You can think of the elements of art as the ingredients artists use to make their creations. But what recipes and guidelines do they use to combine these ingredients into works of art? The principles of design describe how different artistic elements interact to create stronger designs. An artist might use the principles of design to combine ingredients such as line, form, and value to create a drawing. For example, this drawing of a mailbox uses lines and form to show the design principles of contrast, emphasis, proportion, and space.

Applying the principles of design can make even a single element come alive. The shape below illustrates the design principles of movement and proportion.