Formal Aspects

A moving point gives rise to a line. Lines have one dimension - the length. The length is predominantly longer than its breadth. Points that are close to each other with a common directional relationship are perceived as a line.


A line can be straight, bent, curved, irregular or hand drawn.
 

Conceptually, lines are also perceived at places where there is a considerable change in direction of planes or when planes intersect or meet.


At a macro level, the shape of the end of a line can vary.


Lines in a visual field that are quite segregated or with different directions from each other are perceived as different lines.
 

Group of lines that are close to each other establish a 2-dimensional relationship and are perceived as a plane. Groups of lines having many common directional relationships are perceived as different planes.


Repeated replication of lines results in representation of textures and volumetric surfaces. Changing the space between the lines or the thickness of the lines leads to the indication of depth.


Closed or almost closed lines give the perception of a planar surface.

Semantic Aspects

Lines are 1-dimensional in nature and denote direction. An example of this is a line on a map representing a path or a route.


The linear structure of the line can be used to denote a boundary or a division.


When there are two lines, there is an indication of direction and specific interaction between them. Freely used lines create a variety of energies and tensions.

Practical Aspects

The property of the line to be able to denote a boundary makes it useful for representing images in contours.