Popular Woodworking – August 2019

20 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING

Design Matters

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Nice Lines. We say those words

to describe a well-designed boat,

sports car, chair or saw handle. It

expresses our pleasure when all the

parts of a design seem to fl ow to-

gether to give it a sense of motion

and life. Finding that sweet spot

with fl owing lines is like catching

lightning in a bottle. Lines are

really just edges where two surfaces

come together. Edges play a variety

of roles in design. Understanding

the potential of both elements can

help you achieve your goals when

designing furniture.

Lost in Space

The photo of wooden hand planes

below shows the role that lines play

in design. Note that the backdrop

in the photo gives the illusion that

the tools are fl oating in an infi nite

space. It’s not magic, just a simple

photographer’s technique. The back-

ground is a sheet of cardstock curled

up behind the subject in the photo.

The planes appear to be fl oating

because the backdrop curves and

has no distinct lines or edges that

give our eye something to grab hold

of and anchor to the planes in the

foreground. This sense of fl oating

in space is desirable in photography

but in real life we tend to look for

edges that help us orient our fi eld of

vision and make sense of the world.

A good example of this is how

people respond to walls that are

capped with crown moulding. They

might not understand why but most

prefer the look of crown moulding

as apposed to a bare ceiling jutting

into a bare wall. Mouldings use the

patterns of light and shadow to

exaggerate edges in any space; archi-

tectural mouldings help defi ne the

space in a room. They clearly defi ne

fl oors, walls and ceiling, and help us

distinguish doors and window open-

ings. It’s true that rafters, joists,

fl oorboards and wall studs carry

the invisible mechanical loads we

cannot see in a room, and yet it’s the

mouldings that do the visual work.

This tombstone shape is empha-

sized by the moulded edge that

draws the eye.

Understanding Lines & Edges

By George Walker

Control the eye for better design.

1 Look, Ma, no hands! These planes hang in space.

2 A trick of the eye, this background seems to

stretch into infi nity.

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