The Art of Color and Design Maitland Graves Pdf
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I've chosen The Fine art of Color and Design for a couple of reasons:
- It is the reference for virtually every subsequent volume on visual design and composition; and
- It allowed me to feel comfy with my view that design, composition, engineering – whatever you proper name information technology – are all the aforementioned creative force, but channelled through different mediums such as music, photography, literature, ceramics, clothing design – proper name your called specialism.
I've long felt that an individual'south compatibility with their called medium is a large function of what determines creative success. The most hard chemical element of expressing one's creativity is having the opportunity of finding out which medium suits y'all best, and that can take up a lot of time, money, patience – and frustration.
Graves was the first person to set down or endeavor to articulate the components of a composition. He defined the elements of design – line, direction, shape, size, texture, value, color – and the principles – repetition, alternation, harmony, gradation, dissimilarity/opposition/conflict, say-so, unity, and residual. And beyond this, he took the problem to demonstrate but how interdisciplinary design is, drawing examples from all kinds of media.
What I love nigh The Art of Colour and Design is that information technology allows everyone in: for case, somebody musical tin can run into how their art form relates to photography, and without discussions like Graves', the lines separating various disciplines would be too thickly drawn. Equally, the writer will be able to meet their connections with the painter. And beyond this, people who don't necessarily see themselves as artistic, or who don't work in 'artistic' jobs, can understand and follow the discussion; possibly have a few "Oh yeah!" moments as they read the book. Some of the cultural references are dated, just The Art of Colour and Blueprint is so well written and illustrated that the crux of the book is as relevant at present equally it was in 1951.
In the years following, numerous authors extrapolated Graves' principles and elements of blueprint for their specialist disciplines; I will cover two mode authors in the coming weeks. It's a expert thing they weren't deterred by these words:
Mode, that blind, unreasoning and undiscriminating herd instinct, is exploited by hucksters of everything from whiskey to movies to political and medical nostrums. These merchants of mediocrity profitably spend millions of advertising dollars each year to assure usa that millions of our gullible fellow sheep eat, drink, read, or wear their product, and that, therefore, it must, of grade, be skillful. For many people this appeal to fashion seems to carry as much weight equally the X Commandments or the Constitution.
Graves 1951: 190
Scornful of the so-called sheep? And so this one'south for you:
…having the courage to resist mob propaganda and stand up on one'south aesthetic convictions should not be confused with stubborn, intolerant smugness. In matters of taste the cocky-satisfied, conceited person arbitrarily segregates others into the post-obit tidy categories:
Ibid: 190-191
…the cultured, discerning, and intelligent people who think he has expert gustation.
…the afflicted, haughty high-brows…who call back he has bad gustatory modality.
…the moronic low-brows…who he thinks take bad taste.
Let nobody charge Graves of being a poor writer without a sense of humour!
You might gather from this that Graves enthusiastically celebrates individuality – truthful individuality and feeling comfy in 1's own skin – and he takes the time to tell readers that they will detect their own style or character. This is one reason why he provides numerous exercises at the terminate of every chapter: having the opportunity to try things, equally mentioned earlier, is the dorsum straight of a person'southward artistic journey. The wide range of examples he uses to illustrate his points is inspiring, as is his insistence that there is something to celebrate nigh each artist's work if they take the time to develop their abilities:
Your intense personality, expressed in unique style, will pervade your work. Its distinctive flavor will dominate your ain compositions and will impart a unity peculiar to itself. All great music, literature, and architecture have this emotional consistency, this intangible unity of grapheme. It is the marker of a mature style.
Ibid: 197
The Art of Colour and Design is a heavy book, so if you've decided it's for yous, and if you tin can, I highly recommend getting the hardcover edition. (I say that as the owner of the paperback edition!) If paperback is the just selection, take care to ease in or break in the book's spine correctly; Ryder Carroll of Bullet Journal fame has a quick and excellent tutorial on how to exercise this. It will preserve the life of whatever book, but especially heavy paperbacks.
Similar The Design of Everyday Things (read my review hither), this is another super heavyweight on the list of my most influential books. Although I first learnt about the elements and principles of pattern when studying at the London Higher of Fashion, I didn't rail downwardly their source for almost another decade, whilst doing some research at the British Library. I then had to await another few years earlier the current edition, published past Echo Signal in 2019, became available. I hope it stays in print, considering I don't want it to elude me again – and I think more people should read it. If y'all decide to endeavor it out, delight allow me know what you recall!
Source: https://natalieinstitches.com/2021/07/21/favourite-book-maitland-graves-the-art-of-color-and-design/
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