it to eat on or meet at with their laptops but you can see the very textured wood grain in the table top.

The sofas are a nubby brown fabric to create a cozy feel.  The space is defined by a large semi-shear drapery that create a visual texture and creates privacy since the meeting space is next to a main traffic path.

The use of many types of texture together can really create a nice cozy and sophisticated feel.  This applies to interior design and fashion.

In fashion, mix a smooth pant with a more textured top and top it off with a necklace with depth and sparkle to take it up a notch. 

I do use my design elements and principles in my fashion choices and how I design my work projects, home and garden.  The are key things to learn when creating any type of design.

References:

1. Saw, James. "Design Notes" Palomar College.