If I couldn’t convince you of the mighty power of the dot or the formidable line, I’m sure I can win you over with shape. While all the elements of design are prevalent in a work of art, shape tends to stick out and be more easily identifiable.
In the art world, defining a “shape” can be a heated topic. If I make a line using my paintbrush it can be both line and shape. If I take my pen and make a dot on the page, and we zoom in enough, isn’t it a circle? These are the things students in art theory classes clamor to debate. For the sake of our education, let’s assume that a shape only exists when a line ends at its origin point. Sorry feisty art students.
Unlike color, which can be interpreted slightly differently from person to person, shape tends to be more universal. Our eye receives the reflected light and our brain quickly steps in with its identification software. This is why we can agree that we’re all seeing a square but perhaps can’t see a palm tree in a cluster of clouds. It gets trickier when we try to agree if we all see a perfect circle. While we can agree we see a circle, variations in our eyesight might suggest it’s not perfect when it is.
Even with that limited definition, we still have three “types” of shapes: Geometric. Organic. Abstract.
Geometric shapes are those that you learned about in math class. Squares. Triangles. Circles. Even the Rhombus. Organic shapes tend to be more freeform and can often be associated with nature. Leaves are the perfect example of this. For abstract shapes, these tend to be man-made shapes that blend geometric and abstract and create an associated meaning. When in doubt, most company logos/icons will fall under abstract shapes.
If we’re looking at art where shapes are front and center, we only need to look at Wassily Kandinsky and his Bauhaus style art. His abstract art features a strong color story as well as lines and shape. On first glance, we instantly recognize the rectangles and circles. We even have a few organic shapes hidden that might be described as “controlled blobs of color.” Yes, that’s a technical term.
But to see the real power of shape, we have to step away from the literal and obvious. In the Da Vinci Code, Robert Langdon goes on a journey involving the “divine feminine.” Unfortunately, I’ve never heard that term uttered by an artist or art historian, but the emphasis on triangles, that is more than catch phrase to sell books. In Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, we see a sea of shapes.
On first glance, we see a stoic Washington crossing a frozen river. It’s an iconic image in the fabric of the United States of America. It’s also iconic because of Leutze’s mastery of geometric shapes, none of which are obvious on first glance.
Leutze uses triangles throughout his composition. But to what end? Why disguise geometric shapes within the painting? Like our earlier elements, these are used to control the eye. Artists and designers alike want the viewer to travel through a composition in a particular way. Since we can’t stand next to our canvas explaining our thought process, we create visual cues for the eye to follow. Without even realizing it, artists are tapping into our biology and how the eye and brain work to interpret data.
How can authors use this? Simple, use shape to force the eye to the most important area of your canvas. If triangles create motion, then circles and rectangles trap the eye. Knowing this, an author can create a composition that drags the reader’s eye to the most important areas. In a society that skims instead of deep reading, this can help reinforce the most important takeaway is seen.
While we’re talking about shapes, we should probably take a moment and discuss how it relates to typography. The abstract shapes creating glyphs is how we make money. However, there is a misconception on how the human eye processes letters. For the sake of argument, I am referring to letters of the alphabet used by western civilization. These differ in Asian cultures who write with logographic symbols.
If we look at the English Ingram ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ we see all the letters of the alphabet. But we don’t read individual letters. This became clear when Graham Rawlinson coined the term typoglycemia in the seventies. This proved that as long as the first and last letter remained in their proper place, we could read the passage. This demonstrated that we process entire word shapes, not individual letters.
So how do we read if we’re not processing letters? As the eye scans over text, the brain is processing at an uncanny speed. It does this by reading the negative space around the ink of the letters. This is important to understand (and we’ll discuss at length when we get into typography) because without those shapes created by the negative space, the eye slows and stutters. This happens often when we’re using all caps.
This demonstrates that all caps might not be the right solution if you want the content processed by the viewer. Also, be careful when inserting too much space between letters as it distorts the shapes and makes it harder to scan. But don’t worry, we’ll be exploring typography at length down the road.
Shape is one of the most powerful tools in a designer’s arsenal. It guides the eye through a composition, reinforcing theme, or making type readable at a glance. From ancient paintings to modern covers, shape works behind the scenes to create order, movement, and impact. Once you start looking for it, you’ll see it everywhere. And once you start using it, you’ll never design the same way again.
Homework Assignment
This week, your homework is pretty simple. Look at the top ten books in your genre. Mentally remove the typography and focus on the design itself. Start training your eye to see shape as a directional tool.
- What shapes are you seeing?
- Are the shapes geometric or organic?
- Do these shapes direct your eye to a particular location?