Figure / Ground Relationship

Unity

The following design principles are universally employed by visual artists in all disciplines. Their function is to unite elements within a visual expression in order to form a cohesive, organized configuration or whole. This quality of wholeness is called unity or organic unity. By using these design principles to create unity, artists are able to build strong compositions which attract and impact the viewer. By doing so, artists communicate their ideas and feelings more effectively. This is why good composition is important.

I. Figure/Ground relationship (positive/negative space) - interdependence of a shape (figure) and its background (ground).

A common oversight when composing is to consider and relate only the positive shapes. Because a composition is composed of figure and ground shapes, both types of shapes must be interrelated. In general, it is considered desirable to have interesting ground shapes so that they engage the viewer and result in a back and forth play between figure and ground. For example, in Figures 1 and 2, although the black shapes are clearly dominant and therefore are read as positive, the negative shapes have obviously been considered, thereby resulting in unified compositions where all the shapes are interesting and interrelated.


Figure 1	Figure 2


In Figures 3 and 4, the same shapes are used. This time what were negative shapes are now seen as more dominant and therefore as positive. This has been achieved through changes in value, size and position.


Figure 3	Figure 4

In Figures 5 and 6, the black and white shapes appear equally dominant. When both a figure and a ground shape can each be seen as both figure and ground, as is the case here, a figure/ground reversal exists.

Figure 5	Figure 6

In Figure 7, another type of figure/ground reversal occurs when the picture plane is divided into a light area and a dark area and small amounts of opposite value are interpenetrated into each area. This kind of arrangement works to unite figure with ground through a common value. In some places both the figure and the ground shapes appear black and in other places, the figure and ground shapes appear white. In either case, both figure and ground shapes are related due to their having the same value. This type of organization can also be referred to as interpenetration through value. (See Interpenetration Figure 4).


Figure 7