{"id":12557,"date":"2012-03-10T06:01:37","date_gmt":"2012-03-10T13:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/?p=12557"},"modified":"2019-02-12T18:22:50","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T01:22:50","slug":"design-series-repetition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artquiltmaker.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/design-series-repetition\/","title":{"rendered":"Design Series: Repetition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandy and I got together, virtually, of course, and recorded another episode<\/a>. This time the topic was Repetition, which is a Principle of Design. Repetition is closely related to Unity, another principle of design and a topic we discussed<\/a> in this series previously. If you didn’t listen to the Unity<\/a> podcast, you would be well served to listen to it before you listen to this one.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, the design definition with which we are working is:\u00a0 Design is a problem solving activity within all the arts, placing or creating subject matter so it is of visual significance and interesting to the artist<\/em>. (from The<\/p>\n

“The principle of repetition is very versatile. It not only promotes the existence of unity, but it plays a significant role in the appearances of the principles of rhythm and harmony (Adventures in Design, pg. 97)<\/p>\n

Definitions of Repetition<\/span>:<\/p>\n

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  1. “[Repetition] provides visual clues to help move the eye about the picture. Similarities in elements reinforce the viewer’s recognition of symbols, strengthen the rhythm, encourage movement, and produce patterns. Introduce variations of repeated elements to prevent boredom.” (Liz Berg handout entitled Principles of Design from “Design the Abstract Quilt” workshop). Nota bene<\/em><\/span>: When she uses ‘elements’ in this definition, she doesn’t mean design elements, but elements in the design; parts of the design, e.g. repeating a checkerboard at various intervals.<\/li>\n
  2. “We use the word repetition to describe the practice of using design elements over and over again” (A Fiber Artist’s Guide to Color & Design, pg. 124)<\/li>\n
  3. An element that repeats in various parts of a design to relate the parts (The Quilter’s Book of Design, 2d ed, pg.155)<\/li>\n
  4. “Repetition in design is simply repeating one or more elements. (Wolfrom, Adventures in Design, pg. 97)<\/li>\n
  5. “…something simply repeats in various parts of the design to relate the parts to each other. The element that repeats may be almost anything: a color, a shape, a texture, a direction or an angle.” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.28)<\/li>\n
  6. Provides visual clues to help move the eye around the image. (Liz Berg<\/a> handout entitled Principles of Design from “Design the Abstract Quilt” class)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    “…repeated elements will help bring unity to our artistic creations.” (Art+Quilt, pg. 80)<\/p>\n

    “A definite focal point is not a necessity in creating a successful design. It is a tool that arts may or many not use, depending on their aims. An artist may wish to emphasize the entire surface of a composition over any individual elements.” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.57) One way to do this is to repeat a motif or element.<\/p>\n