Shape & Silhouette Theory

I've known of the idea of the psychology of shapes and silhouette for a few years now, but I can't pinpoint where I learned it, much like having knowledge of the colour wheel and relevant theories, but not knowing specifically where it came from. I've just carried on with the thought that these theories are a commonly accepted practice that many artists agree on, which justifies them. Now, I want to go into the ideas with more depth, and actually provide evidence that shows my research.

Going back through my art books, I've found references to such theories. In The Complete Book of Drawing skills by Barrington Barber, form and shape is discussed as a way to "break down the process of visual perception to its fundamentals". It explains that our eyes take in shape, colour, light and shade, and our mind interprets images based on our experience to form something we recognise; "Shape is the outline visual impression we have of an object. Because we get used to seeing objects in certain positions we tend to see what we expect to see rather than what is actually there".

The chapter goes on to continue with how instinctive recognition uses characteristics of an object to define it and its role, and how there are clues to its identity in the shape. In this series of silhouettes below, you can tell by experience and symbol associations that the images are planes, but the details in their main frames allows you to identify the individual models of the aircraft. This works in the same way in other given examples, such as when you see the Eiffel Tower, you think Paris, or the East when you see the Taj Mahal.

I found an article online by Chris Solarski called The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design, which covers the psychology of shapes and dynamic composition in depth, extending the theory from not just character shape but also the way they move in animations, the paths laid out in levels, and the relation of their shape to the shape of the environment. It mentions this is based on the topics from his book, Drawing Basics and Video Game Art, which I'll be looking into to cover this topic in much more depth.

It begins with saying artists can deconstruct objects into their simplest form to aid in rendering reality, and that primitive shapes have aesthetic associations in art, in relation to our life experiences and sense of touch:

Circle: innocence, youth, energy, femininity
Square: maturity, stability, balance, stubbornness
Triangle: aggression, masculinity, force

He gives the example of the sphere, cube, and star objects pictured above on a table, then imagine shaking that table to show their properties. The sphere would roll, and the cube would stay in place. If the objects were thrown at you, you'd catch the sphere easily, but would hesitate with the star because of the sharp edges. This concept of associations with the three shapes, which Solarski refers to as a shape spectrum of emotions, can be incorporated into any design, as shown in the example below. He also states that this is not a definitive formula, but a tool to assess artwork.

This theory can be applied to various design elements. These were the examples given:

Character Personality: Mario is dynamic, youthful, and positive, and circular based. Luigi is the supportive brotherly type, shown in his vertical rectangle figure, and Wario is aligned to the triangle, which portrays his aggressive enemy role.

Character Animations & Paths: Lines of movement can be used to convey personality, emotion, or physical status, which can clearly show alignment to curves (delicate, dynamic), straight lines (slow, peaceful), or angular lines (aggressive). Journey uses broadly visualised lines in the character's movements in such a way; "In the opening sections of the game, the character has an upright posture and jumps freely and gracefully. But we witness a delicate shift in the character's physical state as we eventually guide it up into the storm where it begins to hunch forward against the pounding winds."

Character Shape vs Environment Shape: A character's relation to their environment can suggest similar responses and create narrative. "A circular character in a circular environment (top-left) exhibits a sense of harmony because the character's shape is echoed in its surroundings. The echo gives us a sense of home -- suggesting that here is where the character belongs. We also get a sense of harmony if both the character and environment are square, or triangular (lower-right), although the change of primary shape gives us a different aesthetic sensation. We get a sense of dissonance when character and environment shapes contrast each other. A circular character appears threatened when placed in an edgy environment (top-right); while a triangular character appears the threat in a soft and rounded environment (lower-left)."

Solarski also states breaking the conventions of these shapes can make more interesting characters. For instance, a character might be full of triangles and their design portrays them as a villain, but they might turn out to be the hero who is friendly and kind. This makes the story emotionally richer and engaging.

In Michael D. Mattesi's Character Design from Life Drawing, the artist discusses the importance of understanding depth and flatness in art, or form and shape respectively. By using shape design to build up the smaller elements allows for an interesting launch point before filling it with form and detail. He states, however, that it's best not to get trapped into drawing like this too often as it can result in a flat, dead design (much like Solarski); "The shapes are abstract parameters of the figure for placement relationships". Using shapes is only one step to make unique designs, and should be built upon further. He uses shapes as abstract thoughts to aid in placement of the figure, and proportion is secondary. Again, shapes are said to have emotional relationships to us:

Triangle (Point down): athletic, dynamic, precarious
Triangle (Point up): solidity, unmoving, energetic
Circle: friendly, soft, safe
Square: strength, solidity 

As you can see in the image, he goes on to apply force to the bottom row of shapes to bring them to life, whereas the top row is static because of their symmetry. This theory follows his rules of straight to curve design in depth to create forceful shapes; the curve represents force, and the straight line is structure. 

From this selection of artists, it's clear they each conform to certain aspects of shape theory, such as emotional or aesthetic qualities in certain shapes, our instinctive associations with the forms silhouettes make, and the process of using shapes to build upon for interesting designs. I agree with most of what they say, and so will try applying this to my work in my practice-based research to see what kind of impact it has on my style and process.