Decorative backgrounds

1Why this matters

At a wedding, a graduation or a school prize-giving, almost every photo is taken in front of the same spot: the decorated wall or stage behind the main table. That backdrop appears in hundreds of pictures that families keep for years. At home the walls, floor and ceiling are the background to everything else in the room.

A good background makes the people and objects in front of it look their best. A poor one fights with them or hides them. In this lesson you will learn the principles for designing a decorative background, the common types, and how to work out the fabric for an event backdrop.

2Background and foreground

The background is the surface or area behind the main objects. The foreground is what stands in front of it and should catch the eye: the couple's seats, a speaker, a display of cakes, the words on a notice.

• In a room: the walls, floor, ceiling and large curtains.
• At an event: the stage backdrop, the wall behind the high table, a photo corner.
• On a display: the paper on a notice board, the background colour of a poster or invitation card.

3Principles of a good decorative background

1. Support, do not compete. The background should be quieter than the foreground: plainer, or lower in intensity. If both are loud, the eye does not know where to look.
2. Contrast in value. Light things stand out against a dark background, and dark things against a light one. Black writing on white or pale yellow is the easiest to read. Avoid putting red on green: some people, mostly boys and men, cannot easily tell those two colours apart.
3. Pattern against plain. Use a patterned background behind plain objects, or a plain background behind patterned ones, not pattern on pattern. A bride in a busy kitenge outfit looks best against a plain drape.
4. Texture. Natural materials such as woven mats, banana leaves, bamboo, papyrus or exposed brick add interest without adding strong colour.
5. Harmony. Take the background colours from the event's theme colours or from the room's colour scheme.
6. Light. Coloured lights change colours, and a shiny satin reflects the flash of a camera. Check the background under the lighting that will be used.
7. Safety. Fix frames firmly so they cannot fall, and keep fabric well away from candles, hot lamps and cooking.

4Types of decorative background

Worked example: reading a backdrop

Look at the wedding stage in the photo.

• Foreground: the cream sofa and seats with gold frames, the flowers and the woven baskets.
• Background: a wall of dark green leaves and tall panels of woven material with a zigzag pattern.
• Value contrast: the light cream seats stand out strongly against the dark green leaves.
• Pattern against plain: the seats are plain, so a patterned background works.
• Texture and culture: the leaves and woven panels are natural materials, and the zigzags echo Rwandan imigongo patterns.

Worked example: fabric for an event backdrop

Ishimwe's class is making a drape backdrop for a graduation stage 4 m wide and 2.5 m high. The fabric is sold 1.5 m wide at 2,500 Frw per metre. To look full, gathered drapes need twice the width they cover. Each drop needs an extra 20 cm for the top casing and the bottom hem.

Practice

Solution. The background is the surface behind the display, such as the notice-board paper. The foreground is what is shown in front of it and should catch the eye, such as the pictures and headings.

Solution. Pale yellow. Black and pale yellow are far apart in value, so the letters stand out clearly. On dark blue or red the dark letters would be hard to see.

Solution. It breaks the rule of pattern against plain: the couple would blend into the background and the photos would look confusing. A plain drape in one colour taken from the kitenge would make the couple stand out while keeping the colours in harmony.

Solution. Flat width = 3 × 2 = 6 m. Widths = 6 ÷ 1.5 = 4. Each drop = 2.2 + 0.2 = 2.4 m. Fabric = 4 × 2.4 = 9.6 m. Cost = 9.6 × 3,000 = 28,800 Frw.