Graphics Programs Reference
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Because the room is not cluttered with myriad furnishings, souvenirs, and other
possessions, it is easier to notice and then linger on the art contained in the
tokonoma.
A bare washitsu, built with natural elements, is a design with a close connection to
nature. This harmonious balance with nature, and the garden just outside the walls
of the room, is reflected in the seasonal contents of the tokonoma itself. In a way,
the spaciousness of the room extends beyond the room to the vastness of the
outside world.
You can also learn about focal points through traditional-style tearooms (chashitsu),
which come in many sizes (but are typically 4.5 tatami mats in size). The materials
to build the tearoom (or a tea house) are simple and rustic in the wabi style. The
tokonoma in a Japanese tearoom is carefully situated to be the focal point of the
room. In most cases, you enter the tearoom directly across from the tokonoma, so
the artistic content is the first thing in the room you notice. As Okakura Kakuzo notes
in The Topic of Tea (Dover, 1964), as guests quietly enter the tearoom, they first
make “obeisance to the picture or flower arrangement on the tokonoma.” The walls
of a chashitsu, and the traditional Japanese-style rooms in general, are kept bare
and simple.
Lessons from the tokonoma
Lessons from the tokonoma that you can apply to presentation design and other
forms of design include:
• A powerful focal point need not be overbearing or fancy.
• Emptiness creates spaciousness that assists the viewer in discovering
the focal point.
• Subtle contrasts consisting of fewer elements create interest.
• Excluding the decorative and nonessential from other areas allows a
focal point to be created using only simple elements (or a single element).
• If you intentionally create an area of contrast, it brings the viewer into the
primary focal point and guides their eyes to the secondary focal point, the
third, and so on without confusion.
• Eschew symmetry in favor of asymmetrical balance where possible.
 
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