Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

RELATIONSHIPS - Gradation

Alternate Gradation







Alternate gradation provides unusual complexity in a gradation design. It means that gradually changing unit forms or structural subdivisions from opposite directions are interwoven together. The simplest way to achieve alternate gradation is to divide the structure [either the vertical or the horizontal rows] into odd and even rows, and have all the odd rows observe a discipline different from the even rows . . . . Manipulating the range, speed, and direction of gradation, we can have almost unlimited kinds of variation . . . .

If the unit forms are in gradation of size, the space left over by diminishing unit forms can be used for the accommodation of a set of unit forms in reverse gradation. [For example] the original unit forms can occupy the central portion of the structural subdivisions, whereas a new set of unit forms can occupy intersections of the structural lines.

In a gradation structure, alternate gradation can be obtained if the A rows gradually diminish while the B rows gradually expand simultaneously in the same direction . . . . the combined width of every pair of A and B rows should always remain constant [or in very slow gradation] . . . .

[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1972.]




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