Principles of Design
AP 2-D Art and Design Topic 2 7:20 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
Chapters
Transcript
Look at this painting for three seconds.
看这幅画三秒钟。
Where did your eye go first?
你的目光最先落在哪里？
Almost everyone looks at the same place — the two bright faces in the middle.
几乎所有人看的都是同一个地方—— 中间那两张明亮的脸。
That was not luck.
这不是运气。
The painter arranged light, size and position so your eye would land exactly there, and then travel slowly round the ring of watching faces.
画家安排了光线、大小和位置， 让你的目光正好落在那里，然后慢慢绕着一圈围观的面孔移动。
That arrangement has a name.
这样的安排有一个名字。
The principles of design.
设计原则。
If the elements of art are the words, then the principles are the grammar — the rules that arrange those words into something a viewer can read.
如果说艺术要素是词语，那么设计原则就是语法—— 把这些词语组织成观众能读懂的内容的规则。
Today we meet eight of them, and then watch them come together inside one real composition.
今天我们认识其中八条，然后看它们如何在一幅真实作品中汇合。
Here they are. Balance.
它们是：平衡。
Emphasis and focal point.
强调与视觉焦点。
Contrast.
对比。
Movement and rhythm.
动感与节奏。
Pattern and repetition.
图案与重复。
Proportion and scale.
比例与尺度。
Unity and variety.
统一与变化。
And running underneath all of them, composition — how you put everything inside the picture.
而贯穿其中的是构图——你如何把一切安排在画面之内。
Every one is a choice you make, and a word the examiner wants to hear.
每一条都是你要做的选择，也是评卷人想听到的词。
Balance is the way visual weight is spread across a work. It comes in three kinds.
平衡是视觉重量在作品中的分布方式，它分为三种。
Symmetrical balance mirrors the two sides of a centre line: calm, formal, a little still.
对称平衡以中轴线为界左右镜像：平静、正式，略显静止。
Asymmetrical, or informal, balance puts different things on each side that feel equally heavy: busier, and more alive.
非对称（或称非正式）平衡在两侧放不同的元素，但它们的分量相当：更热闹，也更有生气。
Radial balance arranges everything around one central point.
辐射平衡则把所有元素围绕一个中心点排列。
But what makes one shape heavier than another?
可是，什么让一个形状比另一个更重？
Visual weight works like a see-saw: weight times distance from the centre.
视觉重量像一个跷跷板： 重量乘以到中心的距离。
A small dark shape, far out, can hold up a large pale one near the middle.
一个又小又深的形状，只要放得足够远， 就能撑起中间那个又大又浅的形状。
And at the end, radial: everything turning around one centre.
最后是辐射：一切围绕一个中心旋转。
Here is symmetry in a real drawing.
这是真实作品中的对称。
Leonardo's figure is almost a perfect mirror about a central vertical line, so the drawing feels stable, formal and calm.
达·芬奇笔下的人体几乎以一条中垂线为轴完全镜像， 所以画面显得稳定、正式而平静。
And the circle around him adds radial balance as well: the arms and legs spread out from one centre, like the spokes of a wheel.
而围绕他的圆又带来了辐射平衡： 四肢从一个中心向外伸展，就像车轮的辐条。
Emphasis makes one part of a work stand out, and the part that wins is the focal point — the place your eye goes first.
强调让作品中的某一部分突出出来，胜出的那一部分就是视觉焦点—— 你目光最先到达的地方。
You build it with contrast.
你靠对比来制造它。
In design, value and size contrast create clear visual hierarchy.
在设计中，明度与大小对比 会形成清晰的视觉层次。
Change its size, and it wins.
改变它的大小，它就胜出。
Change its value, light against dark, and it wins.
改变它的明度，明暗相对，它就胜出。
Change its colour, and it wins.
改变它的色彩，它也胜出。
Or simply move it away from the crowd, because isolation is emphasis too.
或者干脆把它从人群中移开，因为孤立也是一种强调。
Then keep everything else quiet.
然后让其余部分保持安静。
We call that subordination, and it is what stops a picture from shouting everywhere at once.
这叫做从属，正是它让画面不至于处处喧哗。
Now go back to our painting and watch it work.
现在回到我们那幅画，看它是怎样起作用的。
The strongest contrast of value in the whole picture is at the children's faces: bright skin against a dark room.
整幅画中最强的明暗对比就在 孩子们的脸上：明亮的皮肤衬着昏暗的房间。
That is why your eye landed there first.
这就是你的目光最先落在那里的原因。
Everything else is painted darker and quieter, so nothing competes for attention.
其余部分都画得更暗、更安静，所以没有什么来抢注意力。
And look how the heads make a ring around that light, carrying your eye slowly round the circle.
再看这些头部如何围着那束光排成一圈，带着你的目光慢慢绕行。
Movement is the path your eye takes through a work.
动感是你的目光穿过作品时所走的路径。
Van Gogh builds that path out of brushstrokes: the row of gas lights sweeps in from the left along the far bank, their long reflections drop straight down into the dark water, and the path ends on the two small figures on the shore.
梵高用笔触筑成这条路径： 一排煤气灯沿着对岸从左边扫入，它们长长的倒影笔直落进暗色的水面， 路径最后停在岸边那两个小小的人影上。
Rhythm is the repeated beat inside that path — the same bright stroke, again and again, like a drum under a melody.
节奏则是这条路径里反复出现的拍子——同一道明亮的笔触，一再重复， 就像旋律下面的鼓点。
Rhythm comes in types, and naming the right one earns marks.
节奏也分种类，说对名称就能得分。
Regular rhythm repeats at an even spacing, like tiles on a floor.
规则节奏以均匀的间距重复，像地板上的方砖。
Flowing rhythm curves, so the beat feels smooth and soft.
流动节奏是弯曲的，所以拍子显得柔和顺滑。
Progressive rhythm changes a little at every step — the shape grows, or the colour deepens.
渐进节奏每一步都变化一点点—— 形状变大，或者颜色变深。
Random rhythm repeats with no fixed spacing at all.
随机节奏则完全没有固定的间距。
And remember: repetition with variation stays interesting, while repetition without it becomes dull.
记住：有变化的重复才耐看，没有变化的重复只会单调。
Repetition simply reuses an element.
重复就是把一个元素反复使用。
A pattern is repetition arranged in a predictable way.
图案则是按可预期的方式排列的重复。
William Morris repeats one motif — a bird among strawberries — across the whole cloth.
威廉·莫里斯把同一个母题——草莓丛中的鸟——重复排满整块布。
The repeat gives the design unity, and it gives it rhythm.
这种重复给设计带来统一，也带来节奏。
Look closely: the birds are mirrored in pairs rather than just copied, and that small variation keeps the pattern alive.
仔细看：这些鸟是成对镜像的， 而不是简单复制，正是这一点小变化让图案保持活力。
Proportion is the size relationship between parts inside a work, like head to body; the golden ratio is a famous guide to proportions that feel right.
比例是作品内部各部分之间的大小关系，比如头与身体的关系； 黄金比例就是一条著名的、让比例看起来舒服的参考。
Scale is size compared with something else.
尺度则是与别的东西相比的大小。
On the right, hierarchical scale draws the most important thing largest, whatever its real size — that is how a king is painted bigger than his servants.
右边是等级比例： 最重要的东西画得最大，不管它实际有多大——国王被画得比仆人大，就是这个道理。
On the left is the rule of thirds: divide the picture each way, and put your focal point where two lines cross.
左边是三分法：把画面横竖各分成三份，把视觉焦点放在两条线相交的地方。
Unity holds a work together so it reads as one thing.
统一让作品凝聚成一个整体。
You build it in four ways: by repeating one shape, by grouping things close together, which is proximity, by lining them up along an edge, which is continuity, and by keeping to one limited palette.
你可以用四种方法做到：重复同一个形状； 把元素靠近成组，这叫邻近；让它们沿一条边线对齐，这叫连续性； 以及只用一套有限的色彩。
But total unity is dull.
但完全的统一是乏味的。
Variety is the difference that keeps a viewer looking.
变化是让观众继续看下去的差异。
Harmony comes from similar elements, so the best works give you order with one surprise inside it.
和谐来自相似的元素，所以最好的作品是秩序之中藏着一点意外。
Composition is how you arrange everything inside the picture plane — the flat rectangle you are working on.
构图就是你如何把一切安排在画面之内——你正在使用的那个平面矩形。
First comes the format: tall, wide, or square.
首先是画幅：竖幅、横幅还是方形。
Hokusai chose wide.
北斋选了横幅。
Now lay the thirds over it.
现在把三分线叠上去。
The great wave fills the upper left, and its claw hangs above the boats.
巨浪占满左上方，浪爪高悬在小船之上。
The little mountain sits low and to the right, close to where two of those lines cross — small, quiet, and impossible to miss.
那座小山低低地偏在右侧， 靠近两条线相交的位置——小、安静，却让人无法忽视。
So your eye travels along the wave, drops with the claw, and lands on the mountain: the wave itself is a leading line.
于是你的目光沿着浪峰行进，随浪爪落下，最后停在山上：浪本身就是一条引导线。
And cropping decides all of it: what you keep, and what you cut.
而裁剪决定了这一切：你保留什么，又切掉什么。
Here is the question you answer all year: explain the balance in this composition.
这是你一整年都要回答的那类问题：解释这幅作品中的平衡。
A weak answer just says it looks balanced, and it earns nothing.
弱的答案只会说“看起来很平衡”，这样得不到分。
A full answer has three parts.
完整的答案有三部分。
First, name the principle: this is asymmetrical balance.
第一，说出原则的名称：这是非对称平衡。
Second, point to the evidence: the large dark shape on the left is balanced by three small bright shapes on the right.
第二，指出作品中的具体证据： 左边那个又大又深的形状，被右边三个明亮的小形状平衡了。
Third, state the effect on the viewer: it carries weight on both sides, but stays dynamic rather than static.
第三，说明对观众的效果：作品两侧都有分量，却依然充满动感而不呆板。
Name it, prove it, say what it does.
说出名称，给出证据，再说效果。
Three parts, every time.
三部分，每次都要有。
Three things to carry into every response.
带进每一次作答的三件事。
First, always name the principle that organises the work — balance, emphasis, contrast, movement or unity.
第一，一定要说出组织这件作品的原则—— 平衡、强调、对比、动感或统一。
Second, argue balance from visual weight, not just from symmetry.
第二，用视觉重量来论证平衡，而不只是靠对称。
Third, give every piece one clear focal point, and name the technique that creates it.
第三，让每件作品都有一个清晰的视觉焦点，并说出是什么技巧造就了它。
And plan with thumbnails and the rule of thirds before you commit.
还有，在动手之前先用小构图草图和三分法做好规划。