OUGD404: Study Task 4 - Figure/Ground

Figure and Ground

The eye differentiates an object from its surrounding area. A form, silhouette, or shape is naturally perceived as figure (object), while the surrounding area is perceived as ground (background).

Figure

In compositions without recognisable subject matter what we see as figure will depend on the abstract relationship between the visual elements. The most interesting at any moment is the figure.

Ground

Everything that is not figure is ground. As attention shifts from figure to figure the ground also shifts so that an object can go from figure to ground and back.

White Space

White space refers to the canvas/page space left in between different elements of your design but is sometimes referred to as negative space. There are two types of negative space:

Active White Space

This is the space that you make a conscious effort to add to your design for emphasis and structure. Active white space is often asymmetrical, which makes the design look more dynamic and active.

Passive White Space

This is the white space that occurs naturally, such as the area between words on a line or the space surrounding a logo or graphic element.

Computer Arts are considered the world's leading magazine for graphic designers, with a new magazine every month comes lots of new, interesting content based around graphic design and all things relevant to the industry.

This double page spread is based entirely around the background image which could be considered the figure as it is the main eye catching part of the spread. It has very little white space with the only bit being passive white space surrounding the typography.

Although this spread has a lot more white space than the previous one, a large majority of it is passive and the parts of active white space are used to prevent the pages looking cramped and over worked. Instead it focuses more on catching the attention of the reader with big attractive pictures surrounded by relevant blocks of type.

This double page spread has somewhat of a similar layout to the previous one with one exception which is small blocks of text with a larger amount of passive text surrounded it. The layout of this is also very organised and grid like with the organised columns of texts and pictures that appear to have been pieced together like a puzzle.

Much like the previous spread this one has a selection of organised images and text that flow well together whilst avoiding overcrowding the page with too much written content, by using active white space appropriately to even out the content.