Active vocabulary. Form (shape).The simplest definition of shape is a closed contour, an element defined by its perimeter

Form (shape). The simplest definition of shape is a closed contour, an element defined by its perimeter. The three basic shapes are: circle, rectangle (square) and triangle. Form is the shape and structure of a dimensional element within a given composition. Form can be both two-dimensional and three-dimensional and can be realistic, abstract or somewhere in between. The terms form and shape are often used synonymously, which is why they are both included here. In reality, form is derived from the combination of point, line and shape. Shapes can vary endlessly and can suggest physical form and direct eye movement. Simple shapes are remembered and understood more easily than complex shapes. Shapes serve many purposes in visual images. Value, texture, and color help us see different shapes.

Shape is any type of form used in a display, remembering that the display case or bulletin board itself is a shape. The main problem is to arrange all of the different sizes and shaped items into larger and more important shapes, and then to relate them to the rest of the design.

Shape refers to the external two-dimensional outline, appearance or configuration of something - in contrast to the matter or content or substance of which it is composed. In geometry, two sets have the same shape if one can be transformed to another by a combination of translations, rotations and uniform scaling. In other words, the shape of a set is all the geometrical information that is invariant to location, scale and rotation. Shapes of physical objects are equal if the subsets of space these objects occupy satisfy the definition above. In particular, the shape does not depend on the size of the object.

Shape can also have a looser definition as the appearance of something, especially its outline. Such a definition agrees with the above in that the shape does not depend on its position, size or orientation. However it does not always imply an exact mathematical transformation. For example it is common to talk of star-shaped objects even though the number of points of the star is undefined. Typically the shape of an object can be characterized by basic geometry such as points, line, curves, plane, and so on.

Objects which are geometrically similar either have the same shape or one has the same shape as the other's mirror image (or both if they are themselves symmetric). Congruent objects are similar and also have the same size. Thus one object has the same size and shape as either the other object or its mirror image.

The shape does not depend on changes in orientation/direction. However, a mirror image could be called a different shape. Shape may change if the object is scaled differentially. For example, a sphere becomes an ellipsoid when scaled differently in the vertical and horizontal axis. In other words, preserving axis of symmetry is important for preserving shapes.