Visual Literacy

The Basic Morphological Forms  of Visual Grammar
Dot	The dot is the minimal visual unit. It functions as a pointer or a marker of visual space. If a dot is placed in the center of visual space, it provides a balanced picture. If it is placed either to the left or the right of the center, it needs to be countered by another visual element (Arnheim, 1988).  Centricity stands for a self-centered attitude that is characteristic of human beings.  The infant sees himself as the center of the world around him. A social group, a group or an organization, is also compelled to recognize that it has a center. Things are organized around that center.
Line	A line is produced by moving a point in space. Lines may be thick, thin, straight, curved,  jagged, or wiggly. Lines may also be implied as when four dots are placed on a page and linearly linked by the mind that searches for such recognizable patterns. Lines also invoke feelings. Vertical lines imply tranquility and rest; horizontal lines demonstrate power and strength; oblique lines imply movement, action and charge; curved lines create calm and sensual feelings (Szabaro, 1986).
Shape	There are certain basic shapes that command visual space. They are the circle, the square, the triangle, and their various extensions.  These shapes enclose a two dimensional area. Shapes may be organic (curved edges, continuous) or geometric (sharp edges or angles). Spaces that are determined by shapes and forms.  When these shapes and forms exist, the shapes are positive. When they exist outside of these shapes and forms and lurk around them, they are negative shapes.
Space	Shape encloses a two dimensional area.  Space can be created by overlapping shapes or forms in front of each other by by using holes and cavities.  Space can provide the illusion of depth.
Color	Color is light reflected from a surface. It can create emphasis, harmony, emotions, unity, and dimension. Color has three distinct qualities: Hue (color), value (from light colors to dark colors), and intensity (from bright colors to dark colors).
Texture	This is a quality that is closely related to touch.
Value	This has to do with a range of shadows from light to dark.  It provides a sense of space and depth to an object and emphasizes its tri-dimensional aspects.
Form	This is a quality that encloses a volume or three dimensional area.

  Although many contributors to visual communication theory prefer to call these elements “the alphabet of visual art,” these forms function as morphological forms, iconic morphs. These elements are arranged in accordance to visual principles that provide it with the syntax of a visual grammar.  

Principles of Visual Syntax
Unity, Harmony	This relates to the oneness or the wholeness of visual space. Colors, shapes, lines, textures, and patterns are arranged to create a harmonious unity.
Variety	Variety is achieved by using different kinds of lines, colors, textures, and shapes.
Balance	Balance involves the equalization of elements in a work of art. Elements may be organized into symmetrical, asymmetrical or radial patterns.
Emphasis	This refers to placing greater attention to certain areas or objects in art.  Emphasis can be created through the sudden or abrupt changes in opposing elements.
Rhythm	This is created by repeating objects or elements within a visual space. These repetitions may be either regular or irregular.
Movement	This refers to the arrangement of parts in a work of art to create a visual reaction that is either fast or slow. This is done by the use of patterns, contrasts, and lines.
Pattern	This involves the repetition of lines, shapes, colors, and textures.
Graduation	This is accomplished by combining elements in a series of gradual changes in shapes or color. Or darkness.
Proportion	This has to do with relationship of elements to each other within the whole of a visual space

WELCOME TO DESIGN 101 FALL 10

WELCOME TO DESIGN 131 FALL 10
The Seven Principles of Design

Remember the acronym:
MDHVBPE

My Dog Has Very Big Paws & Ears

M=Movement:
The use of visual pathways in a work.

D=Dominance:
Elements, areas or images made to assume more importance than others.

H=Harmony:
Giving units a sameness or "relatedness"of properties through repetition:
This cohesiveness pull units together.

Harmony is achieved by:
repetition: repeated use of the same visual effect. May cause harmony, pattern, rhythmic movement or dominance.
motif: design or patterned unit that is repeated
allover pattern: The repetition of a motif over an entire surface making a new pattern within the area.
rhythm: a flow or rhythmic movement created by repetition or measured accents or regulated visual units..
closure: a gestalt concept in which groupings occur when incomplete information is seen as complete-unified whole. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

V=Variety:
Visual separation of units- dissimilarities providing interest and excitement.
Variety is achieved by:
contrast: visual emphasis through difference.
elaboration: addition of detail or embellishment with contradictory information to make area different than surrounding area.

B=Balance
A equilibrium achieved through the use of the elements.
symmetry: mirror like repetition on either side of an actual or imagined central axis.
approximate symmetry: similar but not exact imagery on either side of a central axis.
radial: compositions emanating from a central point.
asymmetry: "felt or implied equilibrium without any symmetry.

P=Proportion
The comparative relationship between parts of a whole or units as to size. (the size of the Statue of Liberty's hand relates to the size of her head.)
scale: established when associations of size are created relative to some constant standard or specific unit of measure relative to human dimensions. The Statue of Liberty's scale relative to human dimensions. (the Statue of Liberty's scale is apparent when she is seen next to an automobile.)

E=Economy
The elimination of everything not essential for greater clarity.


Other Terms

Composition: The art work's organization or arrangement producing unity.

Pattern: a design unity or an organization of the elements in specific relationships.

Gestalt: a German word for "form" the theory is that the total is greater than the sum of its parts".

Form: the organization of all the visual elements according to the principles that will develop unity in the artwork. The total appearance or organization.

Form is concerned with the structure, organization or design of a work. Therefore, the artist is a visual former with a plan.

Other sub-units of form are: repetition, rhythm, spatial tension, and closure.

Unity: is the sum total of all the principles. Unity is a sense of oneness resulting from use of the elements (line, shape, texture, color, value) in an appropriate ratio between harmony and variety. Harmony pulls images or areas together and Variety will separate or isolate the same area.

Organic Unity: The artist is motivated by feelings about the subject (the what), The artistic elements -line, shape, color, texture and value are manipulated to create form (the how) in the work, which produces content (the why) that parallels the artists feelings. The artist attempts to make all parts of the work, the how, the why and the what work together mutually as if they were a living organism or organic unity--which is the desired end.

Research question this week:

Which design principle do you think is the most important and why?

Line

What is Line?
A line connects two points. Lines come in every shape and size. They are one way to define space and shape and they can give the illusion of dimension.
The element of line can be used as:
texture
to define space
to emphasize
to set a mood
to create motion or movement
as illusion or perspective

There are 4 types of line: diagonal, horizontal, curvilinear and vertical. All lines are dynamic or static.
Diagonal lines are dynamic and the most dynamic in terms of movement.
Horizontal lines are static giving the illusion of stability.
Vertical lines are both
Diagonal and curved lines are both dynamic.

Lines can:
define
enclose
connect
dissect

Lines can be:
point in motion
series of adjacent points
a connection between points
an implied connection between points.

The principal of unequal spacing involves placing an element on a page from its point to the edges of the page that is unequal distance to the horizontal and vertical position on the page.

This applies to points of interest in your composition. You might also call these the dominant areas of the composition.
Varied measurements around the points of interest tend to heighten visual interest. Therefore variety in spacing, just as in life, is important when it comes to placing elements on a page. Visual variety allows the eye to play.
Use the principal of unequal spacing to add variety to spacing your lines or any element in a composition. Therefore one must develop an active awareness of spacing between objects.

An artist must be aware of the edge of the page in the composition as well as spacial relationships within the page.
Draw a line on a piece of paper. How many lines do you see?

Lines are used to create harmony through rhythm, repetition, pattern and closure.
Lines are used to create variety by their visual difference.
Lines create balance in a composition by symmetry, asymmetry and radial symmetry.
Question for the week:

How do lines create closure in a composition?

Welcome to Design 131

The Seven Principles of Design

Remember the acronym:
MDHVBPE

My Dog Has Very Big Paws & Ears

M=Movement:
The use of visual pathways in a work.

D=Dominance:
Elements, areas or images made to assume more importance than others.

H=Harmony:
Giving units a sameness or "relatedness"of properties through repetition:
This cohesiveness pull units together.

Harmony is achieved by:
repetition: repeated use of the same visual effect. May cause harmony, pattern, rhythmic movement or dominance.
motif: design or patterned unit that is repeated
allover pattern: The repetition of a motif over an entire surface making a new pattern within the area.
rhythm: a flow or rhythmic movement created by repetition or measured accents or regulated visual units..
closure: a gestalt concept in which groupings occur when incomplete information is seen as complete-unified whole. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

V=Variety:
Visual separation of units- dissimilarities providing interest and excitement.
Variety is achieved by:
contrast: visual emphasis through difference.
elaboration: addition of detail or embellishment with contradictory information to make area different than surrounding area.

B=Balance
A equilibrium achieved through the use of the elements.
symmetry: mirror like repetition on either side of an actual or imagined central axis.
approximate symmetry: similar but not exact imagery on either side of a central axis.
radial: compositions emanating from a central point.
asymmetry: "felt or implied equilibrium without any symmetry.

P=Proportion
The comparative relationship between parts of a whole or units as to size. (the size of the Statue of Liberty's hand relates to the size of her head.)
scale: established when associations of size are created relative to some constant standard or specific unit of measure relative to human dimensions. The Statue of Liberty's scale relative to human dimensions. (the Statue of Liberty's scale is apparent when she is seen next to an automobile.)

E=Economy
The elimination of everything not essential for greater clarity.

Other Terms

Composition: The art work's organization or arrangement producing unity.

Pattern: a design unity or an organization of the elements in specific relationships.

Gestalt: a German word for "form" the theory is that the total is greater than the sum of its parts".

Form: the organization of all the visual elements according to the principles that will develop unity in the artwork. The total appearance or organization.

Form is concerned with the structure, organization or design of a work. Therefore, the artist is a visual former with a plan.

Other sub-units of form are: repetition, rhythm, spatial tension, and closure.

Unity: is the sum total of all the principles. Unity is a sense of oneness resulting from use of the elements (line, shape, texture, color, value) in an appropriate ratio between harmony and variety. Harmony pulls images or areas together and Variety will separate or isolate the same area.

Organic Unity: The artist is motivated by feelings about the subject (the what), The artistic elements -line, shape, color, texture and value are manipulated to create form (the how) in the work, which produces content (the why) that parallels the artists feelings. The artist attempts to make all parts of the work, the how, the why and the what work together mutually as if they were a living organism or organic unity--which is the desired end.

Research question this week:

Which design principle do you think is the most important and why?

Great Semester!

Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoy the pics!

Mind Map Assignments

By asking yourself what you already know in this course, I want you to build a list of knowledge.  For now, put a title on it and call it your Knowledge List.

Knowledge list

What I want you to do is list all the things you know about design up to this point.  Yes dump it--right on the paper under the title Knowledge list.

Next I want you to break this list into categories.  A category could be one of the principals of design or an element.  Its your list, so you figure it out , and certainly categorize the list in a way that makes sense to you.  Once you have established categories for the listed items, then I want you to sort out all the items and place them under their categories.  You may have sub categories, but it is up to you.  This is similar to making an outline for an essay, however, I want this to be in list form.  So your List will have categories and subcategories and possibly categories of you sub categories. 

The best way to get this list of knowledge started is to look at all the handouts I have given you so far--everything.  Then look at your notes and your writings on the two critiques we have already had.  With all this information, you should come up with some really substantial lists of knowledge.
This list will be used for an in class assignment on Monday, so please be well prepared. 

Idea List

Now I want you to itemize all the things you do every week.  Yes I mean all of it.  List it out and you can also put things on this list of the things you want to do.  This is important--list the things you would like to do, but aren't doing, because you are making excuses or simply think you don't have the time to do them.  Please keep personal stuff off this list.  After you have listed all your daily activities, make a category list.  This is the hard part, but its your life and I want you to categorize it.  Yep...it might look like this:

1. Personal
2. Marketing
3. Studio
4. Teaching
5. Education

These are the five main categories in my life.  I can list all the activities I do under these five headings.  I even have folders with these names on them on my desk.  So when I have something to do in this category, or an idea...you guessed it...it goes into that folder to be worked on.  I then have things organized nicely so I can work more efficiently.  You don't have to make folders.  I was sharing some of my stuff.  However, you do have to come up with the list.

The good news is that you can then take this list and plug it into a weekly calendar.  There is one on google calendar
http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/tour.html
Yes I do this and it makes me more organized.  I even find time to do the things I thougt I didn't have time for in my life--like play and think and write and read.  I find time to do things like pay bills and go to the movies and yep--be spontaneous.  You list is up to you.  Start with the basics like work, school, studying, commuting, kids, and then go from the basic to the more personal stuff like meals and laundry.  List all of it and then categorize it and then sub categorize your listed items.  You can start at the beginning of the day.  You may start your day with meditation and prayer or exercise.  Put it all down.  You will be surprised at how much you do. 

If you do this right, you will have a better understanding of yourself and be able to "design" a rich schedule for your life.

These are two very different types of lists.  The knowledge list is a list of things you know.  The idea list is a list of ideas or things that you do or want to do or want to know.  There is a big difference in these two types of list.  A knowledge list can be built by making an idea list.  The two can be used together when building a system of ideas or a paper.  So these two kinds of lists are great for dumping whats up in your head to sort out visually.  And that is what we are doing.  We are dumping our brains and sorting the information so we can make some visuals. 

We will be making two kinds of maps during our next class.  We will be building Concept Maps (Knowledge lists) and Mind maps (idea lists).

Bring some colored pencils or color markers and your drawing pad. 

I will give you my lecture on mind mapping and concept mapping and we will have some fun drawing our concept and mind maps in class this coming Monday.  The maps are only as good as your lists, so spend some time with them. 

The class assignment and thumbnail handouts are located:
http://www.joanmariegiampa.com/teaching/basic_design.html
 

Yes...you will be doing some thinking with your pencil this week.  Thumbnails are thinking with your pencil.  They are tiny visual notes that collectively add up to some bigger visual notes called roughs.  We will go over this method on Monday when I give you my "Recipe for Successful Design"

I want you to fill this thumbnail sheet up with visual ideas for the next assignment "Line Dynamics" 

After you fill in the sheet, I want you to pick the best 3 thumbnails and make larger visuals...6" x 6".  That's right, make 3 roughs from the thumbnail session.  Bring your thumbnail sketches and the three rough sketches you came up with to our next class.  This will take some time and I know you are probably wanting to skip both of these steps, but don't.  Make your thumbnails first and then pick the best three and make your rough sketches.  If you do the work, you will get to the final step.  We will review your thumbnails and roughs on Monday and then choose the best rough to be taken to the final stage for a critique next Wednesday, February 11.  Your comp or comprehensive will be due next Wednesday.  If you do the first two stages, then by Monday, you will be one step away from your Comprehensive Design and it will be an easy step to lay it out by Wednesday.

So you will bring 5 things to class this coming Monday.

1. Knowledge List
2. Idea List
3. Thumbnail page
4. 3 Rough sketches 6" x 6"
5. colored pencils and pens and sketch pad
   

Class will go as follows on Monday>

I will lecture on "the recipe for successful design", we will take a look at thumbnails and roughs and then the second half of class we will be making our maps.  Come prepared with paper and colored pens and pencils and this should be a really fun class...but you must be prepared.

Best,

PP

Closure-The Gestalt Principal

Point

A point is an element that has position, but no extension. It is a single mark in space with a precise, but limited, location. Alone it can provide a powerful relation between negative and positive space, but when grouped with other points the Gestalt grouping principal of closure tends to kick in and the brain compulsively connects the points together. Line or form is a natural result of multiple points in space.

Point	Multiple points in space	Closure

Line

A line is an element characterized by length and direction. Lines create contours and form, and are often used to convey a specific kind of feeling or point to an important feature in a design. Lines are also used to create perspective, and dominant directional lines are often adopted to create a sense of continuance in a composition. In addition, lines that are grouped together often create a sense of value, density or texture.