Design Nomenclature / Composition

Scale

Also called relative size

The size of a thing relative to a reference — the frame, the body, another element, or the real-world object depicted. Scale is a relation and requires the reference to be stated; 'large' is not a property of anything. Changing scale changes meaning, not merely size.

The same dark square drawn twice at identical size, with a tiny human figure standing against the left one and a much larger figure standing against the right one. Nothing about the square changed; it reads as a building on the left and a crate on the right, because the only thing either square is large or small relative to is the figure beside it.

In practice

Two senses run together: relative size within a composition, and the ratio a drawing bears to its subject. Ask which is meant before answering.

Not to be confused with

How this term connects

Golden ratioGradationHierarchyModular scaleProportionScaleVisual weightScale
Related Confused with