The frame of refence of a design can be of any shape, though it is usually rectangular. The die-cut shape of a printed sheet is the frame of reference of the design that is contained in it.
[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1972.]
Designing with representational forms can begin with a series of self-contained compositions--singular forms, plural forms, and/or compound forms that are established without a frame of reference. These might then be contained within specific frames of reference to help define spatial relationships.
[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Form. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1988.]
A design normally begins as an area that is bound by four edges at right angles to one another. These edges constitute the frame of reference, which has a shape of its own.
Within the frame of reference, a form or numerous forms can be introduced. A figure-ground situation thus emerges; forms are seen as figures, and the space behind forms and the space between them and the frame of reference as ground or background in the resulting composition. A composition is the visual effect that is generated by the interaction of figures and ground
Furthermore, the frame of reference provides scale--we get a sense of the size of forms--and establishes the positions and directions of elements.
It is possible to feature the same form [and the same shape] in different compositions. Notice how different compositions result from different frames of reference; how compositions look smaller when the frame of reference is large and how it can be cropped by the frame of reference when the form moves partially beyond its boundary.
[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Form. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1988.]
To help define spatial relationships
Designing with representational forms can begin with a series of self-contained compositions--singular forms, plural forms, and/or compound forms that are established without a frame of reference. These might then be contained within specific frames of reference to help define spatial relationships.
[Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Form. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1988.]
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