Figure-Ground Distribution and Media Translation Based on Digital Image Analysis: A Study on the Formal Mechanism of Aubrey Beardsley’s Black-and-White Decorative Images

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-737-8_78How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Digital image analysis; Aubrey Beardsley; figure-ground relationship; visual design

Abstract

Aubrey Beardsley’s black-and-white illustrations are highly recognizable, yet existing studies mostly interpret his style from art historical and symbolic perspectives, leaving cross-sample analyses of how black-and-white structures generate viewing pauses, pressure-type organization, and boundary complexity insufficient. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach integrating art design and digital technology, proposing a figure-ground distribution analysis method based on digital image analysis. Eight representative samples from Beardsley’s early, middle, and late periods were processed via unified grayscale conversion and binarization, from which black-white area ratio and junction density were extracted. Three formal variables (black mass intensity, negative space function, line density) were constructed, and three visual-organization indices (pressure-type, stage-type, and labyrinth-type organization) were synthesized. Results show early-period samples have balanced indicators with narrative-focused figure-ground relationships; middle-period samples feature prominent black mass intensity and negative space function to reorganize viewing rhythm; late-period samples exhibit increased line density and local gradients, with complexity derived mainly from boundary densification. This study demonstrates that digital image analysis can transform empirically judged formal features into describable, comparable, and verifiable structural indicators, providing a transferable framework for digital publishing, visual communication, and interface hierarchy design.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Chichen Zhang
AU  - Xinping Zhao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/18
TI  - Figure-Ground Distribution and Media Translation Based on Digital Image Analysis: A Study on the Formal Mechanism of Aubrey Beardsley’s Black-and-White Decorative Images
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Art Design and Digital Technology (ADDT 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 663
EP  - 677
SN  - 2352-538X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-737-8_78
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-737-8_78
ID  - Zhang2026
ER  -