ABSTRACT

The Art of Theatrical Design: Elements of Visual Composition, Methods, and Practice addresses the core principles that develop the student designer into a true artist, providing a foundation that ensures success with each production design. This text concentrates on the skills necessary to create effective, evocative, and engaging theatrical designs that support the play contextually, thematically, and visually. It gives students the grounding in core design principles they need to approach design challenges and make design decisions in both assigned class projects and realized productions. This book features:

  • In-depth discussions of design elements and principles for costume, set, lighting, sound, and projection designs
  • Coverage of key concepts such as content, context, genre, style, play structure and format, and the demands and limitations of various theatrical spaces
  • Essential principles, including collaboration, inspiration, conceptualization, script analysis, conducting effective research, building a visual library, developing an individual design process, and the role of the critique in collaboration
  • Information on recent digital drawing tool technology, such as the Wacom® Inkling pen, Wacom® Intuos digitizing tablets and digital sketching, and rendering programs such as Autodesk® Sketchbook Pro and Adobe® Photoshop®
  • Chapter exercises and key terms designed to provide an engaging experience with the material and to facilitate student understanding

chapter |1 pages

Acknowledgments

part |1 pages

Part One Beginnings

chapter 1|8 pages

What is Theatrical Design?

chapter 2|4 pages

Form, Content, and Context

chapter 3|8 pages

Genre

chapter 4|10 pages

Style

chapter 5|7 pages

Dramatic Structure

part |1 pages

Part Two Elements of Design

chapter 6|10 pages

Line

chapter 7|6 pages

Shape, Form, Mass, Volume, and Space

chapter 8|8 pages

Value

chapter 9|14 pages

Color

chapter 10|6 pages

Texture

part |1 pages

Part Three Principles of Design

chapter 12|12 pages

Unity and Variety

chapter 13|8 pages

Balance

chapter 14|14 pages

Repetition, Rhythm, and Pattern

chapter 15|6 pages

Scale and Proportion

chapter 16|5 pages

Emphasis and Subordination

part |1 pages

Part Four Core Principles for the Theatrical Designer

chapter 17|4 pages

Collaboration

chapter 18|4 pages

Analysis

chapter 19|8 pages

Conceptualization

chapter 20|14 pages

The Design Process

chapter 21|4 pages

The Role of the Critique

chapter 22|22 pages

Drawing as Our Common Language

chapter 23|27 pages

Rendering

part |1 pages

Part Five Individual Design Areas

chapter 24|12 pages

Costume Design

chapter 25|16 pages

Scene Design

chapter 26|18 pages

Lighting Design

chapter 27|10 pages

Sound Design

chapter 28|20 pages

Projection Design