A Universal Grammar for Visual Composition?

Author(s): Peter D. Stebbing

Source: Leonardo, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2004), pp. 63-70
Published by: The MIT Press
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THEORETICAL

A
for

PERSPECTIVE

Universal
Visual

Grammar
Composition?
ABSTRACT

PeterD.Stebbing

tuart MacDonald, in an essay entitled "ArticiS

dal Tendencies," criticizes the "arteducationalists" who "have
been busy demolishing the subject which supports them" [1 ].
Victor Pasmore, one of the gurus of English art education of
the 1950s and 1960s, declared, "The whole business of art
school teaching is in a very difficult position. Because of course
there's nothing to teach" [2]. Finally, Philip Ball, an editor of
the scientific journal Nature,recently wrote, "In science, new
knowledge builds on and refines the old. In art, according to
common caricature, the new eclipses the old and rewrites all
the rules" [3].
A tragedy of art and design education stems from the confused distinction between the aims and responsibility of the
educational process and the professional activity.A London
university department head once told me that contemporary
interest in conceptual art does not require an understanding
of form, which consequently is not taught [4]. However, I
argue that the vagaries of fashion and subjectivitycannot provide the criteria for art and design curricula. The products of
creative potential are not the means for developing that potential. A symphony is not a music lesson. If "form"or visual
arrangement is currently not in vogue, that is no justification
for its virtual disappearance from the curriculum (remembering that form and pattern perception are two of the brain's
major activities). An education determined by our personal
tastes is immoral.

Peter D. Stebbing (teacher), Hochschule fiir Gestaltung, D-73525 Schwabisch Gmind,

Germany. E-mail: <[email protected]>.

MY AIM
My aim is to identify the core components of a visual organization
grammar ("composition") for the
art and design curriculum. Criticisms of formalism are as irrelevant
as they would be for all grammars,

since their limited means open

the way to unlimited possibilities.
(Are authors criticized for using
words?) I believe that this aim is
achievable by adopting more ob-

The author
hasidentified
four
fundamental
organizational
common
to both
principles
formandthecreation
of
organic
visualcomposition.
Theauthor
thatourperceptual
proposes
to respond
systemhasevolved
to theseprinciples
(perceptual
dueto thenecessity
primitives)
of recognizing
thediversity
of
formsonwhichour
organic
survival
our
depended
during
earlier
evolution.
Theevidence
showsthatthesefourprinciples
occurwidely
huthroughout
mankind's
aesthetic
expression
indifferent
cultures,
epochs,art
formsandmedia.Applying
von
Humboldt's
theauthor
principle,
thattheselimited
proposes
meansprovide
unlimited
possibilitiesfordevelopingstudent

ifitweretaughtas a
creativity
coherent
grammar.

jective approaches and by using

multidisciplinary and multicultural
knowledge.
The question of identifying curricularuniversalswas recently
posed by Walling:
In thinking about art education it is essential to consider some
new questions:
How can we define curricular "universals," given the complexity of today's society? Who must have a say in the definition?
Who ultimately decides? Policymakers? Administrators? Teachers? Parents? Students themselves? How do the themes of postmodernism influence this decision? [5]
Walling's question

has been answered,

but not by any of

those whom he suggests. The idea of universals is essential in

order for us to emerge from the current educational dilemma,
because universals [6] such as artistic behavior [7,8] are biological characteristics of our species. Therefore, those most
able to answerWalling's question include anthropologists, eth-

Fig. 1. A summary of the results of the frequency of the most-mentioned terms from the tables of contents of 50 books on visual composition.

? 2004 ISAST

LEONARDO,

Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 63-70,

2004

63

nologists, evolutionary biologists, neurophysiologists and archaeologists.

THE ORIGIN OF THIS

INVESTIGATION
My investigation originated from discussions with my undergraduate graphic design students about why "rhythms"and
"balance" are important in visual composition. In my search for objective answers, I quickly found that these two
components, together with contrast and
proportion, regularly but inconsistently
occurred in the art and design literature.
As a former student of biology and a practicing biological illustrator, I also recognized that Contrast, Rhythm (including
pattern), Balance (including symmetry)
and Proportion (referred to hereafter as
CRBP) are basic principles in the organization and biology of organic form [9].
The question is whether CRBP are universal components of our species' artistic behavior. Eventually I evolved a
strategy of analyzing the tables of contents of books on visual composition in
order to investigate this question.

ANALYTICALINVESTIGATIONPROCEDURE
Authors present the major components
and structure of their books in tables of
contents, and so I created a "mega-glossary"of all the words from the contents
pages of 50 books [10] on visual composition from various art and design subjects.

Analysis 1

I used the cut-and-paste function of a

word-processing program to compile the
mega-glossary to identify the frequency
of words primarily associated with visual
composition in the 50 books. I did not attempt to compensate for cases where
terms not mentioned in the contents
pages subsequently appeared as headings
within the text, and so because I wanted
to maintain an objective procedure I adhered strictlyto the words in the contents
pages when creating the mega-glossary.

Table1. Analysisof the occurrenceof CRBP(andsynonyms)plusHarmonyin the tables of

contentsof 50 booksconcernedwithvisualcomposition(organization)

Contrast Rhythm Balance Proportion Harmony total mentions

U
4
*
*

Acton,M., 1997
Allen,A.B.,1938
Anderson,D.M.,1961
R., 1974
Arnheim,
Barratt,K., 1980
Birren,F., 1961
Bugg,S., 1997, 1998
Dondis,D.A.,1984
Dow,A.W.,1997
Garrett,L., 1967
Graves,M., 1951
Harlan,C., 1970
Hesselgren,S., 1969
Hofmann,
A., 1965
Howard,C.H.,1926
Itten,J., 1975
Itten,J., 1980
W.,1979
Kandinsky,
Kepes,G., 1995
Kleint,B., 1969
Kunstgewerbeschule,
Zurich,1968
Lauer,D.A.,1979
Lowry,B., 1961
J.J. de,
Lucio-Meyer,
1975
Malins,F., 1980
Mante,H., 1969
J.M.,1993
Matthaei,
Meiss,P.,von, 1996
Owen,P., 1970
Palmer,F., 1988
Pearce,C., 1947
Peters,H., 1994
Popham,J.K.,1954
Read,H., 1963
Rowland,K., 1965,
vols. 1-3
Rowland,K., 1976
Ruder,E., 1981
Ruegg,R, and
Fr6hlich,
G., 1972
de Sausmarez,M.,1980
Schodek,D.L.,1993
Scott, R.G.,1951
Smith,P.F.,1987
Sneum,G., 1965
Taylor,J.F.A.,1964
Thiel,P., 1981
Thompson,T., 1950
Wagner,F.C.,1981
Weber,J., 1975
Wong,W.,1993
Zelanski,P., and
Fisher,M.P.,1988
Subtotals

*
*
*

U
?
U

**

*
*
*
-

2
4
5
1
1

U
U
U

* _

*
*

1
2
2

U
*
*

*
U

*
*

U
U

U
U

U
U

*
*
*
*

U
U

U
U
U
U
U
U
U

U
U

U
U
U

*
U

4
5
2

U
U
U
U

1
2
2
2
4
0
1
4
3
4
3

2
0
4

U
U
U
U

U
U
U
U

3
0
1
5
1
2
3
2
4
3
2
5

23

19

3
-120/50 = 2.4

U
U

U
U

U
U
U

U
U
U
U

27

?
31

20

U
U

3
0
0
1

5
5
2

Results
The results revealed the most frequently
occurring terms and supported my hypothesis that CRBP (and their synonyms)
were indeed the terms most commonly
used for visual composition. In addition,
two other words that I had not anticipated appeared prominently: "movement" and "expression." However, these
64

Stebbing,A Universal Grammar

two words do not describe conditions of

arrangement but rather a perceptual effect. The results appear in Fig. 1.

Analysis 2

The second analysis, shown in Table 1

(indicating the occurrence of Contrast,
Rhythm, Balance and Proportion, as well

as Harmony in the tables of contents),

clearly demonstrated the inconsistent
perception of the components of composition. On average, 2.4 of the 5 terms
occurred in any one of the contents
pages of the 50 books.
My two analysestherefore demonstrate
the inconsistent way in which composi-

Shape

that changes. Styles are the waysin which

individuality,or it may be the general feeling of the period, finds expression [12].
On the Internet I found that a theater
arts course taught at Saddleback College
in California included CRBP as follows:

Oz\

II. Analysis of Literature

A. How to analyze:
1. Unity/Harmony
2. Variety/Contrast
3. Balance/Proportion
4. Rhythm
B. Semantics and
symbolization (Language)
C. Literary organization
D. Author's attitude [13].

Form

0~\^

06

Orientation

Size

/-O

Tone

_L]

Dimenion

Outline the relevant design process....

Harmonic order, as the law of opposites,is
reached by increasing uniformity and
regularity through reduction of entropy
of certain functions (e.g. rhythm),and at
the same time increase in randomness
and diversitythrough increase of entropy
of oppositefunctions (e.g. climax) while
numerous constraints are conditioning.
Finally, "originality" and "probability"
techniques are introduced as tools for
optimizing certain random functions,
such as axioms (rhythm,climax, balance,
proportion,harmony and functional expression) and thus produce "harmonic
order" [14].

Transpency

Etc.,etc.,...

Fig. 2. Contrast visually defined. (? Peter

Stebbing)

components.

CRBP IN OTHERMEDIA
AND MODALITIES
into the occurrence

2. Pattemwith contrastingpauses...

3. Pate

withcont

asing
n

MJ

...........

1. Repetitionor translation

2. Rotation

3. Reflection

4. Glide Reflection

OCCURRENCE OF CRBP
IN OTHER CULTURES

tion is perceived while simultaneously indicating that CRBP and Harmony are
composition's most commonly identified

My investigations

Simplerhythmorpatte........

Finally, in a paper on architecture,

Minai aims to:

Number

_E

of

CRBP in other media and modalities indicate their widespread occurrence as

principles of aesthetic composition. For
example, on the appreciation of dance,
Smith-Autard writes,
A few may be pleased by the overall shape
of the dance, and see the beginning, middle and end in proportionate
relationship,
and each section as a well balancedentity
yet carefullyblended into a unified whole.
Others may feel a sense of pleasure on
and contrasts
recognition of the repetitions
and follow the design of the dance within
these frames of reference [11].
Likewise on music, Westrup writes,
Forms are the ways in which at different
periods music is cast into intelligible
shapes. The fundamental principles remain constant: balance,proportion,repetition, contrast,variation, and so on. It is the
detailed application of these principles

A criticism made of the "mega-glossary"

analysis above is that the books were written by either American or European authors. Consequently, I have extended my
research into a multicultural investigation,
which is revealing that CRBP are found
widely, in varying proportions, in other
cultures. For example, in the Chinese arts,
it is well known that the interplay of contrast (yin and yang) and its balance plays
an essential organizational role [15].
At the International Council for Societies of Industrial Design Conference in
Seoul in 2001, Cho reported on what he
calls "grand principles of design" and
also observes that "there exists no one
common view among scholars on these
principles" [16]. Cho's design principles
are: harmony, unity, balance, emphasis,
rhythm, proportion, contrast and symmetry, and he claims to have found their
occurrence in all five sensory modalities:
"visual, acoustic, gustatory, olfactory and
tactual," with the exception of symmetry
for the gustatory and olfactory senses.
The use of contrast and pattern (ornament) is to be found in every culture
[17,18]. Often ornament is used to indicate status through the expenditure
(waste) of energy in behaviors that are

Fig. 3. Rhythm visually defined. (a, top) A

rhythm or pattern results from the repetition
of a contrast and therefore neither a single
nor two pulses can create a pattern or
rhythm, because the complete contrast of
pulse and pause must be repeated and
defined and so a third pulse is necessary. It
is self-evident that combinations of 2 and 3
offer endless permutations. (b, bottom)
There are four basic symmetry operations
that through different permutations create
the seven border patterns and the 17 plane
patterns. All patterns have their origins in
these four operations, which are defined by
physical dimensions of space. (? Peter
Stebbing)
inessential to biological survival but important, if not essential, for social survival.

HYPOTHESES
The evidence I provide here suggests that
CRBP may also be universal, since I have
found them in both different media and
different cultures. I therefore developed
the hypothesis that our aesthetic behavior in creating and appreciating visual
compositions has evolved (exapted) from
our innate ability to recognize the diversity of organic forms through the basic organizing principles of Contrast, Rhythm

Stebbing,A Universal Grammar

65

;r
7

a131)8
r'

.B

K
l

?:J

,Sl?'ay.
?,
I .?

L'

"t

nr

I
III

+$^$

>

a"\^L/

fw
wvX

f^TKwt

r ?YL

?I

Fig. 6. Exampleof the organicoccurrenceof contrast.This figuresummarizesthe evolution

of the form of the BurgessShaleanimalsduringthe MiddleCambrian.The rangeof potential forms of animalskeletonsor theirsubunitsis definedin termsof seven essentialproperties, each with two to four possible contrasting states, yielding a total of 21 variables. The
graphics characterizing the parameters of the skeletal elements from the animals representing each descriptor are illustrated on the left. Illustrations of the use of the skeletal elements
in different Burgess Shale animals representing each descriptor are shown on the right [57].
Reprinted with permission from R.D.K. Thomas et al., "Evolutionary Exploitation of
Design Options by the First Animals with Hard Skeletons," Science288 (19 May 2000)
pp. 1,239-1,242. (? 2000 American Association for the Advancement of Science)

possessed an organic-form-recognition
system that emancipated them from their
dependence on the food organisms in
the niche of their origin. Clearly,it would
have been biologically inefficient for
them to have evolved feature detectors
for every organism they eat; therefore,
our ancestors' brains must have evolved
an economical (i.e. grammatical) system
for recognizing any kind of organism. Recently published work on word recognition [34] supports the proposition that
the recognition of complex form takes
place through the perception of simple
patterns consistent with the hypotheses
being proposed here.
Although as J.Z. Young has pointed
out, "the genes have to perform a task
analogous to prediction" [35], the evolution of a perceptual-grammatical system enhances this capability by
extending prediction towards novelty. I
propose that the evolution of a CRBP
perceptual-grammaticalsystem gave early
humans the ability to recognize organic
forms, including those never seen before.
(This case parallels that of speech, in
which we are able to understand sentences we have never previously heard
and, furthermore, recognize as patterns
patterns that we have never previously
seen.) This capabilitymade possible both
(1) the earliest migrations, by freeing our
ancestors from their dependence on the
food species of their original niche, and
(2) (later) our aesthetic capability.

our species, then we must ask two questions (among others [29]). Firstly, why
do we possess a sense of visual composition? Secondly, from what ability did this
Fig. 7. Example of the organic occurrence of visual rhythm. Schematic diagrams illustrating
sense evolve?
the assembly and growth of the bacterial flagellar filament. The cap (A) at the growing end is
in
lives
an
Every organism
ecological essential for the assembly of the filament. Monomers travel within the hollow filament to
niche to which it is adapted and con- reach the end and are added sequentially to the filament's end underneath the rotating cap.
fined. The earliest primates, the prosimi- Side views of the assembly are shown in B and schematic views of the exact assembly process
ans, were insectivores, possessing a shown from above and the side in C show "rotation and axial translation of the cap plate and
accompanied rearrangement of the legs upon every incorporation of a flagellin subunit
perceptual system equipped with "bug (from left to right)" [58]. Reprinted with permission from K. Yonekura et al., "The Bacterial
detector" [30] perceptual primitives that Flagellar Cap as the Rotary Promoter of Flagellin Self-Assembly," Science290 (15 December
stimulated feeding behavior; these were 2000) pp. 2,148-2,152. (? 2000 American Association for the Advancement of Science)
(1) a small dark spot that (2) moves.
4
C 2
A
8
However, primate evolution from the
lemur to the chimpanzee is characterized
by the consumption of an increasing 2
_4 1-_^
4t'4
range of food species [31]. Furthermore,
the increase in the body size of the genus 8
Homo[32] supports the hypothesis for an
.
increase in the variety of diet during the
. ..
I
evolution of Homo from the australopithecines. Our ancestors became non2
specialist feeders par excellence, a
development that was probably an adaptation to climatic changes forcing early
3
humans to seek (new) food organisms in
new environments. Today, humans are
omnivores with an unspecialized diet
rf_D
[33].
When humankind's ancestors spread
6
around the world, they must have already
Stebbing,A Universal Grammar

67

risk of
predation

sexual
attractiveness

/%
greatest

greatest

Chancesof
survival

Reproductive
potential

least

\
small

size

least

large

whichcontributepositivelyto their survivalor to theirreproductive

success[37].

elephant
1000_

Arnheim [38] and Gombrich have both

drawn attention to the biological basis of
aesthetic emotion: "The greater the biological relevance an object has to us the
more willwe be attuned to its recognition"
[39]. I therefore propose that our aesthetic
perception (and the associated emotional
response) initiallyevolvedas the initialstep
in a chain of behavior that could conclude
with either feeding or a flight response on
recognizing an organism.

bull
boar: ii;
.
man .:;:; cow
chimpanzemei8.'
woman
.:t:i
s doo
'"
at

100...

ing

10-

macaque

hen

henis.Nrabbit
marmot

dove .,J:i:'
1- small
birds .:

.*

rat

:," mouse
0.1
0.01

0.1

10
100
Body mass (kg)

.d

starfish
size

rough
seas

/A
Fig. 8. Twoexamplesof the organicoccurrence of balance.(a, top) A balancebetween
contrastingselectionpressuresdetermines
the lengthof the Arguspheasant'stail.The
lengthof the tailis a balancebetweentwo
selectivepressures:(1) long tailsmakethe
pheasantan easierpreyfor the fox to catch
and so selectiondue to predationresultsin
pheasantswithshortertails.However,(2)
the femaleis attractedto maleswithlong
tales and thereforesexualselectionencourages longertailsin the population(see
Lorenz[59]). (b, bottom)Similarly,a balance betweencontrastingselectionpressures
determinesthe fecundityof seashoreanimals. Organismsare usuallymore fecund
the largertheyare;however,on the
seashore,largerorganismsare in dangerof
beingsweptaway.Therefore,a successful
seashoreorganismbalancesthese contrasting pressuresby growinglargeenoughto be
as fecund as possiblewhileremainingsmall
enoughto withstandthe strongestwavesit is
most like to experience.Starfishfecundityis
a balancebetweenat least twopressures:
stormstrengthand frequency,and their
increasingsize (drawnafterDenny[60]).
Mithen has proposed that several different kinds of intelligence evolved in our
ancestors (including social, technical and
natural-history intelligences adapted to
specific behaviors). These intelligences
became more interactive and subsequently merged to facilitate the development of "cognitive fluidity," eventually,
Mithen suggests, enabling the creation of
"art"[36]. I propose that a similar cognitive fluidity underlies our ability not only
to recognize organisms not previously
seen with variable constitutions of CRBP
but also to aesthetically use CRBP across
different modalities and media.
The ability to recognize organic form
also requires an aesthetic/emotional reward system, because, as Boyden states:
A feature of hunting and foodgathering... is the fact thatthese activitiesappearto be generallyenjoyedbythe
Thisis to be expected,since
participants.
in nature all animalsenjoy behaviours
68

Stebbing,A Universal Grammar

GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES,
NATURAL SYNTAX AND

(d

P.

a a

10,000

2000

CREATIVITY
I posit that von Humboldt's observation
with regard to language, that limited
means provide unlimited possibilities
[40], is a principle of natural creative and
organic systems, of which language is a
special case. These generative systems all
display the characteristics of limited
means for either the creation or perception of unlimited variety, e.g.:
* there are only 4 basic forces in the
universe
* there are 12 particles in the Standard
Model
* there are only 4 bases in DNA to code
for the 20 amino acids required to
create organisms
* there are only 4 symmetryoperations
from which all patterns are generated
* higher plants have only 3 possible
leaf growth patterns.
Our own perceptual systems of color
and taste also employ limited means.
Pinker [41] cites Chomsky concerning
our linguistic ability to understand sentences never previously heard. Similarly,
we can also recognize novel patterns as
patterns. It is when we consider the ubiquity of von Humboldt's principle that we
can recognize the natural grammatical
strategy of using limited means (e.g.
CRBP) to recognize organic form, which
has also provided us with our generative
aesthetic grammar.
As one of nature's products ourselves,
we cannot doubt its creativity despite or
rather because of the rules with which it
operates. The art of the last century [421,
characterized by the idea of "artas freedom," may not appear to have been very
creative when compared with nature's
products, produced by rule-based strategies. Many have recognized the creative
significance of limitation, including Arnheim [43], Braque [44], Riley [45],
Welles [46], Goethe [47], Rowlands [48],
da Vinci [49] and finally Westrup, who

1000

I
-

i!iiiii;

.
.... :.~..~:~11ii!ii1i
1000

.........
l
l

4o
0

10

15

20

30

40 50

70

100

Area in millions of square km (logarithmicscale)

Fig. 9. Twoexamplesof the organicoccurrence of proportion.(a) In the organic

world,proportionoccursin differentforms
as a resultof fundamentalprinciples(drawn
after Chaveand Levin[61]). Kleiber'sLaw
describesthe proportionalrelationshipin
organismsacross21 ordersof magnitudeof
metabolicrateto body massat three-quarterspower.(b) The SARor species/area
relationshipdescribesthe numberof species
thatcan live withina specificareaand is
proportionalto the size of thatarea (drawn
after New Scientist[62]).

succinctly stated that "art flourishes on

limitations" [50].
In a recent essay on creativity, Goldenberg strongly criticized the notion of
total freedom, making the recommendation that "our fundamental approaches to creativity" be reevaluated
given the strong evidence of the effectiveness of rule-based systems [51 ]. It appears that "freedom" is a cul-de-sac of
intangibility, whereas nature demonstrates that rules and grammatical systems possess a far greater creative
potential. Therefore, the key question
that art educators must ask today is:
"Whatare the limited means that mustbe
taught in order that the creative potential of our students will have unlimited
possibilities?" This is the question that
this paper has attempted to answer.
SUMMARY
The results of my investigation reflect an
evolutionary sequence of the following:
1. Contrast,Rhythm, Balance and Proportion (CRBP) as organizing components in organic form.
2. The evolution of our perceptual system to respond to CRBPas percep-

tual primitives characterizing organic forms.

3. Due to the "pre-adaptation"of our
perceptual system to respond to
CRBP,we prefer them as organizing
components in aesthetic expression.
I have described CRBP and provided
examples of their occurrence in organic
organization elsewhere [52,53]. In Figs
2-5, I have visually defined each of the
four principles of CRBP. In Figs 6-9 I
have provided organic examples of the
occurrence of CRBP.

D.A. Dondis, A Primerof VisualLiteracy(Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press, 1984).

R. Riiegg and G. Frohlich, Basic Typography

(Zurich,
Switzerland:ABC Edition, 1972).

A.W. Dow, Composition(Berkeley, CA: University of

California Press, 1997).

M. de Sausmarez, BasicDesign:TheDynamicsof Visual

Form(Huntingdon, U.K.: Herbert Press, 1980).

L. Garrett, VisualDesign:A Problem-Solving

Approach
(New York:Rheinhold Publishing, 1967).

D.L. Schodek, Structurein Sculpture(Cambridge, MA:

MIT Press, 1993).

M. Graves, The Art of Colorand Design (New York:

McGraw-Hill, 1951).

R.G. Scott, DesignFundamentals(New York:McGraw

Hill, 1951).

C. Harlan, Visionand Invention,A Coursein Art Fundamentals (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
1970).

P.F. Smith, Architectureand the Principleof Harmony

(London: RIBA Publications, 1987).

S. Hesselgren, TheLanguageof Architecture

(London:
Applied Science Publishers, 1969).
A. Hofmann, GraphicDesign Manual (Heiden AR,
Switzerland:Verlag Arthur Niggli, 1965).

CONCLUSION
I conclude that our species shares a basic
sense of composition (possibly with some
other primates [54]), exapted from our
innate ability to recognize organic form.
The adaptation of our perceptual system
to the recognition of the principles of organic organization (as perceptual primitives) has resulted in our favoring the
same principles for aesthetic composition. This knowledge provides a strategy
for art and design educators, because
what has appeal for us has been determined by our evolutionary past. We have
apparently evolved a cognitive fluidity for
responding to organic novelty based on
permutations of universal principlesContrast, Rhythm, Balance and Proportion-that are simultaneously embedded
in our own biology. If we ignore the constants of the human condition and follow
only fashions and technology, are we in
danger of losing ourselves in a meaningless texture of background noise? I profoundly believe that human creative
potential has more to offer than that.
Contrast, Rhythm (pattern), Balance
(symmetry) and Proportion are embedded in the laws of nature, which has
shown us that they can also provide us
with an aesthetic meta-grammarwith similarly unlimited creative possibilities.

C.H. Howard, Design (London: John Lane the Bodley Head, 1926).
J. Itten, Design and Form(London: Thames & Hudson, 1978).

J. Weber, Gestalt,Bewegung,Farbe(Brunswick, Germany: Georg Westermann Verlag, 1975).

G. Kepes, Languageof Vision(New York:Dover Publications, 1995).

W. Wong, PrinciplesofFormand Design(NewYork:Van

Nostrand Reinhold, 1993).

B. Kleint, Bildlehre(Basel, Switzerland, and Stuttgart,

Germany: Schwabe Verlag, 1969).

P. Zelanski and M.P. Fisher, TheArt of Seeing(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1988).

Kunstgewerbeschule der Stadt Zurich, FormundFarbe

(Zfirich, Switzerland:Kunstgewerbeschule der Stadt
Ziurich,1968).

* Note: These titles are each

regarded as 1 title since
they present one curriculum.

D.A. Lauer, DesignBasics(NewYork: Holt, Reinhardt

& Winston, 1979).

References and Notes

JJ. de Lucio-Meyer, VisualAesthetics(London: Lund

Humphries, 1975).

1. S. MacDonald, "Articidal Tendencies," in D.W.

Piper, ed., Readingsin Art & DesignEducation2: After
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An account is given in J. Elkins, On Picturesand the
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F. Malins, UnderstandingPaintings:
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H. Mante, Bildaufbau-Gestaltung in der Fotografie

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3. P. Ball, "Science in Culture," a review of the exhibition More Than Meets the Eye, at the Victoria and
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APPENDIX A

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K. Rowland, VisualEducation and Beyond(London:

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Stebbing,A Universal Grammar

69

14. A.T. Minai, "Communication Systems Approach

in Architectural Design," in Design Theoryand Practice,R. Langdon and P.A. Purcell, eds. (London: Design Council, 1984) pp. 37-50 (emphases added).

31. G. Teleki, "The Omnivorous Chimpanzee," in BiologicalAnthropology,

Readingsfrom Scientific American (San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman, 1975) pp.
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15. G. Rowley, Principlesof ChinesePainting (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1970).

32. R. Foley, AnotherUniqueSpecies(Harlow Mill, U.K.:

Longman, 1987) pp. 118-150.

16. Dong-sung Cho, "Four Stages of Design Revolution: Expansion of the Design Domain and the Development of Grand Principles of Design," in
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33. S. Boyden, WesternCivilization in BiologicalPerspective(Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1989) p. 67.

17. P. Stevens, Handbookof Regular Patterns (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984).
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in Organisms held in 1990

in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe InstituteStudiesin

XIII (1992) p. 206.
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of chemical pollutants interfering with an enzyme in
the nervous system. The pollutants inhibit the production of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE),
thereby repressing the production of a growth factor
that is necessary for normal limb development. Although the specific chemicals responsible for the deformities have not been identified, it is known that
AChE inhibitors are found in some insecticides. Furthermore, experiments on frogs to test the effects of
the AChE inhibitors cause the same deformities as
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Glossary
The working definitions that I have adopted are deliberately simple, pragmatic and holistic.
balance and symmetry-two or more elements or
forces set against (opposing) each other so that they
equalize or neutralize their tensions, often resulting
in a symmetry of form (see Fig. 5).
contrast-I use Bateson's definition [55] of a contrast as a difference that makes a difference and can
be identified by any of our senses (see Fig. 2).
exaptation or preadaptation-"used to describe the
process by which an organ, behavior, neural structure, etc., which evolved to solve one set of tasks is
later utilized to solve a different set of tasks" [56].
proportion-a ratio composed of two or more contrasting quantities used repeatedly in either the same
and/or different measures in a design (see Fig. 6).
rhythm or pattern-a repetition of a contrast also occurring in one or a combination of the four basic
symmetry operations (see Figs 3 and 4).

Manuscript received 28January 2002.

Peter Stebbing initially studied zoology before

turning to biological illustration, which he
practicedfor 16years in the U.K. However, his
fascination with teaching design students
eclipsedhis interestin illustration, and he now
has afull-time position teaching drawing and
visualization in Germany. The subject of this
paper has been a deep interest of his for nearly
20 years.