Here, I have created six black square designs to portray a certain word. I have used only four squares or less.
1. Congested
I chose this design to describe congested. If you think of the black squares as obstacles, it makes more sense. The little black square in the middle is blocking the path (white space).
2. Playful
The different sizes of the squares plus the swirling felt carefree. A hint of increase to show the gradual "play" in playful.
3. Order
Everything is kept together, or in order by two powerful squares. Bigger ruling over the smaller.
4. Bold
The black against a large white space felt bold to me, a lot of attention focuses on both the square and the space.
5. Increase
The small black square compared to the larger square shows the difference in size and the placing of the squares is diagonal, which is usually related to increase.6. Tension
This can be looked as tension, or loss of tension. Can't get into any more detail with this design. This design is a hit and miss with people, some get it, some don't.
