Contrast and Meaning

Design is purely an art which has lots of important in creating a web site. It is very important to communicate the ideas of a designer. Designer needs to understand the requirements and also he has to express his design. There are fundamentals to learn in ideas communication as it is with any other language. Especially for those who are from a different background other than the web design, it is very important to understand the fundamentals of communication.

Communication plays a very important part in adding a meaning to a design. There are two main parts in artistic communication fundamentals. They are vocabulary and grammar.

Artistic vocabulary contains all the content which is required for artistic design communication. These are like letters in a language. Artistic vocabulary is filled with lines, colors and textures. These are the fundamental parts in artistic vocabulary. These elements are used in many ways to express the ideas. The meaning of the element will depend on the culture even though there are some universally accepted signs.  Traditionally angled lines are used to represent speed or strength. On the other hand the circle will express softness or slower tempo.

Artistic grammar is the other important factor in the communication. Grammar is used to convey context and create relationships between elements in the vocabulary. Artistic grammar uses contrast, balance, distribution and harmony as the grammar elements. As in the case with all the living languages these grammar rules has exceptions. These rules are not defined very clearly. That allows lots of exceptional cases in expressing ideas.

There are some essential requirements in any form of communication. There are some reference points in the structure of communication.  Communication depends on the magnitude by which it varies from this reference point. In the artistic communication the variation is measured through the contrast.

Contrast is a very important factor in communication of artistic ideas. Contrast is a relative measurement. It compares the element value with the reference or some other value. It generally used to compare with extreme values. For example dark and light, fast and slow. Even these extreme values are not absolute. They are also relative in nature.

In the context of web design, element A can be described as very important. But the importance depends on the importance of other elements. That is why all these contrast measurements are relative. Contrast is used to describe size, shape, position and many other aspects of a web design.

Every element in the design plays an important role in communicating the idea. These elements can guide the reader through the web site. It shows the hierarchy and the direction to the reader. Contrast of images and other stuff can relate to the importance of the content to the website. Logos and key words will be in higher contrast. This is again will be relative. Importance and also the contrast is relative. This shows that the vocabulary and grammar can be used very effectively to communicate the artistic ideas of the web designer.

Contrast can be used to describe all the activities of a designer even though designing is a different task altogether.