An Analytical Study of Design Configurations in Pakistani Paintings Aisha Saddiqa 1 , Nida Ijaz 2 {aisha_sadiqa786@yahoo.com 1 , needaijaz@gmail.com 2 } Graphic Design Department, Institute of Design & Visual Arts 1 , Research Center of Art & Design, Institute of Design & Visual Arts 2 , Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract. This paper sets forth a scientific and analytical approach for understanding the creative process as manifested in a painting by focusing on design elements and principles. It is argued that an artist knowingly or unknowingly uses certain design configurations, which influences the viewer’s interpretation of painting significantly. Firstly, how a painter creates an artwork is defined in terms of the combined activity of his mental processes. These processes range from intuition to the final composition of the artwork and are actualized in different stages of the conception and final composition of an artwork. Secondly, the emotional and intellectual processes of the viewer are also pertinent in critically evaluating the essential message in an artwork. The meaning of this message, therefore, relies as much on the viewer as on the artist. This becomes clear by looking at design configurations as manifested in the works of contemporary Pakistani painters. The paper provides a new way of understanding the work of Pakistani painters from the perspective of design. Keywords: Contemporary, Contemporary, Pakistani Painter, Design, Painting, Pakistani Painting. 1 Introduction The kernel of art is the conveyance of ideas and feelings from the artist to the listener or viewer. Art caters to those parts of human thought which cannot be expressed in words only, and therefore demand other mediums of expression. To provide a visual appearance his thoughts an artist employs certain conventions often defined by design elements and principles. This subtlety is primarily expressed in emotional terms and is communicated on an emotive scale through design configurations. Sometimes an artwork depicts reality as it is, which is typical of folk-art traditions. But most of the time, in the case of prominent art movements, artists use their imagination and craft to portray reality in different ways. It is here that the creative process intensifies and extends beyond mere observation. An artist engaged in a creative process abstracts certain aspects of reality and combines them in a completely new way. This capability, and its necessary elements, will be elaborated in the following study. DESIGN-DECODED 2021, August 24-25, Kedah, Malaysia Copyright © 2022 EAI DOI 10.4108/eai.24-8-2021.2315318