Visual Techniques

               http://adsoftheworld.com/sites/default/files/styles/media/public/images/glow_Panasonic.jpg

            Exaggeration; Simplicity Economy, Brightness, Ascent, Sequentially, Clarity

            Humor, Color, Reflection

The Magus John  Fowles

                                           http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4186817

              

         Exaggeration; Complexity, Intricacy, Movement, Repetition, Activeness, Spontaneity  

        *Dramatic effect, Tone, Patterns

I tried to find two images which portray the two opposite ends of polar- pair visual techniques and use the quite different combinations to achieve purpose behind the design.

Let’s compare and contrast two images and see what techniques make them work. 

 First picture is Shiny smooth legs - the ad for Panasonic and second one is Russian version of  the audiobook cover The Magus by  writer John Fowles. Both of them utilizes exaggeration as the one of the dominant way to communicate the idea behind the design, but the rest of the techniques that help the designers to achieve that  are quite the opposite.  The Panasonic ad is fairly balanced  and easy to navigate. Designer uses girlish pink color as the main color to make it appealing to female audience and few other colors (colors of depilatory device and dog). Image is light and flirty. The Magus design on the other hands is complex full of intricate details it utilize movement unlike Panasonic Ad. The Magus designer wants to catch the viewers  by  giving up the visual hint that book will contain some  mystery  and main techniques by which is become possible are dramatic tone on top,  that contrasting with a little bit of soft colors of the woman and flowers on the left  low corner and splashes of yellow in windows. The Magus doesn't have any specific accent, designer just  wants your eyes scan the image and guess what all this images has to do with each other.

Shiny smooth legs' designer wants you to pay attention to specific part of the ad the reflection of the dog on the right leg. Patterns on The Magus are repetitive and Panasonic ad doesn't have any. The  Panasonic ad has sequence viewer sees;  shinny  legs >dog> and what is causing it >depilatory devise; The Magus doesn't have any special sequence it goes around both, though, have some element of unpredictably. In case of Shiny smooth legs' it is reflection of the dog. 

What makes the main impact in both designs is exaggeration which helps to communicate the metaphor. In case of Panasonic ad it is legs that are so smooth and shiny that even dog can see it face. In case of The Magus it is blindfolded man who has some kind of illusion going on in his head and he is clueless what is next. 

Contrast

                                           http://www.listal.com/viewimage/2437271hc

Designers of this poster play with contrast very nicely.  Smurfs pop out perfectly on less saturated background, so contrast in color makes characters more appealing and interesting. The big stone is serving as a good background for the   title of the move and as a podium to display Smurfs.

Another contrasting element is scale characters are quite big compare to buildings and that also let viewer focus on them rather than on background.

Next contrast based on opposition of amount of details. Although it is natural that objects that appear farther have lesser details, in this posters most of the buildings look quite similar in color and in term of details which makes them monotone compare to Smurfs. Smurfs have 3D look and have some distinguish belongings like; glasses, pencil, Scottish outfit and book which makes them stand out and give some idea about their personalities.

                                http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Don-t-Move-Posters_i6861367_.htm

This is the poster for Don’t Move movie. No worries there is other posters out there that make a better justice to this move, but this one not the best of them, in my opinion  First of all image neither faded or stands out enough  to get the all spot light ,but there is something wrong with the hierarchy in this poster anyway, because image and title of the move  are fighting for attention. Poor contrast in size and color cause some problems.

Contrast in color.  Yellow is contrasting with the red background very badly and make text less legible. White color is doing better job in term of contrast but use of size gets in a way in order to design to be successful.

Contrast in size.   Names of the featured stars that are written in white are smaller than quotes are written in yellow for some reason. Title looks like somebody was typing the first half of the poster and then change a letters to the bigger size by mistake, because title  doesn't stand alone.  I don’t understand why designer bothered to make such a contrast in size, because despite the change in size and effort of designer to embrace some idea he/she had in mind by not capitalizing the title and  not placing it farther from the rest of the text it didn't work. Text is all over the place name of the stars typed in a stairs. Words “don’t move” in the title of the move are not aligned and under word “don’t” we see text in black. We see contrast on that poster but it doesn't make poster nether legible nor pleasant to look at unlike the one below.

Movement/Motion

                       http://truethresholds.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/step-up-to-the-streets/

When I search for a good image I put “dancing” as a key word. I love to watch movies that involve dance, so I come across blog talking about Step up movie. Even though the image is still, we can easily tell that it is all about movement. It is perfect example of induced motion. In our imagination we cans try to suggest what the next move might be, so picture should be convincing in order to guess that. 

The placements of the bodies suggest movement. The couple in the middle is the best example because female dancer is in very uncomfortable position and male dancer holding the hand above her chest. Their position suggests on of a very spectacular moves in hip-hop, when guy would slightly raise his hand and her upper body will make a popping movement in the same direction with a perfect synchronicity. It looks like magician makes his puppet to do what he wants. Female dancer on the right leans forward her position proposes another step forward in a robotic manner. 

Another trick that always works in order to make dancers look dynamic in the pictures is “flying hair”. Hair of girls seems fluid, in reality, hair cannot stop in a position like it is shown on this picture, but when person is moving camera can capture that moment. Usually drops of water from the hair in movement direction make pictures even more fantastic, but in this case drop shadows and rain add realism to the dancing science. Drops of water double the illusion of movement. 

                                 http://www.behance.net/gallery/Typeface-Posters/56921

 On this poster the designer implies movement by dealing with type only. Left and right sides of the image contrast with each other. The text typed on the left side doesn't implement any movement and type on the right side does. It is perfect example of induced motion. We are under impression that latter are falling down. We see that direction of the smaller type imitates shower or waterfall effect. Letters are grouped closer together on the top of the image and then get looser and more parallel to each other. 

The bright red letters are turning in different directions while they fall and follow the letters that imitate waterfall of shower effect. Usually when you through some object down from a height it wouldn't drop down in the exact same position, based on that knowledge we perceive letters as if they are moving down. 

We also have the example of apparent movement here. Latter “g” on the top changing position and “shadow” of the letter makes stop in different position out of time while it keeps getting lower on pictorial plane. Seems like it falling down. Bright letter “g” is tilted on left side, than lighter version of the same letter gets straight, and finally it  tilts on the right side. This effect is often used in multiplication to show the movement of the character. 

Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

                                     http://www.impawards.com/2012/prometheus_ver7.html

 I was looking for the poster that would be suitable for this week assignment and come across the   poster for Prometheus movie that illustrates relative size, depth, and space quite well. 

Linear perspective gives us a perception of 3 dimensional spaces on 2 dimensional surfaces. The bright spot light is the vanishing point, and the place where darkness meets light is the horizon line. Viewer can see convergence of the stones the further they are on pictorial plan the smaller they appear to the viewer the less details viewer will see, also stones will seems closer to each other.

Overlap is also is also a good cue that tells viewer which object is closer. On this image the stone on the left in the front raw seams closer because it overlaps the one in the second raw.

Size is also important element of this image. The face on the background is enormously big and makes human figures look like ants. Face should look smaller if it had normal size relatively to other objects and was in harmony with rules of the 2 point perspective. On this particular image face made huge to underline allegory how small and insignificant humans are compare to Gods and their will. 

Blog Exercise: Tone and Color

http://dailyjag.com/india/devdas-in-times-top-10-movies-of-millenium/1883/

How TONE is operating

 It is poster for one of the most successful Bollywood movie Devdas. Poster has orange-light-brownish tone in the background that covers female’s pictures and the male’s picture but just slightly. In this case tone separates and unites figures. It separates the male figure and unites the female’s figures. It tells the story. Tone give sense of something “traditional” or related to Indian traditions because this tone is often used in photography to create nostalgic feeling maybe recall memories. From the expression and positioning of the 3 figures I get sense of dilemma. Two woman separated by curtain and one is hiding behind it.

How TONE is integrating

I thing tone emphasizes background/foreground separation. Shape is another main component that incorporates to the story. One of the women in the background on the left is hiding behind the curtain it tells me that there is some secretiveness gives vibe of separation or being different or misunderstood (depends on plot of the movie). Another woman on the right covered with the same curtain yet with different decorative pattern at the end of it. It says to me that she is about to be married or already is. There is something that unites and yet separates those two women and tone underlines it. So tone kind of lead us and shows the hierarchy of importance of the characters Shape also plays significant role here. We see bottle and marks on both women’s forehead, both of the marks communicate to the viewer. Dot(rounded shape) means single or married (it is depending on color). And woman on the left has just decorative diamond-shaped element glued to her forehead. Bottle that man holds means distortion confusion dissatisfaction or uncertainness .    

How COLOR is operating

The goodish background color creates dreamy or nostalgic atmosphere and also gives females supporting role and makes the man a main character of that movie. He doesn't fade into background and his hair part of his short and mainly bottle touched with colors. I think color here play the role of the highlighter to underline hidden message and symbolism. Color marks the ques for the viewer which movie might be about.

How COLOR is interacting

Color leads viewer to make assumptions before they even begin to read the plot or watch a preview. The female on the left has decorative element on her forehead it probably means it is important for her to showcase her beauty. The woman on the right has a dot that is supper bright and bigger than usual- it is symbolic accent.  Red dot means that she is married or prepared for marriage; it gives viewer room for interpretation. Ether main character will be in love with married woman (which is less likely in Indian movies) or there are some social differences between them and she married or about to get married to a different man. Both of the women have lips almost the same color it might be just underline their sensuality or if I go deeper in symbolism mean tough choice for male. The most colorful; part is bottle which stands out against peaceful background the most. Well I guess man is frustrated and he couldn't make his choice without the bottle (just kidding)

The Basic Elements- Magazine Ads

COLOR

Color is always used for makeup advertisements, because when it comes to decorative cosmetic it is obviously the most advantageous. It is the ad for the limited edition collection dedicated to Andy Warhol that features Edie Sedgwick. She was known for wearing a lot of makeup; however in this ad the picture of her is in black and white, because focus should be on the product. Black and white pictures communicate with a viewer in several ways it takes viewer back in time. Black and white could be synonymous to word “classic” or project seriousness. In this particular case it features celebrity from the past and also creates calm background so the colors on foreground can stand out.  

 .  

MOVEMENT

 Movement is a powerful tool that creates the illusion of dynamic, generate energy and make the image more emotional. This image features Olympic champion Michael Phelps. Although he faces the viewer we still perceives movement, the key to that is water splashes. The viewer knows from experience that splashes wouldn't appear without motion. Michael Phelps’s image exuberates strength, his muscles are tensed, mouth is open, he is trying to get a breath of air, and all of it suggests movement.  

SCALE

This ad utilizes scale. Viewers  eyes immediately notice if something is disproportional. If nose is too big compare to the rest of the features or legs are too long, or too short, let alone if something that obviously should be smaller than human figure.

Here then viewer see’s a martini glass which is bigger than the other bodies that are inside of it. Splashes of water create moment and energy but scale is  the main feature of that ad because it creates the feeling that figures get lost in the moving water. It communicates the idea of escapes from whole world, experiencing something new and unusual and feed the viewers' curiosity.

Visual Thinking Research

The Cat after Martin Gardner

I was working on this one with my husband. I was looking at computer screen and counting, he got the print. Our strategies were a little bit different but both of us miscounted triangles at first : I got 19 he got 21.

He was breaking picture into 3 main sectors, and count every triangle in sequence within the sector.

I also divided cat into 3 main sectors, but I was counting bigger triangles and then smaller once. Because our numbers didn't match we recount. 

 I took my husband’s printed copy and then I got 20 as well as him. As I figure out I was missing either #19 or #20 at the end of the tail because I thought I already counted  it when I was counting triangles in the middle part of the tail. Both of our visual perceptions "close in" on the hidden triangles in the picture of the cat but until I got paper version and pointed each triangle with a pan I didn't get correct answer. Both of us did mistakes when we counted triangles on the tail. The funny part was that my husband didn't notice it was the CAT he just perceived  picture as the bunch of triangles divided on 3 sectors.

The Lost Star

by Sam Loyd

http://www.puzzles.com/PuzzlePlayground/LostStar/LostStar.htm

  

This problem would be identify by McKim as a “pattern seeking”

The purpose of the puzzle is to find a STAR hiding in the image. I was doing it online and my husband got printed copy.

Before I even started my search for a star I tried to identify the visual problem and how I can be tricked.  I was thinking if I need to find a pattern than more likely color would be a distractor because according to gestalt principals our eye groups similar looking object together. We have tendency to group similar colors together and similarly looking shapes that close to each other.

Challenge #1 is eliminate a color distraction. I couldn't make image black and white online and I didn't want to do it because it might take away from the fun of solving it, so I just shifted my focus from the color to a shape, it helped to change my visual perspective, but I couldn't see a star yet.

Challenge #2 was finding similarity in shape’s pattern; we all get used to that stars are formed from narrow, similar in shape and size triangles.  Here it was not the case; most of the triangular patterns were different in shape and size.

So I started specially looking for at least one pointy triangular shape of a star  (as we got accustomed to see it) because it said in a puzzle description “there is a perfect star in the illustration”. Once I found it, the rest was easy; what was concealed became reviled.

My husband on the other hand was focusing on shapes and he was looking for narrow pointy shapes. As strange as it may sound he found 3 points of the star (all in the area where star actually is), but couldn't see the star... He found #1, #4 and I think #2 on the right because he kept telling he sees part that looks like it might be a part of the star .

Blog Exercise - Visual Perception 2 / Feature Hierarchy

Circus de Soleil usually has very interesting posters. This poster that has been done for the Beatles show is the one of the simplest, yet very effective for it purpose.

Color, size, shape, brightness and depth are probably the main components of the visual hierarchy here.   

Size: First your eyes go to the word LOVE because of its size

Red contour around the letters make it stand out because by contour gives a bit of a depth to the darker letters.

Color:  Common color is something that unites two different groups together there is red color for the figures and scrolls and there is brown for type

The red is a primary color and therefore dominant color in this composition that’s why contour is red and letters are brown if designer would do it otherwise the word LOVE would shout at you. The red contour guides our eyes to the figures which are representations of the Beatles

Color is key to making figures stand out but size and depth also has something to do with the effect it has on viewer. Figures are closest to the viewer and the one that touches “E” shifts your attention from the right to the left direction and then through you out because of the arm and leg position of the first figure and its direction over all.

Boldness of the word Beatles would be the next thing which will pop out despite the fact that it seems farther inside on pictorial plain. Another cue that your eye will go to the Beatles and not to the Circus de Soleil sign is the direction of the lines which draw you eyes in and then out from the pictorial plan on the right side: So you eye can go to CIRCUS DE SOLEIL sign which is closer to you yet smaller in a size and less bright. When you read “AT THE MIRAGE” what will surprise you that only from the position below the post it looks slightly farther otherwise it looks at the same level with Circus de Soleil but due to the lighter color is a bit lower on hierarchy ladder.

Scrolls stand out because of the shape and color.  The set of stripes that is the way less bright follows (the red followed by white). The fading ends of the stripes give impression of depth.  The repetition of the scrolls shapes farther inside of the background gives you final touch of depth.

VISUAL PERCEPTION: Top-Down Visual Processing

      

      Top-Down processing is driven from previous knowledge and all associations connected to that knowledge. When we look at something we start from the bigger picture and then get into details. Our eye movement is goal directed and so we notice things based on their importance to us. When a designer makes an aide his/her goal is to catch our attention with large concept and then make us hierarchically go down to smaller details to make sense of it.  

     This advertisement exhibits the Top-Down process. The key to this image is that the color blue connects all the dots together and makes the eyes do a circular movement. The face demands our attention and the points of attraction are eyes and tongue because of its vibrant blue color that stand out on a pink skin. Tongue color immediately strikes us with a question “why is it blue?” the tongue of the woman like water slide it makes our eyes move down.  The image of woman puzzles us; the bottle gives the answers, so our eyes follow the “blue path” and look for the farther clues and smaller details. Then our attention flow to the right to the bottle and word SPRITE.

     After that all depends on what kind of individuals we are (more visual or more logical) so we either get back to the hair style and look at all details such as icicles which will direct our attention back to the bottle eventually. Or we complete the reading first and then look for other details on the face. Meanwhile we also derive association from memory and blue tongue color-ice- and blue bottle will go in a loop and translate as “fresh” in our minds.

Design Success and Failure - Syntactical Guidelines

Mirumoto Key- by Mario Wibisono (formerly RAYNKAZUYA)

Style : Digital art Drawing Fantasy

Success

  This is an illustration done for the game Legend of the Five Rings. The illustrators for video games usually pay the close attention to outfits details of their character and put stress on weapons, because it is the first things the buyer of video games focus on. These two things send the fans of a video games a visual message so they can easier imagine characters in actions. Second priority is how character look (depending on the game they either very attractive or intimidating and scary looking) All of it achieved by using varieties of designer’s technics.

Although the illustration is almost centered it doesn't look boring because elements on that picture do not compete for your attention and your eye can easily follow the elements on the image because of the perfect hierarchy and harmony.  Swords are probably the first elements of hierarchic ladder followed by character itself. The diagonal placement of the weapon makes it stand out and create movement. Swords placement create 3D illusion (like it will jump out of the picture to the viewer’s place). Wibisono uses the white color (lighter colors have a tendency to stand up from the darker background ),glowing effect and movement of the smoke-like magic light to make sure that viewer’s eye will go to the swords first. All of it also maximizes the movement effect. Wibisono applies principle of foreclosure for the right sword. Foreclosure in this case accomplish two things; suggests that sword is much longer than you see it on the picture (therefore  character is dual wielding) and take eyes out of the picture so you eye can follow the arm back to the picture  and then reach the face. Gentiles of cheeks and leaps vs. eyes that are concentrated on whoever approaches create interesting mixture of softness and strength.

The similar relationship of softness and sharpness happens between background and foreground. The dominating presents of the figure and blurred branch of a sakura on the background. Also background and foreground relationship achieved by playing with brightness of colors. A brighter colors of the kimono and well defend details are also put emphases on the figure.

Harmony and balance are also achieved by color palette: Because of similarity and repetition of colors on the background and foreground but with different intensity balance and unity is achieved without ruining softness-sharpness contrast between background foregrounds.

Failure

I found that poster on Disneygo.com website. This is invitation to participate in Manga Woolf contest.

This poster is disturbing in many ways.  The balance between positive and negative (background/foreground is completely ruined) Yes manga is associated with bright colors and they are present, but in weird proportions.  Type, images and background are al competing for attention and focus point is not defined. Wolves are too big and despite expectation that once it bigger it should be brighter and attract you attention background grabs your attention because of it fluorescent color. It doesn't make sense because background color is just a bit lighter than text color which makes message less legible.

   There is no unity of hierarchy within the phrases on background. Everything is equally leveled there is no emphases on anything in particular even though it should be. Every color makes image equally busy; background, type, dog’s eyes- all of it screams at you. It feels like you want to close your eye shake your head and look at it again and see if you can read it more easily this time. “Manga Wolf” phrase is bigger but for some reasons fading under blue line which prevent it for standing out as it should.

There is no harmony. The separate phrases are intended to be done in a form of a chat but stripes of colors with phrases are seating almost on the top of each other and interfere one with another. The images of wolves that actually supposed to be brighter in manga style look slightly boring and only Woolf’s different eye color save the situation. The leaves pattern on background doesn't serve any visual purpose. The balance is also ruined by the annoying manner of the author use every available corner of the poster to squeeze more information between images of the wolves. Colors don’t look good together. 

Russian Veteran

I see a very old man in the picture. According to the clothes he wears he is WWII veteran and he served in the navy. He touches his cap in salute. His hat has a white color but shield is dark blue and he has a red star, crest and yellow piping that signify a navy officer.  His face is covered with wrinkles. His age is probably about eighty years old. He is turned half profile and you can see one ear which is rather large. His nose is a bit long. He had small eyes that are close to his nose and they are deep- seated. The eyebrows are gray and bushy. The mouth is tightly close and the corners of the mouth are turned down. His facial expression and figure project dignity. His dark blue jacket covered with bunch of medals. The man has three stars on each of his shoulder boards. Three stars in combination with the anchor that is clipped to his jacket defines him as Admiral of navy. He is wearing the Russian navy uniform with Russian medals.

The image gives a sense that person on that picture got dressed for the very special event, and the visual clues are the bunch of medals, neat look, and navy uniform. He is very proud to be at the place he is at. He salutes to somebody so it seems that he has at least couple of other people around him. She background is blurry but I would suggest that he is rather outdoors. The golden color corners and anchor are symbols of navy service, bunch of medals suggest that he was highly rewarded for his services.

LIST OF SYMBOLS:

 Medals- sign of a high reword

Anchor- belongings to the navy

Hat signifies navy officer or higher as well as crest and piping

Shoulder board with 3 stars (high rank) in addition with 3 stars indicates Admiral

The Skin I Live In –blue ray cover

    The main characters of the move The Skin I Live In-  are the representational images here.  Both of them are the focus point and the attention getters. The image on the left is the image of Antonio Banderas his face and body are very tensed. The image of the woman on the right combine’s representational abstract and symbolic levels. The eyes, nose and body below are the parts of representational image; the skin is transition from representational to abstraction/symbolic (there is something unnatural about these lines). Her body and face are very tensed similar to Banderas’s, the mouth’s line is harsh and eyes show determination to deal with whatever bothers her. The skin around the eyes is depicting her real skin but musk on her face is already pictures abstraction. It corresponds with the title of the movie and visually it says to you “the skinlike musk”. Symbolically it whispers the word “hiding”. Design promises you a mystery and gives you sense of an intrigue and f possibly something unexpected by involving all three levels of meaning.

 Abstract
The main abstract objects here are musk, and skin of the woman. When you look at these lines below the shoulders you can say that it is not real scars you are looking at. It is abstraction of something like a stitch or drawing. Those lines work very well with the tensed bodies to embrace the sense of something uncomfortable. Even if you didn’t read the movie preview it tells you that genre is probably something thriller- like. Musk is also incorporate to that uncomfortable feeling that image sends you. The shape of the muck is not organic it doesn’t repeat the exact shape of eyes and nose. The color is also different from her skin color. The mask looks like it made plastic or silicon and contrasts with realism of her eyes. Eyes that emote “disturbance” and “discomfort”.

Symbolic
The box case for DVD has the logo

that in a very straight forward manner tells you it is Blue Ray and therefore high quality of the video. The musk derives its symbolic meaning from abstract.  It delivers even deeper message of something that hiding behind. Musk is a known symbol of hiding the face if you think of direct meaning, and hiding the truth if you think of it figuratively.  

 All of three meanings work and interconnect very well.  The type also has static characteristics to it as muck and stroke has the same color like the musk. All of it combined create unity and sense of duality (layer underneath of other layer).

This poster attracted my attention in Europe as one of the best representations of what to expect from the move without reading about it seeing a preview. It conveys powerful abstract and symbolic message in combination with photographs of the actor and actresses that movie presents. 

MEANING 2 - Blog Exercise

This photo captures the very touching and emotional moment between father and daughter, when they dance on daughter’s wedding. The father trays to hold his tears. The picture is very realistic. It shows the motion of dance. Cloth of the woman suggests that she is bride and flowers and father's shirt make us believe that wedding takes place in Hawaii. A photographer focusing on foreground and we can see figures’ intricate details,but the father’s facial expression more than anything tells as that it is representational image.

Unlike first image these masks are portray emotions but we can say that they are not real but exaggerated. The eyes unlike in real life have geometrical shapes the wrinkles are supper deep and every facial expression looks over- expressed. The less complex image the more easy to read it . Anyone who look at these masks can easily tell what king of emotion they project. It makes them abstract and universal.

These images are symbolic because they are in their simplest form  and the most universally readable of all.Unlike in case of abstraction there are almost no room for interpretation.