PART 2 — Viewport Visual Design
4-minute read
What is 3D design?
At first, this sounds like a question with an obvious answer. We are born into a world in which our bodies occupy and experience space, after all. We come to understand 3D intuitively through sheer exposure; akin to the way we learn our first language. In the case of the mother tongue, we come later to understand a vocabulary and grammar that allows us to write and speak with greater fluency, precision, and depth. Some of us even become poets.
So, too, it is with the visual world of three dimensions. As artists, as visual poets, we understand there is a visual vocabulary and grammar. We have studied it, codified in the rigor of what is known as basic 3D visual design. Perhaps it’s been a while since that basic 3D course. Or perhaps you come to 3D modeling from a primarily graphic background. Whether your circumstances make this a review or an introduction, in this title we will explore an overview of a basic 3D course. However, we’ll do it with a strong, unfamiliar twist. We’re contextualizing this information to a digital world. To do this we’ll create or discover metaphors to help us understand the relationship between digital and tactile spaces.
Elements, principles, and means
A good visual basics course introduces exploration of the visual world as a set of Elements and Principles developed through various Means of Expression. We will of course be emphasizing how these are manifest specific to the 3D context, but this isn’t always such an easy distinction to make.
There are disciplines that are unequivocally 3D: sculpture, installation art, performance art, architecture, and industrial design. There are others we accept as analogously 3D, even if mediated by screens: video games, cinema, and perhaps photography. Yet, even drawing, painting, and graphic design have reference to depth, through such visual devices as volumetric hatching, linear and atmospheric perspective, and phenomenal transparency. We need to keep in mind that output is the ultimate way we experience the “3D” in 3D modeling — a still image rendering akin to a photograph, an animation akin to cinema, a 3-D print akin to a sculpture.
That said, a specifically 3D visual design course is intended to train tactile 3D thinking as a sculptor or architect might require. Because you are about to become a virtual sculptor, it’s this we will review.
What’s the distinction?
Even seasoned artists sometimes confuse visual elements and visual principles, but the distinction can be made by a chemical metaphor. In chemistry, an element is a fundamental entity, like hydrogen or oxygen. Chemical “principles” create compound or molecular structures as a way of organizing elements into particularly functional arrangements. Want to breathe? Organize the element oxygen (O) into the oxygen molecule (O2). Want to drown? Organize the elements oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) into the water molecule (H2O). The element oxygen has not changed, but its arrangement radically changes how it functions. In art, principles are akin to molecular organization, elements are akin to atoms.
This section contains a rich amount of information in 6 chapters as follows:
Elements
| Chapter | Element | Subsets | Dimension |
| 4 | Point | 0 | |
| Line | 1 | ||
| Plane | Figure/Ground | 2 | |
| 5 | Volume | Mass | 3 |
| 6 | Kinetics | Time/Motion | 4 |
| 7 | Light | Value | Optical |
| Color | Hue, Saturation, Brightness | ||
| Texture |
Principles
| Chapter | Principle | Subsets | Application |
| 8 | Unity | Wholeness, Variety | Global, external |
| Contrast | Complexity, Harmony | ||
| Hierarchy | Emphasis, Subordination | ||
| Economy | Essence, Less-is-more | ||
| Balance | Equilibrium, Symmetry | Local, internal | |
| Pattern | Repetition, Rhythm | ||
| Direction | Force, Movement | ||
| Scale | Proportion, Ratio |
Means of Expression
| Chapter | |
| 9 | Ways of seeing |
| Gestalt 3D | |
| Visual Metaphor | |
| Narrative |
Chapter synopses
CHAPTER 4 — Visual Elements I: Point, Line, Plane
Explore the dimensional visual elements of point, line, and plane. Delve into their significance in art and design, referencing Kandinsky’s theories and providing practical examples. Graphic shape, figure-ground, and form are among the concepts illustrated through studio examples.
CHAPTER 5 — Visual Elements II: Volume
Drawing parallels between 2D figure-ground dynamics and 3D mass-void configurations, explore the relationships that create volumetric form. It discusses sculptural works from artists across the centuries, delving into relief, freestanding, and installation artworks.
CHAPTER 6 — Visual Elements III: Kinematics
Artists throughout history have grappled with depicting the elusive fourth dimension: time. From prehistoric cave paintings to Trajan’s Column and the Admonitions Scroll, human creativity has explored motion. With the advent of cinema and digital media, expressing change over time reached new heights, shaping art from Cubism to interactive narratives.
CHAPTER 7 — Optical Visual Elements
Light, color, and texture intertwine as pillars of visual perception. From Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro to Monet’s optical realism, artists wield light to evoke emotion and depth. Understanding color models will uncover the possibilities of hue, saturation, and value, while texture adds tactile richness. Together, they create the modeler’s optical palette for material expression.
CHAPTER 8 — Visual Principles
Delve into an intricate web where Visual Elements interact with Visual Principles in a dynamic dance of artistic creation. Navigate the complexities of Unity, Contrast, Hierarchy, Economy, Balance, Pattern, Direction, and Scale + Proportion, each influencing the other like molecules in a chemical reaction.
CHAPTER 9 — Expression, form, content, and narrative
Explore the intricacies of visual expression, from Objective to Abstract to Non-Objective Art. Delve into Gestalt principles shaping form, and Semiotics decoding visual metaphor. Unravel the elements of narrative, from character archetypes to genre tropes. Journey through speculative realms, from Science Fiction to Steampunk, in a rich tapestry of storytelling possibilities.