Worlds / World 1 / Basic Design

Basic Design

Where my eye learned balance.

A first-year course on placing shapes, lines and color so a composition feels balanced without being symmetric. The lessons show up in everything I design now.

MediaPencil, ink, gouache
FocusBalance, texture, color
Basic Design: Where my eye learned balance.
Role
Solo
Course
Basic Design
2023/2024
Tools
Pencil · Ink · Gouache

01Texture

One square, many surfaces

We started small: squares filled with circles, triangles, stripes and dots. Each one tests a different rhythm and texture in black ink.

Six ink squares with circles, squares, triangles, stripes and organic shapes
Six texture studies in ink.

02Composition

Balanced, not symmetric

Then whole compositions. I planned the layout in pencil and finished it in ink, moving shapes until the page felt balanced to the eye without being a mirror image.

Pencil layout of an abstract composition with shapes and lines
Pencil layout.
Finished ink composition with circles, triangles and textured areas
Finished in ink.

03Color

Purple, orange, pink

Color came last. I painted this composition in gouache, in purple, orange and pink. Looking back, those are my brand colors today.

Gouache abstract composition in purple, orange, yellow and pink
Color composition in gouache.