Lines in Apparel & the Environment

Photoshop Assignment

This image illustrates how lines function as an element of design. Whether lines are in architecture, objects, the environment, or apparel, they are ubiquitous and help us determine the shape our eyes perceive. Lines can be either actual that exist through the connection of surfaces, or implied, which are detected through visual deception, such as a row of buttons or the polka-dotted chair in the photo. These apparel and non-apparel images correspond through their uses of lines. The vertical black and white stripes of a girl's pant legs and purse echo the long stripes in the mowed grass, as the horizontal striped dress of the girl in the back far left resembles the Mondrian painting behind her. The polka-dotted chair she is about to sit in corresponds to the implied line of Hayden Panettiere's one-shoulder dress. The Eiffel tower and bridge in the background have lines joining to support their structures as the girl with the red socks has them simply connecting for visual effects. Lines serve several functions, like directing traffic down a highway or illustrating expressive qualities. By being vertical, horizontal, diagonal or abstract, lines can represent stability and calmness or intense activity. Lines are defined as the visual depiction of movement and energy across a surface. So perhaps the next time you see a line or purchase a garment with stripes you'll consider what type of mood and energy is being revealed.

Image Sources:
1. Mondrian Background (www.answers.com/topic/piet-mondrian)
2. Coleman Bridge (www.roadstothefuture.com/Coleman_Bridge.html)
3. Eiffel Tower (http://middlezonemusings.com/ah-paris-in-the-spring/)
4. tree (www.mikejs.com/photos/2001_for.html)
5. grass (www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17479/)
6. highway (http://www.macgamesandmore.com/macnews072505.php)
7. Mondrian inspired car (http:/sunshinecitylassie.blogspot.com/2008/02/mondrian-car.html)

8. Chinese boxes (http:/www.nashvillewraps.com/ShowSku.ww?Class=012&Type=708)
9. Polkadot chair (http:/blackwhitebliss.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html)
10. woman in striped dress behind car (http:/blackwhitebliss.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html)
11. man in plaid pants (http:/www.bandofoutsiders.com/2006_07_01_lot49_archive.html)
12. Heidi Klum in checkered pants (http:/www.trendyswank.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=9)
13. man in seersucker suit (http:/pulpfiction1130.blogspot.com/2007_05_13_archive.html)
14. woman in black & white horizontal striped dress (pressherald.mainetoday.com/.../013314.html)
15. Jessica Simpson shoes (http://www.fashioniq.com/wordpress/category/shoes/shoe-of-the-day/page/2/)
16. woman in red and black vertical striped dress (www.catwalkqueen.tv/2007/11/a_preview_of_th.html)
17. black and white bag (www.momist.com/blog/2006_03_01_archive.html)
18. woman in black and white pants (www.catwalkqueen.tv/2006/03/top_stripes.html)
19. Hayden Panettiere in one-shoulder dress (http://www.hotmamadaily.com/my-fashion-psychic-powers/)
20. zebra-striped piano (http://blog.pcnews.ro/2007/10/07/pianos-gone-wild-baldwin-exotic-collection/)