Page 44 - Designing Ways 238

SHAPES

Circles, Squares, Curves

by Stienie Greyling

hat do you feel when you see The different characteristics of a shape
a circle, square, curve and convey different moods and meanings.
Wrectangle? Changing the characteristics of a shape
Are you affected the same way when alter how we perceive that shape and make
seeing an object with soft gentle curves as us feel differently about a design. Shapes
you are when seeing another object with are a powerful way to communicate.
sharp jagged edges? There are truly an endless variety of
shapes and combination of shapes, each
The grammar of Shapes. communicating its own meaning and
“I found I could say things with colour message.
and shapes that I could not say any Organic shapes are not regulated by
other way – things I had no words for” – any pattern or exact dimensions in their
Georgia O’ Keeffe. angles, curves, or length of lines. They
Shapes are two-dimensional areas with draw inspiration from nature and are just
a recognisable boundary. They can be like the shapes we find in nature. Think
open or closed, angular or round, big or for example about rock formations, a leaf
small. Shapes can be organic or inorganic. chewed by an insect and a landscape.
They can be free form or geometric and
ordered. Circles.
Shapes can be defined by their colour Circles have no beginning or end.
or combination of lines that make up their They suggest well-roundedness and
edges. Simple shapes can be combined to completeness. Circles are used to suggest
form complex shapes. Complex shapes familiar objects such as wheels, balls and
can be abstracted to make simple shapes. many kinds of fruit. Circles represent

44 Issue 238 • dw