movement in design research

our eyes tend to follow any pre-determined linear path such as solid and dotted lines. They also follow paths from large to small elements, from dark to light elements, from colour to non-colour elements and from unusual to usual shapes. Patterns with size gradation and repeated shapes also provide a path for the eye to follow.

When elements with common characteristics are repeated in a regular or irregular pattern, it creates a sense of movement within the design

Rhythm is a result of repetition that helps lead eye movement from one element to the next in a particular direction. It can be used to create a direct, flowing or staccato movement. Whether a designer utilises continuous repetition, periodic repetition or a combination of the two, that designer should always focus on creating rhythm. One element should be slightly changed in each repetition or periodically change throughout the design. These changes can be made in size gradation, colour variation, texture fluctuation or value variety. Lines can vary in direction, weight and length to create diversity and interest in rhythmic design.

The “freeze frame” effect can also indicate an object in motion. While this example shows the “freeze frame” effect with a cat above water, the effect can be used in endless ways. A bouncing ball in mid-air or athletes hurriedly crossing the finish line are also good examples. You can use this in all types of design by adding elements that imply motion.

Rhythm refers to the way your eye moves throughout a picture. Some pictures move you throughout in a connected, flowing way much like a slow, stately rhythm in music. Other pictures move you from one place to another in an abrupt, dynamic way much like a fast, staccato rhythm in music will give you the impression of movement. Rhythm in art is created by the repetition of elements. Similarity of elements, or flowing, circular elements will give a more connected flowing rhythm to a picture, while jagged, or unrelated elements will create a more unsettling, dynamic picture. 

When you repeat elements, the intervals between those repetitions can create a sense of rhythm in the viewer and a sense of movement. Musicians create rhythm in the spacing between notes, effectively making these “silent” gaps play off the notes. Designers insert spacing between elements to make rhythm. There are, broadly speaking, five types of visual rhythm.

Repeating elements with no specific regular interval creates random rhythms. The spacing could be a millimeter here, a centimeter there, while the elements could be all over the place. Think of falling snow, pebbles on a beach, traffic movements: they are all examples of random rhythms in action.

Like the beating of a heart, the regular rhythm follows the same intervals over and over again. You can easily make a regular rhythm just by creating a grid or a series of vertical lines. The user’s eye will instantly recognize a regular rhythm, scanning it for any irregularities in the process. Remember, the eye “likes” to be drawn to outstanding elements. Therefore, there is a risk that when you’re using a regular rhythm in a design that it can become monotonous.

A flowing rhythm shows the repeated elements following bends, curves, and undulations. In nature, you can see this in the waves on a beach or sand dunes. As designers, we can mimic nature by making wonderful patterns of elements with flowing rhythm. We can show clumps of seaweed underwater, their strands gently facing in a series of directions. The user imagines them washing against each other.

An artist controls and forces the progression of the viewer’s eyes in and around the composition of the painting using eye travel. For instance, the eye will travel along an actual path such as solid or dotted line, or it will move along more subtle paths such as from large to smaller elements, from dark to lighter elements, from color to non-color, from unusual to usual shapes, etc.