Principles and Elements of Art and Design

When I created my recent illustration collection of clothing, I thought about which elements of design would work best for my target market of ages 30-55.  I chose to use the principle of similarity in order to show a cohesiveness among the five outfits.  This was shown through the repetition of waistbands located on skirts, pants, dresses, and a belt.  The waistbands also provide for the hourglass silhouette that I emphasized.  This silhouette serves to show off the smallest part of your body and therefore makes you appear at your thinnest.  I also wanted to incorporate the principle of balance and proportion.  I wanted to show balance to provide for a symmetrical view of all the garments and the eye would focus on the clothes but more so the woman behind the clothes.  I chose proportion so that the golden mean of 3:5 and 2:3 would flatter the body in the best possible way.  I used elements such as color, texture, and line.  I chose an accented neutral color scheme with deep shades of blue in order to show a color pop but also not come off as too busy.  I used texture through my fabric choices of crepe, fur, knit, and cotton sateen.  The texture provides for some interest to draw the eye in to the clothes.  I used curved lines, besides the darts, in order to give off the themed effect of flower petals as well as show femininity in the garments.  These curved lines are located in the princess seams, the cut-out petals, the seam lines on the skirt, as well as the curved line jacket with a cloverleaf lapel and the the fur vest with a chelsea collar.  There are many other elements and principles of design but these previously mentioned I felt like were most important to incorporate in my collection.