WK9 Video Game Graphic Design

Focusing on logos and their development from video game consoles, old and new:

LINES
 
Lines will be actively used in graphic design in order to outline quick, general sketches for website layouts, logo shaping, dimension, and texture. In terms of the Nintendo 64 "N" logo, lines would be needed to outline the two-point perspective in dimension of a four panel "N" shape. With the line being an essential tool for previsualization, it is capable of being manipulated in forms that are non-existent, but only in imagination. (Dondis) The line is also used for standard notation, such as the Alphabet letters and Arabic numerals in this design such as six and four. (Dondis) The name itself had to be initially written down in notepads over and over again to obtain Nintendo, a company founded in Japan.

COLOR
The existence of color, and/or the lack thereof is an essential tool in graphic design. Especially in videogames, where graphics and eye catching is key, color will bring the emotion, category, and predisposition of the game to life. For example, in the previous image, the "N" logo was set in four bright colors: green, red, yellow, and blue. Three are primary. Besides the function of shading and highlighting the "N" to see it in three dimensional perspective, the four colors give the logo a predisposition of playfulness, and enticement. It's colors are carnival-like. These composition of colors attract people, especially children, to play this console (which was actually came in dark gray initially, and different colors such as purple and green in later developments).




The PlayStation logo by the Sony company also utilized these four colors initially to entice customers, attract children, and give off a sense of fun and enjoyment through usage of this bright colors. However, the usage of full-on red for the incomplete "P" made it more serious than the "N" in the Nintendo 64 logo, and perhaps encouraged a more sophisticated type of fun. These two companies rival to this day in gaming consoles alongside Microsoft's XBOX system.

 

It can be seen in this image of the progression in the PlayStation logo design the the three primary colors were used for basic purposes. However, the green was implemented in the very last design in order to define the "S".

DIRECTION


Further development of these consoles, focusing on Sony's PlayStation logo, allowed improved video graphics; therefore, there was an urgency to change the logos after subsequent systems (and the PS3 logo changing twice in three years). In shape, the more sophisticated PlayStation 2 took a more Gestalt approach with an incomplete and minimalistic "P", a two-directional "S", and a boxy two. It also only used two colors: purple and blue in a gradient fashion.

In the third installment, the 2006 PS3 logo had become italicized, giving it direction, such as going forward with progression, almost like a car. Three years later, the shortened signature logo was just the "PS3" than the whole name "PlayStation 3". It kept its slight italicized style. With the usage of differently weighted lines, and reflecting back the classic PS2 logo, it became a streamlined version of the PS3 logo in late 2009. With slightly bold lines, squashed look, and classic appeal, it used less ink and/or paint to print, and charmed older generations of gamers that remembered the great PlayStation systems.

WK8 Gestalt

A roommate and I were to figure out how many triangles made up this cat:

My roommate did not write or touch the paper. He only looked at it and counted 20 triangles. A very smart man. However, he asked another roommate to check his answer.

I was a much more visual learner and traced triangles as I saw them. I initially counted 18, and then recounted 20.

We both used a law of closure to differentiate sizes of triangles and other triangles within each other.

We decided to figure out what month was indicated by these shapes:

Again, he did not draw on the paper but looked at it for a good five minutes and then folded the paper in half to show "July" being reflected on a horizontal axis of symmetry.

I initially traced a D-e-C for "December" for the first three shapes but it didn't figure anything. After fifteen minutes I gave up, came back after five minutes, and asked my roommate what the answer was. Apparently I have poor symmetrical visualization.

In the last puzzle, we both had to utilize the law of symmetry to figure out the puzzle.

WK7 VisPerception2

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/23/new-infamous-2-character.aspx

The visual hierarchy of this cover for Gameinformer (in my point of view) is as thus:

the title is the brightest and biggest single chunk of information that the cover provides; eyes are then drawn to the face of the figure (because we as humans are drawn to human faces), and then to the lightning that is shown from his right hand to his left hand. After, the next brightest contrasting object is the pink, red, and yellow blob of color on the lower left hand side of the cover--over it the title of the game INFAMOUS 2; the two objects (blob and text) work together to pull the eyes away from the main larger figure on the cover and tell what the cover is depicting (as most gamers who subscribe or purchase this magazine are interested in the cover and what is being shown). The audience will then take in the background, such as the single red speck of light that signifies a gun firing at Cole (after knowing the title, most gamers will know that the man on the cover is Cole), and that the whole of the background depicts chaos with a building partially on fire.

WK6 Visual Perception Top-Down

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justinrusso/video-game-posters

This poster is a very minimalistic example of a majorly popular icon in video games. Because I want to create posters for gaming companies specifically, I will analyze this based on the top-down visual processing.

By looking at the poster, it may not look like much at first glance; the rapid eye movements will scramble from top to bottom, and to reading the words at the very bottom. Eyes will then jump back up to the bulk of the design and start looking at certain parts for longer periods of time like the bold lines and the series of solid-color circles in order to figure out what the poster means, goal-oriented processing. If one were not familiar with the character, then eyes would keep seeing other points of the poster for longer periods of time. If the person is familiar with the character, the eyes will take in the poster as a whole character rather than parts of the character (Big Daddy from Bioshock).

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.