WK5 Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

BAD: This is an example of cover art from the game ICO. The game itself is rather good and cinematic, but the cover doesn't show it. Syntactically, the cover is not balanced: there are more humans on the left side than there are on the right. There is also a lot of empty space on the right side. The colors also do not complement each other, the colors and background look too busy, the title gives a counterbalance as well, which adds to more stress--this is a type of negative stress because it does not bring a single emphasis.

GOOD: This is an advertising for the Playstation accessories--it depicts the Playstation Move and charger dock. This image is well balanced and gives less stress visually. The audience is drawn to the large circular shapes because they are more uniform than the other abstract items; these shapes are the glowing head of the controller and the white solid circle with the 50% OFF text. Also the contrasting color of bright red will distract the eye secondly. The two controllers are also in the direct center of the image and will draw the eye as emphasis.

WK4 VISUAL LANGUAGE SYNTAX

from economist.com

• Photograph of a crowd, protestors
• emotions: not too angry, maybe frustrated, assertive
• mostly African-American
• One AA-man holding up purple sign "Against Job Loss"
• a strike
• a walk out
• a riot
• a purple bar graph on the left side of photo to match with purple sign
• white font most prominent
• "unemployment rate in selected countries"
• South Africa highest unemployment rate, <20%
• Denmark lowest unemployment rate, ~3-4%
• photo assumed to be from South Africa
• A photograph of an angry crowd with signs usually mean sign of protest

This image shows a photograph of a protest against unemployment. This can be inferred because of the representation of a large angry crowd, mostly African-American, focused on a man holding a purple sign with big, white lettering: "AGAINST JOB LOSS". There is a purple bar graph (to match the purple sign on focus and to see it more prominently) on the left side of the photograph with a left-to-right black gradient indicating the percentages of unemployment rates in selected countries. The country with the most unemployment is South Africa, with more than twenty percent. The lowest are Denmark and South Korea, with three to four percent. By looking at the graph, it can be assumed that the photograph was a protest against unemployment in South Africa, where it is most prominent.This image is probably used for a news website in order to convey and compare the rates of unemployment around the world and the impact it may have.

WK3 BLOG MEANING 2

“A Salt And Battery” by Emery Greer -- T-Shirt design

Whilst this t-shirt design be very "punny" (funny pun), it is a great demonstration of all three levels of visual design. (1) Representation: this image shows an image of a very generic and common salt shaker, and a typical C-battery. Both can be easily identified as things that we've experienced and used in reality. Literally and directly, the image shows a cracked salt-shaker, and a beat up old battery. (2) The image design is abstract, meaning the image has very little detail, and is minimalistic in terms of design. Because of its cartoon-ish vector rendition, the salt-shaker and C-battery are very simplistic in shape and color. (3) Symbolically, the two items denote typical objects, but by name actually produce a funny joke: "a salt and battery" equates to "assault and battery." This visual message in a form of a joke is reinforced with a police lineup-esque background that measures height. Also, because the designer only used shades of black, white, and gray, this image can be easily printed, copied, reproduced, etc. i.e. t-shirts.

WK2 BLOG MEANING 1

 This is a build-able plastic model toy that represents a bear. The name of the toy is actually "Bearguy"; the robotic parts and design of the model show that it is not an accurate representation of a bear--a bear is in fact not robotic at all--and that it uses the typical colors and elements (such as rounded ears, a muzzle). This model is a "representational" design because one would immediately think of a bear albeit it being a robot. It cannot be abstract because it does not evoke direct emotion. It cannot be a symbol because Bearguy does not symbolize anything or hold a lot of meaning in itself rather than being a robotic bear toy. Therefore, Bearguy is an adorable, build-able hobby in a representational design of a bear.

This is the class text "A Primer of Visual Literacy" by Dondis. This cover is an abstract design; the cover is very minimalistic such that it is only in black and white, no colors. It only has two lines of text all in a corner while the rest of the cover is filled with shapes. These shapes do not represent anything; however, these shapes can become symbols themselves, denoting the basics of design and art: lines and shapes. These shapes and lines show the most "essential features" of art, the basis of abstract design. (Dondis) The cover gives a bland message from its too-simple design, but it gives the basics for identifying design--perfect cover art to back the title "A Primer of Visual Literacy".

This is a treble clef. The treble clef symbolizes higher pitches of sound, whether it be from voice, violin, piano, or any other instrument; moreover, it is in opposition to the bass clef which symbolizes the usage of low pitches of sounds. The treble clef is a symbol because it is a very popular sign that can be identified immediately by the musically literate. This symbol originates from the letter "G", where the standard note "G" is used in this pitch; the swirl in the symbol also encircles the "G" line of the musical staff. (http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textt/trebleclef.html) It is common, reproduced and remembered for centuries; it is abstract, completely minimalistic with low detail. (Dondis) The treble clef can represent a "G" but it is harder to see, it is an abstract distillation of "G" through musical evolution, and it is a symbol recognized by many.