Visual Techniques

STILLS FROM "CATALOG"
JOHN WHITNEY, 1961

VIEW PIECE IN NEW WINDOW 

VISUAL TECHNIQUES USED:

ACTIVENESS OVER STASIS

COLOR OVER GRAYSCALE

(BACK AND FORTH BTW):

 SYMMETRY / ASYMMETRY

SEQUENTIALITY / RANDOMNESS

UNITY / FRAGMENTATION

"POSTER FOR AN EXHIBITION OF ART BY HENRY MILLER" 

TADANORI YOKOO, 1968

VISUAL TECHNIQUES USED:

CONTRAST / HARMONY

COLOR / BLACK AND WHITE

BALANCE / INSTABILITY

ECONOMY / INTRICACY

NEUTRALITY / ACCENT

SIMPLICITY / COMPLEXITY

ACTIVENESS / STASIS

     

     Above are two examples of Visual Communication that inspire me in my own pursuit of a career in design. Below I will compare and contrast the different uses of visual techniques both designers underwent in order to deliver their intended message.

     The most obvious contrasting element between the two is the use of activeness vs. stasis. The motion graphic piece by Whitney utilizes the elements of motion to bring his piece to life, while Yokoo's poster design is one stoic, unmoving image. Both techniques lend well to each composition; where Catalog is achieved by moving elements, Henry Miller is defined by balance and harmony brought forth by its compositional structure.  

     The content of Whitney's piece is structured along the horizontal axis of time. We see colorful shapes rotate, move, and mutate within the frame during the duration of the film. The effect achieved is of time itself; that the shape elements are given life as they move and change within the piece, creating a powerful effect that is heightened by the expressive use of color that Whitney utilized. 

     During the duration of the film, the changeable nature of several visual techniques are utilized. For example, the technique of simplicity vs. complexity exist on a continuum from very simple to very complex. There are moments in the film where this relationship is expressed as we see a simple circle transform into a complex amorphous shape.

     The Yokoo piece is not only static, but is essentially about stasis, as the designer chose to balance the composition in a nearly symmetrical way by placing the figure of Henry Miller dead center against a leveled backdrop of pure blocks of color. The choice of economy over intricacy here does well to further emphasize an idea of stillness, as our eyes are confronted with a very simple POP-art like image, devoid of extraneous detail, that Yokoo chose to create for the historic writer. Like the Whitney piece, an emotional reaction is achieved in Poster, however in this case it is from the opposite visual technique of a profound stasis over activity.

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CONTRaST

Effective Use of Contrast

"Metamorphosis" by Joel Arias

First, there's a great contrast in tone going on here between the values of grey, white, and black. Although there is an almost harmonious balance of the amount of each tone, the shapes representing each do well to sharpen the composition. Dondis states that by "comparing the unlike, we sharpen the meaning of both," and this is definitely happening here between the regular rectangle shape and the irregular, liquid-like shapes drifting on top of and within the regular (Dondis, 1973). This contrast in shape creates a dynamic statement. There lies a pleasing tension in this piece between balance and imbalance represented through contrast. I think the liquid white and grey shapes would be powerful by themselves, but with the added element of the solid rectangle, the juxtaposition happening between leveling and sharpening makes them that much more meaningful; the organic ideas here are more effectively explained by being contrasted with the mechanical, and vice versa.

There are also other elements of contrast at work here. Scale is contrasted between tiny to large shapes, and texture is contrasted here in the stippled grey shapes against the solid black and whites.

Lack of Contrast

There is a use of contrast in tone and color here, but it is not being done in an effective way. Rather, it is contributing to a failed design. The piece is far too sharpened, beyond any effective communication of a message. Firstly, if one were to take and convert this image to gray-scale, some of the type would be completely lost (ex. the 'in' in 'sin'). The rainbow background is  presenting warm and cold colors, which are confusing our minds (as cool colors recede, while warm colors expand) creating a way too busy background. A solid color would have been a better choice, perhaps one complimentary to the color of the text, or even better, contrasting in tone. Contrast in scale could have helped this piece as well, where if the text was larger, it might stand a chance against the glaring color bands it unfortunately rests above.

I do have one idea that could save this piece without having to totally redesign it: The flying red letters presented at the top of the page are really the only element not lost in the bad juxtaposition between the colored figure and ground. If all the text was done as red with the dimensional 'flying' addition, it would thus all be separated enough from the crazy background. It would still be a jarring piece, but at least the written message would be visible.




reference:
Dondis, D. A. (1973). A primer of visual literacy. (p. 96). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

IMPLIED MOTION IN DESIGN

(Both examples below can be found @ revisionarts.com)

 Joe Melhuish "Metamorphosis"

I look at this odd graphic and my immediate thought is to see it animated. I envision the webbed-matrix form circling the land spike both rotating and moving in a wavelike fashion, similar to water. This is because of its diagonal nature, which suggests stress rather than balance, and also the lighting effects mirroring water surface, and most importantly the optical effect created by the web-like pattern inside the shape tricks our eyes into seeing movement.

The cap of the land spike is being blasted-off. The blurring effect applied between the pieces of the spike suggest this action. Also, the designers decision to show a lot of textured gradient in the shadows of the dunes helps to create the illusion of an actual environment in which movement would be possible. All these factors contribute to the perception of an even taking place. Perhaps the story is that the web matrix created a causal effect on the land spike, blasting its top off into space so that the pyramids can fulfill their destiny in the stars...

MODE poster by Travis Stearns

"In the MODE experiment I wanted to synthesize the four letter forms, already in their abstraction,
with their revolved forms to generate new, ancillary graphic forms." -Travis Stearns

We see several factors of implied movement going on here in this poster piece. Over all, the highly contrasted forms create a downward directional path of eye movement. The static-y imagery of each form implies a sense of movement, as if each shape was on an old television set that wasn't coming in right. Also, as we see a morphing from actual letter-forms to abstract globs, we sense a process of change. It's as if each descending shape is a still image in a film roll; we can easily imagine watching the footage of this succession of stills, so media motion is addressed here as well. Through the combination of the strong vertical eye-path created, along with the repetition of the figures as they morph, a stroboscopic effect is created which makes us imagine all the steps of change happening between each neighboring form.

 A narrative is created by the metamorphosis of these letter forms, it is the story of abstraction. I included a bit of the designers statement of process because it describes that he captured these odd shapes by rotating the forms, perhaps in 3d modeling software; it seems the blur caused by such movement was maintained, creating something similar to an aftereffect of seeing a bright light in a dark room that suddenly goes away leaving a ghost image. All in all, this static image captures he energy of movement extremely well.

DIMENSION/DEPTH/SPACE/SCALE

click below to watch:

EMA 2010 - MAIN SHOW OPENER by MTV WORLD DESIGN STUDIO, MILANO

A virtual three dimensional world has been created in this opener for the 2010 European Video Music Awards for MTV. The motion-graphic clip begins with a dramatic example of linear perspective as we see a ball about to blast through a tunnel. This chiaroscuro-based shot sets the scene in a poignant and dramatic way for what is to come. In the following seconds, overlap, relative size and height, and more linear perspective are introduced as the balls begin their journey. Color and reflectivity are used on the virtual surface of the race track, accentuating the forms as they blast through space. Flow pattern, which blurs the outside space around the moving element of the ball, while keeping it's destination in focus, is also used beautifully here, taking us right into the action as if we are the ball racing along on the track. Finally, in the crowd shots, texture gradient and atmospheric perspective are used along with sound perspective (crowd noise presented realistically to that of a giant arena) to further create this convincing and exciting illusion of depth and dimension on a grand scale in this motion-graphic piece. Had these various graphic depth factors not been considered, this clip would not be as strong as it is.

TONE AND COLOR

STILLS FROM "COLR" by Emrah Gonulkirmaz

Motion Graphic Logo/Identity created for Colr Inc.

link to video 

HOW TONE IS OPERATING

Tone is providing dimension to this piece by expressing, through light, the contours of all the squirming shapes of color in this clip. A wide tonal range is presented from darkest blacks to vivid whites.

Also, though the background is devoid of depth cues, a slight gradient from white to gray is presented which expresses light. This gray-scale is also an example of tone.

 

HOW TONE IS INTERACTING

Tone is interacting with the visual element of dimension and texture here a great deal. The spindrils of color that move across the screen are seen as three dimensional forms, in which the summation of them create a visceral texture. Looking at the forms and there shape, presented by tone, one gets the idea of how this 'object' would physically feel. 

This same idea could have been presented in a more flat 2-D way, i think, but by emphasizing tone to the extent that it provides dimensional shape, a more arresting life-like effect is accomplished. 

HOW COLOR IS OPERATING

Color is the most dramatic, emotional element and this characteristic lends itself well to this arresting piece. The story presented of color being birthed from an egg-like structure into a wild frenzy is an exciting one. If the story were presented in gray scale, the tonal aspect would prevail, but the magical/emotional impact of the color spectrum would be lost. Furthermore, the colorful 'O' is given more power by being juxtaposed by the other gray colors.

HOW COLOR IS INTERACTING

Color is interacting with the element of motion here. It is thought that color vision was developed for survival in organisms in that it makes an approaching threat more easily recognizable. Movement is useful in considering the experience of the viewer, and as this short is basically a story about color, the movement given to the color threads combines with the color itself to create intense drama. Our eyes follow the movements of these colorforms that have been composed by the motion-graphic artist.

 

MOTION GRAPHICS

MOVEMENT

motion graphic piece by Wilson Wong - Australia

Movement is the most dominant visual element in Motion Graphics as well as the human experience. By giving movement to graphics, a real-life like sensibility is created that can have a strong effect on delivering a message to a viewer. By using moving objects and words to tell a story or communicate an idea, a much deeper effect can be achieved than that of a static image. Movement is achieved in Motion Graphics through programs like Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion which utilize a timeline on which the designer plots and composes each element's action. Motion Graphics create stories, like the example above, which are composed of moving elements and text which guide the viewer along.

Here is an example of how movement is directed in the production of a motion graphic. In this case, the 'camera' movement is being plotted out:

(example of the planning of a "camera angle" in a software program during the production of a motion graphics piece)

Movement is used in consideration of the viewer. The way in which motion graphics designers compose their moving images ends up being the way their ideas are "read" and thus seen by our eye movements, which we've learned in class.

LINE

Process board for Title sequence to Charles de Lauzirika’s "Crave" (2012) by Raleigh Stewart

Lines express ideas. Besides the lines that end up composing the final piece in motion graphics, the ideation phase of planning a project, (as in other realms of design), begins with sketches of lines on a page (or screen). Dondis describes the line as "the essential tool for previsualization, that means for presenting... that which does not exist yet, except in the imagination." (Dondis 43) Nearly all end pieces of motion graphic work begin with simple line drawings referring to the ideas of the designers, as we can see in the above process board for a title sequence for Charles de Lauzirika’s "Crave" (2012).

We can also consider the line in regards to the timeline that all moving pieces contain: a starting point to an end point, as lines both literally and metaphorically are marks of progression. 

The line is a huge factor in delivering a motion graphic's message, where like a flow-chart, our experience in viewing a piece is structurally guided in a progression from one idea to the next until the whole message is attained. Some times this is done explicitly by following an actual lines movement form say one piece of text to the next.

TONE

stills from "Crave" (2012) title sequence by Raleigh Stewart

Tone builds from line. Lines form the edges and borders of dark and light pattern areas. These dark and light areas exist as tone, which is the representation of the relative presence and absence of light. Without light our physical world would be in the dark and we would be unable to see our environment. The same circumstance has to be considered when creating the virtual worlds of motion graphics. 

Tone is the basic visual element that allows us to see defined shapes and environments. "Line alone will not create the illusion of reality effectively without the aid of tone. The addition of tonal background detail reinforces the appearance of reality through the sensation of reflected light and cast shadows." (Dondis 48)

So it is vital that tone be used correctly, especially when a designers goal is to interpret a physical world. Motion Graphic designers need be aware of tone in their work, especially when they want to convey real-world like environments.



Work Cited:
Dondis, D. A. (1973). A primer of visual literacy. (First ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(& in-class lectures)

Visual Thinking Research

My wife and I completed some visual thinking operations. Here is our work, along with explanations of why we did what we did...

 For awhile I tried to think of all sorts of codes for translating these symbols to a month. I thought it was probably a month with few letters. Then I noticed that each symbol had a vertical symmetrical balance, and like with inverse drawing, I discovered the word 'JULY' by folding down the symbols mentally.

 My wife saw how the symbols related to one and other, in that there is a whole circle with two halves followed by another whole-like symbol that could be seen as suggesting something by its shape. She guessed that the group may stand for June because it is the half-way point of the year. Good effort, and interesting strategy...

 

 These final two puzzles involved us in the visual thinking operations of 'finding'. We were to count the total number of triangles. My wife's try is shown here with mine below. The answer is twenty. My wife counted nineteen...

 

I have to admit that although my try shows twenty, neither of us counted all twenty on the first few tries. For me my visual reasoning messed me up when it came to the eyes. I counted the four seperate triangles but neglected to count the two larger triangles that composed each eye. I guess I was looking so much to find each triangle, I neglected to step back enough to see the completing going on which presented the two extra triangles. I counted 18 for the longest time...

We also both had trouble with the tail. This involved a bit of rotating and completing, because several triangles compose the tail, and to find them all, you need to really activate your visual reasoning.
 

These operations really tested our mental skills.

Visual Perception : Feature Hierarchy

Cheers! A History of Beer in Canada, design by David Gee

      

     In regards to feature channels, the above book design is a fun exercise in looking. For me, the 'CHEERS!' title is the pop-out element here, both in terms of scale and color. The words themselves have a hierarchy of their own going on. The designer chose different fonts for each piece of info: title, sub-title, author's name. This factor, along with the spatial layout of the composition, do well to both guide our eye down the page and identify the different pieces of information presented unconsciously.

     I'll have to admit, I'm not completely cemented in my position that the title is the 'pop-out' feature here. I'd say it competes with the blurred image of the Mountie in terms of what I notice first. I say this because we've learned that the anatomy of our visual system is designed to detect what is abnormal or novel. The blurred image is definitely both. But perhaps because there requires more of a cognitive approach to discerning what the blurred image means (drunkenness) - then the quick primal recognition of seeing the giant black and white letters of the title, I will stick with my choice as the color and scale of "CHEERS!" being the first feature channel.

TOP DOWN VISUAL PROCESSING

     Here is an example of a design relating to Top-Down visual processing. We see three elements composing the image, which we've learned is about the amount of objects that our working visual memory can store at one time, so this flyer should work in terms of simplicity. The viewer is likely to fixate on the graphic and then lower their view to the two separate text blocks. This design is goal-directed because it communicates to the viewer that there will be a show of the bands listed and also lists when and where the show will take place. A cognitive goal of becoming informed is available to the viewer of this material - one that has been assisted by the layout of the composition. Someone calling themselves 'Lizard' has created this piece, which I have found on the internet while looking for shows I would like to attend.

GOOD DESIGN / BAD DESIGN

 

Here is a great example of a successful design. It is a visually balanced piece that not only is pleasing to the eye, but clearly conveys the information contained within in a straightforward way. The elements of the octopus-brain along with the 'SATURDAY' and '4/28/12' are a great example of the gestalt principle of closure through the implied triangle they create.

On the other hand, this flyer shows bad design. All the text elements are so splayed out, that there is real no visual hierarchy. I think we could call it Gestalt-Anarchy. One thing that I think is interesting about what's going on in the above piece, is that what was probably meant to convey a sort of frenzied visual stress, is actually rather boring, simply because it's all stress. The designer could have tried to provide a bit of composition by putting the text cutouts in a more, say sharpened layout, but they didn't - leaving the world with one more bad, messy punk flyer. 

(It was probably was a better show than the top one though.)

Visual vs Symbolic Language

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Visual Report

In this photo we see the subject of an older decorated veteran hugging a younger decorated veteran. The younger veteran has a prosthetic hand. The hugging mens' faces are expressing emotion. Behind the two men are two other men: one who’s uniform and posture suggests he is in active duty and one whom is older and probably retired, wearing a blue beret and tie. These men all have a collection of medals and badges on their uniforms and hats. It appears that they are gathered outside of a building, perhaps for a ceremony. There is the edge of a large American Flag that can be seen hanging on the left side of the frame. Also some sort of camera or audio equipment seems to be present in the background. The hugging men’s faces express emotion while the men stationed behind them carry stoic expressions.

           

Response/Feelings Invoked

-emotion

-nationalism

-sadness and grief

-pride

-evokes thoughts of the cost of war

-hug seen as a gesture of respect and gratitude

-veterans hand most likely lost in war

-the men are probably here in ceremony

Symbols

medals & badges – denotes recognition for service, honor

US Flag – denotes America, pride

facial expressions of hugging men – denote emotion

facial Expression of ben in background – denote stoicism, duty

prosthetic hand- denotes cost of war, can represent the human violence and casualty inherent in war itself.

camera equipment – denotes the media

camouflage uniform – denotes active duty

suit and tie uniforms – denotes veterans

The Underlying Compositional Structure Contributes to the Felt Theme

The underlying compositional structure of this image does well to express the emotion I get from viewing it. It is an emotional shot, and the complex mix of emotions – from sadness to pride is well represented by the central figures embraced in the foreground. The other elements, including the active duty officer, the American flag, and the media equipment in the background of the shot do a good job of establishing the many other aspects of war: Nationalism symbolized by the flag, media presence, tradition (observed by the various age of veterans in the shot and their medals,) are in the background, yet are present, contributing to the story of the gentlemen embracing in the foreground of the shot.

            Through the composition and framing of this shot, a lot of depth of meaning is achieved. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the prosthetic hand of the younger gentlemen serves to exaggerate the emotional mood already present in the picture. This prosthetic can be seen as a symbol of the cost of war.

Meaning 2 Excersize

 

Interactions Between the 3 Levels of Meaning

image by Stuart Thursby

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SUMMARY

This Visual Communication piece works to merge the representational, abstract, and symbolic levels of meaning in an exciting and thought-provoking way.

REPRESENTATIONAL LEVEL

On a representational level, this image is in itself a ‘design’. We see familiar objects in the letters we recognize, but they’ve been assembled together compositionally to form a bigger picture than the sum of their individual parts. The impact of this is strong, because the designer did it well. Again, you could say that what is being represented here is an interesting design.

The impact this work has on the viewer, I would say, is that of pleasure and intrigue. Pleasure in seeing such a beautifully composed piece, and intrigue due to the process needed to decode the message within.

Through the 3 levels of visual meaning, the ideas of ‘typography’ and ‘design’ are being presented – the words, on a representational level, abstractly in the composition of the page, and symbolically through the letters used to compose the image, which ultimately express an idea.

ABSTRACT LEVEL

The understructure of this image is contrasting black and white lines weaved against a bold red background. The kinesthetic quality of this is quite arresting, providing a direct emotional impact. The juxtaposing black and white against the saturated red makes this image feel powerful to the viewer.

The abstract elements used to compose this piece help fulfill the representational level’s goal of providing a design. This is called functional abstraction. Through the letters, (or essentially, lines) and colors, a calculated and interesting design has been achieved. The abstract level is working with the representational here by showcasing the words ‘design’ and ‘typography’ in an abstract way.

It is interesting to see the symbolic elements at play here. They aren’t fully exposed and immediately read. Instead, the viewer has to follow the weave of the pattern of letters to decode the phrase “Design is Typography.”

Again, Typography and Design are presented here representationally, symbolically, and abstractly because the image makes the viewer ponder the concept of typography and how we use it as designers to communicate ideas. It should be noted that this image could have been made with any number of typeface, but I feel the designer chose Helvetica because of its more simplified, symbolic nature and how that lends itself to composing this very active abstract design.

SYMBOLIC LEVEL

Symbolically, the image uses letters to express its message. In fact, the entire piece is composed of letters, or symbols, to create the design. These aren’t just arbitrary lines that were used to create this piece, but coded symbols assembled purposely to express an idea. The idea that “Design is Typography” is essentially proven here by the very nature of this piece.

The impact on the viewer, on this symbolic level, is quite exciting because it’s advancing the symbolic level of typography to both an abstract and representational plane through the way that this piece was constructed. Imagine if all our sentences were composed in such visually remarkable ways, rather than simply laid out in plain fashion on a straight line.

MEANING 1 EXERCISE

REPRESENTATIONAL SKULL

This is a photo of an actual human skull. Photography of object create representations that are the closest we can get to actually seeing them in person. A real visual report of a skull is obtained through this representation. The image captures large amounts of detail, including facial bone structure etc. From this photo, one could study visual facts. Finally, the image of a real skull, is a powerful one for people because it evokes a variety of emotions.

ABSTRACT SKULL

Heer, the visual elements of the skull have been distilled to the point where we no longer see things such as details in the bone. It is also fake, a plastic model used to represent reality. The coloring is far from realistic, but in a sense adds to the mystic of the skull, emphasizing its 'supernatural' nature. By being an abstract, it can encompass even more meaning than the representational because it broadens the idea of a skull. One could read Death, Fear, Voodoo, or perhaps Fun from this abstraction.

    SKULL SYMBOL

    Here the skull is reduced to its ultimate simplicity. As a symbol, it has been reproduced many times throughout history. It is quick and easily recognized as a skull. The idea of the skull is broadened even more in its symbolic form. Different messages can be attached through this symbol, such as 'Danger' or even 'Death'. The use of the skull as a symbol has origins dating back to before written language. This speaks to the universality of symbolism.