14 Visual Techniques

Design Example #1:
Finding Nemo logo

Visual Techniques:

Balance <-> Instability

Activeness <-> Stasis

Consistency <-> Variation

Singularity <-> Juxtaposition

Design Example #2:
A Bug's Life logo

Visual Techniques:

Balance <-> Instability

Depth <-> Flatness

Consistency <-> Variation

Singularity <-> Juxtaposition

These two design works (Pixar movie logos) have similar and different result(s) between their combinations of techniques. Both designs present balance vs. instability: They achieve balance in the way that there is a center of suspension midway between two weights-as in the two sides of each design. However, each design must use uneven shapes of instability to express the unique themes of the movies. Both logos show consistency vs. variation in the way that each composition is dominated by one thematic approach but offers diversity and assortment at the same time. Whether solely bug or aquatic-themed, each design uses a number of typefaces to express its theme. Both designs present Singularity vs. Juxtaposition: They each express singularity by focusing on one separate and solitary theme (aquatics or bugs). However, within each design, juxtaposition is shown as letters conformed with animals and ordinary letters are positioned side by side, influencing the viewer to compare the relationships of the cues. Furthermore, the "Finding Nemo" logo expresses activeness vs. stasis, while the "Bug's Life" logo expresses depth vs. flatness. The "Finding Nemo" logo presents activeness with an abstract wave, and the design simultaneously presents stasis with upright letters. Thus there is an illusion that the wave is moving in curved motions along the letters. The "Bug's Life" logo presents depth with a three-dimensional leaf with various tones to define its shape, and the design simultaneously presents flatness with two-dimensional letters.

13 CONTRAST

This advertisement clearly demonstrates an effective use of contrast contributing to a successful design. Through a strategy of surrealistm, the head of a lion and the body of man have been placed into juxtaposition. A lion's head has been placed on a man's body. This escapes the confines of conventional thinking. In the real world, a lion's head is attached to a lion's body, and a man's head is attached to a man's body. This advertisement emphasizes the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious. This image influences the viewer to think new, unpredictable thoughts- that a lion's head can really be attached to a man's body. It achieves the designer's creativity and expression beyond conventional modes. Our knowledge of human and animal bodies has been challenged.


This logo for Mears Ghyll Bridal Rooms clearly demonstrates a poor use of contrast contributing to a failed design. The use of contrast in tone is ambiguous. The letters are barely visible or readable. The viewer needs to squint and look very closely in order to see the words. The grey tone of the background is too close to the white of the letters. Hence the message of the logo is not understandable. Also, because the phrase "Bridal Rooms" is a very small scale, these two words are especially unseeable. It has a neither-here-nor-there-ness. All of the words in the logo are close to disappearing.

12 Movement / Motion

IMPLIED MOTION IN DESIGN




This logo for "Disney Magic Music Days" very much is designed to imply motion. The design shows a few bars of music with a large treble clef note at the beginning lefthand end of the bars (lines)- just like how actual music is shown in music books. However, in this logo, the bars are curving and converging to the righthand side, while actual music bars are completely straight and parallel. In this logo, the converging of the bars represent the Gestalt Law of Continuation, so we expect the patterns and lines to continue. In this case, we expect the music bars to continue as they converge into the implied distance. Hence they imply movement and change. The letters of the phrase "Magic Music Days" are spread across the music bars and have variations in scale, becoming smaller as the bars converge. As the viewer reads the shrinking letters, this implies a forward movement, leading the viewer's eyes through the composition. The word "magic" is largest in scale as it is implied to be closest in depth. The stars are dispersed along the logo to convey the energy of the music bars' movement; hence the stars are visible multiples that appear because of the music bars' implied fast movement.









This logo for Disney and Pixar's film "Up" very much is designed to imply motion. The floating house and balloons are positioned diagonally as if moving through midair. Based on our prior experience of the world, we interpret the house and balloons to be in the process of floating upward. It seems as if the house and balloons are frozen in motion. The large, slanted letters of the word "up" lead the viewers' eyes through the composition. Their straightly edged shapes are composed of diagonal lines. Also, there is a variation of scale in the word. The letters "U" and "P" are each a different scale. The word "up" itself is positioned diagonally, creating the illusion of forward movement in the viewer's perception. The diagonal stress and variations in scale in the logo all communicate movement and change.

11 Dimension / Depth / Space / Scale

This is the album cover of Mariah Carey's album "Merry Christmas II You." The design illustrates a three-dimensional scene in linear perspective. The viewer envisions actual space hence actual objects. The viewers' size perception of the objects depends on the context of the design. The image presents accurate scale with closer objects (such as the snow and human figure) appearing larger and farther objects (such as the stars and blue houses) appearing smaller. The viewer recognizes familiar and relative size. The lines on the brick walls create a texture gradient. The brick wall on the lefthand side particulary positioned at an angle in our perspective. Hence one end of the wall grows larger, stretching outward from the image as the other end grows smaller, stretching inward into the image. (The snow has no texture gradient, so its depth is ambiguous.) Throughout the design, objects overlap each other. Hence the viewer can understand what objects's positions such as: The human figure and snowman are in front of part of the brick wall; the brick walls are in front of the houses; the clouds are in front of the sky and stars.

10 Tone and Color

TONE

A) Tone very much operates in this advertisement promoting singer Lady Gaga and her song "Hair." Tonal range is the key to defining the photograph- especially Lady Gaga's appearance. The details of her face, body, and clothes are communicated and distinguished by high dynamic and tonal range. Also, the entire photograph shows peak whites (such as background and some of the letters), absolute blacks (the clothing and edges of the ad), and lots of tonal information (grey scales) in between.

B) Tone interacts with the visual design element of dimension. Almost the entire advertisement is a grey-scale photograph. Its blacks, whites, and greys define the three-dimensional structures (mainly Lady Gaga's figure), shadows, and lighting. Hence, with just the advertisements' tonal range, viewers' eyes are able to recognize and understand the image as we, as humans, are evolved to see a three-dimensional world.

COLOR

A) Color very much operates in this advertisement promoting singer Lady Gaga and her song "Hair." The two colored areas of the design are Lady Gaga's hair and the song's title "Hair." Hence, since the song is about hair, the singer's hair and the song title are the same color. Because these two areas are relatively small parts of the design, they create a pop-out effect within the dominantly grey-scale advertisement.

B) Color interacts with the visual design element of texture. Particularly for Lady Gaga's hair, color is used to show the values within the three-dimensional image of the singer's hair. With a color value scale ranging from light to dark, viewers are able to analyze the structure of the hair- in areas where it is more clustered or dispersed.

9 The Basic Elements- Identity Logo Design

Dot >>>
In this logo for "Lullaby Studio," the dot is very active in its final design. Like 19th century Pointilist painters, the design uses dots to create the perception of colors. Dots of various sizes, tones, and colors are used in determining how to define the shape of a crescent moon. The dots are smallest along the edges of the moon. These particular dots connect and are therefore capable of leading the eye. The ability to lead our eyes is intensified by how close these dots are to one another.

Line >>>

In this logo and title for the website called "Vivid Ways," line is very much active in its final design. The graphically designed logo shows that it has been built on dots. The logo itself is a line with point positions and settings for tension and bias. It displays scalability as it has been manipulated to form two connected letters V and W- the initials for Vivid Ways. The connection of the V and W show the letters' relationship as the website's initials. The type fonts of the title "Vivid Ways" and the slogan "color-in your life" are defined and differentiated by the nature of their outlines- straight vs. curved, direct vs. complex, etc. The structure (proportions and relationships) of every letter in this design is based on lines.

Texture >>>

In this logo for the comic book franchise "Batman," texture is very much active in its final design.

Much detail is conveyed. All of its colored blotches have associations with materials. The simulated brown blotches create the illusion that the viewer is looking at rust. Also, the grey and white blotches together create the the illusion that the viewer is looking at a shiny metal object. Hence, this design relieves flatness and creates interest. Its textures have no tactile quality and only optical. It only appears as a rusted, shiny metal object. No one can reach out their hand and touch it to feel that it is an actual object.

8 Visual Thinking Research

1) Which two bracelets are the same?

I used the pattern-seeking operation of matching to discover which two bracelets are identical. I particularly used the quick way of matching. I chose one random bracelet at at time, seeing each desired bracelet pattern as a whole. I attempted to match pairs without hesitation until I finally matched two.
My sister used the operation of matching as well. However, she used the long way in performing her matching. She compared details of one bracelet with the details of another. She even verbally talked to herself.

2) How many triangles are in the cat? (Answer: 20)

I used the pattern-seeking method of finding. I "closed" in on the figure, outlining the triangles that were most apparent to me from largest to smallest. I lastly counted the overlapping triangles.

My sister used the pattern-seeking method of finding as well. However, she "closed" a bit differently from my method. She immediately counted the most apparent triangles as well, but she counted the overlapping triangles at the same time.

Visual Perception 2/ Feature Hierarchy

Mariah Carey: E=MC2, Island Def Jam Records

This poster is related to feature hierarchy in the way that it uses feature channels to create a visual design which promotes the uniqueness of singer Mariah Carey's album E=MC2. Color is used to pop out preattentively- especially the singer's name and human figure. Secondly, the viewer detects that shape has levels of variation. From the top down, words (the names) become smaller in size, allowing viewers to understand the importance of each phrase: 1) singer's name 2) album's name 3) lead single of the album 4) secondary singles. Together, these words operate by using scale to express how one set of words is more important than the next below or less important than the next up. The viewer next notices the motion created by the photo. From the bottom up, the image's depth creates the illusion that the person is standing over the viewer and that the viewer's perspective looks up at singer. Furthermore, the image's shape is detected due to how the white pops out within the black background. Combined, together, these three feature channels for a spatial layout. The viewer has the intuition that specific parts of the poster have specific roles to guide them in acquiring information rapidly and efficiently.

Visual Perception 1 / Top-Down Visual Processing

Lady Gaga: Born This Way advertisment by Interscope Records

image from http://www.nycitsalwaysanadventure.wordpress.com/

The cognitive goal of this advertisement is to grab viewer's attention with the image of Lady Gaga's extremely large, pale face which has covered the entrance side of a subway building. In being so massive, bold, and out of the ordinary, viewers' eyes are bound to be drawn to the ad. The ad is designed to send a message. Hence the neurons in their eyes will send visual information to their brains as they scan the ad. The viewer immediately makes short fixations to get an overview of the ad, starting from eye level and up to the top of the ad. The viewer then scans from left to right, reading the musician's name, the name of the record, and the album's release date; these are the goal-directed eye movements the viewer makes to try and understand the design's message, which is to promote Lady Gaga's upcoming album. The words on the ad are very small compared to Lady Gaga's photograph. Hence the viewer soon makes longer fixations and makes scan paths below the ad's title and on the photograph. Their eyes will be strongly bias over Lady Gaga's enormous face.

Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

This traffic sign clearly denotes that a particular lane is only for bicyclists. The sign is divided in to two sections, and in each section, the words and symbols play the positive roles as the backgrounds play the negative roles. The viewer sees the words and symbols before the backgrounds. The entire sign is balanced on a vertical axis with horizontal factors. The sign guides the viewer's eyes in a downward direction down the center, reading "Right lane, bicyclists only." The bike symbolizes bicyclists. Furthermore, the sign is designed in a leveled rectangular shape. The diamond symbol next to the phrase "right lane" draws the viewer's eyes from left to right; the phrase "right lane" is grouped on the right-hand side, denoting the "right lane." Also, the phrase is balanced with the same visual weight and stability as the diamond symbol.

Reading the words on this sign, the viewer would think that the design of this traffic sign is intended to caution drivers that cyclists are merging from the left-hand side of drivers' vehicles (based on the lower part of the sign). However, at the same time, the upper part of this sign (with the image) denotes an entirely different message. The word state that there is a street ahead that cyclists are entering from the left, but there is an excess of grouping with symbols. The arrows symbolize the lanes for the vehiclists, and the bike symbolizes the bicyclists. But the image depicts a bike lane running in between two car lanes. Furthermore, the grouping of their positions is unresolved by an unclear state of difference. The lanes are depicted to be just right off the center of the street. Hence the sign is completely ambiguous and benefits neither from leveling nor sharpening.

Visual vs Symbolic Language

Representations:
Recognizable employment ads from newspapers (in background).
Bright light from a lamp.

Abstractions:
Recognizable figures of people without detailed persons' features.
Line of people is composed of 2 duplications of the same people.
Light shining through darkness

Symbols:
Line of people.
Typeface of the word "unemployment" is bold and strong, signifying the high rate of unemployment.
Black color of people.

First off, the typeface of the word "unemployment" is bold and strong, signifying the high and dramatic rate of unemployment in the economy. The line of people is composed of 2 duplications of the same people, signifying that the same people are losing job after job and keep waiting and searching for new jobs. They are answering to employment opportunities (such as the ads in the background), waiting and attempting "multiple times" to find work. The people are colored black, symbolizing their dark sadness/depression from unemployment. The black figures are positioned in front of the bright ad background, appearing as silhouettes. There is a light shining through the shadows of the background, bringing the ads into brighter view. Perhaps there are shadows because these unemployed people stay up late at night looking for jobs in the newspaper, turning on lights to read the ads. The scale of of the ads are enormous compared to the people, symbolizing that unemployment is taking over these people's lives. It's a force they cannot avoid; they have no choice but to look for jobs. The word "unemployment" is written in bold, black capital letters and positioned towards the top of the image and directly above the figures; this bold appearance of this word labels the people, and with the white rectangle behind the letters, the word appears as a representational sticker label abstracted to symbolize a denotative label for the jobless figures.

Meaning 2: Interactions Between 3 Levels

Advertisement for the Fragrance Series *Lollipop Bling* by Mariah Carey

Representational

As this fragrance series "Lollipop Bling" is by singer Mariah Carey, her representational photo is used as a centerpiece for the advertisement. This photo of her is specially used for the ad as she wears shiny, sparkling "bling." The word bling is a slang term used for sparkling, fancy jewelry. For the viewer, this full and natural colored photo of Carey is the closest thing to actually seeing the singer in direct experience.

Photos of the three fragrance bottles are shown as well. The viewer recognizes the butterfly shape of the bottle caps. However, the general appearance of a butterfly has been abstracted down to its understructure without the details of a representational butterfly. These representational photos of the perfume bottles hold the general and universal shape of a butterfly. Representational butterflies have been translated into the design of bottle caps for functional purposes.

Particularly with the clouds' proportions (scaling from largest to smallest), the viewer recognizes the perspective of clouds in a blue sky.

This advertisement shows a combination of representational photos, symbols, and abstract elements. Put together, they very much overlap, and the viewer perceives and understands the this design is an image of a fantastical dreamland like an illustration the viewer may have experienced from a fairy tale book.


Abstract

The background of the ad is not very detailed. Although the viewer recognizes a butterflies, clouds, lollipops, and sunlight shining through a sky, these features are very structural. The elements are direct and emotional, evoking feelings of bliss especially with the bright colors and outward directions. Carey is the large, representational centerpiece in the composition of this image. The abstract elements around her create impact the viewer's mind, presenting a blissful, fantastical dreamland.

In particular to the largest cloud, there is a concept that expresses softness and comfort. Carey appears to comfortably sit on this cloud just as if she were sitting on a real pillow. This communicates that the representation of a cloud has been abstracted into a soft, comfy pillow. Furthermore, in all the other clouds floating around Carey (sitting atop the largest cloud), the viewer envisions and experiences abstraction toward symbolism of feeling as "light as a cloud." Similarly, the white outlined butterflies and multi-colored bubbles are abstractions used to express yet signify the feeling of lightly floating on air as well.

Symbolic

As stated before, the word "bling" is a slang term used as a synonym for flashy, fancy jewelry. In the ad, Mariah Carey is wearing actual bling (a diamond butterfly ring) and "lollipop bling" (a ring-shaped lollipops) on her fingers to denote the theme behind the fragrance series. Particularly for these symbols, the viewer would need to know some special information about Carey to understand what they signify: Carey has always had a sweet tooth, so knowing she likes candy, her husband had proposed to her by hiding her diamond engagement ring inside a ring lollipop candy wrapper and letting her open it for a very "sweet" surprise. Hence the perfumes are inspired by the flavors of ring pops to symbolize the "sweet" love Carey felt when her husband proposed to her.

Some of the lollipops in the ad are mainly representational, but the lollipops covered with circular diamonds are representations that have been transformed as abstract visual data. This is an advertisement for selling perfumes not lollipops. Interestingly, the connotative appearance of these bejeweled lollipops denote the sentimental meaning of "lollipop bling." In the image, the three of the bejeweled lollipops are exaggerated in size and float right behind the perfume bottles thus perhaps signifying sweetness itself. Hence, the viewer appreciates these lollipops for their symbolic and abstract natures.

Simultaneously, the abstract rays of sunlight pierce outward through the sky in multiple directions. The bubbles, butterflies, and smallest lollipops are positioned in the same directions as the rays, creating a visual spark which perhaps denotes that the fragrances have a burst of sweetness that is as powerful as a burst of sunshine.

MEANING 1

Symbolism

This is the Bastet, the feline goddess of Ancient Egyptian Religion. This object symbolizes a culture-dependent idea. The viewer sees a cat's head on the body of a woman. These two concepts (cat and woman) are drawn from nature. The scene of a woman with a cat's head is out of the ordinary. Hence the viewer realizes that the cat's head is of great significance. The size of the cat's head is exaggerated- especially in being fused to the large headdress. Furthermore, the Bastet sits up straight astutely with her fists clenched, perhaps denoting powerful, majestic royalty. Thus it can signify that the goddess sits atop her thrown, wearing a headdress as a crown and holding her most treasured possession. The proportions of the Bastet's body (slender figure with large breasts) can signify the ideals of beauty from ancient Egyptian culture.





Abstraction

This image is abstract because it depicts the structural level of a stage set. It is reduced to the basics. The colors, tones, lines, shapes, etc. allow the viewer to see the understructure of a stage set of an artificial city. All these elements are visual clues for the viewer. The stage set has been drawn in minimal representational details. The viewer is particularly guided by blue, green, and red rays piercing through the image and joining at the bottom. With these rays, the image clarifies that the viewer is seeing a stage with spotlights. The spotlights make this image a concept-based abstraction. Almost any visual form with these "spotlights" can be seen as a stage. At the same time, this image can perhaps be a depiction of visual plans for a stage set.

Representation

This is a representational image because it presents the physical reality of a sea turtle. The painting reports large amounts of visual detail. The viewer is able to see the various colors, textures, shapes, etc. of a real sea turtle's body. We recognize the universal appearance of a generic turtle. At the same time, however, the colors, shapes, proportions, and markings allow the viewer to see that this is a specific kind of turtle. These detailed identifying factors let the viewer know this is particularly a sea turtle. We recognize the animal from environment and experience in having seen an actual sea turtle. Because this painting is so realistic, it is used as a technical reference to a sea turtle's natural appearance. The image is very lifelike, so the viewer feels as if he/she is witnessing a live sea turtle that is swimming under the sea or at an aquarium.