Interior design books pdf free download

The fact is you can do it, and you don't need to go through school to do so. The materials are at your fingertips, and it's rare that you'll need to really buy much at all for these projects. Just read about how to do them and try out your skills. It may take more than one try, but you're almost guaranteed to be happy with the results. Boost your self-confidence, give your home a facelift, and have fun doing so. These are projects that you can do alone, with friends, or even with your spouse.

They're easy to do and quite cost-effective. So start your DIY interior design projects today. Learn how to organize your home with do it yourself interior designs that are easy and fun to make. This book will teach you how to make your own bedframe, headboard, and even designs for your bedroom. Learn the basics of DIY interior design and what you'll need to get started inside this book.

You'll learn ways to make your children's rooms look magical with a few quick and simple designs inside this book. Download now and save them, share them and most of all enjoy them. Part 1 — Concepts and Rules of Design. Part 2 — Drawing and Managing Projects. Part 3 — Color and Lighting. Part 5 — Styles, Periods and Design History.

Part 6 — Curtains and Soft Furnishings. Part 7 — Rooms and Stairs. Color schemes are simple to keep organized if you have a system. Use this form as the basis of a system for yourself, you will adapt it to suit your own needs as you become more experienced and know what detail is most important for your interior decorating jobs.

Defining your own color scheme system is always easier if you have somewhere to start, so we hope this form gives you a helping hand. There are two basic types of texture. Tactile texture is real and can be felt by touch; visual texture is seen by the eye.

All tactile textures provide visual texture as well. Texture refers to the three-dimensional structure of a surface. Visual texture, on the other hand, may be illusory or real. Our senses of sight and touch are closely intertwined.

As our eyes read the visual texture of a surface, we often respond to its apparent tactile quality without actually touching it. We base these physical reactions to the textural qualities of surfaces on previous associations with similar materials. Texture is intertwined with our senses of sight and touch. All materials have some degree of texture, but the finer the scale of a textural pattern is, the smoother it will appear to be.

Even coarse textures, when seen from a distance, can appear to be relatively smooth. The relative scale of a texture can affect the apparent shape and position of a plane in space. Coarse textures can make a plane appear closer, reduce its scale, and increase its visual weight. In general, textures tend to fill the space in which they exist visually.

Direct light falling across a surface with physical texture will enhance its visual texture. Diffused lighting deemphasizes physical texture and can even obscure its three-dimensional structure. Smooth, shiny surfaces reflect light brilliantly, appear sharply in focus, and attract our attention. Surfaces with a matte or medium-rough texture absorb and diffuse light unevenly and, therefore, appear less bright than similarly colored but smoother surfaces.

Very rough surfaces, when illuminated with direct lighting, cast Lighting direction affects our reading of texture. Shiny surfaces reflect. Matte surfaces diffuse. A texture seen against a uniformly smooth background will appear more obvious than when placed in juxtaposition with a similar texture. When seen against a coarser background, the texture will appear to be finer and reduced in scale. Finally, texture is a factor in the maintenance of the materials and surfaces of a space.

Smooth surfaces show dirt and wear but are relatively easy to clean, while rough surfaces may conceal dirt but may also be more difficult to maintain. Contrast affects the apparent strength or subtlety of adjacent textures.

Texture can also result from the manner in which materials are assembled in construction. Pattern is the decorative design or ornamentation of a surface that is almost always Motif Pattern based on the repetition of a motif—a distinctive and recurring shape, form, or color in a design. The repetitive nature of a pattern often gives the ornamented surface a textural quality as well.

When the elements that create a pattern become so small that they lose their individual identity and blend together, they become more texture than pattern. A pattern may be integral or applied. An integral pattern results from the intrinsic nature of a material and the way it is processed, fabricated, or assembled. An applied pattern is added to a surface after it is fabricated or built.

A pattern reduced in scale becomes texture. How we combine and compose differing textures is just as important as the composition of color and light, and should suit the desired character and use of a space. The scale of a textural pattern should be related to the scale of a space and its major surfaces, as well as to Minimal texture Textured the size of secondary elements within the space.

Since texture tends to visually fill space, any textures used in a small room should be subtle or used sparingly. In a large room, texture can be used to reduce the scale of the space or to define a more intimate area within it. A room with little textural variation can be bland. Combinations of hard and soft, even and uneven, and shiny and dull textures can be used to create variety and interest.

In the selection and distribution of textures, Texture filling space Competing textures moderation should be exercised and attention paid to their ordering and sequence. Harmony among contrasting textures can be sustained if they share a common trait, such as degree of light reflectance or visual weight. Conceptually and in reality, a volume exists in three dimensions.

Form is the term we use to describe the contour and overall structure of a volume. The specific form of a volume is determined by the shapes and interrelationships of the lines and planes that describe its boundaries. As the three-dimensional element of architectural and interior design, a volume can be either a solid space displaced by the mass of a building or building element or a void space contained and defined by wall, floor, and ceiling or roof planes. It is important to perceive this duality of containment versus displacement, especially when reading orthographic plans, elevations, and sections.

Visible forms give space dimension, scale, color, and texture, while space reveals the forms. This symbiotic relationship between form and space can be seen at several scales in interior design. We are surrounded by color in our environmental settings. The colors we attribute to objects find their source in the light that illuminates and reveals form and space. Without light, color does not exist.

The science of physics deals with color as a property of light. Within the visible spectrum of light, color is determined by wavelength. Starting at the longest wavelength with red, we proceed through the spectrum of orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet to arrive at the shortest visible wavelengths. When these colored lights are present in a light source in approximately equal quantities, they combine to produce white light—light that is apparently colorless.

The surface of the object absorbs es. Our eyes inat apprehend the color of the reflected light as the color of dom the object. Some light sources—such as some electric lamps or light reflected off a colored wall—may not be well balanced and thus lack part of the spectrum. This lack of certain colors will make a surface illuminated by such light appear to lack those colors.

Red Which wavelengths or bands of light are absorbed and which are reflected as object color is determined by the pigmentation of a surface. A red surface appears Violet Yellow red because it absorbs most of the blue and green light falling on it and reflects the red part of the spectrum; a blue surface absorbs the reds. Similarly, a black surface White absorbs the entire spectrum; a white surface reflects all of it.

Blue Green A surface has the natural pigmentation of its material. This coloration can be altered with the application of paints, stains, or dyes that contain color pigments. While Cyan colored light is additive in nature, color pigments are Colored lights combine by additive mixing. Each pigment absorbs certain proportions of white light. When pigments are mixed, their absorptions combine to subtract various colors of the spectrum. The colors that remain determine the hue, value, and intensity of the mixed pigment.

Red It is important for interior designers to remember that Magenta the colors they see on their computer screens are colored Yellow light, while colors in printed materials and samples are Black pigments.

For accuracy, they should rely on physical color samples viewed in the light in which they will be used. Blue Green Cyan Pigment colors combine by subtractive mixing.

Value The degree of lightness or darkness of a color in relation to white and black. Saturation The brilliance or dullness of a color; this depends on the amount of hue in a color. All of these attributes of color are interrelated. Each principal hue has a normal value. Pure yellow, for example, is lighter in value than pure blue. If white, black, or a complementary hue is added to a color to lighten or darken its value, its saturation will be diminished as well.

It is difficult to adjust one attribute of a color without simultaneously altering the other two. Red A number of color systems attempt to organize colors and their attributes into a visible order. Red nge -ora -vio The primary hues are red, yellow, and blue. The tertiary hues are red-orange, let Ora yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet. The system arranges colors into three orderly scales of uniform visual steps, according to their attributes of hue, value, and chroma intensity.

The Munsell system is based on five principal hues and five intermediate hues. These ten major hues are arranged horizontally in a circle. Extending vertically through the center of the hue circle Munsell Color Wheel is a scale of neutral gray values, graded in ten equal visual steps from black to white. Radiating out from the vertical scale of values are equal steps of chroma, or intensity. Chro Although the ability to accurately communicate the hue, value, and intensity of a specific color without an actual sample is important in science, commerce, and industry, color names and notations cannot adequately describe Value scale the visual sensation of color.

Actual color samples, seen in the light in which they will be used, are essential in the design of a color scheme. Interior designers often space represents the maximum must indicate a color to be used uniformly in paints, saturation of the spectral textiles, graphic design materials, and other media.

Although cumbersome to use, CIE standards are specified by most perceivable by the human eye. American furniture manufacturers. CIE Chromaticity Diagram Other available tools are electronic color analyzers, which identify color data from samples, and color viewing lights, which simulate varied lighting conditions. Electronic color analysis is commonly used for paint matching. Color may be mixed at the point of sale to match almost any color sample.

In mixing the pigments of paints and dyes, each of the attributes of color can be altered. The hue of a color can be changed by mixing it with other hues. When neighboring or analogous hues on the color ry nta wheel are mixed, harmonious and closely related hues are pl eme Analogous Com created. In contrast to this, mixing complementary hues, those hues directly opposite each other on the color wheel, produces neutral hues.

The value of a color can be raised by adding white and lowered by adding black. A normally high-value color, such as yellow, is capable of more shades than tints, while a low-value color, such a red, is able to have more tints than shades. The intensity of a color can be strengthened by adding more of the dominant hue. It can be lowered by mixing gray with the color or by adding to the color its complementary hue. Hues that are grayed or neutralized White in this manner are often called tones.

These factors are especially important to the interior designer, who must carefully consider how the colors of elements in an interior space interact and how they are rendered by the light illuminating them. Light of a particular hue, other than white, is rarely used Daylight Artificial light for general illumination. However, not all sources of what we consider white light are spectrally well balanced.

Incandescent bulbs cast a warm glow, while some fluorescents cast a cool light. Daylight, too, can be warm or cool, depending on the time of day and the direction from which it comes. Even the color of a large reflecting surface can alter the light within an interior space. Warm light tends to accentuate warm colors and neutralize cool hues, while cool light intensifies cool colors and weakens warm hues.

If light is altered with a particular hue, it will raise the intensity of colors of that hue and neutralize colors of a complementary hue. Conditions affecting the rendition of colors in an interior space The apparent value of a color can also be altered by the amount of light used to illuminate it. However, high levels of illumination can also tend to make colors appear less saturated, or washed out.

The natural fluctuations of light in an interior setting can alter colors in subtle ways. A color may also look different depending on its angle to the viewer. It is always best to test colors in the environment in which they are to be viewed, under both daylight and nighttime conditions.

The result is that the two colors are pushed farther apart in hue. Simultaneous contrast in hue is most easily perceived when two colors are fairly uniform in value. If one color is much lighter or darker than the other, the effects of contrasting values become more noticeable. A light color will tend to deepen a dark color, while a dark color will tend to brighten a light color.

Both black and white have a visible effect on colors brought into contact with them. Surrounding colors with black tends to make them richer and more vibrant, while outlining with white often has the opposite effect. A large area of white will reflect light onto adjacent colors, while thin white lines tend to spread and alter the hues they separate.

Contrasting values alter perceived values. The effects of contrasting hues and values depend on areas large enough to be perceived as separate colors. If the areas are small and closely spaced, the eye does not have enough time to adjust to their differences and mixes the colors optically.

The effects of optical mixing are often used in the weaving of textiles to create an impression of many hues and values with a limited number of colored yarns or threads. Effect of outlining colors with white or black Optical mixing occurs when dots or strokes of colors merge to produce more blended hues.

Colors are often divided into warm and cool categories. Reds, oranges, and yellows are considered to be warm colors that advance. Blues, greens, and violets are considered cooler and tend to recede. Neutrals, such as grays and off-whites, may be either warm brownish or cool bluish. The following generalizations summarize some of these effects of color. Normal values of hues in Warm hues and high intensities are said to be visually standard color wheel active and stimulating, while cool hues and low intensities are more subdued and relaxing.

Light values tend to be cheerful, middle values undemanding, and dark values somber. Bright, saturated colors and any strong contrasts attract our attention.

Grayed hues and middle values are less forceful. Contrasting values, in particular, make us aware of shapes and forms. Contrasting hues and saturations can also define shape, but if they are too similar in value, the definition they afford will be less Axis distinct. Light, warm colors tend to expand and increase the apparent size of an object, especially when seen against a dark background.

When used on an enclosing plane of a space, light values, cool hues, and grayed colors appear to recede and increase apparent distance. They can therefore be used to enhance the spaciousness of a room and increase its apparent width, length, or ceiling height.

Warm hues appear to advance. Dark values and saturated colors suggest nearness. These color generalizations have complex interrelationships. For example, although blue is considered cool and red warm, a vibrant electric blue may not strike us as cooler than a soft rose.

Our emotional reactions to color vary with our personal experiences and cultural associations. In addition, favored color combinations are subject to fashion trends, with certain color palettes closely tied to specific times or places. Some colors are simply in or out of fashion at Value Intensity a given time; others may be appropriate or inappropriate given a specific color scheme. The suitability of a color depends ultimately on how and where it is used and how it Hue fits into the palette of a color scheme.

Manufacturers design color series for paints that suggest compatible color selections. These series may be scientifically built on gradations of pigments; based on references to nature, fabrics, or other materials; or developed to reflect emotional, historic, or similar associations. If colors are like the notes of a musical scale, then color schemes are like musical chords, structuring color groups according to certain visual relationships among their attributes of hue, value, and intensity.

The color schemes Monochromatic color schemes Analogous color schemes use two or shown here are based on the hue relationships within a vary the value of a single hue. There are two broad categories of hue schemes, related and contrasting. Related hue schemes, based on either a single hue or a series of analogous hues, promote harmony and unity. Variety can be introduced by varying value and intensity, by including small amounts of other hues as accents, or by bringing shape, form, and texture into play.

Complementary color schemes use Split complementary color schemes Contrasting hue schemes, based on complementary or two hues on opposite sides of the combine one hue with the two hues triadic color combinations, are inherently more rich and color wheel.

Triadic color schemes use colors located Contrasting hue schemes are based at three equidistant points on the color on complementary or triadic color wheel. In designing a color scheme, other color relationships must also be considered. The color triangle developed by Faber Birren illustrates how modified colors—tints, tones, and shades—may be related in a harmonious sequence.

The triangle is based on the three basic elements: pure color, white, White, tint, and Black, shade, and and black. They combine to create the secondary forms pure color pure color of tint, shade, gray, and tone.

Any of the bold-line paths illustrated here define a harmonious sequence, since each involves a series of visually related elements.

Ultimately, whether a color scheme is lively and exuberant or restful and quiet will depend on the chromatic and tonal values of the hues chosen. Large intervals between the colors and values will create lively contrasts and dramatic effects. Small intervals will result in more subtle contrasts and patterns. The scheme must not only satisfy the purpose and use of the space but also take into account its architectural character.

Decisions must be made regarding the major planes of an interior space and how color might be used to modify their apparent size, shape, scale, and distance. Which elements will form the background, middle ground, and foreground? Are there architectural or structural features that should be accentuated, or undesirable elements to be minimized? Usually, the largest surfaces of a room—its floor, walls, and ceiling—have the most neutral values.

Against this background, secondary elements such as large pieces of furniture or area rugs can have greater chromatic intensity. Finally, accent pieces, accessories, and other small-scale elements can have the strongest chroma for balance and to create interest. Neutral color schemes are the most flexible. For a more dramatic effect, the main areas of a room can be given the more intense values, while secondary elements have lesser intensity.

Large areas of intense color should be used with caution, particularly in a small room. They reduce the apparent distance and can be visually demanding. Large areas of intense color can be both dramatic and visually demanding. Balance large neutral areas with smaller areas of stronger intensity. It is generally best to use varying amounts of light and dark values with a range of middle values to serve as transitional tones. Avoid using equal amounts of light and dark unless a fragmented effect is desired.

Typically, large areas of light value are offset by smaller areas of medium and dark values. This use of light values is particularly appropriate when the efficient use of available light is important.

Dark color schemes can absorb much of the light within a space, resulting in a significant loss of illumination and an increase in energy use for lighting. Another way of distributing values is to follow the pattern of nature. In this tonal sequence, the floor plane has the darkest value, surrounding walls are in the middle to light range, and the ceiling is fairly light.

Of course, the distribution of values and their degree of contrast will also depend on the size, shape, and scale of the space. Because light values tend to recede while dark values advance, their placement can modify our perception of these spatial dimensions. This arrangement of elements in a space involves pattern making.

No one single part or element in a space stands alone. In a design pattern, all of the parts, Proportion elements, or pieces depend on one another for their visual impact, function, and meaning. The visual relationships established among the interior design elements in a space are ordered by proportion, scale, balance, harmony, unity and variety, rhythm, and Scale emphasis. These design principles are not intended to be hard and fast rules, but rather guidelines to the possible ways design elements can be arranged into recognizable patterns.

Ultimately, we must learn to judge the appropriateness of a pattern, its visual role in a space, and its meaning to the users of the space. These Balance principles, however, can help develop and maintain a sense of visual order among the design elements of a space, while accommodating their intended use and function.

This relationship may be one of magnitude, quantity, or degree. Magnitude The apparent size of an object is influenced by the Quantity relative sizes of other objects in its environment. Degree When dealing with forms in space, one must consider proportion in three dimensions.

According to Euclid, an ancient Greek mathematician, a ratio refers to the quantitative comparison of two similar things, while proportion refers to the equality of ratios. Perhaps the most familiar proportioning system is the golden section established by the ancient Greeks.

It defines the unique relationship between two unequal parts of a whole in which the ratio between the smaller and greater parts is equal to the ratio between the greater part and the whole. The ratio between two consecutive terms approximates the golden section. It can be a useful design tool for promoting unity and harmony. However, our perception of the physical dimensions of things is often imprecise.

The foreshortening of perspective, viewing distance, or even cultural bias can distort our perception. The matter of proportion is primarily one of critical visual These forms vary significantly in their proportions. In this respect, significant differences in the relative dimensions of things are important. Ultimately, a proportion will appear to be correct for a given situation when we sense that neither too little nor too much of an element or characteristic is present.

Pieces of furniture may differ significantly in their proportions. Thin Heavy Diagonals that are parallel or perpendicular to each other indicate that the rectangles they bisect have similar proportions.

Both proportion and scale deal with the relative sizes of things. If there is a difference, proportion pertains to the relationships between the parts of a composition, while scale refers specifically to the size of something, relative to some known standard or recognized constant. For example, we can say that a table is, according to the U.

Customary System, 3 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 29 inches high. If we are familiar with this system and with objects of similar size, we can visualize how big the table is. Using the International System of Units the metric system , the same table would measure mm wide, mm long, and mm high. Our bodies can serve as a system 14 mm t 9 6 fe of measurement. For example, the aforementioned table can appear to be Small scale in scale or out of scale with a room, depending on the relative size and proportions of the space.

We can refer to something as being small scale if we are measuring it against other things that are generally much larger.

Similarly, an object can be considered to be large scale if it is grouped with relatively small items, or if it appears to be larger than what is considered normal Large scale or average. If the dimensions of an interior space or the sizes of elements within it make us feel small, we can say they lack human scale. If, on the other hand, the space does not dwarf us, or if the elements offer a comfortable fit with our dimensional requirements of reach, clearance, or movement, we can say they are human in scale.

Most of the elements we use to ascertain human scale are those whose dimensions we have become accustomed to through contact and use.

These include doorways, stairs, tables, counters, and various types of seating. These elements can be used to humanize a space that would otherwise lack human scale. Interior details near eye level can be used to bring the scale of an architectural space down to human size. For example, a chair rail along a wall creates a visual line at roughly hand We can judge the scale of a space by the relative size of the interior elements height. Similarly, moderately scaled artwork and accessories within it.

We often use doorways, windowsills, tables, and chairs to discern human scale because we have become accustomed to their dimensions. Interior elements can be related simultaneously to the whole space, to each other, and to those people who use the space. It is not unusual for some elements to have a normal, orderly scale relationship but have an exceptional scale when compared to other elements.

Unusually scaled elements can be used to attract attention or create and emphasize a focal point. A set of scale relationships can exist within a larger context. Doorways and windows may be scaled to the dimensions of a space while sill heights and wainscots retain a human scale.

The organization of these elements is a response to functional needs and aesthetic desires. At the same time, these elements should be arranged to achieve visual balance—a state of equilibrium among the visual forces projected by the elements. Each element in the ensemble of interior space has specific characteristics of shape, form, size, color, and texture. These characteristics, along with the factors of location and orientation, determine the visual weight of each element and how much attention each will attract in the overall pattern of space.

Our perspective varies as our point of view shifts from here to there. A room also undergoes changes as it is illuminated by the light of day and by lighting fixtures at night, occupied by people and paraphernalia, and modified over time. The visual balance among the elements in a space should therefore be considered in three dimensions and be strong enough to withstand the changes brought about through time and use.

Visual balance must be considered in three dimensions. Symmetrical balance results from the arrangement of identical elements, corresponding in shape, size, and relative position, about a common line or axis.

It is also known as axial or bilateral symmetry. Symmetrical balance most often results in a quiet, restful, and stable equilibrium that is readily apparent, A number of symmetrical especially when oriented on a vertical plane. Depending on groupings can be arranged its spatial relationships, a symmetrical arrangement can along an axis to form larger either emphasize its central area or focus attention on symmetrical organizations.

If carried far enough, it can impose a strict formality on an interior space. Total symmetry, however, is often undesirable or difficult to achieve because of function or circumstance. It is often possible or desirable to arrange one or more parts of a space in a symmetrical manner and produce local symmetry. The second type of balance, radial balance, results from the arrangement of elements about a center point. It produces a centralized composition that stresses the middle ground as a focal point.

The elements can focus inward toward the center, face outward from the center, or simply be placed about a central element. While a symmetrical composition requires the use of pairs of identical elements, an asymmetrical composition incorporates dissimilar Dark values elements.

To achieve an occult or optical balance, an asymmetrical composition must take into account the visual weight or force of each of its elements and employ the principle of leverage in their arrangement. Elements that are visually forceful and attract our attention—unusual shapes, bright colors, dark values, variegated textures—must Unusual shapes be counterbalanced by less forceful elements that are larger or placed farther away from the center of the composition.

It is capable of expressing movement, change, even exuberance. It is also more flexible than symmetry and can adapt more readily to varying conditions of function, space, and circumstance. While balance achieves unity through the careful arrangement of both similar and dissimilar elements, the principle of harmony involves the careful selection of elements that share a common trait or characteristic, such as shape, color, texture, or material.

It is the repetition of a common trait that produces unity and visual harmony among the elements in an interior setting. Variety, on the other hand, when carried to an extreme for the sake of interest, can result in visual chaos. It is the careful and artistic tension between order and disorder—between unity and variety—that enlivens harmony and creates interest in an interior setting.

Rather, the means for achieving balance and harmony are intended to include in their patterns the presence of dissimilar elements and characteristics.

For example, asymmetrical balance produces equilibrium among elements that differ in size, shape, color, or texture. The harmony produced by elements that share a common characteristic permits the same elements to also have a variety of unique, individual traits. Another method for organizing a number of dissimilar Asymmetrical schemes can organize a variety of elements is to arrange them in close proximity to one shapes, colors, and textures into their layouts.

We tend to read such a grouping as an entity, to the exclusion of other elements farther away. Grouping related to an overhead plane Foreground elements organized by a common backdrop Dissimilar elements can be organized by grouping them in close proximity or by relating them to a common line or plane. The simplest form of repetition consists of the regular spacing of identical elements along a linear path.

Although this pattern can be quite monotonous, it can also be useful in establishing a background rhythm for foreground elements or in defining a textured line, border, or trim. The repetitive nature of structural elements creates a natural rhythm in three dimensions.

The spacing of the recurring elements, and thus the pace of the visual rhythm, can be varied to create sets and subsets and to emphasize certain points in the pattern.

The resulting rhythm may be graceful and flowing or crisp and sharp. The contour of the rhythmic pattern and the shape of the individual elements can further reinforce the nature of the sequence. Although the recurring elements must, for continuity, share a common trait, they can vary in shape, detail, color, or texture. These differences, whether subtle or distinct, create visual interest and can introduce other levels of complexity. An alternating rhythm can be Detail variations in rhythm superimposed over a more regular one, or the variations can be progressively graded in size or color value to give direction to the sequence.

Within an interior space, however, nonlinear sequences of shape, color, and texture can provide subtler rhythms that may not be immediately obvious to the eye. Rhythm incorporates the fundamental notion of repetition as a device to organize forms and spaces in architecture. Beams and columns repeat themselves to form repetitive structural bays and modules of space. Spaces often recur to accommodate similar or repetitive functional requirements in the building program.

A design without any dominant elements would be bland and monotonous. If there are too many assertive elements, the design will be cluttered and chaotic, detracting from what may be important. Each part of a design should be given proper significance according to its degree of importance in the overall scheme.

No dominant elements… Too many dominant elements… no emphasis no emphasis An important element or feature can be given visual emphasis by endowing it with significant size, a unique shape, or a contrasting color, value, or texture.

In each case, a discernible contrast must be established between the dominant element or feature and the subordinate Points of emphasis can be created by aspects of the space.

Such contrast will attract our a perceptible contrast in size, shape, attention by interrupting the normal pattern of the color, or tonal value. It can be centered within the space or serve as the centerpiece of a symmetrical organization. In an asymmetric composition, it can be offset or isolated from the rest of the elements.

It can be the termination of a linear sequence or a path of movement. To further enhance its visual importance, an element can be oriented to contrast with the normal geometry of the space and the other elements within it. It can be illuminated in a special manner. The lines of secondary and subordinate elements can be arranged to focus our attention on the significant element or feature. Points of emphasis can be created by the strategic positioning of important elements.