Checks and balances. Those are terms heard all the time in the business world, but in the art arena?

Design is design — good design practices create good living and successful projects. An elegantly sculpted and cushioned chair may please the eye, but if it is uncomfortable to sit on, design has failed. If the chair were created for the pure joy of aesthetic viewing it would be called a sculpture. Even sculpture designs have checks and balances.

I consider myself a contemporary compositionalist. Not many know that besides painting, I have a major background in commercial art and advertising studies. At the Art College of Design in Los Angeles, students were being groomed to be New York directors. Our concentrations were geared to ad campaigns and the whole psychology of selling. The same principles apply to the fine arts, and the same principals apply to one’s quality of life.

There are six basic elements of design: Color, line, texture, light, space and form or shape. Then, there are the considerations of dominance, size, balance and so forth.

A good definition of composition is “the arrangement of interdependent parts to form a coordinate whole.” These design parts act as tools, and the artist uses them to create an effect. How we see and react is very complicated. Reactions and interpretations vary with ethnic backgrounds, geographic locations, experiences, and different times in history.

If you were in the grocery store selecting a box of fabric softener, a gray-tone package with pointed shapes would be an obvious rule-out. The subconscious says, “Points – ouch! Gray – drab!” But a soft teddy bear remembered from safe childhood days is just the right imagery to convey the idea for softness to a cheek.

Balance, composition and diversity ring true in the old “checks and balances” theory. Who hasn’t heard the saying that too much of a good thing is a bad thing or that the key to good health is moderation? An example I’d give my beginning design students would be the “white” meal.

Who doesn’t like roasted sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, white cream gravy, cauliflower, a cottage cheese salad and a tall glass of milk? But goodness gracious – put that on a white tablecloth and try to stay awake. Put the smallest cherry tomato anywhere on the plate or table and guess what – obvious focal point!

I have heard more than one interior designer say that every house needs a splash of red. Loving red – I totally agree. I bought a bright red, hand blown fluted bowl and put it on my dining room table, in view of the living room, sunroom and kitchen. Putting this large red shape in an area where red was scattered about the rooms (pillow, knick-knack, dish, picture frame, etc.) made the viewer’s eyes dart every which way. Gathering the reds to a central arena allowed me to have my red “things” and controls the visual darting chaos.

Composition, the checks and balances – do too much here and ya gotta make up for it there. Most people don’t think about that in regards to art, but the next time you look at a painting, notice the visual flow within the surface. Or enter a room and notice why your eye is directed to one spot. One in a supermarket – shapes, colors, textures, smells and sounds are strategically arranged to control or encourage the sales of products or ideas.

The elements of design are constant companions to be used wisely to enhance quality. Awareness of the “checks and balances” is the key.