Exercise02: Rhythm & Balance

The Exercise

We will use Adobe Illustrator for this. Download this file:

symmetrical

exercise02_start.ait.zip (double-click to unzip file to use it)

Use it to make your Rhythm & Balance examples. Don't accept the sizes or the colors of the elements as what you should use. Play with colors and sizes, I will demonstrate how in class.

  1. Working in the 6 x 6 inch square set up in Illustrator, arrange three of four geometric elements (circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, etc) in a symmetrical way. Start with three variations in which all the elements are the same size, then create three symmetrical designs with elements of different size. Experiment with scale and cropping.
  2. Create six asymmetrical designs using elements of different sizes. Experiment until you find visual balance in each composition. For example, use several small elements to offset one larger one.
  3. Many variations are possible. You may introduce contrasts of hue, saturation, and/or value in any example. You should have a total of 12 different rhythm & balance compositions:
    1. Three symmetrical variations in which three or more elements are the same size.
      Name Them:
      symmetrical-samesize-1.ai
      symmetrical-samesize-2.ai
      symmetrical-samesize-3.ai
    2. Three symmetrical variations in which three or more elements are different sizes.
      Name Them:
      symmetrical-difsize-1.ai
      symmetrical-difsize-2.ai
      symmetrical-difsize-3.ai
    3. Six asymmetrical variations in which there are three or more elements.
      Name Them:
      asymmetrical-1.ai
      asymmetrical-2.ai
      asymmetrical-3.ai
      asymmetrical-4.ai
      asymmetrical-5.ai
      asymmetrical-6.ai
symmetrical symmetrical symmetrical

Symmetry: Elements mirror from side to side along a common axis. Symmetry can be top to bottom, left to right, or both.

asymmetrical asymmetrical asymmetrical

Asymmetry: Elements are placed organically, relying on the interaction of form and negative space to yield tension and balance.

Rules

  1. No transparency
  2. No gradients
  3. No strokes (outlines)
  4. No colored backgrounds
  5. In other words, just use size, postion, rotation and color
  6. Put all your files in a single folder, compress it and name it lastnamefirstinitial_exercise02.zip

Demo

Timeline

Start:

Due: End of