in a general sense, the plan, order, representation, or construction of a building, book, painting, &c.

the manufactories, expresses the figures wherewith the workman enriches his stuff, or silk, and which he copies after some painter, or eminent draughtsman, as in diaper, damask, and other flowered silk and tapestry, and the like.

In undertaking of such kinds of figured stuffs, it is necessary, says Mons. Savary, that, before the first stroke of the shuttle, the whole design be represented on the threads of the warp; we do not mean in colours, but with an infinite number of little pack-threads, which, being disposed so as to raise the threads of the warp, let the workmen see, from time to time, what kind of silk is to be put in the eye of the shuttle for woof. This method of preparing the work is called reading the design, and reading the figure, which is performed in the following manner: a paper is provided, considerably broader than the stuff, and of a length proportionate to what is intended to be represented thereon. This they divide lengthwise, by as many black lines as there are intended threads in the warp; and cross these lines, by others drawn breadthwise, which, with the former, make little equal squares: on the paper thus squared, the draughtsman designs his figures, and heightens them with colours, as he sees fit. When the design is finished, a workman reads it, while another lays it on the simblot.

To read the design, is to tell the person who manages the loom, the number of squares, or threads, comprised in the space he is reading, intimating at the same time, whether it is ground or figure. To put what is read on the simblot, is to fasten little strings to the several pack-threads, which are to raise the threads named; and thus they continue to do till the whole design is read.

Every piece being composed of several repetitions of the same design, when the whole design is drawn, the drawer, to re-begin the design afresh, has nothing to do but to raise the little strings, with slip-knots, to the top of the simblot, which he had let down to the bottom: this he is to repeat as often as is necessary till the whole be manufactured.

The ribbon-weavers have likewise a design, but far more simple than that now described. It is drawn on paper with lines and squares, representing the threads of the warp and woof. But instead of lines, whereof the figures of the former consist, these are constituted of points only, or dots, placed in certain of the little squares, formed by the intersection of the lines. These points mark the threads of the warp that are to be raised, and the spaces left blank denote the threads that are to keep their situation: the rest is managed as in the former.

Design is also used, in painting, for the first idea of a large work, drawn roughly, and in little, with an intention to be executed and finished in large.

painting, is the simple contour, or outlines of the figures intended to be represented, or the lines that terminate and circumscribe them: such design is sometimes drawn in crayons, or ink, without any shadows at all; sometimes it is hatched, that is, the shadows are expressed by sensible outlines, usually drawn across each other with the pen, crayon, or graver. Sometimes, again, the shadows are done with the crayon rubbed so as that there do not appear any lines: at other times, the grains or strokes of the crayon appear, as not being rubbed: sometimes the design is washed, that is, the shadows are done with a pencil in Indian ink, or some other liquor; and sometimes times the design is coloured, that is, colours are laid on much like those intended for the grand work.

The essential requisites of a design are correctness, good taste, elegance, character, diversity, expression, and perspective. Correctness depends on the justness of the proportions, and knowledge of anatomy. Taste is a certain manner of correctness peculiar to one's self, derived either from nature, matters, or studies, or all of them united. Elegance gives a delicacy that not only strikes persons of judgment, but communicates an agreeableness that pleases universally. The character is what is peculiar to each thing, wherein there must be diversity, insomuch that every thing has its peculiar character to distinguish it. The expression is the representation of an object, according to the circumstances it is supposed to be in. Perspective is the representation of the parts of a painting or a figure, according to the situation they are in with regard to the point of sight. The design or draught, is a part of the greatest import and extent in painting. It is acquired chiefly by genius and application, rules being of less avail here than in any other branches of the art, as colouring, &c.

The principal rules that regard design are, that novices accustom themselves to copy good originals at first sight; not to use squares in drawing; lest they stint and confine their judgment; to design well from life, before they practise perspective; to learn to adjust the size of their figures to the visual angle, and the distance of the eye from the model or object; to mark out all the parts of their design before they begin to shade; to make their contours in great pieces, without taking notice of the little muscles, and other breaks; to make themselves masters of the rules of perspective; to observe the perpendicular, parallel, and distance of every stroke; to compare and oppose the parts that meet and traverse the perpendicular, so as to form a kind of square in the mind, which is the greatest and almost the only rule of designing justly; to have a regard not only to the model, but to the parts already designed, there being no such thing as designing with strict justness, but by comparing and proportioning every part to the first. All the other rules relate to perspective. See Perspective.