“Point, line and plane are the building blocks of design. From these elements, designers create image, icons, textures, patterns diagrams, animations and typographic systems.” -Ellen Lupton
noun.
A dot or other punctuation mark. The smallest element of art. It may be used to indicate position and location. Point is small in relation to the whole design and can add tone and texture.
A simple point on a screen can be used in endless ways. An example which highlights this is Josh Worth’s website ‘If the Moon was 1 Pixel’. He uses several points along a scale to help us visualise our solar system. Only using points, Worth was able to bring something that is so vast we can’t even begin to imagine, down into a single screen. This is only one example which shows the power of the point.
The point plays a key role within branding. Stefan Sagmeister, an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller and typographer, utilises the point massively throughout his work. His designs for the Seed Media Group is comprised solely of points. Sagmeister created unique circular designs for different sections within the group. This included personalised business cards where he, still only using points and colour, created portraits of the staff. The Norwegian University of Life Sciences logo was also designed by Sagmeister. Similar to before, he generated unique compositions for the different departments. This work shows how the point can be manipulated in multiple ways to create numerous designs.
As well as branding, the point can be used to display and inform people about data. Nicholas Fenton’s work is a key example of this. Felton is an infographic designer and is the author of Personal Annual Reports which combines measurements into a tapestry of graphs, maps and statistics to reflect the year’s activities. Felton changes the shape of the point to convey a number, i.e. the bigger the point, the bigger the number. David McCandles did something similar when he explored the global carbon footprint. McCandles also created imagery using only points, again playing around with the sizes.
Patterns can also be created using only points. This can be achieved by repetition, changing the size and positioning. The pattern can result in the design feeling as though it has a rhythm or frequency to it. Symmetry and asymmetry can also be used to generate pattern within the design.
