Design Principles/ Final Project: Visual Analysis

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08.02.2022 - 25.02.2022 (Week 6-8)
Janaan Ahmed (0353333) / B'Des (Hons) Creative Media
Design Principles

FINAL PROJECT: VISUAL ANALYSIS

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Lectures

Week 6

We were briefed on our final project and how to format our final blog. We also discussed how to fill out our self assessment sheet.

Visual Analysis Project - divided into 2 parts
  1. Analysis 
  2. Design Response
As an example of a well-made analysis, we watched a video essay that talked about the controversial Batman v Superman, as a modern masterpiece.

Visual literacy: Deliberate learning from visual content.

Doesn't arise from just exposure to visual content:
The ability to post visual content does not necessarily translate to critical thinking, making meaning from and communicate about it from an academic context.

Visual analysis= a critical part of visual literacy!

ThE 3 PHASES OF A VISUAL ANALYSIS:

1. Observation:- 
closely looking, identifying, thinking, finding appropriate language to communicate what you notice. Unbiased! Don't assume meanings of subject matter

2. Analysis:- 
evidence-based statements of observations. Apply design principle knowledge: how do specific elements combine to create whole? what effect does it have on the viewer?
3. Interpretation:- 
1 & 2 are fused with facts about design work/designer + historical context from reliable sources. Looking at the big picture. What's the meaning/purpose? 


Instructions:

1.Select a design of your choice and conduct a visual analysis of it in about 350 words.
2.Produce a work of design inspired/influenced by the design you have analysed, or as a reaction to it. Write a 50 word rationale for your design.


Task 1: Visual Analysis

I looked into an artist called Tabi (@tabisumika) whom I'd recently discovered and thoroughly enjoy the works of. I would describe their style as beautifully soft, nostalgic, atmospheric and dreamy. 

Fig. 1.1: Luminescence by @tabisumika

phase 1: ObSERVATION

The illustration is in landscape format and the elements in the composition follow one-point perspective. The palette choice is colourful, bright and saturated; the main colours are cooler in temperature (blues, greens, and purples). The warmer colours are lighter in value. A lot of regular lines are observed, along with a mix of abstract and geometric shapes. A grainy chalk-like texture is visible across the entirety of the composition. The characters in the work are featured on the left side of the canvas.

phase 2: ANALYSIS

This illustration is asymmetrically balanced. This is evident in the contrast of scale and space between the left and right sides, created by the one-point perspective. Additionally, the division of light and shadow also helps create balance. Evidently the artist has balanced the visual weight by having the dark elements occupy less space, compared to the lighter, bigger elements on the right. 

Fig. 1.2: Golden Ratio within composition

The golden ratio visibly helps achieve balance and a sense of harmony. Harmony is also achieved by the consistent colour palette. For example, the saturated teals are recurrent within the piece tying several elements to each other.

A sense of unity is observed between the girl and the penguins, achieved by the close proximity between them. When considering the visual hierarchy, the point of emphasis in this composition is the girl. 
3 factors point to this:

1. It is the highest point of contrast
Fig. 1.3: Greyscale
Fig. 1.4: Colour contrast

This is evident in both the value and colour scale. The juxtaposition of her dark hair and light scarf creates the highest point of contrast. In terms of colour, the warm pinkish-orange of her complexion is complementary to the otherwise overall blue surrounding.

2. implied leading lines towards her
Fig. 1.5: Leading lines

The girl is placed close to the vanishing point of the one-point perspective used. So naturally, several elements in the composition seamlessly converge to create leading lines towards the character.

Fig. 1.6: more subtle leading lines

The placement of the penguin's arm & its line of sight, the girl's lock of hair, and lanterns work together to create a sense of continuity and movement that lead the viewer's eye back to the main point of interest.

Fig. 1.7: ceiling repetition creates movement

Furthermore, the lines on the ceiling form a repetitive pattern, that when perceived as a whole lead towards the character (blue arrow). The individual lines themselves direct the viewer towards the lantern tassels that then lead back to the character.

3. framing
Fig. 1.8: framing elements that help support focal point

Based on the principle of proximity, I have identified 3 areas (in red) that work together to frame the girl and the penguins.

phase 3: INTERPRETATION

Tabi is a Japanese illustrator who describes themselves as an avid lover of penguins and beautiful scenery. Magical realism is often evident in their work as they combine real life with fantasy elements, from the occasional magical cat to their frequently recurring penguins in unlikely environments. 

Fig. 1.9: Some of Tabi's work

Evidently, Tabi leverages their affinity for colour and lighting to create dream-like ambience that evokes a sense of nostalgia within everyday scenes. One might say that they romanticise the ordinary, creating a window into a fantastical realm of emotions. This is undoubtedly expressed in Luminescence as well. 

The artist, for whatever reason, clearly has a love for penguins. Therefore it is reasonable to presume that they have been used as personal symbolic figures, especially seeing as how prevalent they are in Tabi's work. The penguins are notably always featured alongside whatever character is present in the work. This could point to them being a representation of the inner emotions and feelings of the character, within whatever space they are occupying. In that sense, we may empathise with the character. 

In Luminescence for example, the girl appears reserved, which is alluded by her body language and withdrawal into the scarf. The two penguins could represent the simultaneous emotions that she was experiencing. 

Fig. 1.10: closeups of the penguins

Penguin 1 appears to playfully reach out to the lantern, which could represent the girl's curiosity and desire to explore her environment. 
Penguin 2 however is clinging to her leg as if in caution or hesitancy. This could signify the girl's anxiety towards the possibly unfamiliar environment. This interpretation could further be supported by the contrast between her dark chunky clothing as opposed to the brightly lit environment.

Task 2: Design Response

VISUAL RESEARCH:

Lighting and ambience are one of the key features of Tabi's works that I wanted to implement in my work as well. I looked into some more artworks that featured strong lighting.
Fig. 2.1: Dust by Jenny Yu

Fig. 2.2: The Right Spot  by Pascal Campion

Inspired by Tabi's knack for evoking nostalgia, I wanted to dig a bit deeper and explore the concept of a dreamscape. I love the effect of iridescence and dispersion, so I looked into some pictures for inspiration.

Fig. 2.3: Curated Reference Board
I thought it would be interesting to include some creatures within that dreamscape so came up with the concept of 'Wanderers'. They are fairly peaceful and quiet creatures, and exist within a person's psyche. Their sole purpose is to sort out memories, and create new impressions by connecting new experiences to old ones (so basically like neurons?? but make it sci-fi!).

Fig. 2.3: Sculptures by Yu Jinyoung
I wasn't initially planning on including them but came across the works of Korean artist Yu Jinyoung that sparked my idea for the design + concept of Wanderers.

IDEA EXPLORATION:

I first drew the characters that I wanted to include. Since the environment was going to be pastelly and light, I wanted to create contrast by giving the girl dark clothes, to also signify that she was a visitor in that space.

Fig. 3.1: Quick line-up of characters

I then sketched out some compositions that are shown below:
Fig. 3.2: Composition 1

Composition 1 felt a bit plain and didn't seem to evoke any etherealness. It looked too 'grounded' to me. It was clear to me that I had to exaggerate the  perspective to convey the scale of the place.

Fig. 3.3: Composition 2

Fig. 3.4: Composition 3
In the end I chose composition 2 (where the character is looking down) to evoke a subtle sense of dread if one were to fall. I feel it also depicts a sense of self-awareness of the character within the dreamscape, whereas in composition 3, they could be symbolically drifting further and further from reality and deeper into the realm of dreams.

PROCESS:

I got stuck several times on the stairs! I had to look up several references to make my work look convincing. It's almost comical how many staircase pins I have saved solely for this project.

SEVERAL COLOUR iTERATIONS:
A soft etherealness was what I had in mind, however I just couldn't settle on that without experimenting .

1st try

2nd try

The 2nd try felt a bit too similar to Tabi's Luminescence, the work I analysed. So even though I liked the otherworldly spiritual vibe, and colours on this one the most, it had to be scrapped.

3rd try: Too spooky!

4th try: Experimented with window colours

Initial Colour Sketch

I ended up liking the initial colour mock-up (see beginning of process video) and built off of this one.

TIMELAPSE OF PROCESS:


Unfortunately, since I was dangerously close to missing the deadline, I scrapped the Wanderers since I just couldn't figure out a way to fit them on the stairs without it becoming cluttered. 

Also, at some point, I didn't realise that the reading mode had automatically turned on until AFTER I had finalised the colouring! However it was a race against time at this point so I just let it go. It was a subtle difference anyway (the actual colours turned out to be cooler in temperature, NOT what I was aiming for!) I played around with the colour balance to try to get it as close to as it was in reading mode. 
R.I.P my poor grip on time is gonna give me blood-pressure issues someday⌛

FINAL OUTCOME:

Title: Lucid Stairway

RATIONALE:


It's incredible how vast the mind is, from its capacity to store memories, and ability to create 'unreal' experiences within dreams. I wanted to portray that seemingly infinite capacity of the brain to cook up endless possibilities, whimsy combination of ideas and diverging timelines that one can explore all within the landscape of the mind. This ability of the brain often lures us into escapism, either when things in the real world are bad, painful or just plain boring. Daydreaming is healthy to exercise the imagination, but for some it can be a coping strategy. There are those of us who struggle with maladaptive dreaming, that's often hard to get out of. I too can struggle with this sometimes and I often find myself living life through my dreams instead of actively participating in it. This has made me miss out on reality at times, and the fruitful experiences that it too is capable of providing. Therefore I wanted to portray both the general consensus of dreaming being vast and freeing, with its more subtly imprisoning and isolating nature. The circular interior of a lighthouse seemed to perfectly capture that sentiment.

Reflections


I really enjoyed the visual analysis part of the project as it gave me a lot of insight in to what the artist was thinking throughout their process. I think it's a valuable skill to observe, analyse and pick up on things from the artist you study from, and implement elements you like in your own work. 

In all honesty though, I was incredibly burned out and felt stuck by the time I got to the design phase. Admittedly I started to work on my design towards the last minute, which is why it was a bit too late for me by the time I reached a point to ask for feedback. It dawned on me how often I miscalculate how fast I can complete something. Seems to me that I keep underestimating the difficult parts, for eg. I didn't think I'd spend 60% of my time in the design phase trying to make the stairs look less wonky. 


References


TABI:

PASCAL CAMPION

JENNY YU

YU JINYOUNG


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