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Writer's pictureShreyas Vyas

Design principles in five senses!

Updated: Oct 30, 2021

The abstract of this assignment was to explore and find out the design principles in our surroundings and everyday objects, and how artists, creators and designers use these to create beautiful patterns!


The five principles - Balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, unity


Principles in sight


Visual Proportion - The way these pavemented blocks are placed.

 

Visual Balance - Asymmetrical visual balance in two buildings that are far apart.

 

Visual Rhythm - A flow, a rhythm can be found on this floor of the open gym. One can also find the other principles of balance, proportion, unity apart from rhythm.


The way these brick pillars are arranged as well as the pipes in the background have a sense of rhythm.

 

Unity - Unity summarizes all of the design principles and refers to the coherence that all parts are working together to achieve an ultimate harmony. Here, unity can be found in the way these cups are arranged. There is a sense of proportion, a rhythm and balance in the picture.

 

Emphasis - The yellow mug placed by some careless shopper.



 

Principles in Taste


Every dish has to have atleast one of the above principles if not all to become a tasty dish. This is my understanding of the above principles in taste.


Proportion - The proportion of masala, sugar and tea-leaves in this masala chai.





 


 

Rhythm - The myriad of tastes that you get while eating a pani-puri is just the perfect example of rhythm in taste. The crunch of the simple puri at the very start, with the sweet chutney next followed by the hot and spicy green chutney that knocks your senses out. Simply awesome.

 
 

Unity - The confluence of all the principles to make one near-perfect object. can be found in every Indian thali, which has a spicy sabzi, sweet kheer, tangy, sweet and sour dahi-vada to the extra spicy Ratlami sev (<3) with the humble puri in the side.












 

Emphasis - Red sauce Pasta, while a perfectly balanced dish in its own has a very nice emphasis on the garlic that gives it the distinct flavour and aroma that you can find out from two floors away.





















 

Balance - The simple chocolate ice-cream in the waffle cone goes perfectly balanced with the dark and sweet chocolate and the very very slightly salted waffle.














 


Principles in Touch

For this part, I tried and found all the principles in a single product


Balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, unity

Balance - Here, there is balance in these ABXY buttons on the XBOX controller












 

Emphasis- The engravings on the X-button and the BACK and START button emphasize on their distinct functions.








 

Rhythm - The arrow keys (directional pad, D-pad) have a sense of rhythm as to how they are used while gaming.













 

Proportion and Unity - The controller as a whole has a sense of Proportion and Unity to it.










 

Principles in Smell

Balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, unity


Balance - There is a sense of Balance in the smell of Pav Bhaji masala when its cooking. Nothing strikes out. Nothing is left out either. You get everything, balanced.

Proportion - Smell of jaiphal (nutmeg) in kheer shows proportion. Rhythm - The fragrance of jai-jui flowers, as they sway in the morning breeze have a rhythm to it.

Emphasis - The strong flavour of coffee.


Unity - The fragrance of all the flowers, incense sticks, dhoop in Ganpati temple during Chaturthi pooja is what resonates the most with me, for Unity


 

Principles in Sound


Balance - The whole of this song is something that comes to my mind when i hear balance in sound. Tadow


Proportion - In the soundtrack of Dunkirk, right during the Dog Raid scene, there is a sense of proportion in the sound of the aircraft and the background score.


Rhythm - the rhythm in Aarti during Ganesh Chaturthi.


Emphasis - There is an emphasis in the sound of an ambulance


Unity - There is a sense of unity in the dhol-tasha pathak (band) in a Ganpati Visarjan procession. All the the instruments work in tandem to create a beautiful harmony.


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