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3.2 Visual Elements — Basic Things That Can be Seen
Alex Hass
Point, line, and plane are the building blocks of design. From these elements, designers create images, icons,
textures, patterns, diagrams, animations, and typographic systems. (Lupton & Phillips, 2014, p. 13)
Figure 3.1 Design using points, lines, planes
Point
A point is a precise position or location on a surface. In purely mathematical terms, a point marks a set
of coordinates — it has no mass at all. In this objective definition, a point is essentially a place. Visually,
a point is a dot and therefore the basic building block of every variation of line, texture, and plane.
Subjectively, the term point has a lot of power. Point can direct attention, be the focus of attention, create
emphasis, and cut through veiled information. The compositional term focal point brings the objective
and subjective together by being the first place the eye is drawn to in a composition and usually contains
the most important piece of visual communication.
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