Line:
The most basic building block of formal analysis is line. It can be used to create more complex shapes or to draw the eye of the viewer from one area to another.
Form: A three dimensional shape with length, width, and depth. Some forms are balls, cylinders, and boxes.
Value: The degree of light and dark in a design. It's the contrast between black and white and every tone in between. It can be used with color or black and white. The extreme changes in value is called contrast.
Space: The area between and around objects. Increasing or decreasing space changes the way a project is viewed.
Texture: the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Texture can be smooth, rough, or hard. It is also often implied
Shape: Created when lines come together to form squares, circles and triangles. They can be organic (irregular shapes that are found in nature) or geometric (shapes with strong lines and angles).
Color: differentiates lines, shapes, forms, and space. It can determine the mood of a piece, and the way the project is seen.
Design Elements
Balance
is created in a work of art when textures, colors, forms, or shapes are combined harmoniously
Rhythm
is the repetition of pattern to create the expectation that the pattern will continue.
Contrast
is the use of elements of design that do not seem to go together to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the artwork by creating visual tension. In an image, elements that are quite different show contrast.
Pattern
is the repetition of a shape, form, or texture across a work of art.
Movement
is the way a viewer's eye is directed to move through a composition, often to areas of emphasis. Movement can be directed by lines, contrasting shapes, or colors within the artwork.
Proportion & Scale
is created when the sizes of elements in a work of art are combined harmoniously. Sometimes changes in Scale - making large things small or large things small - can change or perceptions.
Emphasis
or focus is created in a work of art when the artist contrasts colors, textures, or shapes to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the image.
Unity or Harmony
is created when the principles of analysis are present in a composition and in harmony - things go together. Some images have a complete sense of unity, while some artists deliberately avoid formal unity to create feelings of tension and anxiety. Unity is the other end of the spectrum from contrast.