Representational, Abstract and Symbolic

In this representational image, you can make out the distinct details of the baby. As a viewer you enjoy the textural qualities of the image. The viewer also understands that this is an image from the real world. As an image of a baby, you make that disctiction, but know it does not represent all babies, just this one.

In the abstract image you have a direct and primal understanding of the image. The viewer reads the image for its energy. The viewer also can make out that the image is of an animal, but perhaps not neccisarily a dog. The shapes add to the interest of the overall image.

The two dots and a line in a circle represents a face. This understanding of a face has been ingrained in people from culture. The does not represent a disticnt person, but could represent anyone. It has become a universal sign and everyone understands its meaning.

Contrast

Good Contrast Website (http://www.freedomandpartners.com/) The Freedom and Partners website has a lot of contrast the creates an interesting website. There are varying tones of grey with red used to highlight the position of the viewer on the website. Also this website utilizes different shapes an planes within space.


Bad Constrast Website (http://www.em-ha-em-art-productions.nl/columns/beleggen/halterstrategie.htm) The Koos Roetbank website has a number of problems including horrible contrast. The website uses black as a background and has colors such as purple that contrast poorly with it. Also within the side bar the green and purple are too similar. Overall the design is plain and uninteresting.

Motion and Movement Exercise

Part 1 Herman Miller Thoughtpile (http://embody.hermanmiller.com/)

The website is all about motion perception. On this page there is a circular disc with people on it that appears to be rotating. This motion is perceived because the people change position and get bigger or smaller as they rotate around. Additionally, the perspctive changes of the person. Also on this page is the illusion of thoughts coming from a person, getting bigger and moving across the line on the top and then go back down to the group of people.

Part 2 Diller Scofidio and Renfro (http://www.dsrny.com/)

To navigate this website you move over the various peices of work with the illusion that you are looking down over the images in a 3d space. The illusion is created using linear perspective and relative size. The perspective of the images change and become bigger as you move towards them and then disappear out of view. The problems that the designer would have encountered is creating a realistic perception of moving smoothly in space over the images. The speed of moving could also be a problem, since people perceive movement at certain speeds. Finally, connecting the movement of the mouse with the movement on the screen would also need to be addressed.

Design Perception Example

The website 344 has a number of space perception cues that create a feeling of depth in the design. In the opening page, the intro feels like a 3d space because of the perspective of viewer and the illusion of linear perspective. In addition, there is overlapping with the stickers to the left. Finally, the "Hi" uses linear perspective, texture gradient and shadows to create a convincing 3d object. In the second example of 344's work, the viewer perceives a close-up of certain features of the piece. This illusion is created with relative size and lines that connect to the whole piece. These lines are reminiscent of linear perspective and call out to the effect that it creates.

Color Exercise

Six Strata, Photographic Book, Jonathan Barnbrook

In the design of Six Strata, Jonathan Barnbrook uses a monochrome of blue color to show the underlying strata of the Roppongi Hills. The design throughout the book uses blue which as opposes to natural colors such as green or brown shows the form of the strata in a much more abstract manner. This allows the viewer to focus on the subject of the book, strata. In addition to color, Barnbrook uses lines predominately to bring out the form and structure of the strata. This allows the viewer to see all of the intricacies within the layers of the strata. Throughout the book Barnbrook uses the line to organize and draw attention to points of interest. To contrast the line, he also uses the circle effectively throughout the book. As shown on the cover, the circle adds contrast and also brings attention to points on the page. This adds some visual interest and creates balance on the page. Overall, the cover of this book is well balanced, but still interesting and provocative. The color is used to create the mood and the basic elements help to define the subject.

graphic design

Line (Bird Flight, Gina Mikel)

Line is being used in this poster to show flight. The bird is bearly outlined, all the emphasis is on the wings and tail. The movement of the line gives just enough detail to understand the flight of the bird.











Color (Romeo and Juliet, Luba Lukova)

Color is being used in this poster to reference blood and to draw the eye of the viewer. Since the poster is primarily black and white the use of the color red really stands out and brings attention to the text and the blood being shed. The color used here is effective and makes this poster powerful.








Scale (The Abuse You Yell..., John Fisher)

Scale is being used in the poster to show that abuse is passed on in the family through generations. By repeating the "yell" in the form of the mouth and scaling it down into eachother the viewer understands that the abuse comes from abuse and that it goes back in time.

Syntactical Guidelines Examples

In this logo the artist uses a number of syntactical guidelines, but overall creates a confusing design. The artist uses negative and positive in both the shark logo and the scuba flag, but these elements are competing. Additionally, there is stress created within the shark logo, but again the scuba flag works against this stress and creates a confusing design.



Paul Rand uses a number of syntactical guidelines in this movie poster. Rand uses positive negative in the text, image and the grouping against the plain background. He uses stress and sharpening to create a direction and motion. Finally, he uses grouping of objects to create a focal point.

Fine and Applied Art Object

I feel that Leonardo da Vinci's studies of the human body are prime examples of objects that represent both fine and applied art. The purpose of these studies were to record aspects of the human body in fine detail. As Leonardo did recorded the body he expressed his findings through his own personal style. These drawings have been praised for both their beauty and for their accuracy.

In the example to the left, Leonardo recorded aspects of the skeleton. He represents bones in small groups and in larger working systems. He also recorded notes on how the skeleton functions and other observations to give even more detail.

Although Leonardo did not consider these works as art pieces, his status as a great artist makes these works a visual record of his process, aesthetics and style.

Visual Thinking Research

This was the more difficult of the two puzzles to solve. We both just went about drawing over the lines to figure out the solution. Since there were so many puzzles, it was a little tedious. We both found solutions to 6&7 pretty easy.

The cat puzzle was pretty easy to figure out. One person got 16 while the other person got 18. We then discussed the solution until we both saw 18, but looking at the solution I guess we were both wrong because there are 20 triangles.

Feature Channels and Visual Search

American Automobile Accidents

University of Washington

This spread shows the number of car accidents in a year. At the top the densly packed chart shows the overwhelming amount of accidents in a year. The red in the chart is then used to bring your eye down to the corresponding chart with the number of fatalities in a year. Within this chart the shape, color and spatial grouping help the viewer to recognize the different vehicles. Additional charts flank the right side of the page with cooler colors that show age and gender. These like the other charts are distinguished by color and spatial grouping.