Intro Elements Composition Stroke Color Test Mints Prints
FREEHAND: Composition
Simple changes in attributes of the generative system (such as the type, orientation, and size of the elements ) can transform the image from a flat graphic into a composition that evokes a series of spaces, a collection of objects, or anything in between.
There are five composition types - each of which is defined by a specific combination of possible attributes, including element type, element orientation, element size, and grid size. These five types fall within two main categories of composition types — compositions with random orientations and composition with fixed orientations:
Random Orientation Compositions:
In compositions with random orientations, the element shape and size are fixed, but the orientation of each element within its grid cell is random.
Fixed Orientation Compositions:
In compositions with fixed orientations, the element shape and size are variable, but the orientation of each element within its grid cell is fixed.
Object Compositions
In object compositions, the elements within each set of four adjacent grid cells are oriented around the center point of those four grid cells, creating distinct “objects”. If all four grid cells contain an arc, the resulting object is a circle. If all four grid cells contain a diagonal line, the resulting object is a square.
In object compositions, the grid may be staggered:
Secondary attributes, such as extrusion height and element size (which can be mixed in fixed orientation composition types), are shared amongst the four adjacent shapes so that they appear as a single “object”:
Object Composition with Mixed Heights
Object Composition with Mixed Element Sizes
In object compositions with mixed elements, the element type can be fully mixed, mixed by object, or mixed by row:
Mixed Elements
Every object is made up of a random mix of elements.
Elements Mixed by Object
Every object is made up of all arcs, all diagonal lines, all horizontal lines, or mixed elements.
Elements Mixed by Row
The objects within each row or column share the same mix type.
Examples of object compositions:
Strip Compositions
In strip compositions, the element orientations alternate in different ways to create continuous “strips” that run through the image.
Examples of strip compositions:
Offset
In every composition type, the shapes may be offset. In this case, each grid cell has two shapes, one that is defined element size and one at half of that size.
