Representational, Abstract, Symbolic

Representational: The above sketch of an oak leaf, is a representational sketch. It is not symbolic or abstract. There are detail lines and tones. There are also profile lines where needed. It could be easily compared and contrasted with a photograph of an oak leaf. It is lifelike and proportional, though without color. It is a strong representation of an oak leaf. If this oak leaf sketch had simply the profile lines, it would be more of a symbolic interpretation.




Symbolic: The green "plus" sign is the symbolic reference to a French pharmacy. This symbol is so powerfully recognized that often times pharmacies in France do not need to place the word "pharmacy" on the front of their businesses. The neon symbol draws the viewer in and attracts them more quickly. It is wise for the French to do this, as symbols are often recognized faster than words. The pharmacy symbol is symbolic because it is reduced to the most simple form; there is not a lot of detail to be remembered. The pharmacy logo is easy to reproduce and easy to remember, therefore it is symbolic.




Abstract: Pablo Picasso is very famous now for his abstract paintings, though at the time he painted them he was ridiculed. Details are often reduced with abstract design, though they are not symbolic. Above you can see the basic symbols of a circle, square, a cresent moon-shape, etc. These symbols used in an abstract design loose their symbolic meaning. The abstract design leave more room for interpretation and freedom. There is nothing realistic by any means about abstract design. Often, the design is unrecognizable. We can see in the above abstract image that there is a woman sitting on a chair. It looks like there might be someone else with her, but we are not sure.

Visual Techniques

Visual Techniques Present: Intricacy, Unity, Symmetry, Balance, Complexity, Stasis, and Flatness.



This vintage Charlie Chaplin movie poster can be flipped either way, it is almost symmetrical but not quite. What makes this poster asymmetric is the Charlie's hair. The poster view that is shown, represents the full-body view of Charlie. The other way is just Charlie's head with his top hat. Flatness is a visual technique also present in this movie poster, as there are only two tones without depth. This poster also uses subtlety, stasis, understatement, economy, and simplicity. Stasis as the poster is without movement. Subtlety as the focus of the poster is a very simple cutout with minimal detail. Again, the simplicity of the poster ties in with the understatement visual technique.

Contrast

Good Contrast: I believe this is some type of marketing campaign, though I'm not sure for what. Though the marketing message is unclear, the designer has used contrast well. By gray scaling the other goldfish, the central goldfish vibrantly stands out with it's glittering orange scales. Even if the goldfish in color had been placed off to the right or left side, it's stark contrast would have drawn the viewers eyes immediately towards it. This is also similar to Ware's Pop-Out Effect. Additionally, there is a slight contrast of size. The gray scaled goldfish seem to be smaller than the central goldfish. This is partially due to the fact that they are turning away from the camera, while the viewer can see the entire profile view of the central, vibrant goldfish.



Bad Contrast: Here the graphic designer has used the contrast of color, size, and typeface. The functionality of this design is poor, as the viewer must strain to read the words. The word "design" seems to stand out the most, as it has the darkest and boldest font of the four words. The script-like attributes of the words "of" and "contrast" contrast significantly with the bold, capitalized words "principles" and "design". This is an example of were contrast has been used to the extreme and in a way that hinders the design and functionality. The viewer can be confused by too many variations of contrast, and the underlying message can be lost.

Implied Motion in Design

This first image is of a woman jogging on the beach. This image represents a high level system of perceived motion. The woman's form is recognized first as opposed to her jogging motion. Another motion is cue is that the woman is moving to the right of the image frame. The camera follows the woman's path as she jogs along the beach, this is due to relative movement. The camera anticipates her movement and allows enough room for her to catch up.



I'm guessing that the second image is a sports poster. This is an example of low level motion perception. This is due to the fact that the motion of the balls is seen first as opposed to the object itself. The motion of the balls are seen by the blurred trail that is left behind them. The athletes in the image are also blurred which implies movement. Further, the color of the balls differs from the luminance of background. This is due to the First-Order of perceived motion.

Dimension...Depth...Space

Depth and dimension are shown in this vintage airline advertisement poster. The airplane is the closest object to the viewer, while the bridge and the building beyond it are the farthest away, showing depth. Dimension is also shown in the poster with the use of two vanishing points. The use of two vanishing points can be seen when looking at the buildings in the foreground. The use of tone also implies depth and dimension. The buildings in the forefront have more distinctions between different tones, while the building beyond the bridge blend almost into one tone. The lack of tone distinction in the buildings beyond the bridge shows depth. It is clear that the light source is coming from the right side of the image, casting a shadow on the left side of the buildings adding dimension.

Tone & Color

The above images have been pulled from the website of a local spa. The images are the banners of each of the different pages of the website. Their website is easy to navigate for the potential spa goer (the user of their website design). Part of the reason their website is easy to navigate is due to its visual appeal and their choice of color and tone.

Tone is represented in all of the above images. I think tone is most powerfully portrayed in banner 2, the pebbles. Because of the tone in the image, the viewer can see that the pebbles are three dimensional. Tone also helps show depth perception in banner 5, with the lighter grasses in the foreground and the darker grasses in the background. Banner 2 also represents the other basic element of shape. Not only are the pebbles spherical, so are the water droplets upon them. The tone of the water droplets gives them dimension, and again allows the viewer to see them as a three dimensional object. The basic shape of a circle is associated with warmth, a positive and nurturing association for a spa.

Their color palette is consistent throughout the website, and is not distracting or overpowering. The use of color is subtle, yet very effective. Banner 4 and 5 are the only images with actual color. I might argue that even banner 1 has a slight hue of blue, depending on who is looking at it. It is less saturated than the pink hue in banner 4 and the green hue in banner 5, and is almost a non-color. Most of the colors used in the website are less saturated, hence they provoke less emotion and create a more relaxed feeling (perfect for a spa). In banner 5, the green hue interacts the other basic element of the line. The sharp lines are seen in the edges of the grass. The lines of the grass split up the bright greens versus the light greens in the image.

Find out more about color and tone...

http://www.writedesignonline.com/resources/design/rules/color.html

Magazine Design

The Dot: is one of the most common forms found in nature and is often found in magazine design. Here, on this cover of New York, the flesh-colored dot is used to portray the skin of the woman. The dots, when placed close together, represent continuous tone as they blur and blend together. The numerous dots naturally guide the viewer to connect them together.


Movement: is one of the hardest basic elements to portray. Here, on this cover of New York, movement is implied by multiplying and blurring the image. In general it is hard to express movement without distorting the original image. At first, the viewer scans the image and notices that something is not right. The blurred image is not due to poor eyesight, rather motion trying to be expressed. From the image it can be gathered that the man is screaming and shaking his head.


Lines: are not commonly found in nature, but rather man-made technology. On the New York cover above, line is used humorously and as a previsualization tool. An arrow boldly points the viewer to the "brain" of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. Direction is set by lines and lines are commonly used in the form of arrows, such as above. In this example, line is pointing the joke out to the viewer.


Color: can mean different things to different viewers. The obvious choice of color here for the cover of Vogue Paris is red. In the past, red has signified anger, blood, danger, love, life, etc. In this example, red represents more sensuality as opposed to anger. Red is also the perfect contrast to the creamy skin of the model and the stark-white magazine title. Here, red is used in two different tones. The dark red tone is used for the background, nails, and lips. The bright red stands out boldly on the cap of the model.