Dimension/Depth/Scale Exercise

This graphic design is a piece done by Marian Bantjes used to advertise environmentalism for Yale University. This piece represents my interest in not only design but in illustration as well. I have always loved technical drawing using various mediums of charcoal, pencil, and pen and ink. Designer Bantjes shows themes of foliage which are my favorite things to draw as well. I like to draw organic, abstract things that has to do with nature and microbiology. She creates the illusion of depth with the perspective of top view using a fusion of several depth cues. First, she overlaps the large words over buildings and people to show how far away they are from each other. To exaggerate the largeness, she draws the people extra tiny relative to the buildings. Lastly she gives a darker tone to the things underneath the the buildings to emphasize the tallness of it. The dark shades push the people and the ground away from the viewer giving the illusion of the buildings to "pop out".

Ex6 Visual Language Syntax

My Journal






































Post at least 1 image on your blog and underneath post a short paragraph analyzing what message is communicated and how, visually, that communication is accomplished. In other words, what is the syntax of this visual message. Then add a couple of sentences listing some of the STANDARD characteristics of this form of visual information AS A VISUAL LANGUAGE. For example: in family photographs, subjects typically face the camera and stand or sit close to each other.

Plain paper suggests freedom from the confinement of lines. Words and pictures can coincide together on an existing page. Scribbled contour images of British currency shows that I have either went to Britain myself or have gotten them from a friend. Either way, it tells that I am interested in another culture and traveling. There is also a line drawing of my camera suggesting that I like to record the things I see. The other page filled with words are my thoughts on my excitement for visiting Europe. Even though there is a balance of words versus drawings, there is stress in the bottom-right of notebook with the group of coin sketches. They are darker than the rest of the of content on the page meaning it is the more positive aspect. The eye will immediately be drawn to the coin sketches.

Journals are like a piece of someone's soul. Or better yet, a window to one's soul. They record a person's innermost thoughts through words, as well as visual pictures. Found objects like pictures, plants, magazine cutouts, etc. can be taped in there, too. Sometimes there is no well-thought out composition to a page because people just want to spill out their feelings. But at other times people want to keep everything organized and visually appealing. Another feature to journals, especially ones without lines, is that you are not limited to writing top to bottom. You can flip it upside down, write in a landscape position, or even in circles.

Ex4 Visual Thinking Research

Actual Puzzle 1






















My Results






















My method of solving the puzzle was by circling all the overlapping edges with a different color for each color group. For example, I used orange to circle all the edges that overlapped blue. For the yellow circles, I used magenta to circle the overlaps. From there, I counted all the edges I circled for each color and compared one color group to another. Red had a total of 7 circles overlapping it; yellow had 5; green had 6; and blue had 6. Since blue and green had equal total numbers of visible areas, blue and green is the answer. According to McKim’s reading, my method would be categorized under pattern finding and visual comparison.

My Friend's Results






















For my friend’s method, she did the same method as mine by counting the overlapping edges for every color group and comparing the each total amount. Instead of finding how many visible areas exist, she tried finding how many areas are covered.


Solution























We are both correct!



Actual Puzzle 2





















My Results





















Although this seems like an easy puzzle to figure out, it can be overlooked when counting the triangles. One can lose their place counting the overlapping triangles or miss one that is well hidden. The cat's tail was the part that took special attention to count. I found all the triangles except one more, an obtuse triangle, in the cat's tail. I found 19 out of 20. What helped me, however, to count was to count the big, noticeable triangles first, then count the small, well-hidden triangles within the triangles second.

My friend's results




















Since she basically found everything I found, I left everything the same except for the triangle I didn't find which is highlighted in green. She found the missing obtuse triangle in the cat's tail. 20 triangles out of 20. According to McKim's reading, this method of puzzle solving using pattern perception. We zoomed out to find the obvious triangles then we zoomed in to find the hidden triangles. There's a constant "flip-flop" way of seeing.

Solution

Ex5 Visual vs. Symbolic Language

“Unemployment” google search:

Waiting
Anxious
Depressed
Sadness
Hopeful
Fearful
Impatient
Endless line
Juxtaposition of large object next to smaller ones

In this photograph, there are objects of similarity that shows that these people are grouped together for a certain purpose. They are all facing the same direction without any interaction with each other, meaning that they are specifically waiting for task/event in line. Although the left side of the composition carries more weight and stress because of larger objects, there is still a balance since the objects are spread out across the page. Larger objects appear closer to the viewer while the smaller objects appear farther away representing an illusion of dimensionality.

Ex2 Feature Hierarchy in Visual Searches

Analysis of an Elevator Control Panel

















To start off, the elevator control panel is organized into three main colors, black, white, and gold and also a single color, orange. The black and white is used to differentiate the labels from the buttons. Black being the label and white being the the button. The gold indicates characters of numbers, letters, symbols, and braille. To the bottom, right hand side lies a single, orange label separating it from the rest of the buttons on the panel. This "pop-out" effect gives it special attention. The second visual channel feature are the rectangular and square shapes. Individual squares represent the label and the other represents the button while being embodied in a rectangular shape. Users can figure out which button goes to which floor being adjacent to its designated label. The hierarchical order of characters is bottom to top, and left to right, larger numbers being at the top and smaller numbers at the bottom. This position plays well because it is parallel to the actual floor levels. Larger numbers correspond to higher floor levels. Despite the order of left to right which might mistake the panel as a horizontal, it is actually vertical. Because the colors are organized in columns of black, white, black, white, etc. instead of rows, this gives the panel a vertical theme. The least used buttons, emergency alarm and the stop button, are taken out and grouped together at the very bottom. Users starting out at the Lobby Level (L) will first see where the "L" button is located and then move their eyes naturally upwards to find their floor level. Next, they will notice the order of numbers is from left to right. They know not to push the actual gold characters because of the square, white button next to it.



Analysis of Parisian Metro Transit Map






















Each subway line is unique to its own color. Red is for the "A" lines, Blue is for "B" lines", and so forth. The legend is located at the bottom, left side of the map where the user can figure out which color belongs to which line. The small, white dots within the line represent the stops. To show each intersection of crossovers from one line to the next are white ovals and circles outlined in black. The overall layout is shaped into an octagon which is then organized into layers of octagons. There are 6 layers, the first layer being the innermost part of Paris to the sixth being the outermost part of Paris. The layers are in a pattern of darker tan and lighter tan so that it is easier to differentiate each one. Also, the neutral color of the background makes it easier to see the map lines. Using the organization of the map users can quickly find their way around Paris by just figuring out their starting point and their ending point, then tracing the line that connects them both. The designer of the map especially made the a lot of space in the map so that it looks clean and it is easy to read.