Week Two

 

This week in class we continued to learn about the Elements of Interior Design. We looked at the final 4 elements: Light, Color, Texture, and Pattern. We discussed how each of these elements affects interior design and impacts the people in the interior.

Light

Light sets the mood and atmosphere of a space. There are 4 main types of lighting that we discussed. Ambient lighting is the overall lighting. It illuminates an entire space and makes it feel welcoming. The number of lumens depends on the size of the room. The color temperature of the lighting can also affect the feeling of a space. Task lighting is for a defined purpose. It is focused lighting to meet the needs of someone. Accent lighting emphasizes objects. It highlights elements or features within a room and can create focal points. Mood lighting adds ambiance. It can sometimes be dramatic. Combining these types of lighting in an interior creates cohesiveness and balance and a space. There are also many different forms of lighting such as ceiling-mounted, wall sconces, floor lamps, etc.

Color

Color works with all other elements of design. It has a psychological impact and can set the mood of a space. Color Theory is the science and art of using color and how it affects humans. There are different categories of colors such as primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. There are also different hues, shades, and tints of colors. The value of a color is the lightness or darkness of it. The tint is adding white, shade is adding black, and tone is adding gray. The saturation or intensity affects the vividness or dullness of a color. There are complimentary colors which are opposite of each other on the color wheel. Each color has words that are associated with it. For example, red indicated danger, urgency, or passion. Colored materials and textures can skew the appearance of the color. 

Texture

Texture is the visual and tactile quality given to the surface of a material. It determines the reflection/absorption of light and color perception. Tactile texture is when you can feel the surface of a material. It reflects light differently from different angles and can make a space feel smaller and more intimate. Visual texture is the illusion of texture. It’s usually patterns printed onto a material to make it appear 3D. It doesn’t play with light as tactile texture does, but can still create a feeling of intimacy in a space. Smooth texture can reflect light and appear metallic. 

Pattern

Pattern adds visual interest to a space and creates a repetitive pattern. It can be of various shapes and sizes. It adds depth and personality to a room. It also enhances the overall feeling in a room.

Sketching Interiors

In Chapter 2 of Sketching Interiors, we learned about Contour Drawing. We learned to focus on only the outermost edges of a drawing first. Cross-contour lines are lines that go across an object. Rather than adding shadow to the drawing, use different line weights to add contrast. Contour drawing uses the senses of touch and which are functions of the right side of the brain. We also learned about the ways lines are described such as nervous, soft, or excited. The quality of a line describes the thickness or darkness of it. Contour line drawings also include imperfections. Our assignment this week was to draw a contour line drawing of an interior space. The contour line drawing is definitely less perfect looking, but I think it was helpful to focus on defining the edges rather than focusing on the shape they created.