Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
THE VARIOUS CONTENT AREAS
of this website can be considered as a set of flat, rectangular
planes in space. The images above and below the horizontal strip of navigation are two planes;
the logo at the left is another; the navigation flyouts are additional planes; and the content area at
the lower right is another. Color and textural changes help establish foreground and background
presence, and affect the hierarchy of the page.
Made In Space, Inc.
United States
Geometric Form
As they do with all kinds of form, our brains try to establish meaning
by identifying a shape's outer contour. There are two general categories of shape, each
with its own formal and communicative characteristics that have an immediate effect on
messaging: geometric form and organic form. A shape is considered geometric in nature
if its contour is regularized—if its external measurements are mathematically similar in
multiple directions—and, very generally, if it appears angular or hard-edged. It is es-
sentially an ancient, ingrained expectation that anything irregular, soft, or textured is
akin to things experienced in nature. Similarly, our expectation of geometry as unnatur-
al is the result of learning that humans create it; hence, geometry must not be organic.
The weird exception to this idea is the circle or dot, which, because of its elemental
quality, might be recognized as either geometric or natural: earth, sun, moon, or pearl.
Lines, too, might have a geometric or organic quality, depending on their specific qual-
ities. Geometric forms might be arranged in extremely organic ways, creating tension
between their mathematical qualities and the irregularity of movement. Although geo-
metric shapes and relationships clearly occur in nature, the message a geometric shape
conveys is that of something artificial, contrived, or synthetic.
