Line, Point, Plane, or Volume?

At S.C.A.D. they strive to help us, students, to understand the very basic levels of design in the hope that if we know the basics, backwards and forwards, we will seamlessly incorporate and consider them in our large multi-layered projects. 

So for the last two weeks in my FSO class (Form, Space and Order for those not in the know) we have been diagramming and breaking down designs into their simplest forms.

Point

One of these primary elements of design is point. Okay I know what your thinking, "Isn't that a little to basic?" And the answer to that is simply no. In design we use points all the time from creating focal points to destination points within a space. So understanding the importance and the effect that points have on viewers and users is critical in development of a successful concept or design. It is possibly the simplest of the primary elements, as it denotes a specific place in space. A visual example of this would be the center radius point of the London Eye, which is a fixed place in space.

London Eye 

Line

Another primary element that we are constantly using in design is line, which is just a connection between two or more points. They can be a direct strait path from one point to another or they can curve and twist between two points. Line, like point, is also a very simple concept which when used with purpose and meaning can have a powerful effect on the user. An example of this power would be a horizontal line grounding the space and calming the atmosphere of the space (Great for bedrooms or hospitals). 

During class we were discussing line and the best example of it popped into my head, subway maps. They are a perfect visual of line. Think about it each point or station is connected, which forms the line.

Map of the New York City Subway

Plane

The third primary element plane is a combination of lines, as it has a width and a height, but no depth. Think of a wall of a building like the one below. It is comprised of lines and yet it also has a width to it and also a height. You could even say that this one plane is made up of many different planes as the windows also are themselves are planes.

Yet a plane does not have to be solid. It can be implied through repetition of vertical or horizontal lines. Like this architectural arcade which consists of a repetition vertical lines, which have a width and a depth.

McKim, Mead, and White

Volume

The last of the primary elements is volume. Volume as Webster's puts it is the measurable amount of space that is occupied by a three-dimensional object or space. This image of an Apple store demonstrates one of the most basic forms of volume, the cube. In design we are mostly working with solid volume, such as furniture, or a void of volume which is defined by planes or wall, such as rooms.

Apple Store, New York City