ABSTRACT
The benefits of keeping the design simple Design is such a subjective thing. One person may like something that another finds horrible. Design is connected with fashion, so the art and design of thirty years ago differs markedly from the art and design of today. But there is one thing that persistently holds true and that is that simplicity is attractive. Complex imagery can be fascinating but the understated usually wins out. Warner Brothers cartoons often had the barest of backgrounds but they were just enough to give context without detracting from the main focus of a scene. All the images in this chapter can be seen in the project file ‘Examples\Chapter05\bgs.fla’. Many of the images look so much better in colour, therefore you are recommended to look at the artwork so that you are better able to judge the comments about each example. The first image we will consider is the simple tree shown in Figure 5.1. This design by Christian Holland is a perfect example of the attractive quality of simplicity: just simple flat colour and the barest suggestion of leaf structure says tree instantly, but with style and charm.
