Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Principles of Design: Rhythm, Pattern, Movement, Unity and Variety

A2.1 C1.1About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can tell repetition, pattern and rhythm apart, and create five kinds of rhythm.
  • I can create actual and implied movement and plan an eye path through a composition.
  • I can balance unity and variety, and use harmony to connect the parts of a work.
  • I can use all the principles together to analyse and improve a composition.

Words to know

repetition
Using the same element (a line, shape, colour or texture) more than once.
pattern
A planned, repeated arrangement of elements, often decorative, such as a plaid or a tile design.
motif
The single unit that repeats in a pattern.
rhythm
A sense of visual "beat" created by repeating elements with intervals, like music.
movement
The path the viewer's eye follows through an art work, or the illusion (or reality) of motion.
unity
The feeling that all parts of an art work belong together.
harmony
Combining similar or related elements (colours, shapes, textures) so they work well together.
variety
Using differences and changes to add interest.
eye path
The route the eye takes through a composition, guided by the artist.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 your focus principle was movement: implied movement, directional lines and sequences. Grade 7 focused on unity and harmony. Now you will connect those with repetition, pattern and rhythm and the partnership between unity and variety.

The beat of a picture

Listen to a song: there is a beat, the beat repeats, and sometimes it changes. Visual art has rhythm too. A row of fence posts, the stripes on a wool blanket, the windows on an apartment building, the ripples on a lake: each is a visual beat. Artists use repetition to make the eye travel and to hold a work together.

Repetition, pattern and rhythm

These three are related but not the same:

  • Repetition: using an element again (three red shapes in a painting).
  • Pattern: a planned repeat of a motif, often decorative (a quilt block, a tiled floor, a woven sash). Patterns can be regular (a grid) or irregular (giraffe spots, cracks in dried mud).
  • Rhythm: the movement or beat created by repetition with intervals.

Kinds of rhythm:

  1. Regular: the same element, same spacing. Calm, orderly.
  2. Alternating: two or more elements take turns (ABAB). Lively but predictable.
  3. Progressive: the element changes gradually (gets bigger, darker, warmer). Suggests growth or time passing.
  4. Flowing: curved, wave-like repetition. Feels natural, gentle.
  5. Random: repetition without a regular interval. Feels spontaneous, natural, energetic.
regularalternatingprogressiveflowingrandom
Five kinds of rhythm. Regular: the same element at equal intervals. Alternating: two or more elements take turns. Progressive: the element changes step by step (here it grows). Flowing: curving, wave-like repetition. Random: repetition with no regular interval, like snowflakes or leaves on the ground.

Movement

Movement has two meanings in art:

  • Actual movement: the art really moves, like a mobile, a kinetic sculpture, a video or an animation. The American artist Alexander Calder is famous for hanging mobiles that move in air currents.
  • Implied movement / eye path: the artist guides how the viewer's eye travels: from the focal point along lines, edges, repeated shapes and gazes to secondary areas and back.

Tools for an eye path: leading lines (roads, rivers, arms), repeated shapes that act like stepping stones, gaze (we look where figures in a picture are looking), value and colour contrast (the eye jumps to contrast), and diagonals for energy. Op art (optical art) uses patterns of lines and shapes to make a flat surface seem to vibrate or move; the British artist Bridget Riley is a well-known op artist.

1234logo orheadlineimagedetailscall toaction
A Z-shaped eye path, common in posters and web pages for readers of left-to-right languages. Designers place the most important items where the eye naturally travels: start at the upper left, sweep right, cut diagonally down, and finish at the lower right.

Unity, harmony and variety

Unity is the feeling that everything belongs together. Variety adds interest. A strong work has both: "unity with variety".

Ways to create unity:

  • Repetition of colours, shapes or textures across the work.
  • Proximity: grouping elements close together.
  • Continuation: lines and edges that lead from one part to another.
  • A limited colour scheme (monochromatic or analogous creates harmony).
  • A consistent style or technique throughout.

Ways to add variety: change size, colour, value, direction, texture or shape within the family. One big change (an accent) often creates the focal point.

Harmony is related to unity: it comes from similar or related elements, such as analogous colours or rounded shapes everywhere. Too much harmony becomes monotonous; too much variety becomes chaos.

too much unitymonotonousunity with varietyinteresting and wholetoo much varietychaotic
Unity and variety work together. Left: one shape, one size, one value: unified but dull. Middle: one family of shapes (circles) with varied sizes and one larger accent: unified and interesting, with a focal point. Right: every shape, line and value is different: lots of variety but no unity, so the eye has nowhere to rest.
Worked example

Let's use all the principles to critique and improve a design

A student's design for a hockey team logo has: 7 different fonts, a goalie mask, a puck, a stick, a maple leaf, a crown and a lightning bolt, in 9 colours. Everything is the same size, scattered evenly.

  1. Unity and variety: far too much variety (7 fonts, 9 colours, 6 symbols) and no repeated elements: no unity.
  2. Emphasis: everything is the same size, so there is no focal point.
  3. Balance: scattered evenly, so it is technically balanced, but static and confusing.
  4. Rhythm and movement: no repetition, no eye path.
  5. Improvements: choose one main symbol (the goalie mask) as the focal point, large and centred. Keep one supporting symbol (crossed sticks behind it) for variety. Use one bold font for the team name, curved along the top (flowing line that leads around the mask). Limit colour to a complementary pair (2 colours) plus black and white.
  6. Add rhythm: repeat the colour of the mask's details in the lettering and in a thin outer ring (repetition creates unity and a circular eye path).

The improved logo has one focal point (the mask), symmetrical or near-symmetrical balance for a strong, official feel, a limited colour scheme for harmony, repeated colours for unity, and a curved title for movement around the design.

Squint and count

To check unity, squint at your work and count how many truly different colours, shapes and textures you see. If you can't name a family that ties them together, simplify. To check variety, ask: is there anything here that surprises me?

Just for fun

Riddle: I repeat myself, I repeat myself, and I make your eye dance across the page. What am I?

Rhythm. (Or a very forgetful pattern.)

Hands-on activity

Rhythm and unity studio

You need: paper, pencil, ruler, black fine-tip marker, coloured pencils or markers, scissors, glue stick, coloured paper or old flyers.

  1. Rhythm strips: draw five long strips (3 cm × 18 cm). Fill each with one kind of rhythm (regular, alternating, progressive, flowing, random) using one simple motif you design (a snowflake, a leaf, a hockey puck).
  2. Pattern tile: design a 5 cm × 5 cm motif. Trace or draw it 9 times in a 3 × 3 grid. Then design a second version where every other tile is rotated or flipped. Compare which feels more lively.
  3. Unity with variety collage: cut 15 to 20 shapes from one shape family (all circles, or all leaves) in one limited colour scheme. Vary only the sizes. Glue them into a composition with one clear focal point and a clear eye path.
  4. Eye path check: ask someone at home to look at your collage for 5 seconds and point to where their eyes went first, second and third. Did it match your plan?

Safety: cut away from your body; keep small paper scraps away from little children and pets.

Your turn

1

What is the difference between repetition and pattern?

2

Name the kind of rhythm: stair steps that get bigger and bigger.

3

Name the kind of rhythm: black, white, black, white keys on a piano.

4

Give two ways to create unity in an art work.

5

Why is too much unity a problem?

6

What is the difference between actual movement and implied movement?

7

Give two ways an artist can guide the viewer's eye path.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a motif?

2

Which kind of rhythm uses wave-like curves?

3

Who is famous for mobiles that move in the air?

4

What is variety?

5

Is a checkerboard regular or random?

More practice: on your own

1

A painting of a forest uses identical trees in a perfect row. Suggest two ways to add variety while keeping unity.

2

Explain why a Z-shaped layout works for a poster.

3

How does progressive rhythm suggest time passing? Give an art example.

4

What is harmony, and how is it different from unity?

5

How might op art create a feeling of movement on a flat surface?

Challenge

1

Explain how one art work could use repetition to create both unity and a focal point.

2

Plan a design for a long horizontal banner for a winter festival using three kinds of rhythm in different parts. Describe the eye path.

3

Analyse a familiar design (a flag, a logo or a jersey) for unity, variety, rhythm and balance.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Black-white-black-white stripes show which kind of rhythm?

2.

A planned, repeated arrangement of a motif is a...

3.

Which artist is known for mobiles with actual movement?

4.

A work using only blue-greens, blues and blue-violets, all with rounded shapes, mainly shows...

5.

A design with nine fonts, ten colours and no repeated shapes most likely lacks...

6.

Shapes that grow steadily larger from left to right show...

For parents and teachers

These principles appear in everyday design: patterned fabrics, fences, music videos, logos. Ask your teen to find examples of the five kinds of rhythm around the house or neighbourhood. Common difficulties: confusing pattern with rhythm, and overcrowding compositions (too much variety). The "eye path check" in the activity is a great way for you to help: just say honestly where your eyes went. Supervise scissors and keep small paper scraps away from young children.