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1 / How to Get Started 2 / Focus on Components of Form 3 / Exercise Your Creativity |
Each component of form has specific properties, and understanding each component is the key to the making sense of design. GOOD DESIGN is built, not just thrown together. Understanding the foundation form is essential to quality design. Each layer of design choice impacts the finished project. The ability to build (create) a living space from bottom to top will ensure positive results in most every design exercise. Understanding these "specific characteristics of form allows the interior designer (and you) to make judgments about how a space will be". * (John F. Pile)
Defining Components of Form
Shape - The basic shapes are natural, non-objective or geometric (D.K. Ching)
Materials - The substance of which something is composed (Webster)
Structure -Separate parts or components that make up a space (Pile)
Color - The hue, saturation and value of reflected light
Texture - The visual and tactile impression of the surfaces
Size -The spatial dimensions, proportions, magnitude or extent (Webster)
Put these components to work:
Describe the chair through the components of Form. What do you SEE? What do you SENSE?
*This chair is from the Avery Boardman catalogue. We are provided
with size information and vocabulary about the chair from the
catalogue, so some form questions are answered for us already.
The visual impression of the chair:
Shape: Geometric -- squares and rectangles prominent
Materials: Fabric --appears to be velvet or another napped textile
Structure: Fabric covering a frame made of wood, some types of battens and fill. Appears well-made, well-designed, good craftsmanship, stylish, design
Color: Single color -- red--burgundy--bold
Texture: Pile, not pattern or ornaments
Size: Absolute size * 33" X 22" X 33". We can only make guesses about size in relation to other objects and to the space it resides in.
Learning to truly SEE and isolate the forms
in interior design allows you to understand the basics and will be the
foundation to apply design principles later. As design principles are
applied to various components, we can manipulate the outcome or effect
of the style or design of the space.
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