Structure and Form in Design

Book excerpt: This book provides a critical examination of structure and form in design, covering a range of topics of great value to students and practitioners engaged in any of the specialist decorative arts and design disciplines. The complexities of two-dimensional phenomena are explained and illustrated in detail, while various three-dimensional forms are also discussed. In the context of the decorative arts and design, structure is the underlying framework, and form the resultant, visible, two- or three-dimensional outcome of the creative process. Whether hidden or visually detectable in the final design, structure invariably determines whether or not a design is successful in terms of both its aesthetics and its practical performance. Hann successfully identifies various geometric concepts, and presents and discusses a number of simple guidelines to assist the creative endeavours of both accomplished and student practitioners, teachers and researchers.