Industrial Arts Design Part 7

SUMMARY OF RULES

Rule 4a. _The appendage should be designed in unity with, and proportionately related to, the vertical or horizontal character of the primary ma.s.s, but subordinated to it._

Rule 4b. _The appendage should have the appearance of flowing smoothly and, if possible, tangentially from the primary ma.s.s._

Rule 4c. _The appendage should, if possible, echo or repeat some lines similar in character and direction to those of the primary ma.s.s._

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. State the nature and use of the appendage.

2. What is the relation of the size of the appendage to the size of the primary ma.s.s?

3. How should the appendage be attached to the primary ma.s.s?

4. How does Rule 4c help to secure unity between the appendage and the primary ma.s.s?

5. Are compa.s.s curves permissible in appendage design?

6. State influence of tools and materials upon appendage design.

CHAPTER VI

ENRICHMENT OF THE CONTOURS OR OUTLINES OF DESIGNS IN WOOD

With this chapter we introduce contour enrichment, the second major division of industrial arts design.

[Sidenote: Need and Value of Enrichment]

A critic of furniture designed by the average manual arts student has stated frankly that while it might have been honestly constructed it was, in the first place, too heavy for a woman to move about the house and, in the second place, it represented a decidedly uneconomical use of that valuable material, wood. That there is a basis in fact for this statement cannot be denied. Is it true, then, that furniture must of necessity be clumsy and heavy when it is sufficiently simplified in constructive processes for school work? We may say emphatically, "No!"

One may correct the proportions of an object and reduce the size of the materials in it to a minimum but still fail to secure the desirable elements of lightness and interest. The object may still _look_ heavy and remain a box-like structure void of the grace synonymous with the best in design. It is, however, possible to correct the clumsy and heavy appearances by imparting to the design elements of grace and lightness.

Two methods may be used, singly or together: (1) Enrichment of the Functional Outlines or Contours; (2) Surface Enrichment sometimes called s.p.a.ce Filling. These may be roughly cla.s.sified respectively as three and two dimension enrichment.

[Sidenote: Contour Enrichment]

The first, or outline enrichment, concerns itself with the structural lines. As all designing processes should start with the structure, it will be our policy to do so. The present chapter will deal only with enrichment of outlines of wood projects.

Rule 5a. _Outline enrichment should be subordinated to and support the structure._

Rule 5b. _Outline enrichment should add grace, lightness, and variety to the design._

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMMON ERRORS IN CONTOUR ENRICHMENT

STAMP BOXES

PLATE 19a]

[Sidenote: Purpose of Contour Enrichment]

[Sidenote: Requirements of Contour Enrichment]

It is the purpose of enrichment to add to the problem (1) grace; (2) lightness; (3) variety; (4) unity. If it is applied in a proper manner it should likewise add to the apparent structural strength. We should carefully guard the design, therefore, against (1) enrichment that has a tendency to obscure or destroy the structural lines; in other words, enrichment that is not subordinated to the structure, and (2) enrichment that adds nothing to the structure by its application; that is, one which does not increase either the apparent strength or the beauty of the object.

As an example of this first point, the turned candlestick with the candle supported by a stack of turned b.a.l.l.s alternating with tauri or thin discs tends to obscure completely the sense of support. Again, the landscape gardener feels that he is violating a fundamental principle in design if by planting vines to grow around a building, he obscures the foundation, and the roof appears, consequently, to rest on and be supported by the stems and leaves of the vines. Thus it is seen that the eye registers a sense of structural weakness when the main supports of an object disappear and are no longer to be traced under the enrichment.

Under the second point falls the indiscriminate placing of unrelated objects in the contour enrichment. Naturalistic objects similar to the claw foot and the human head, for example, should give way to natural curves that add to the appearance of total strength. Where are we to find these curves suited to our purpose?

[Sidenote: Valuable Curves for Outline Enrichment]

Up to this point emphasis has been placed upon straight and curved lines immediately connected with pure service. For grace and lightness it is necessary to depart at times from the rigidity of straight lines. To understand the character of this departure let us consider a simple bracket as a support for a shelf.

This bracket acts as a link, connecting a vertical wall or leg with a horizontal member or shelf. A bracket shaped like a 45-degree triangle, Figure 10, page 24, gives one the sense of clumsiness. If the feeling of grace is to be imparted the eye must move smoothly along the outline of the bracket, giving one a sensation of aesthetic pleasure. A curved line will produce this effect more completely than will a straight line. One must likewise get the feeling that the curve of the bracket is designed to support the shelf.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATURAL AND GEOMETRIC CURVES WITH THEIR USE IN FUNCTIONAL OUTLINE ENRICHMENT

PLATE 20]

THE CURVE OF FORCE

[Sidenote: Valuable Curves]

Turning to Figure 70, Plate 20, we find that whenever nature desires to support a weight she is inclined to use a peculiar curve seen at _F_.

Possibly through continued observation the eye has a.s.sociated this curve with strength or supporting power. Figure 71 has detailed this curve. It is found to consist of a long, rather flat portion with a quick and sudden turn at its end. The curve is known to designers as the Curve of Force and is most valuable in all forms of enrichment. Designers even in early ages used it in some form as will be noted from the fragment of Greek sculpture in Figure 72. Its beauty rests in its variety. A circle has little interest due to its rather monotonous curvature. The eye desires variety and the curve of force administers to this need and gives a sense of satisfaction. As designers on wood, how are we to utilize this curve for purposes of outline enrichment?

[Sidenote: An Approximate Curve of Force]

For approximate similarity of curvature an ellipse constructed as shown in Figure 73 will be found convenient. By drawing several ellipses of varying sizes upon sheets of tin or zinc, a series of templates of utmost practical value may be formed and used as was done in securing the curves of force in Figures 74 and 75. If the rail or shelf is longer than the post, measured downward from the rail to the floor or to the next shelf, the ellipse should be used with its major axis placed in a horizontal position, Figure 75. If, on the contrary, the post is longer than the shelf the ellipse should have its major axis in a vertical position, Figure 74. Figures 76 and 77 show other instances of the use of the approximate curve of force. Many similar practical applications will occur to the designer.

[Sidenote: Mouldings]

We have cla.s.sed the bracket as a link connecting a vertical and horizontal structure. Mouldings may likewise be considered as links connecting similar horizontal or vertical surfaces by bands of graded forms. Inasmuch as they effect the outline they are considered in this chapter. As the mouldings are to a.s.sist the eye to make the jump from one surface to another by easy steps, the position from which the mouldings are to be seen determines to some extent their design.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENRICHMENT OF THE CONTOUR OR OUTLINE BY MOULDINGS APPLIED TO WOOD ... TYPES OF MOULDING ... WOOD TURNING PROBLEMS

PLATE 21]

[Sidenote: Mouldings (_Continued_)]

Figure 78 shows the relation of the spectator to three types of mouldings at _A_, _B_, and _C_. The top or _crown_ (_A_) is to be seen from below. On a large project the angle of the mouldings with the body of the object should be approximately 45 degrees. The _intermediate_ moulding (_B_) is lighter than the crown and forms a transitional link that may be seen from either above or below. The lower or _base_ moulding (_C_) is the widest member of the group as demanded by our sense of stability. It is seen from above. Both for sanitary and structural reasons it projects but slightly from the base. With this grouping in mind it is needless to say that a faulty moulding is one, some portion of which, hidden by intervening moulding, cannot be seen by the spectator.

Architectural design and history have formulated a series of curves, geometric in character, that are regarded as standards in the Industrial Arts. Some of the more prominent curves with their constructions are shown in Figure 79. The horizontal divisions are a.n.a.lyzed in accordance with Rules 2a and 2b. It is noticed that the Scotia possesses a curve having the shape of the curve of force, while the two Cymas are saved from monotonous division by means of their reversed curves, ill.u.s.trating the contrast of direction. The curves of Figure 80 are excellent lines for freehand practice in designing mouldings and will develop the principle of continuity of curvature or the smooth transition of one curve into the next.