Multimedia design: Positive/negative studies!

Simply put, positive space is the space in which your subject resides, while negative space is the space around them. It’s important to have negative space for every positive shape in your composition, to make your subject stand out and to maintain visual balance.

Here’s some exercises we recently did relating to positive/negative space:

[Click on image to view full-sized: redirects to Flickr]

[Click on image to view full-sized: redirects to Flickr]

Positive/negative space:

[Click on image to view full-sized: redirects to Flickr]

Result:

Figure-ground perception:

We had to choose a single letter, then use 2 sheets of contrasting construction paper (9″x12″) using one as the cutout for the letter so you can paste it on the other. The letter was to touch all four sides at some point and only occupy 50% of the space on the sheet in order to create a balance between the figure and ground (figure being the shape, ground being the background – quite obvious in this example of what the shape is *hint: it’s not red*).

[Click on image to view full-sized: redirects to Flickr]