Tag Archives: Visual communication

Exercise: Signs & Symbols

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Bootprints on a globe with the top of the planet fading away

Exercise (pg: Graphic Design One): Signs & Symbols

Choose one of the following:

  • Danger
  • Movement
  • Love
  • Here

How does existing visual language represent these concepts? Research different similes and metaphors that are in common use. Document them through drawings, collecting examples and mind maps. Now create an alternative symbol to represent at least one of the concepts.

Looking through my sketchbook I seem to have worked through this exercise fairly systematically. Although I confess there were times I took time out to draw some lightbulbs (for a later exercise!) just for the variation. I started with mindmaps, which gave me the opportunity to explore the concepts and my understanding of them. For each of the concepts I did some of my own sketches of the visuals that came to mind, this was followed with online research and became an iterative process between my sketching and other examples.

  • Initially, the concept that interested me least was ‘Love’ and my research confirmed that the most common symbol used is that of the heart with the colour red.
  • ‘Danger’ tends to be bold, and eye-catching again using red or yellow. This is clearly related to the need to act as a warning in most cases.
  • ‘Here’ is locational, and seems to be mostly associated with arrows, although colour schemes and typography are quite varied.
  • ‘Movement’ was the concept that surprised me most in terms of the direction it took. To start with I thought of it in terms of physical movement but the examples then highlighted its other meaning in terms of ‘a movement.’ Graphic design in relation to activism is an area I have become increasingly interested in (see my recent pins in the sidebar and my Socio Political Graphic Design Pinterest Board) so the connection with movement was a useful one.

The initial examples of physical movement I found focused on sequences of images. Having looked at Krasnopolski, when I was doing my sketches I decided to impose a constraint on myself of representing movement using as few lines as possible which is how the dancing figures emerged. Some of my squiggles reminded me of the Op Art movement so I researched Bridget Riley and others.

I then got confused about the brief in terms of whether an alternative symbol meant something completely different (i.e. love might be represented as a chest of drawers) or whether it was my own adaptation within the existing symbolism of the concept.

I decided this was about my adaptation or development of the symbolism and having looked at the Op Art work decided to attempt combining both ‘movement’ and ‘love’. I wanted to capture the notion of the heart beating but that there may be some distortion – love is not always easy or straightforward. Following some very sketchy drawings in Adobe Draw I moved on to Photoshop and tried out different filters.

This was followed by some work on symbols I might create for the sustainability ‘movement.’ They are intended to capture a sense of the negative impact of our movement across the planet and how it may be slowly disappearing.

My preferred results are:

The heart was created with the wind filter in Photoshop and I like that is distorted and jagged. I liked the way the red in the centre almost looks like an ECG wave form. I prefer the smaller footsteps on the globe I think they convey better the idea of the actions of humanity walking us into a very uncertain future.

In working on the exercise I was intrigued about the apparent universality of symbols and how they become socially and culturally embedded. I had the opportunity to try an activity with the OCA Thames Valley Group, a group of primarily photography students at different stages in their studies that meets monthly. I asked everyone to do a quick illustration of their response to the four concepts. It was fascinating to see the commonality and some of the differences. I particularly liked the notion of the Ying & Yang symbol for love. I am grateful to the group for permission to include their drawings in  my blog.

 

 

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Exercise: Point of Sale display

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Exercise (pg.52 Graphic Design One): Your local greengrocer has asked you to produce a point of sale display to go above the fruit and vegetables in their shop. They want the display to be seen from the street through the shop window to attract passing shoppers to increase trade.

You can use photographs, illustrations or a combination to develop two images – one of fruit and one of vegetables. The posters will be seen from a distance and mainly in people’s peripheral vision so the visuals need to be clear and dynamic. Ask others for feedback.

The brief

The elements I took from the brief are:

  • Attractive
  • Seen from a distance
  • A call to action
  • Clear and dynamic
  • Format is open

Researching and developing ideas

I have worked on this exercise over a number of weeks; collecting images, looking at POS displays in the shops and making thumbnail sketches. While this was helpful there was also a moment where the ideas felt almost limitless – from bowls of fruit, saucepans of steaming vegetables, to piles of individual fruit or fruit/veg shaped layouts.

I decided that I would go for backlit slices of fruit, as they are both colourful and intriguing, they show the structures of the fruit and vegetables in a way that I thought might be unfamiliar and would encourage curiosity. I wanted to try something that was less obvious. I also wanted an approach that could showcase some of the variety of what might be available to buy.

Visualising ideas

Lots of slicing later I took a range of photographs that I thought my work using a lightbox to provide even backlighting. Having worked on the visual approach I then focused on the text, this posed a new dilemma, as arguably the right visuals might be able to stand without any text. Given the brief I decided I would add some text but it needed to be simple, easily recognisable and work at a distance.

I worked on a range of approaches:

  • Alliteration – Fabulous fruit, Various vegetables, Virtuous vegetables, Feel Fabulous, Feeling Fruity! …
  • Health benefits – 5 a day – ‘Don’t forget your five a day,’ ‘Fruit five ways,’ ‘Have you had your 5 today?’
  • Puns – ‘Take your pick,’ ‘Pick me! ’ ‘Peas on Earth,’ etc. I liked the idea of some fruit/veg related jokes which might appeal to children and encourage them to want fruit/veg but I wasn’t sure they would be easily seen from outside the shop
  • Simple recipes – illustrations of some quick and easy recipes, like Grilled Pink Grapefruit with honey, or a quick green smoothie

In working through the different approaches I thought some were too complicated. I wanted the display to focus on a positive message about eating fruit and veg, reminding me of the various ‘I heart…’ slogans, which I then discovered was created by Milton Glaser for the ‘I love NY’ campaign. This kept it very simple and I decided to use it for the text although I thought I would leave out the ‘I’ and make it a more general statement.

I played with placement of the text and having got some feedback I decided I preferred the version with the slogan to the right hand side, with some white space around it. I created these versions in Photoshop because I could mock them up quickly. If I were to develop them further I would use Illustrator to create a smooth vector version.

At this point I thought I had finished, but then! I decided to try and go for a font close to Glaser’s original so found ‘Another Typewriter’, which I really liked with the visuals.

But then…! I looked again at some of my earlier sketches that were based on an idea to make the fruit/veg in the shape of hearts. I had sketched there being four types on a poster but when I placed the orange slice I decided to go for one – given that the poster needs to be seen from a distance. Some puppet warp later and I had two new versions which I felt worked better than the other posters.

I liked their simplicity and I felt they worked with the brief to attract buyers into the shop. Although I have kept the text to single words there is space to add logos or other information if needed.

Critique

I found the process of working and reworking my ideas to be invaluable. This helps keep me open to different ideas and not become too wedded to an initial idea or solution. It also reinforced for me the value of mocking up early ideas however crude.

In all honesty I was a little disappointed with the first posters, as they didn’t have quite the crispness or clarity I was looking for. Although I like the effect of the backlit fruit and veg I think in the end it was too busy and complicated (I also forgot to include the celery which has irritated me ever since!).

I did keep to the ‘love’ notion as it gave me the simplicity I thought the design needed and was easily seen at a distance. It is also in keeping with advice around enjoying fruit and veg, and encouraging more balanced diets.

The final design choice might be regarded as too simplistic but in looking at fruit & veg points of sales in local supermarkets there is a tendency towards pictures of the fruit/veg with very simple slogans. Few have logos or wider information.

 

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Exercise: Too much or not enough information

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Exercise (p.46 Graphic Design One): Look around locally and identify an upcoming event. Design two posters to promote it. Make the first poster full of details and descriptions about the event; include all the details you think your audience might need.

For the second poster apply Occam’s Razor to pare back the information to a bare minimum – be extreme: how little information can you get away with and how few words can you use?

Which design works best? What is the key information you need to include?

The brief: From the above information I took the focus as being –

  • The audience
  • Communication – devising the right messages to promote the event
  • Determining the optimal information

Researching & developing ideas:

I wasn’t really looking forward to this exercise, as I know my own preference is for less information presented in an attractive and eye-catching form. It made it feel like a bit of an effort to go through the activity but I also knew I might be surprised and should keep an open mind. Walking through the local town (which I will keep anonymous so as not to offend the event organisers!) I came across a poster that caught my eye because it was the antithesis of my view of an effective event poster.

It was promoting a forthcoming fireworks night and apart from a few symbols (based on the organiser’s logo) it had thirty lines of text, which ranged from the title through to the fact that photographs would be taken of the event. I was amazed about how text heavy it was and it made me think it looked like something that had probably evolved via a committee. Anyway, I thought it was a prime opportunity for me to see what I would do for a similar event.

I did some online research and given that it was nearly bonfire night also looked locally at other event posters. I then worked on a number of thumbnails and experimented with layouts.

Visualising ideas:

It seemed obvious but I wanted to include really attractive fireworks, which made me think that for at least part of the poster the background would be very dark or black. I also wanted to promote the notion of it being a spectator event so some sense of people attending needed to be included.

I found some suitable stock photos and using Photoshop started to experiment with layouts. For the more detailed poster I decided to go landscape because I thought it might be easier to include more text. I used a shot of three large bright coloured fireworks because I though it might work roughly around the rule of thirds. I then used shaded panels and reversed out text for the written information. I used an orange tint to the text because white looked too harsh and I thought it echoed the fireworks and the orange of a bonfire.

In the meantime I had been researching poster design and had started a new Pinterest board to collect ideas. A few things had started emerging based notionally on a Swiss style and this informed the second design, which was pared back. I decided on what I thought was the key information: title; date; venue; opening times; prices; website and sponsor.

I liked the idea of using circles to echo the shape of the fireworks, like a ‘sneak peak’ on the action. I then decided to use dark and light to bring out the fireworks and the text. Feedback from family suggested they preferred the less text version it was also noticeable that they were looking at the visuals first and then looking at the text. Something needed to attract their attention before they moved on to worrying about the information the poster included.

I had downloaded some fireworks brushes for Photoshop and decided to play with them. I kept the circle element of the second design and just ‘painted’ in some fireworks. I pulled out a colour from the fireworks for the background and decided on a simple san serif typeface. I was concerned it was a bit too simple and obvious but this was the poster that everyone then seemed to prefer. Occam’s Razor in action! The feedback suggested it was bright, colourful, eye catching and easy to read.

Critiquing:

In terms of the brief I think the final poster probably fits the requirements best it is easy to see from a distance and in my opinion has the key information. It does rely on a potential audience having access to the Internet to check ticket prices or additional information, which may be a weakness. The event offered tickets in advance and tickets on the gate and I thought there wasn’t an easy half way point, if I started adding more information it would grow and grow.

My personal preference is the second version because it feels a little more stylish. This highlighted for me the importance of working to the brief problem solving and attending to the client. It is clear that my personal taste may not be the best solution for the client. In the end I decided what was probably needed was something easily seen, attractive and identifiable from a distance.

I don’t think the full information version worked very well, which may be a combination of design and content. It feels fussy and cluttered and I think the design is not well balanced. I could have worked on it more but I’m not sure where I would have gone with it because it just felt like it included too much as a promotional poster (even though it was slightly pared back from the original I saw!).

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