Elements of Design- Texture

Texture is the way a surface feels or is perceived to feel. Texture can be added to attract for repel interest to an element, depending on the pleasantness of the texture. Most textures have a natural feel but still seem to repeat a motif in some way. Regularly repeating a motif will result in a texture appearing as a pattern. 

Textures are of two types- 

Tactile texture (3D): The actual three-dimension feel of a surface that can be touched. Painter can use impasto to build peaks and create texture

Visual texture (2D): The illusion of the surfaces peaks and valleys, like the tree pictured. Any texture shown in a photo is a visual texture, meaning the paper is smooth no matter how rough the image perceives it to be.

In fashion, texture plays the role of surface quality of garments (how it looks and feels) - Roughness, smoothness, dullness, glossiness, stiffness, softness.

¡  Bulky fabrics

Add visual size (make one look bigger)

Can disguise a flaw

Can overpower a small person

¡  Smooth, flat textures

Make one look smaller

¡  Shiny textures

Make one look bigger, as they reflect light

¡  Dull Textures

Make one look smaller, as they absorb light

Elements of Design

Elements of design are like the building blocks of design. They are the effects we actually use in a design. There are mainly 6 elements of design. They are point, line, colour, shape, movement and texture.

                                      Point- A point or a dot is a coordinate in space. It does not have any dimension or area. It is the most basic building block for everything.

Line- A line could be represented as a series of adjacent points. It has one dimension (by definition), but to see it, one needs two dimensions. It could be used to represent a lot of things (direction, movement, etc.) Check out the following image; which line segment is longer?

In this Müller-Lyer illusion although you may perceive (like most people the world over) that line (a) is longer than line (b), you can quickly confirm that they are the same lengths. Even armed with the knowledge that they are the same length, line (a) still appears longer than line (b). 

Colour- Colour is nothing but how we see the reflection of light waves. It is probably the most most effective element of design. 

Shape/Silhouette - A shape is a two dimensional form, without any depth. A silhouette is a shape or outline seen from a distance. 

The image above is a static, the beans are NOT moving. This brings us to the next element of design - movement 

                                        Texture could be two dimensional (visual) or three dimensional (tactile).