Week 14- Visual Techniques

Visual Techniques 

via. google.com

variation
depth
distortion
repetition
neutral

via. http://brite-blue.blogspot.com/2010/12/entire-magazine.html

unity
simplicity
understatement
economy
stasis

     Both of these magazine layouts are very visually appealing. The top one is illustrated, abstract and distorted. The picture is broken and the background is cracked which create movement. The small shapes that are broken and cracked are evenly spread out which creates a pattern or a repetition of shapes. There is a variation of text and color on the top one as well.  The color palate on both layouts are very neutral in color however, the one at the bottom is more so. 

The bottom layout is extremely simple. It is economic in design, very compartmentalized and clean. The pictures of the mountains leaves a static feeling. There is no movement in the text or pictures. The way the text are laid out in tall columns mirror the mountains in the pictures. 

Week 13- Contrast

CONTRAST: SUCCESS VS. FAILURE

http://www.thegoosesroost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/strong.jpg

     This illustration is a representation of effective contrast. The super-strong circus looking man is very bulky on top with broad shoulders and chest. In contrast, he has very small legs, feet, and head. This is a good representation of contrast in scale. The contrast in exaggerated shape of his pointy shoulders to the round barbell at the bottom of the picture also makes the illustration more interesting.  These features on the man's body make for a humorous illustration and concept. There is a contrast in colors between the man's white skin and the colors of his hair and moustache, his clothing, and the barbell that stand out. The shadows in the picture make for an interesting addition of dimension to the picture. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuEEs9qWSmkkyyNrWJoA49lx7qdxPd50SBVn5Zs4XxlUsnMQRnPlyobI3dRr0AGMKkyH_reK7ZbIJlcbpNFTxoN5w45LGn-4WpRyPjWMcQFw8KZ2VThWqfJaEMTpzZrW8sBOmnwZmbH-y/s1600/bad_layout_alignment.png

     If I saw these two pages next to each other in a magazine as they are presented here, I would skip past it completely. There is a lack of effective planning for the layout entirely. There is poor use of contrast between the negative and positive space. The pictures are all the same scale and shape leaving an awkward layout. They are also jumbled in the top left corner which has the reader not wanting to even glance at the article. Another quality of contrast between negative and positive space is the font. The font is way too small and difficult to read. In addition, there is no contrast in color which leaves the pages with a very bland and uninteresting tone.   

tone

color

scale

dimension

time 

shape

Week 12- Implied Motion

http://camilaart116.blogspot.com/2010/04/implied-motion-artwork.html

This artwork by Hokusai Manga is an example of implied motion. The character is shown many times on the picture. When looking across the page as if one was reading it, the character appears to be dancing or moving across the page. His body is shown in a different stance every time. This is an example of apparent movement. The increments of him moving into a different stance form a sort of dance. The fact that our movement is familiar to us as humans further assists in bringing this picture to life. The familiar act of dancing allows us to relate. Even if this was an animal, we as humans might even assume that it was dancing because it is an act that we relate to as a species. 

http://www.arch2o.com/causa-efecto-ana-soler/

This is an art installation where tennis balls are hung through the room in a particular way. The way that they are hung implies that the balls are bouncing around the room. If you are standing in the room you can see that the balls get bigger the closer they are and get smaller the further away they are. The fact that the closer ones seem to be in front of the ones further away imply that the ball is moving towards or away from you. This can give the tennis ball illusions of direction. This could also be related to apparent motion because when an object is moving fast through the air it seems like there is multiple objects. The tennis balls seem to be moving in intervals through the air. This reminds me of playing pong and how the dot on the screen would move back and forth in increments that implied fluid motion.

Week 11 Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

This font depicts negative space. The brain makes up for the lack of information portrayed to form letters. This is like the prey having to compensate for the rest of a predators body even when it isn't fully visible before it attacks. 

The shapes that form the font also imply that they are 3D. The letters seem to pop off of the page. Also, the different colors and tones of grey help pop the shape off the page and create a sense of depth and dimension.

The lines that make up the edges of the shapes carve out negative space contrasting with the background. There are also lines that create a wooden texture on the letters.

Tone And Color

http://obeygiant.com/images/2008/10/obama.jpg

HOW TONE IS OPERATING...
- the break in tone of the light blue color around parts of the face and the darker blue of the hairline creates texture.
- distinguishes between the background, the face, the hair, the text, and his suit and clothing.
- creates dimensions of darkness and lightness (also creates highlights and implies dark colors). However, the background being the same tones as the face leave the poster looking flat and iconic.



HOW TONE IS INTERACTING...
- tone is interacting with shape to create recognizable features of Obama's face (the different highlighted and colored parts help create a 3D look.)
- the different toned shapes provide contrast between the light and darkness of Obama's features and clothes
- creates text shapes that also give the poster meaning and contrast between the background



HOW COLOR IS OPERATING...
- symbolically patriotic (red, whiteish, blue) blue and red are primary colors.
- depict Obama as a man of the country
- creates variations in similar tones (the middle blue color and red found in the background as well as the face are the same tone but the color is obviously different).



HOW COLOR IS INTERACTING...
- There are no dark lines splitting up the shapes that create this poster. There are lines created by the change of color and the tones of blue. Rarely on this poster are they straight since faces only have organic lines. The dark color of the suit, the hair, and frame of the face create a border around Obama. His face is centered between two swirly different colored lines that form his ears. The lines and colors that make up his suit make him seem powerful.

WEEK 10- Publication/Poster Design

MOVEMENT

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/may/olympics-movement-posters

          Movement is involved in both the planning and the final product of these designs for the olympic events. The posters actively portray the event itself (the bouncing of the tennis ball and the change of the sword's angle in the fencing poster) By having the tennis ball replicated with more and more opacity allows for the suggested movement of the ball across the page. The sequence of the ball heading into the racket shows motion along with indent of the racket to imply (implied movement) that it had just hit the ball. In the poster on the right, lines leading the eye off of the page and crossing each other at several points implies the progression of a real fencing match and the movements of each sword through the air. While making both posters, it is clear that the best example of movement had to be found. Shapes were adjusted to portray the motion of the sport most accurately.

COLOR

http://blog.signalnoise.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/i_glaser2.jpg

Color in this Bob Dylan poster has been used in both the planning and execution of the finished product. I'm sure the colors were planned to the T and the contrast between the black, white, and color was carefully considered. It was probably planned with colored sketches. The black/white on Dylan's face makes him seem more mysterious and abstract. His colored hair portrays the color an flow of a style of his. There are both primary colors and secondary color shades. The design, simple and complex color makes this poster very iconic and representational of the times.

LINES

Lines have been actively used in both the planning and execution of graphic novels such as the snapshot of one pictured above. Graphic novels have a flow to each page and also to the whole story itself that needs to be planned before the book is put together. These are done with story boards, or timelines of small pictures. In the finished page, there is a progression of outlined compartments with a picture and/or words inside. The text in these are also made up of lines. These separate the thoughts or sequences in the story. They also give structure to the story.

Week 9- McKim Reading Exercise

Both of our strategies turned out to be the same...we:

- Started searching left to right.

- Circled or numbered each triangle to "mark" it off.

- "Categorized" each shape as a triangle or a segment of one from beginning to end.

- Used "finding" to search for the shapes that made up the cat during the whole exercise. 

- We also "rotated" the image of triangles in our head while searching for them in order to find all of the correct shapes no matter what direction they were facing. 

The only difference was that I mentally crossed off the shapes as I found them while the other person covered them with their fingers to mark off that they had already been counted. The other person had to count multiple times because they weren't numbered. 

Maura's Strategies in order:

- My pattern-seeking strategies began with "pattern completion" and "pattern-seeking". I pointed to each shape on one bracelet while looking at the other then comparing the direction of both of them. I started by comparing the top two bracelets.

- I found that neither of the bracelets matched on the screen, so I thought about if one of them were flipped over since they were supposed to represent 3-D things and "rotated" the top one. 

- I used "orthographic imagination" to picture how the bracelet would look if it were flipped over and I was viewing it from another viewpoint.

- I marked on the paper to make notes of where differences occurred between them.

Other Person's steps in order: 

- he had to rotate it in order to see the shape as a 3-d object and then flip it. "orthographic imagination" this was the first step he used after comparing them without flipping.

- "pattern seeking" and one of them "doesn't match up quite right"

- "matching" by looking at three patterns of shapes to determine the similar two.

- he looked at it as an object, flipped, and rotated it.

- overall he just solved it quicker and didn't have to make notes or annotations himself.

(annotated by me after asking questions)