ROSS. — DESIGN AS A SCIENCE. 359 



considered as such, may be called Pure Design. This may be defined as 

 the arrangement or composition of spots of paint for the sake of balance, 

 rhythm, and harmony; for the sake of consistency, unity, beauty. Pure 

 Design appeals to the eye just as music appeals to the ear. The term of 

 expression in music is the sound; the term of expression in design is the 

 spot of paint. 



The spot of paint is three things : it is a tone, a measure, and a shape. 

 By tone I mean the pigment material used in drawing the measure of 

 the spot and its shape. By measure I mean the area covered by the spot, 

 its size. By shape I mean its outline, or contour. Put a spot of paint 

 upon a piece of paper, then change (1) its tone alone ; (2) its measure 

 alone ; (3) its shape alone ; (4) its tone and measure, leaving its shape 

 unchanged ; (5) its measure and shape, leaving its tone uuchauged ; 

 (6) its tone and shape, leaving its measure unchanged ; (7) change its 

 tone, its measure, and its shape, producing an altogether different spot. 



Taking the spot of paint as the subject of my investigation, I will con- 

 sider, first, the element of tone, then the element of measure, and, lastly, 

 the element of shape. In order to study the element of tone we must 

 eliminate all differences of measure and of shape, which might be confus- 

 ing. Producing as many different tones as we can, in circles of half an 

 inch diameter, we find that we can produce a very great number and a 

 very great variety. Looking over the tones we have produced, we ob- 

 serve that every tone is relatively light or dark. It has what is called 

 value. It is a measure of light in the white-to-black scale. Observe, 

 also, that every tone has a color. It is red, or green, or violet, or some 

 other color, and the color which it has is relatively intense or neutral, or 

 it may be quite neutral. We shall find it convenient to regard the neu- 

 tral as a color. It is the color of white, or gray, or black. Tone means, 

 according to these observations, two things, — value and color. 



We will consider, first, the element of value, afterwards, the element of 

 color. In considering values alone we must eliminate all differences of 

 color which might be confusing. Take the neutral pigments, white and 

 black, and see how many neutral values you can produce in circles of half 

 an inch radius. You can produce seventeen certainly, and perhaps a few 

 more. You will observe that in producing as many as seventeen neutral 

 values you are nearing the limit of visual discrimination, the limit of dis- 

 tinct definition, or expression. Observe that every value which you have 

 produced is a force drawing attention to itself. Observe that different 

 values exert different degrees of attractive force, that this force is deter- 

 mined in each case (other things, measure, shape, and color, beiug equal) 



