Visual Techniques

Image taken from: Containerlist

This illustration by Milton Glaser incorporates many visual techniques, such as:
Boldness
Instability
Exaggeration
Distortion
Spontaneity
Intricacy
Sharpness
Activness

 

Image taken from: Pinterest.com

Above is an illustration by the artist Noma Bar that incorporates the following visual techniques:

Subtlety

Juxatposition

Simplicity

Balance

Understatement

Economy

Symmetry

Opacity

Sharpness

Accent

When I look at these two pieces of graphic design, the differences between them are quite striking. The illustration by Milton Glaser is full of vibrant colors, activity, and details, denoting a fun and playful picture of a performing band. The combination of visual techniques at play are all working together to enhance the sensation of activity, and to give the appearance of what it is like to visit a live music performance. In contrast, the illustration by Noma Bar is very somber and simplistic. By simply dividing the number eleven by merely using two colors he conjures the likeness of the World Trade Center, and by adding the silhouette of a falling man he further accentuates this perception. This illustration is using simple means to create a message that most people can relate to. The two illustration are quite different, in fact they are almost each others perfect opposites.

Contrast

The LP cover for the album Remain in Light by the Talking Heads, was designed by Tibor Kalman, and is a great example of how to use contrast in design. Most obvious is the contrast in color, as he covered the band members faces in red pixelated paint. Aside from using a contrasting color, he also makes a clear break with convention he used very poor refinement in covering the faces up, creating even more contrast in the way of form. Not only did Kalman make a statement with the remarkable contrast between the faces and the colors, he also manipulated the typeface to make it stand out more. He did so by inverting the A:s in the band name. But with the already stark contrast in color and form, the change in the typeface is not as obvious.

Wine labels are important communicators and greatly influence the buyer as to what wine bottle to buy. That is why it is important for the wine maker to have a label that stands out and has received proper consideration in its design elements. This label for the wine Aquinas however, has not received much of this consideration as it in fact seeks to create harmony in its design. The name in the top is perfectly balanced by the text box in the bottom and it uses only the slightest of contrasting queues in the color scheme to highlight the name and grape variety. Chances are that a customer at a wine shop will not spend much time contemplating this wine bottle for purchase as it fails to communicate its excellence to the consumer. It may be true that the intent is to give a distinguished and elegant appearance, communicating a sophisticated wine, but if this was the intent, then the design should have at least used some embellishments to make it communicate this message better. As it stands it merely gives a bland and dull impression without any strong contrasting attributes to make it stand out more and give it a sense of identity.

Design in Motion

 Implied Movement

 http://www.coroflot.com/Fumi1223/Graphic-Art-and-Design

Graphic Design for print rarely has actual moving parts. However we do make assumptions of movement in the design, based on our previous experience and knowledge, as well as our own desires to interpret what we see. So when looking at the above illustration by famous designer Tibor Kalman, it is hard to disregard the apparent directionality and movement of the diagonal lines that along with the illustration of an umbrella implies that it is raining. Since rain is a common phenomenon and part of everyone's life this message is easy to deduce. Of course, nothing is actually moving in the design, and what we see are merely lines and shapes that we interpret based on our knowledge of the world. Not only is our knowledge of the world part of why we understand the design, our desire to make sense of what we see also helps to interpret the illustration. If a person with no experience of rain or umbrellas would watch this poster, they might have a hard time to see falling rain, but their desire to understand the image would most likely allow them to see a different meaning of movement.

http://www.colorsmagazine.com/magazine/10

 Tibor Kalman was also the chief editor for the magazine Colors, where he was responsible for an abundance of interesting and controversial designs. On the cover to this issue we see street kids from Rio de Janeiro who are surfing on the top of a speeding train. The speed and directionality in this picture is clearly visible by watching the hair and clothing of the boys. Their hair is blown back by the draft that the train causes, and their clothing is blowing in the wind. They are also leaning into the wind as to not fall over, bracing to stay on the train. With the one point perspective in the shot, all lines are converging in the center, giving the photograph a sense of direction. The surrounding landscape is obscured in a blur as the camera fails to focus on it, due to the speed of the train, adding an additional sense of speed and motion to the picture.

Depth in Graphic Design

For the cover of Beck's album, The Information, the cover of the CD cover was left empty and inside the sleeve were a bunch of stickers. The idea was that the listener could then create his own CD cover based on  his or her feelings about the CD. This creates some interesting results as for as depth and scale is concerned. Mainly because of the overlapping stickers that through their juxtaposition creates the since of depth withing the design. Some of the stickers also creates a sense of depth based on their use of linear perspective as seen in the rectangular structures above, as well as the converging lines of the escalator below. The relative size and familiar size of objects represented on the stickers, also create interesting markers for depth and size, as seen above with the big silhouette of the artist Beck compared to the abstracted renderings of buildings and trees, as well as clouds. This cover was conceptualized by the company Big Active.

Tone and Color in User Interface

This user interface was designed by F. Hugh and uploaded to deviantart.com. The designer has made good use of both tone and color in this rendering of a user interface for an android phone.

How tone is operating

In this design the background and menu bars are heavily depending on the different tones of a black and grey gradient. The use of tone helps to create a clean and undisturbed surface that makes for a harmonious backdrop, free from distractions. It also creates a dynamic and almost three dimensional effect that gives the screen depth as well as texture. The tonal use in the menu bars further enhances this feeling.

How tone is interacting with the dot

In this rendering of the background the tone is integrated in a mesh pattern made up of small dots. This creates an interesting texture that resembles a metallic surface perforated by tiny dots. The dot is also used as a navigation tool to orient the user as to which page of the interface is active, as well as how many pages there are.

How color is operating

Color in this design is used to highlight the different icons on the screen. By using color these icons are differentiated from each other which effectively guides the eye to the desired application. As the background is so devoid of color the use of color becomes very obvious and makes the applications stand out.

How color is interacting with shape

The interaction between color and shape is very successful in structuring and differentiating the different icons in the display. The primary shape for this being the square that effectively creates a symmetrical grid in which color serves to orient the user. Other shapes that interact with color is the rectangular battery symbol that with its green color communicates the battery level in a intuitive way.

Visual Communication and Basic Elements

 

 Basic elements are everywhere, as is evident by their basic nature. Here I am taking a closer look at three of these basic elements, starting with tone. This Rolling Stone magazine cover won the Cover of the Year award, maybe partly because of the use of shading, by probably more due to the fact that no text has been added on top of the president, leaving a very clean and harmonious image. This feeling of harmony and calm is achieved by tone as the photographer used lighting to create shadows, complimenting his subjects features and give the photograph depth. The use of tone also enhances the colors in the picture and gives the subject a more vibrant appearance. The background is also using tone to frame the subject in a soothing and light environment.

  

Other basic elements that are commonly used in visual communication is lines. Here we see examples of many kinds of lines, some in the form of text at an angle, and others as part of the photographs. These lines give the sensation of movement and action as their extreme directions and wild expressions break the traditional horizontal patterns commonly associated with printed text. There is a break from tradition that highlights the lines and creates new associations. The photographs are also vital in expressing lines as the extreme movements expressed in the pictures become attention grabbers and come off as odd compared to ordinary body language.

The most basic of basic elements is arguably the dot. Especially in half tone print as pictures are made up of thousands of tiny dots that together create tone and color. In this graphic the dot has also been used to create the font, by combining many small dots into a coherent image. Dots are truly abundant in visual communication and can be found as tiny elements in the pictures above, as well as in bigger constellations, like in the font. They are also used in the photo editing of the collage seen above, as the designer uses them to create splines that creates mathematical curves, vital for the editing of images.

Analyzes of Visual Thinking

Me and my wife sat down with these visual puzzles trying to come to terms with how to solve them. We both had different approaches to the problems in these dynamic structures it turned out. My technique was that of pattern seeking as I reviewed the figures, trying to find the logic using visual reasoning. When I thought that I had grasped the idea of the figure I proceeded to doing the drawing, which proved successful on the first try.

My wife on the other hand, used visual induction to try to predict her next move as she made her way through the drawing. She also made spatial analogies to deduce what the rest of her drawing would look like after a certain section had been sketched out. If she then found herself lacking, she would stop and reevaluate her progress, as seen in the photo to the left (above).