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Linear perspective and commercial design

Writer's picture: Greg Hitchcock | Greg Hitchcock |

Think computer graphics. Think cartooning. Linear perspective is used throughout to give a two-dimensional image a three-dimensional reality.


Before Filippo Brunelleschi discovered linear perspective in around 1415, the world was flat as the earth. After 1415, people saw the world in a whole new way.


Linear perspective is used in many modern applications from architecture to commercial design.


To use linear perspective, trace lines converging on a vanishing point in the horizon. Objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance.


Using linear perspective, the illustrator creates the illusion of depth. This technique can demonstrate something as simple as a box on a table or a room full of people to the greater complexity of a city skyline.



Pietro Perugino, Christ handing the keys to St. Peter, 1481-1482
Pietro Perugino, Christ handing the keys to St. Peter, 1481-1482

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