art 132 two dimensional design for graphic design

ASSIGNMENT 2: VALUES + LINE + PLANE + GESTALT (20 pts)

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INTRODUCTION

Points/Dots, Lines, and Planes as the goal of graphic design is to efficiently connect a viewer with a message, when drawing or making symbols or images, refined renderings (drawings) are seldom the goal. Instead, graphic designers rely on the same tools artists use to render the natural world—points (or dots), lines, and planes (shapes) to distill a complex image or concept into a concise, direct, or evocative symbol or design. To graphic designers, points, lines, and planes are essential tools to plan, visualize, evaluate and ultimately communicate ideas to a broad audience.

John Muir-1890 Squirrel Drawing

Squirrel, 1890, John Muir. In this drawing, the artist uses points, lines, and planes to realistically render a squirrel holding a pine cone. Photo by Carla Gates, used under license (CC BY 2.0).

Squirrel by Roger Excoffon 1974

Ecureuil, Caisse d’Epargne, 1974, Roger Excoffon. In this graphic symbol of the same animal, designer Roger Excoffon uses points, lines, and planes to not only express the idea of a “squirrel” to the viewer, but to also convey the sense of speed and dexterity commonly associated with the animal.

etching of St. James Church

Etching of St. James in South Charlton, England. Artists can expand upon points, lines, and planes to create realistic renderings of people, places, and objects.

St. James Church - Symbol

Symbol for St. James. A graphic designer can look at the same person, place, or object as an artist and uses points, lines, and planes to represent the subject symbolically for logos, signage, or promotional materials.

photo of dancer

Yoshio Flies, 2009, Kat Gloor. Photography can capture the energy of a subject, as well as the basic visual elements of space, angle, and shape. Photo used under license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

symbol for a modern dance company

Symbol for a Modern Dance Company. A graphic designer can find inspiration in a photograph and uses points, lines, and planes to capture the energy and expressive power of the photograph to communicate a new idea , place, or activity.

WHAT IS GESTALT

With roots in the 1890s, Gestalt theory as a branch of psychology originated in Germany in the 1920s. While psychologists now debate its utility in understanding (as opposed to describing) how our minds work; it has great appeal for artists and designers because it provides a concise description of how the audience perceives a work, which can help with the effective production of a work.

Gestalt theory says humans group things (sounds, visual stimuli, feelings) together into a whole unit. For designers and artists this means that while a composition has individual parts that can be studied and analyzed as distinct components, the whole of a composition is different and frequently more important than the individual parts. It is especially important for designers to remember that visual elements in any visual communication work together and should reinforce one another as a means of communicating the whole idea or message. Noticse how shape, pattern, balance, rhythm, and postive and negative space work together to create unity, a gestalt.

Simple examples of the Gestalt principles. Note that many principles often work together in a single composition.

GirlScout Logo by Saul Bass

Girl Scouts of America logo, 1978, Saul Bass. Saul Bass used Gestalt to condense complex ideas—young women coming together in a spirit of mutual support and growth—into a single image.

Apple Logo    

Gestalt in design and branding, brand family logo, Coca-Cola Spain. Coca-Cola Spain unveiled this mark to represent the core family of Coke products: Classic, Zero, Diet, and Caffeine Free. How are they using Figure-Ground, Continuation, Similarity, and Symmetry? How do those principles combined to support the unity of the overall design (and brand) while still conveying complex concepts like youth, energy, and fun?

DESCRIPTION:

This assignment includes 2 visual outcomes working with dot/point, lines, and planes, composing within grids.

1. Value Scales using Graphite pencil, black felt tip pen, brush and ink.

2. Composition using the following, based in direct observation of various metal screws provided by instructor. This component of the assignment will use Adobe Illustrator.

OBJECTIVES:

MATERIALS needed for this assignment

Required by you:

FIRST THINGS FIRST. SET UP FOLDERS on your portable USB drive and in your SERVER account. As a class we will prepare your work for a digital portfolio.

WHAT TO DO:

PT 1: Value Scales

IN CLASS THURSDAY February 8

HOMEWORK

DUE: TUESDAY February 13. CRITIQUE

 

PT 2: COMPOSITION

IN CLASS TUESDAY February 13 - Thursday February 15

This composition is based on a variety of metal screws found at the hardware store - provided by the instructor. The screws, although small, are to be exaggerated in scale, with attention to details,and represented within the composition as lines and geometric shapes giving attention to creating tonal variations through repetition and patterns. AND being aware of balance and focal points, all working within a grid.

TECH DEMO - Illustrator Drawing Tools

SETTING UP COMPOSITION file

..................

comp 2 grid

figure 1: grid layout for composition

 

HOMEWORK

DUE THURSDAY February 22

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20 ADVISING DAY

IN CLASS THURSDAY February 22

HOMEWORK - February 22

DUE TUESDAY February 27 .

IN CLASS TUESDAY February 27

DUE THURSDAY, February 29. CRITIQUE

IN CLASS THURSDAY, February 29

 

 


figure 5: Example of a completed composition 2. Armin Hoffman, Graphic Design Manual. 1965. p80.

VOCABULARY - GESTALT

Closure: the mind supplies the missing pieces in a composition if there are enough of the significant features visible. Simple shapes require few clues while more complex ones may seem incomplete and forces the viewer to work harder to fill in the gap.

Continuation: humans will find lines or contours and continue them beyond their ending points if the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction. In photography, a winding road that extends beyond the image is one example.

Figure-ground: a fundamental concept in design, it refers to the contrast between black and white, foreground and background, dark and light and equilibrium. Adjusting the equilibrium can throw the figure-ground relationship off balance so the viewer is uncertain what they are viewing.

Proximity: objects that are close to one another appear to form groups. Even if they are different sizes or shapes or even radically different in color, they will appear as a group if they are placed close together. (See Figure 3 for examples of all of the Gestalt principles in use.)

Similarity: humans group objects together that look similar. In design, this can be applied to typefaces, colors, text, and headline styles.

Symmetry: the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis. Symmetrical designs are balanced and easily understood by a viewer, but can be visually uninteresting. While asymmetrical designs can be awkward, they can also draw attention to themselves.

VOCABULARY - VISUAL ELEMENTS

Gestalt principles help designers and artists organize and make use of a number of design and art elements. In addition to the principles themselves, these are the terms to encourage students to make use of and understand their role in design and art.

Balance: a distribution of one or more elements which visually equal each other. Similarity, symmetry, and continuation rely on balance to be effective.

Compositional space: the area in which all elements of a composition interact. This could be a sheet of paper, a canvas, a package, etc.

Contrast: an abrupt shift in the appearance of the composition. Asymmetry relies on contrast, as can continuation and proximity.

Depth: the degree to which shapes, patterns, textures, etc. seem to move forward or backward in the compositional space. Figure-ground makes use of one shape seeming to exist in front of another.

Direction: an implied sense of motion in an element of a composition. Continuation relies on direction to guide a viewer’s eye.

RESOURCES

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