# Drawing Moves

## What is a move?

Broadly speaking, moves are actionable strategies, steps, or maneuvers that people take to accomplish their goals.

**Drawing moves refer specifically to the ways in which visual communicators deploy the elements of drawing -- color, line, shape -- to communicate meaning**.

We already use the term “moves” to denote what players do in games and sports. In the same way that a dancer might move his body to express a feeling, or a chess player might move a piece to advance her position on the game board, one can deploy various moves in drawing.

This guide is a compilation of “drawing moves.” It was written to teach you how make choices that align with and support your communication goals.

## List of Moves by Element
### Color
* Use **[saturated color](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/highlighting-info-w-saturated-color.md)** to “call out” areas of significance
* Use **[value contrast](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/attracting-focus-w-value-contrast.md)** to “call out” areas of significance
* Use **[complementary colors](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/key-color-terms.md)** to differentiate elements of your drawing
* Use **[color palettes](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/Color-Triads.md)** to differentiate elements of your drawing
* Use colors to **[group elements](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/Color-Coding.md)** of your drawing
* Use **[color scales](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/representing-change-with-value-scales.md)** to represent gradual change

### Line
* Use **gestural line** to suggest movement
* Use **arrows** to show direction
* Use **arrows** to show cause and effect
* Use **line weight and outlines** to draw attention
* Use **lines** as borders to organize and separate parts of your drawing

### Shape
* Use shapes as **containers** of information
* Use **similar shapes** to express relatedness
* Use **contrasting shapes** to represent contrast
* Use **proximity of shapes** to group elements of your drawing
* Use **alignment of shapes** to organize information
* Use **shape size** to create a hierarchy of information

## List of Moves by Function

### How to orient the viewer
* Include a **reference object** (e.g. a penny) to show physical scale
* Include a **timeline** to show change over time
* Include a **3-D tripod** to show perspective
* Use **labels** to identify elements of the drawing
* Use a **legend or key** to identify elements of the drawing
* Avoid **“chart junk”** that distracts from data
* Include **documentation** of your data sources
* Use a **title** to communicate the main idea
* Provide **context** to orient the viewer
* Use a logical, non-arbitrary **organizing principle** to arrange data

### How to express motion
* Use **colored arrows** to indicate a specific path and direction
* Use **dotted lines** to indicate change in position
* Use **ghosting**, or blurry overlapping images, to indicate change in position
* Draw **“before and after” images** in parallel, proximal panels to show motion

### How to express change over time
* In coordinate planes, use **x-axis** to represent time
* Draw **“before and after”** images in parallel, proximal panels to show change
* Utilize **reading conventions** (move from left to right or top to bottom)

### How to make verbs visible
* Use **arrows** to indicate motion, action, or change in state
* Use **comic-book-like panels** to show motion, action, or change in state
* Use **ghosting** to show motion, action, or change in state

### How to examine or compare nouns
* Use **visual parallelism** to “call out” subtle differences between nouns
* Use **stylized line drawings or icons** to gain control over which details you include
* Use **continuum scales** to study the gray area that exists between two extremes
* Use **crossed continuum diagrams** to unpack a complex concepts

### How to express cause and effect
* Use **chain of events diagrams** to show linear, cause-and-effect relationships
* Use **convergent diagrams** to show multi-cause relationships
* Use **divergent diagrams** to show multi-effect relationships
* Use **fishbone diagrams** to show complex multi-cause relationships
* Use **cycle of events diagrams** to explain any series of events that repeats over time
* Use **human interaction outlines** to show interactions between two groups

### How to guide the viewer’s eye through your drawing
* Use **saturated color** to “call out” areas of significance
* Use **contrast in color value** to “call out” areas of significance
* Use **line quality** to guide the viewer’s eye
* Use **arrows** to point out areas of significance
* **Break alignment of shapes** to “call out” areas of significance
* **Change size of shapes** to “call out” areas of significance

### How to create icons that represent ideas
* Combine **simple shapes** into icons

## Key Terms and Concepts

### [Color](https://github.com/learninglab-dev/the-resources/blob/master/data/resources/projects/graphic-design/key-color-terms.md)
* hue
* saturation
* value
* contrast
* palette
* achromatic
* monochromatic
* complementary
* analogous
* split complementary
* triadic
* temperature

### Line
* Weight
* Solid
* Broken or Dotted
* Hairline
* Arrow
* Gestural Line
* Straight Line
* Sketchy Line
* Confidence
* Angular
* Curved
* Parallel
* Hard
* Soft

### Shape
* Organic Shape
* Geometric Shape
* Open Shape
* Closed Shape
* Figure/Ground Relationship
* Implied Shapes
* Negative Space
* Positive Space

### Principles of Design
* Contrast
* Repetition
* Alignment
* Proximity