It is relative. Points or lines must relate to other points, lines, to other elements, as well as to the intervals of space between and around them. Nothing in design is more important than these spatial intervals. Some designs consist of points alone, such as those seen on book covers, printed fabrics, decorated wrapping paper, and wallpaper . . . . Josef Albers used points almost exclusively in a series of designs for record covers, with qualities both simple and sophisticated. Early and so-called primitive societies, in general, seem to have favored point designs in textiles, on painted surfaces of all types, in arrangements of beads, metal objects, and shells in jewelry, on their sculptured images, and even on the human body in the arts of scarification and tattoo. Our modern use of points often exceeds the realm of art and decoration. The Morse code, the Braille system for the blind, the perforated player piano roll, and the IBM card are examples of other ways of using points in communicating [The printed newspaper photo image, television image, etc.]. [pg. 22-23]
Whereas the point in itself may be of little importance, it gains significance as soon as it takes its place in a design. Our first consideration is not points or lines as such, but their arrangement in variously related positions that give rise to some kind of repetition. [pg. 23]
[Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]