Principles of Design

xxxxxWhen designing chairs or any other furniture the Principles of Design act as guide to help improve your final product. The Principles of Designs are a set of standards that can help guide you to become more creative and develop a feel for good design.

Proportions:

"Proportions is the relationship of the parts of an object to each other and the total product. "

xxxxxMost first time chair designers fail to develop proper proportions which often results in a bulky designs. A simple rule such as the golden mean rectangle will help the designer become more effective when designing chairs or any other type of furniture. For example a rectangle has better proportions than a square because of its relationship with the height and width. Common sized picture frames such as a 5 x 7, 8 x 10, an 7 x 9 are examples of the golden mean rectangle.

xxxxxThe picture frame ratio between its shorter and longer dimensions is 1 to 1.618 or approximately 5 x 8. This is why pictures are cut in common sizes like 5 x 7 or 6 x 8 or 10 x12 so they can be matted properly and hung on the wall and show a sense of balance. By using these common ratio's, pictures have a sense of balance and become more pleasing to the eye.

Balance:

"Balance is an object ability to appear at rest or be very stable".

xxxxxNature often provide great examples of objects that are in balance. A horses legs are in balance with its body. All four legs are evenly proportioned and arrange in a symmetrical fashion. This is known as Formal Balance. What is on one side is often duplicated exactly on the other side. Informal Balance is the result of dissimilar parts are arranged to make an object appear stable.

Formal Balance -----------------------Informal Balance

Harmony:

Harmony is how every thing blends together.

xxxxxIn furniture design if one parts stands alone or or sticks way out it is not considered to be in harmony with the other parts. For example a piece of dark wood may compliment a light colored wood and act as an accent piece. Although a piece of light wood against light wood may not compliment each other which does not makes a contrast and therefore the object is not in harmony.

Rhythm:

The occurrence of a distinct feature at one time or at regular intervals.

Rhythm is the repetition of a theme. The theme can vary or be random.

Emphasis:

Certain materials, textures, and patterns are placed in order to attract the eye to a certain fixed point.

xxxxxFurniture designers like to emphasis certain materials, textures, and patterns in order to attract the eye to a certain fixed point. By doing this the designer can emphasis what they want the subject to convey or even look like.

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