Design Elements: Notes
Seven Primary Elements of Design
- Balance
- Emphasis
- Repetition
- Scale
- Sequence
- Simplicity
- Variety
For starters
read the article on Style and Design.
A quick way to gather together notes with design principles that I have scattered throughout my articles. Including short explanations and tips that don’t yet have their own pages and definitions from other sources that have been helpful to me (and hopefully for you). There are links noted for articles with more information on terms, when needed.
Design Terms
other pages in this section:
Texture:
One term you sometimes hear in garden design is the word, “texture”. Like fabric texture, plant texture creates a visual feeling of something which is either coarse or fine. Small leaved plants, or a large array of small blossoms may create a fine textured accompaniment
to medium or larger textured plants with larger smooth surfaces. Coarse texture is the effect of large leaves or large flowers such as hibiscus. Medium texture is between the extremes. This combining and mixing of textures creates interest visually. It is one way that plants contrast and complement one another. Found in Annual Plants.
Scale:
Size of objects in relation to each other. In the garden the vista or lack of it creates scale, buildings in relation to the landscape plantings has a scale: a two story building holds a large scale – tiny plants along the foundation seem out of scale to the building’s height. Another way to express this is the proportion, or balance, of things in a design.
Form:
Plants come in forms such as mounded, spikey, trailing or vining, etc. I made a graphic to illustrate:
See page 2 for more on Plant forms.
Focal Point:
The human eye scans until somethings holds its interest. A focal point is that which draws the eye and holds the interest of the beholder. It may be a featured plant, or an object such as a birdbath, fountain, or sundial. It could be a large container of flowers, or simply a bright spot of flowers in an otherwise green landscape, etc. It is usually a singular feature- imagine a hodge-podge of features all competing for attention- that is not what is meant by a focal point and tends toward bad design- that is something most people would find displeasing and confusing. A focal point centralizes attention.
Specimen:
Usually referring to a tree or large bush, this means that the plant is set apart within the landscape for its ornamental value and interest. Rather than in groups or as part of a bed or border area, a specimen is set off within a lawn or similar space that doesn’t compete for attention. It is often a focal point in the landscape.
Laurelines.typepad.com garden journal painting
Full Stop:
Gertrude Jekyll often referred to this idea in her garden design advice. A full stop is a satisfactorily strong ending place visually. As the eye moves along an alleé or a border of flowers, a strong form will create a place for the eye to rest that the line of edging, or flowers leads or to which they point. A pathway that ends in a gazebo or at the foot of a fountain has come to a full stop; different from a focal point, it doesn’t have to be the central point of interest; simply an ending point like the period at the end of a sentence.
Garden Bones:
Designers refer to “the bones of the garden”, but what do they mean? Just like in the human body, the structure is outlined and supported by the skeleton, with the softer elements of the flesh and features upon it, so is the garden’s appearance. A good set of “bones” for a garden is made up of the hardscaping of paths, walls, and buildings, as well as strong plant elements such as trees and shrubs. These are the outlines of the garden in all seasons, fleshed upon with lush green garden growth and flowers during the blooming season. Winter is very telling when it comes to knowing whether your garden has good bone structure. If all you see are flat boring beds of earth, then you might design some structure into your garden that supports and showcases your plants.
Genius Loci:
Places have personality, and often there are special idiosyncrasies of style that belong to a region. Natural features of a location might be the quality of the light, tropical areas have very different light than northern climes, the presence of water, or lack of it, Mountain s and mountain views, these can help create the “spirit of a place”. Cultural layers such as types of buildings and the local predilections for certain kinds of gardens or certain plants that have found their way into an areas landscape… these, to help create a sens of space and location with it’s own personality. When finding the genius loci of your own place, you might have something uniquely different, and yet it is found within the context of the surrounding territory. This is what we mean by genius loci in the garden sense. Referenced in The New American Garden Style., and You might look at a post on this topic, Garden Ornaments. Garden art is highly subjective in both the actual objects people choose and how the art objects are used in the garden. Look over the guidelines and plunge into giving surprise or whimsy to parts of your garden. Experiment in a private part of the garden, and if it gives you joy to see these punctuation points, judiciously add more.
An allée
An alley pathway lined with tall shrubs or trees on either side. Often of the same type, two beautiful examples are found in the Stan Hywet garden, the Rhododendron walk and the Birch allée.
A Comprehensive Architecture Design Glossary, OR
…read on for color and style notes…
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