“Point, line, and plane are the building blocks of design. From these elements, designers create images, icons, textures, patterns, diagrams, animations, and typographic systems.” – Ellen Lupton

Our first task of IXD101 was to create nine 3×3 grids measuring 480 pixels, presenting different ways in which the elements point, line and plane could be illustrated as an exciting graphic.

After researching designers, artists and companies who have successfully utilised these seemingly simple elements, I decided to begin brainstorming and producing my own grids.

Below I have included my initial sketches drawn on paper. This process allowed me to brainstorm different ways in which I could present these elements.

 

Point (Wax On Wax Off)

A point locates a position in space or on the canvas. In graphic design, a point takes on the form as a dot which is a perceivable mark. A series of points form a line and an assemblage of points makes a texture, shape or plane.

For this project, the point will be an elipsis of varying sizes, tone and circle which as I have shown below can be manipulated, grouped and shown in various compositions to create an interesting outcome. We were provided with six different words of inspiration to influence our choice of pattern and placing the points: disperse, multiply, reflect, scale, dominance and proximity. After creating my sketches, I decided to focus on disperse, scale and reflect (as shown in this order below). I used Figma software to create these grids in a frame before experimenting with manipulating ellipsis to create my designs. I think my most successful outcome was my response to reflect (the final frame below). I was greatly inspired by Josh Worth’s “If the Moon Were One Pixel…” which I had researched. His work inspired me to have the central frame background black to allow the white points to stand out.

Line (Paint the Fences)

Line is the path between two co-ordinates in design.

Through my research and sketches, I discovered that line is incredibly versatile and can be used to build typography and images. The words: symmetry, asymmetry, rhythm and frequency were provided as inspiration for our designs focused on line. As shown below, I chose to create frames responding to frequency, rhythm and symmetry. I used Figma for these designs: experimenting with changing the transparency of lines to overlapping elements; and arcing lines to create interesting manipulations in line.

Plane (Paint the House)

Finally, we were tasked with exploring the concept of planes. A plane in design is a flat surface with considerable width and height. Through my research, I studied Mondrian and how his use of plane in his paintings was key to the artist unlocking a ‘universal beauty‘ through its simpleness. We were asked to use only five planes in each 3×3 grid. I decided that I would explore interesting motifs or themes in each grid. (From left to right) I explored I exploring use using the negative space of each grid as plane of its own, utilising various, small quadrilaterals to emphasise the white background surrounding them; I manipulated quadrilaterals on Figma to create a sense of tension as though the elements were pushed together; and in my final grid, I explored the use of transparency on Figma to create planes from existing elements to make up my five planes. Overall, I found this final grid set to be my most successful as the challenge of only creating five planes encouraged me to find interesting ways to alter and combine elements using the tools provided on Figma.