We see lines all day long in the world around us at work, on the road, and in nature. Take a look around you on your drive home and see how many instances of line you can identify.

Lines can vary in shape, thickness, position, color and style. Each variation contributes to the mood of the visual communication you are creating. You can create designs that are calming, unnerving, joyful, cramped, and just about any other mood, simply with your choice of line.

Here are some examples of lines that create moods. What moods do they create for you? 

Lines are an effective way to organize visual communication. They can help to join similar elements and ideas, create a structure and support the underlying grid in your visual communication. 

Examples of organized and disorganized design. 

You can add texture to visual communication with line. It will add visual interest to your piece. Some real world examples of adding texture with line are the skin of a zebra. The type of texture you create depends on the type of line you choose -- for example, rough or smooth, curving or jagged. These choices help to convey your message to your audience. 

Examples of lines adding texture to visual layout.

http://www.rit.edu/~rkelly/html/04_cou/cou_per2.html
This site written by Rob Roy Kelly, intoroduces line and shape exercises. It also has a host of other information from his teaching years at universities in the United States.

http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/index.html
This fun and imagative website shows examples of line and lets you create different types of line on it's website.

William Oliver, Graduate Student
SDSU Educational Technology

Oliver, W. (2004). Using line in visual communication. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.