Visual Techniques

Techniques:

Balance

Symmetry

Complexity

Fragmentation

Intricacy

Activeness

Techniques:

Exaggeration

Singularity

Balance

The first image definitely has a sense of balance. The image is centered and has no stress. This image is also the same on both sides therefore creating symmetry within the piece. This piece is also very complex filled with lots of geometric shapes, colors and tones. There is also fragmentation in this piece because some of the elements are broken up but still maintain their individual character. Intricacy is seen in this piece because this piece, I think, is very beautiful and there is some ornamentation seen within the piece that also helps with intricacy. The technique I feel this piece identifies with is activeness, because I feel like this piece is moving. It looks like a kaleidoscope and therefore when I look at this piece I imagine it moving. 

The first technique you see when you look the next image is exaggeration. It's a really big jar that is holding a bear. Usually its the other way around, the bear would usually be bigger than the jar. Another technique in this piece is singularity. This image is focused solely on the composition of the jar scene and nothing else is going on in the piece. This image also shows balance. The jar is centered in the middle of the page and creates no instability within the scene. 

Contrast In Design

Street Art

Street Art is the broad term for people creating visual art in public places. Just about every medium can be used such as paint, wheat paste, stencil, sculpture, and even art installations. Sometimes the artist may choose to make a political statement, or include socially relevant material in their piece but that is not always the case. One thing is for certain is that these artists use their surrounding environment as their canvases. They might do this so they can directly interact with the public. Some my argue weather "Street Art" is a profession, however some of these artist do get paid for their work, so therefore it could fall under the "professional" category.

This is a mural done by the artist Retna. I think this is a good candidate for visual elements. The three visual elements that I think stand out in this piece are line, shape and color.

LINE: There are lots of line throughout this piece. A majority of these lines in the piece are fluid and have a loose quality to them. Most of these lines form some type of symbol that the audience may be familiar. I see symbols that look like people to me, some of the lines look arrows to me as well. There are lines in the piece that start at the top of the page and go directly down to the bottom. Those lines stand out to me because they seem very direct, strong and they feel like they have a purpose.  

SHAPE: I think the shapes and they lines in this piece stand out but they kind of overlap with one another as well. The lines are what make up in the shape in this design. The shapes that are represented in this piece are the triangle and the circle. These two elements stand together to form a human like shape which is seen throughout the piece and definitely catches the viewer's eye. 

COLOR: Last but not least there is color in this design. I think the piece is very minimal even though the entire canvas is filled. There is only two colors in the design and they are primary colors being red and blue. I think the two colors really pop because they are really saturated and they are also very bright, hence making them pop. I do not know much information as to what the piece means or why the artist chose these colors. 

WK 7 Puzzles

I decided that I would do my puzzles with my younger sister. I found two puzzles and she agreed to do the exercise with me. I have organized this post as follows, 

-My sisters worksheet

-My worksheet

- The solution

After we were done solving the triangles I asked my sister to walk me through how she solved it. First she counted all the little green and yellow triangles as they stood on their own (not combing triangles). After that she combined the triangles to make a bigger triangle. From there she went to the center where there is a smaller square formed and she counted those. She ended up with a final number of 28.

I did pretty much the same thing. I first counted all the triangles separately. Then I cut the whole square in half to get two really big triangles. After that I combined two of the little triangles together to get a slightly bigger triangle.  Next I went and divided up the smaller square in the middle. I too got 28 triangles. 

After that we consulted the solution. We both got 28 triangles but we both got it wrong. There were more triangles than we found. We found the triangles we needed too but instead of counting all four we only counted two. My sister and I needed to take it a step further to get all the necessary triangles.

The next puzzle my sister and I embarked on was this one above. We needed to located the star symbol among the shapes without interrupting the outline. This one was really hard for the both of us.

The first thing my sister did was try and locate a pattern. She said she first looked at all the pink and blue triangles. She found some pink and blue triangles that were going the opposite direction of the other pink and blue triangles. She tried to make a connection with the triangles that were going the "right" way and the opposite way but she couldn't come up with the star. From there she moved on two the bigger green and yellow triangles and used the same strategy as before. She said like the pink and blue triangles she found half were going in the opposite directions as the others. She said she continued to look for the star but become stumped and couldn't find it. 

When I started this puzzle I too tried to locate a pattern. I was looking at the small triangles and the bigger triangles trying to see if I could come up with something. I then started to break in the given star symbol on the side of the page to smaller shapes to see if I broke it down it would maybe be easier to locate in the actual pattern. That did not lead me anywhere. The next strategy I used was turing the paper different orientations. In the directions it said it could be any size or orientation as along as the outline wasn't disrupted. I turned the page sideways and upside down to see if maybe that would help me isolate the star symbol. However all my strategies were taking me nowhere. I too become stumped and after some spent really trying to envision this star among the rest of the shapes. 

After some my sister and I decided to give in and see where the hidden star was. After we looked the solution we both had "a-ha" moment. I think this was the hardest puzzle, very challenging. 

Top-Down Processing

(http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm)

This picture I think is a great example of Top-Down processing. This picture is of a "mind map." Mind maps were popularized by Tony Buzan or so that is what the site is telling me. I am assuming that they are notes that use more visuals than words. Top-down processing usually involves accomplishing some sort of goal. This picture represents data, or facts about time management that viewer can understand so in this case we (people looking at the diagram) are accomplishing a cognitive goal. Eye movement is also works hand in hand with top-down processing. My eye immediately goes dead center to the title of the diagram. From there the lines that branch off from the center guide me around the circle and I am able to collect all the information that way. I think the creator of this particular mind map did a good job of guiding my eye to all the necessary information and included nice like pictures to enjoy along with the information.

WK3 Meaning 2

Here we have a Coca Cola advertisement and I believe this ad represents the three levels of visual design..

Representational: At the bottom of the ad we have the Coca Cola logo. Anyone who has had any sort of experience with this brand before will immediately recognize it. The logo is representational because it represents a real product. Something that exists in the real; something we can touch.

Abstraction: The background imagery acts as an abstraction because while it depicts a real life scene of what seems to me like a sky, rainbow and clouds. In the real world the sky is not red (usually) Rainbows and clouds are usually not seen in this two tone color way. This background image is very minimal and not very details. This background imagery is probably meant to convey that you are in Coca Cola's world.

Symbol: The outline of the bottle is a symbol because even though it may just be an outline, the message it is conveying is clear. It is a coke bottle. Even if you took away all the words and imagery, someone just looking at the bottle would more likely than not recognize the bottle as a coke bottle.

Meaning 1

Abstract: This photo depicts abstraction because just by looking at the form one can recognize that it is a form. It is human and it probably a woman form. This form leaves out major visual clues that can help us recognize what it is but leaves enough that we still understand. There is no head, or arms and legs. The form is shaped like an hour glass which we usually associate with a woman figure. This form depicts any woman and not me or you.

Symbol: This picture signifies a butterfly because the object is shaped just like a typical butterfly we recognize from experience. It is also made from currency which butterflies aren't usually depicted as. It does not specify what species this butterfly may be. Its shape signifies every butterfly.

Representation: The picture represents a cat. More importantly when we see this photo we can recognize this as a house cat. We know from experience that have whiskers and paws which help us recognize what we are looking at. We also know that this is a house cat because wild or big cats are not usually depicted inside a house or wearing a collar. This picture is also taken close up so we can assume that this is a "safe" cat because usually pictures taken of large or wild cats are taken far away or behind a barrier so we do not risk getting hurt.