Variety: The use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the artwork. Variety means "to change the character" of an element, to make it different. Variety is the complement to unity and is needed to create visual interest. Without unity, an image is chaotic and "unreadable;" without variety it is dull and uninteresting. Good design is achieved through the balance of unity and variety; the elements need to be alike enough so we perceive them as belonging together and different enough to be interesting.
Varying the elements creates variety. Ways to vary elements include:
•Line - thinness, thickness, value, color, angle, length
•Shape - size, color, orientation and texture, type
•Color - hue, value, saturation
•Value - darkness, lightness, high-key, low-key, value contrast
•Texture - rough, smooth
Varying the elements creates variety. Ways to vary elements include:
•Line - thinness, thickness, value, color, angle, length
•Shape - size, color, orientation and texture, type
•Color - hue, value, saturation
•Value - darkness, lightness, high-key, low-key, value contrast
•Texture - rough, smooth
