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.