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46 Chapter 3. Design Elements, Design Principles, and Compositional Organization
Plane
Figure 3.3 Planes
Like lines, planes (shapes) can be organically made or they can be geometric, as in the example shown
in Figure 3.3. A plane is a flat surface that has defined borders. “A line closes to become a shape, a
bounded plane” (Lupton & Phillips, 2014, p. 38). Planes are excellent compositional tools for clustering
visual elements into visual fields. A plane can also act as a separating device and allow the viewer to see
that one section of information is not linked to another.
In design software, a vector graphic is a shape created by defining its parameters with a line, and then
filling it with a solid or textured fill. Grids help to create and define typographic planes that float or
interact with solid planes of image, texture, or colour. In the physical world, everything is composed of
shapes that are either two- or three-dimensional. How you choose to organize and arrange the planes in
your photograph, your illustration, or your design will structure the composition and determine not only
how the elements intersect with one another but also how the viewer interacts with the composition.
