Week 13 Blog Exercise: Visual Techniques

This piece done by the Trust Your Struggle collective exemplifies many visual techniques such as intricacy, accent, and understatement. Clearly, the swirling white lines are very detailed and interesting. They are very intricate in nature and capture the eye. The pinkish swirl on the left is visualized as an accent because it differs in color from the rest of the image, and stands out. I also believe that this design exemplifies understatement because the though message it is giving, "Trust Your Struggle" implies a harsh reality that comes with hardship and perseverance, the image is light, delicate, and beautiful. It could have been bolder and more graphic with images of struggle and oppression. However, the artists chose to highlight the beauty of people that endure struggle and shed light on the unseen strength that is acquired through overcoming obstacles.

This 'Panther Power and Tupac' poster designed by Jesus Barraza includes several visual techniques mentioned by Dondis. There is economy, singularity, and assymetry. The poster exemplifies economy in that it uses a minimal range of color (neutral pallette), and only shows outlines of the figures instead of photographic detail. The artist created the image specifically to be simple and bold, in order to allow for fast and effective printing. The design exemplifies singularity in that the main focus of the image is Tupac Shakur, who is standing with his fist raised on the left side of the poster. Furthermore, the design exemplifies assymetry, because the heaviest content is placed off-center, allowing the eye to focus more-so on the left side of the image, as opposed to the right.

Week 11 Blog Exercise: Contrast

This image created by The Filth visual studios is successful because it incorporates a good use of contrast in color and tone.

This image created by an artist named Bloodlet shows a lack of contrast in tone. Therefore, it exemplifies poor design because the images are ambiguous and cannot be properly understood.

Week 10 Blog Exercise: Movement/Motion

These are mixed-media collages created by a street artist named WK Interact. They are excellent examples of implied motion because they capture action and movement. The elements of texture and dimension in these pieces imply motion. For example, the streaks and blurs give the illusion of movement, even though the paintings are static in reality. This is key because according to Dondis, "the illusion of texture or dimension appears real through the use of intense expression of detail...." (p.64.) The artists uses specific details in the images that mimic how movement appears in real life. In addition, WK Interact also made his subjects look off-balance (stress), making it seem as though the person in his painting has just thrown a punch (figure 1) or dribbled a ball to make a shot (figure 3.) There is also flow and the illusion of fluidity.

Week 9 Blog Exercise: Dimension/Depth/Space

The larger-than-life sized boy painted by El Mac and Retna plays with the idea of scale. This is an example of the depth and size cue, "Relative Size" which tells us that the boy should be much smaller than he is. However, the image of the boy in relation to the artists standing next to the piece, or the telephone poles, provide conflicting information. These conflicting cues can cause excitement and/or confusion. There is also overlap being used by the artists to enhance the sense of dimension is the piece. The little boy appears to be kneeling in front of a wall (even though in reality, he is a part of the wall itself.) This helps the image look 3-D as opposed to 2-D. Furthermore, the boy is painted in large-scale and takes up more space and a greater field of view, making it seem as though he is extremely close to us. This enlargement of an image that we usually see as being smaller than us adds a sense of awe and is something we do not normally see. The artists succeed at creating a mural that is both provocative, and in-your-face. By using relative size, overlap, and scale, the artists produced a masterpiece that effectively demonstrate dimension, depth and space.

Week 8 Blog Exercise: Tone and Color

In this image, there is a wide range in tone. The black and photographic elements provide variation in shades of black and white. There are lots of grey tones in between also. The use of tone in this image serves as a visual tool that "indicate and express dimension." (Dondis, p.48.) It also adds depth and detail, and make the images appear crisp and real.

The tones in this picture interact with the Dondis basic element, Dimension. The shadows on the ground and the way the light hits the three figures show that that they are in fact 3-dimensional.

As you can see, the designer of this image utilized the color red. Everything in the photograph is colored red, except for the three figures. This attracts the eye and also helps the three men stand out amongst their surroundings. The three dimensions of color (hue, saturation, and brightness) are also apparent in the image. In particular, there is a red hue, which is a primary of elementary hue that is also a "provoking hue" according to Dondis. The red color that is used is a saturated one; one that is "highly charged with expression and emotion," (p.51.) It is also fairly bright.

Furthermore, according to Dondis, "Red means danger, and love, and warmth, and life...." (p.50.) This image reflects these emotions, because one can create a story behind the photographs that embodies these feelings.

The red color also interacts with the Dondis basic element, Dimension. Because everything but the three figures is colored red, it places them in the foreground and emphasizes the space between them and the background.

Week 7 Blog Exercise: Dondis Basic Elements

This Bollywood Lp cover emphasizes the Dondis basic elements of shape and color. In the upper right hand corner is a circle that contains a photographic still from the film. Inside the circle is a woman holding a drink. The bottom half of the cover is a different color and forms a square on the bottom right. The tree, though not a triangle itself, has triangular shapes. There is clearly also a broad use of color. The teal color of the bottom half is pretty saturated, and the softer seafoam green of the top half is a lighter hue of the teal. The change in brightness is apparent in the images of the dancing man and woman. They stand out in the design because it looks as though the sun is shining brightly on them.

This poster by Shepard Fairey highlights the Dondis basic elements of line and texture. Fairey's use of line can be seen in the woman's face, scarf, and arm. The lines are used to separate color, and show contours. They are also used to define each part of the image and show detail. They are used to bring depth and life to the design. Fairey also used texture to make the poster appear old and wrinkled to the touch. Also the patterns used in the upper left hand corner look as if they could be lacy and the overall washed-out look of the poster give it an aged appearance that seem physically fragile and crumpled.

This KRINK wall emphasizes the Dondis basic elements of line and direction. Clearly, when runny paint is applied, there are drips that drip down due to gravity that pulls them towards the ground. These vertical drips form several thin lines that express a sense of freedom and perhaps even symbolize what can be perceived as a beautiful mistake, since drips are often avoided by painters. In terms of direction, the drips have a horizontal-vertical reference and give stability and balance to the design.

Week 6 Blog Exercise: Syntactical Guidelines