I've maintained my Pinterest boards for quite a while, and was thrilled to put my on-again, off-again curating to good use. For my design scavenger hunt I investigated color, space, and repetition.

Color: Blue is my favorite color, followed by green and purple, so it came as no surprise to me that I've accumulated quite a collection of images with a cool color palette. These colors calm me, and transport me to quieter, more contemplative places than the frenetic nature of my days. Try as I might to work with more neutrals in my art and wardrobe, I always return to these colors.

Scavenging for Color, Space, and Repetition - image 1 - student project
What drew me to these particular examples, however, was the use of neutral or warm elements to ground each piece: white in the seaside chair scene, the wrought iron archway in the photo, warm and neutral geographic elements in the illustration, and a navy blue background in the Crimpshrine print. (While technically, navy blue may still be cool, it is much more neutral than the purple, royal blue, and teal in the foreground.)

Space: Like many graphic designers, I appreciate simple, straightforward design embracing lots of white space. Though I tend to be too cluttered in my own work, I'm most drawn to the artists that avoid this temptation. In my Pinterest boards, I found many beautiful examples integrating positive and negative space. After watching Dylan's class I realized it was because the foreground and backgrounds play together nicely. They offer contrast, but also tie the layers together. In this way, foregrounds aren't aimlessly floating above plain backgrounds.

Scavenging for Color, Space, and Repetition - image 2 - student project
My absolute favorites make interesting shapes in the foreground or background or show "hidden" iconography within the art, like the smaller hands within the larger hand for the Amnesty International poster, the tree within the plate for the Sycamore Trees print, and coffee cup and cigarette within the ampersand on the final piece.

Repetition: While I rarely integrate repetition into my own work, I was drawn to it again and again on Pinterest. I sort of view it as curating collections within my curated collection. Repetition gives art a nice balance, but also offers the eye new zones of visual interest within each work.

I usually collage objects when attempting repetition, but was surprised to see that my favorite examples used healthy amounts of space between objects. I also surprised myself by being so captivated by some warm and neutral palettes in my search.

Scavenging for Color, Space, and Repetition - image 3 - student project
As a subset to repetition, I found myself particularly drawn to stripes, which also provide rhythm, texture, line, and contrast within a piece. I was non-denominational when it came to a preference between foreground or background stripes, as well as high and low contrast.

Scavenging for Color, Space, and Repetition - image 4 - student project
My favorite examples ranged from bold to subtle stripes within their compositions, but all had rhythm and movement. I loved that the German newspaper print used bright orange and white stripes in the background, but also utilized the subtle stripes of newsprint in the foreground. Conversely, the Montauk beer can's bright stripes were echoed by the "stripes" of wood planks in the background. I also was drawn to the subtlety of the stripes at the top of The Lumineers print and the in-your-face contrast of the striped leggings on a striped background. The latter's contrast was loud and vibrant, even while only using two grayscale "colors."

The assignment was informative, to say the least. It has certainly given me some ideas for styles to practice in my own work. How can I integrate my love of stripes into my projects? Harness my preference for cool colors and bring in more neutral and warm colors for balance? Creatively integrate positive and negative space? Create interesting repetition without chaos?

Katie Lipton

Copywriter • Graphic Designer • Lefty Letterer

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