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.