Author: Neftaly Malatjie

 A point or mark is the smallest and most basic element. Often it is the personal ‘handwriting’ of the artist that can be natural or learned. These can vary in size, value, regularity or irregularity, and can be used alone or as a unit in a group which forms a line or shape in the image. Marks can be used to form a value or pattern (placed close together forms a darker value, further apart forms a lighter value), or to delineate space (larger means closer, etc.). A good example of the use of marks is the ink drawings of Van Gogh. The Impressionist painters used what could be called patches; and the Pointillists, such as Seurat, used the dot. Even though there is only one point or mark on a white blank page, it can catch our sight. If there are two points, we will make a connection and see a line. If there are three points, it is unavoidable to interpret them as a triangle; the mind supplies the connections. These are called as grouping, or gestalt. Gestalt is the fundamental tool the designer or artist uses to build a coherent composition.

This compulsion to connect parts is described as grouping, or gestalt.

Gestalt is the fundamental tool the designer or artist uses to build a coherent composition. The example of a student self-portrait seen on the left demonstrates how images may be built from points, with the variations in density producing the illusion of form.

1. Line

A line is a form with width and length, but no depth. Artists use lines to create edges, the outlines of objects. A line is created by the movement of the artist’s pen. The direction of a line can convey mood. Horizontal lines are calm and quiet, vertical lines suggest more of a potential for movement, while diagonal lines strongly suggest movement and give more of a feeling of vitality to a picture.

• • 1. • Which area of business involves your customer activity?
       • What is its main product?
       • Which local area he covers?

       The analysis is not limited to profit-seeking activities. SWOT analysis may be used in any decision-making project. Surely you are going to be paid for your graphic design work, so from your point of view it IS a commercial activity but, during this phase, what is really important is the core activity which you are going to represent through your design project.

• • Techniques to promote design concept generation

     

    Confront the Problem

    Is it a real problem? Alternatively, is it one imposed through some ad-hoc agent, and that can, if treated appropriately, vanish.

     

    Change the Source of the Problem

    Sometimes the source of the problem can be altered to either eliminate the problem or direct it to another part of the product where it can more easily be treated.

     

    Isolate the Problem

    Can the effects of the problem be isolated to particular systems or subsystems of a product, thereby allowing designers to focus their attention on it and not having to involve every designer on the project?

     

    Invert the Problem

    Inversion is a classic technique to solve design problems. There are many examples of this.

    Reverse the Problem

    Reversal is more about reversing the way you think about a problem or a design, rather than reversing the design itself. Some other examples of reversal include the following.

    Divide the Problem

    This is the classic “divide and conquer” technique. A problem which seems difficult can sometimes be handled by breaking into a series of sub problems such that the solutions of those sub problems can then be put together to solve the original, difficult problem.

    
    

• • Concept ideation, as the term implies, is about forming ideas. Ideation is generally a cognitive task – it is something you do with your brain. Some people ideate best alone, others work better in teams. Within the scope of design engineering, concept ideation is about looking at the requirements of a problem and coming up with a short description of the general class of product that can satisfy the requirements.

    The result of the concept ideation phase should be at least one, but preferably two or three ideas that are substantively different (refer again to the urban vehicle example above). Write out your ideas in your journal, using short descriptive phrases. Make sure you bring all your ideas to the table when you meet your team. You may find that sketching is a good way to think about your ideas and to filter out the bad ones. You should feel free to sketch possible concepts for your ideas in your journal. Those sketches will be very useful later in the process, but you should not commit to any one particular sketch at this time.

    
    

• • However, design concepts that can be engineered are special. We are not trying just to design something that looks new. We are trying to find a balance between all the different factors that influence a product. The product must appeal to its intended users at a variety of levels: function, usability, cost, reliability, shape & colour, etc. This is why it is so important to study the design problem so carefully. Without really understanding the problem, there is little hope of generating concepts that can be turned into realisable products that satisfy all its requirements.

    Brainstorming is a great way to stimulate the develop of ideas and concepts. It is important to be able to “think outside the box” – to come up with different (not necessarily better or worse) solutions. If you can do that often enough, then eventually you shall have a great idea. With practice and experience, you can improve the odds that the different ideas you have will be good ones. To practice thinking outside the box, try some thinking exercises.

    In order to develop a concept, the following stages are used:

    • concept ideation
    • concept generation and evaluation
    • concept modification
    • concept validation