Sequence viewing > Aesthetics Index - Resource - © Lloyd Godman

the use of shapes in visual design - Basic Shapes - Triangles

Triangles are of much more useful in photographic design than rectangles. There are a number of reasons for this.

 

and also provided that ones side is on a level base - they have a sense of stability.

 

 

However the reverse is true if the base is on the top of the frame. It is less stable, more aggressive, and consequently contains movement.

Probably because it faces the camera lens and ultimately the viewer, the apex points in a more obvious manner and adds a more threatening sense that it might harm the viewer as if it could topple over.

 

When we use lines to compose triangles, often two lines, or even one are enough to suggest the shape, and the second or third can be implied by the edge of the frame to complete the shape.
In triangles, when we use points, any three points of interest create a triangle, particularly if they are similar in content, tone, size, texture or have some other quality that links them. Unlike rectangles and circles which need to have their components in an exact order, triangles can be formed in any configuration. In fact the only arrangement of three points that does not create a triangle is a straight row.

 

The sense of stability inerrant in many triangles comes from the structural association with the pyramid, or of two buttresses leaning in towards each other.

 

 

 

 

Want to learn more? - do a workshop or one on one with Lloyd Godman