Balance refers to the visual weight conveyed to the observer about the total composition of an art piece. Balance is meant to express feelings of stability and comfort, while imbalance is used to cause feelings of discomfort in the viewer.
Contrast is the distinction between elements in an art piece and how they complement or clash with one another. In instances of clashes, this denotes a hard contrast between elements such as colors, shapes, or imagery.
Emphasis is a technique used to draw attention to a particular area of an artwork or subject. It is used by incorporating elements such as color, size, and contrast to create a focal point.
This design principle involves an illusion of movement in artworks. It guides the viewer’s eye in the direction and velocity of the movements an artist hopes to replicate.
Dominance uses similar images, styles, shapes, and colors to create an overwhelming sense of emotion or a message behind an art piece. Dominance should not be confused with unity.
Patterns involve the layout of art pieces that follow logical and discernible forms and sequences of an image or structure.
In combination with movement, rhythm helps create scenes and images that ebb and flow with a piece. Rhythm is achieved via the repetition of images or artistic styles.
Unity is about combining all elements into a piece under a single coherent banner. If an artist wants to create a distinct style, unity is necessary, although too much unity can lead to monotonous and bland art pieces.
Variety is the opposite of unity. Thus variety is when the elements of a piece diverge from one another, to create challenging and contrasting themes, images, and styles.
Proportions are the size of elements in a piece compared to one another. Larger images draw the viewer’s attention in collaboration with the principle of emphasis.
Like proportions, scale is concerned with the size of images in an art piece. But, unlike proportion, which is a method of contrast subject to real-world constraints, scale exists independent of any juxtaposition.
In its simplest form, space is the absence of artwork or focal images (e.g., the use of blank canvass in an art piece or the landscape in the background of a group of people).