The Power of Foreground and background relationships shape visual perception.
A figure (form) is always seen in relation to what surrounds it (ground, or background)–letters to a page, a building to its site, a sculpture to space within it and around it, the subject of a photograph to its setting and so on. A black shape on a black field is not visible; without separation and contrast, the form disappears.People are accustomed to seeing the background as passive and unimportant relation to a dominant subject.Yet visual artists quickly become attuned to the spaces around and between elements, discovering their power to shape experience and become active forms in their own right.
Graphic Designers often seek a balance between figure and ground, using this relationship to bring energy and order to form and space. They build contrasts between form and counter form in order to construct icons, illustrations, logos, compositions, and patterns that stimulate the eye. Creating figure/ground tension or ambiguity adds visual energy to an image or mark. Even subtle ambiguity can invigorate the end result and shift its direction and impact.
Figure/ground also known as positive and negative space, is at work in all facets of graphic design. In the design of logotypes and symbols, the distillation of complex meaning into simplified but significant form thrives on the taut reciprocity of figure and ground. Imposters, layouts, and screen designs, what is left out frames and balances what is built in. Similarly, in time-based media, including multi page books, the insertion and distribution of space across time affects perception and pacing.
The ability to create and evaluate effective figure/ground tension is an essential skill for graphic designers.Train your eye to carve out white space as you compose with forms. Learn to massage the positive and negative areas as you adjust the scale of images and typography. Look at the shapes each element makes and see if the edges frame avoid that is equally appealing.
Notice how as the value of a text block becomes darker, its shape becomes more defined when composed of other elements.Recognizing the potency of the ground, designers strive to reveal its constructive necessity. Working with figure/ground relationships gives designers the power to create–and destroy–form.
Stable, Reversible, Ambiguous a stable figure/ground relationship exists when a form or figure stands clearly apart from its background. Most photography functions according to this principle, there someone or something is featured in a setting.
Reversible figure/ground occurs when positive and negative elements attract our attention equally and alternately, coming forward, then receding, as our eye perceives one first as dominant and next as subordinate.
Reversible figure-ground motifs can be seen in the ceramics, weaving, and crafts of cultures around the globe.Images and compositions featuring ambiguous figure/ground challenge the viewer to find a focal point. The figure is enmeshed with the ground, carrying the viewer’s eye in and around the surface with no discernable assignment of dominance. The Cubist paintings of Picasso mobilize this ambiguity
The Mark for Vanderbilt university employs a strong contrast between rigid form and organic counter form. The elegant oak leave alternately sinks back allowing the letterform to read and comes forward connoting growth strength and beauty.
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The Project:
Create 6 – 6×6 artboards in adobe illustrator. Using letters and objects create size black and white design that use optical interplay. The shape should replace the negative space within the letter.