Hard Surface Visual Design Principles
By Blender Bros
The 70/30 Principle
The 70/30 Principle is a design rule that recommends using 30% of the space in the
model as areas of detail, and the other 70% as empty space (the inverse may also be
true).
This principle helps to create a nice balance between areas of detail and resting areas
for the eye.
This rule is so powerful because it can create a beautiful sense of balance and harmony
on your model.
The areas of detail are the dominant anchors to enhance the composition of the model,
while the empty space is an additional visual anchor allowing the viewer to rest their
eyes and smoothly travel from one area of detail to another.
Subconsciously, all of this happens within milliseconds, but it is incredibly powerful.
Here are a few examples of where this is done right:
As you can see, 70/30 is an amazing way to enhance the visual design and power of
your models. Imagine if there was no empty space – it would look like a maze!
Echoing
Echoing is a powerful design technique in which elements of the model are mirrored or
repeated throughout the design.
This repetition helps create a more powerful visual aesthetic within the model, and
brings a level of cohesiveness to the design.
To echo elements in your designs, find some elements that you’d like to repeat or
mirror. It can be a certain element, angle, shape, or even color.
Then, use these elements throughout your model in a consistent, echoed manner.
You can also use echoing to create additional visual interest by repeating elements In
unexpected ways.
Here are a few examples of echoing:
Notice the consistent, echoed hard angles on the body of the truck above. It brings a lot
more visual interest to the design as opposed to the angles being all of the place.
Also notice some of those angles, in addition to being echoed, are mirrored.
You can do both, and we’d recommend it!
Detail Concentration
Next on the list we have detail concentration.
Now this goes hand-in-hand with the 70/30 principle stated above.
The 30% of your mesh with details should be areas of concentrated detail.
Generally, we can accomplish this effect using detail clusters.
For example, take a look at some of the following images:
In the images above, you can see how detail concentration was used in clusters to bring
attention to certain areas of the design while leaving the rest empty (70%).
Using this together with the 70/30 principle is a great strategy!
Proportion & Scale
Proportion & Scale refer to different-sized elements within your designs to communicate
size & shape to the viewer.
Proportion refers to the relationship between different sizes, whilst scale refers to the
actual size of the entire model
To use this effectively, consider different elements in your design and how they relate to
one another, as well as how you can use these elements to demonstrate scale more
effectively.
However, the most effective way to use this technique is to communicate to the viewer
how large an object really is.
For example, in the image below, look at how the clouds, height and tiny human figures
communicate scale to the viewer:
And in this image, the human character on the left tells the viewer how large this truck
really is.
Notice how much larger this truck would look if we scaled down the human:
Blockouts
Blockouts are a great way to ensure correct proportions and body language on your
model.
It’s always a good idea to have a general “blueprint” of the design you’re making so you
have a guide to go off of.
Here’s a good example of how you can progressively add detail using your blockouts:
Blockouts are pretty straightforward.
You use primitive objects to define the overall form, then progressively add detail using
the elements we discussed above.
Give it a try!
Colors
Colors are a great way to emphasize smaller elements in your model and bring contrast
to your design.
They can be used to convey a mood, draw attention to certain areas (think 70/30) and
also to communicate more about the form of your model.
To effectively use color, think about which areas you want to bring attention to, and
which areas you want the viewer to ignore.
Color is a great way to emphasize the 70/30 principle.
The images above demonstrate how you can effectively use contrasting colors to
emphasize different areas of the mesh and to bring attention to it.
We generally wouldn’t recommend using more than 3-4 colors on your model: A
primary color, a secondary color, and a tertiary color.
Sometimes you might even have a 4th-level color for the really small details, so use it
when needed.
Using too many colors can also disrupt the design, so be careful.
Lighting, Rendering, & Composition
Finally, we have lighting, rendering & composition.
These 3 go hand-in-hand, and you should master all of them.
Failing to use these effectively is the number one reason I see most 3D artists fail.
Even if you’re good at modeling, you must be able to present that work effectively.
This isn’t a topic that’s easy to explain, so I’ve actually prepared a playlist that you can
check out right here.
Here’s an example of one of our students, Uzair, improving his composition:
Not a terrible image, but could be fixed.
A much better image.
Notice how Uzair removed that lighthouse on the left of the frame with the red highlight?
That was pulling a lot of attention away from the scooter.
By removing it in the second image and adding a human figure, the composition has
improved a lot.
Composition is a long, complex subject, and it’s something that you feel more than you
learn.
The more you study composition and begin to “feel” it better and better, the more
improvement you’ll notice.
And there you have it – the hard surface visual design principles that you should be
following in your projects.
If you begin to effectively use these principles, you will become better than 90% of 3D
artists out there.
It takes time, practice, and patience, so don’t expect instant results.
But if you continuously refer to this PDF, you’ll begin to notice a difference within a few
weeks.
We hope this PDF helps you.
Take care,
Blender Bros