Chapter 1 Review

1.  Why is it important to have rules in design?

-  Design rules are there and should be used so you can communicate through your design to who your given audience or view is, because that's what design is, communicating. With rules being said, you are allowed to break them which is something funny because normally rules are put in place to follow. You can break design rules to actually benefit your design. Just to mention, without following any of the design rules your design can appear very nonstructural and confusing unless that is what you're trying to achieve.  

2.  In the Author's opinion, what makes a great designer?

 "A combination of motivation, inspiration, hard work, confidence, luck, self-belief, assertiveness, diplomacy, imagination, logic, practicality, and passion." - In the fourth stanza down, Taylor mentions "If you share ideas with others, you will receive at least double what you give out. You should never be afraid to share ideas." I think that is very powerful, especially in design, never be afraid to express yourself and your design ideas.  

3.  In your opinion, what makes a great designer?

In my opinion, I couldn't agree more with Taylor on what makes up a great designer, for me and I think this is compatible with everything in life, never be afraid to express yourself and be confident in life. " openness—openness to ideas, rules, other people, and the world around you." 

4.  Why is sketching important?

With sketching, you can put all your ideas down on a piece of paper, erase them if they're not what you're aiming for. That's the whole objective of sketching, pencil on paper conceptualizing what you're working on. Sketching also enables you to interact with light and textures and there is computer applications that can do that for you but that's half of the fun, creativity and originality as compared to doing it yourself.

5.  How should you begin a drawing?

Just like everything, practice makes perfect, you're going to struggle at something. I think the first step in introducing yourself into drawing is secreting yourself in small quantities, doing a bit everyday drawing small things, then working your way up the scale more and more as time goes on. Don't rush in, get flustered and then give up. Drawing isn't a talent you can force.

6.  Explain the Cartesian plane (Cartesian system)

The Cartesian plane (system) describes the three basic dimensions of 3-D space represented. Each dimension is represented by an X (right to left), Y (top to bottom), or Z (near and far). This can  help you understand an object’s perspective while drawing.

7.  Explain foreshortening

Foreshortening is when things appear to get shorter as objects move further from the viewer, distances also get smaller as they move further away from the viewer as mentioned in the textbook. As demonstrated in the figure of the road, as the road gets further and further away, the thinner the road shrinks to creating a sense of depth. 

8.  Explain depth of field

Depth of field is achieved by making background objects blurry, and the foreground object(s) focused. The further away and object is outside of the range, the most out of focus(blurry) it will become and is best described as, the area of a particular lens can focus on.