Core Studio: Image / Fall 2008

This certain article I found to be very acurately aiming towards the same understanding we must achieve on our final projects. Perhaps due to the fact that we are creating our design targeting a certain sub culture, I primarily caught interest in the subject of identifying your design for a certain audience. Imagery, type, form etc. are all that are best when united on a visual persuasion. My own project is also very based on persuasion. My design is at first very appealing and attractive for anyone due to the certain imageries and illustrations used. But the message is very solid and strong but not to heavy. This is because I have used none bold fonts or depressing images. Therefore, I did agree to the part of reaching the audience.  My design corresponds best with letter as image out of the numerous introductions of the cooperations of type and image by Meggs. My project is consisted of fewer images and more information through words and numbers. To best represent letters as image, I drew out my own alphabet and arranged every letter that I used individually. It was very time consuming but was so much more easily functioned and the results were very satisfying.

While doing my sketches I could not quite figure out my statement and I was having trouble organizing my ideas. My topic has a lot of movement and I want my art to have movement. After reading this article I cleared my statement and started using type as image more wisely. Like in the article says you have to have type and then image. Ofcourse they need to work together as well. You have to also chose wisely color, scale and also word usage to make a good concluded result. An important topic the article talked about was the audience. Which I was having the most trouble making a direct statement. You have to know who you are talking to. Because of different races, genders and age, your audience changes. Thats why you have to really know your audience to be a cohessive piece. A designers job is to give out a message. By making an art piece that is relevant to the types of audiences, you can have the reaction you wanted or a reaction that wasn’t predicted. I think it takes many expirements to get a great result. This again comes back with the article  from before that making a great result you have to pass through the steps. MAKING A DESIGN PROCESS!

I enjoyed reading this article because it helped me with a constant problem that I encounter. The problem of making decisions and coming up with ideas is a repitative and constant issue for me. A lot of the time i find myself coming up with last minute decisions that may not be the best solutions to the problems I encounter, which are mostly due to lack of time and very short deadlines. In the article however, I found that by planning ahead of time and coming up with numerous possibilities and then picking the best solution can help. By having a plan I can execute my work faster and run into less problems. This is done by brainstorming and thinking of ideas about what Im trying to achieve, the requirements that must be followed, and the physical limitations I put on myself to help achieve the solution.

In order to have a successfull project involving type and image, both parts of the image must be readable and independent.  Yet they must also work seamlessly together.  This article digs deep into the tricky subject of type and image and actually explains it quite well.  Its tricky simply because there are so many things that need to be considered.  One of the key aspects of a type/image piece that artists must consider more than anything else, is target audience.  You really have to know your demographic, know exactly who you want to send a message to.  Sure your piece can be universal, but if you look at advertising, each ad is catered to a specific group, which in turn helps that company sell its product.  If a men’s jean company advirtises to anyone, well they wouldn’t be a men’s jean company anymore would they?  Point is, type and image are downright difficult.  It takes time to get it right but the reward in the end is surely worthwhile.

This article was a really interesting overview of an artist’s design process and analyzes the role each aspect plays. In the introduction, Lauer discusses the importance of planning to the creative process, not unlike writing an outline for a paper as a way of getting your thoughts and goals organized. He also mentions that art seeks answers to problems and must communicate an idea to the viewer. Good ideas are another essential component of an effective design solution, which can often be difficult to come by. Lauer argues that thinking, looking, and doing are the three main activities that are part of the design process, and that not only are that not sequential, but they can also overlap and occur simultaneously. Thinking involves sketching, sorting out ideas, determining a goal, and determining what relationship form and content should have. Looking includes observing, seeing relationships, and examining the significance of things around us. Doing consists of experimentation and execution, but thinking and looking are an important part of this step as well.

I find that in order to have a success design that conveys an image, the image and typography must be cohesive in such a way that the audience clearly gets the message and mood upon first glance. The selection of imagery, color, and words are also an important factor as this is what ultimately determines its cohesiveness. This article made me realize that when creating a public piece, one must always think about the target audience. Everything about the target audience must be factored into the piece from the height, age, location, gender, and beliefs. I feel my wheat pastings have followed this process, targeting the right audience in the right location, with the right medium. However, I must be careful with the imaging as it is this that will ultimately determine the execution.

I thought that this article made a lot of sense. The fact that it explains what design really is and how it can be interpreted differently is exactly what design is about. Different races, genders and cultures of people can interpret the same message is a different way. When i was home in upstate, they put up a billboard for an alcohol. I thought the ad was appealing to young men, while my mother thought it was appealing to older men. This is the idea that different people can interpret the same ad differently. It’s strange to see the different responses that people can have on the same exact advertisement or piece of art.

The article was quite interesting and summed up the methodology and purpose behind a design. A designers job is to communicate a message or idea to the public visually in the most effective way. They need to pay attention to what image/s they use, colors, and words. In order to speak to a specific audience these qualities are a major factor in the success of the design. The design may be for a particular audience but perceived differently by each person that it attracts. So by making your design clear and precise, provides a more effective reception by its viewers. I am designing a poster on vegetarianism, directed towards an age group of 15- 21. I am going to use bold lettering, organic, earthy colors and images that easily convey my intent. Phillip Meggs does a thorough job at explaining how Graphic Designers go about their designing process.

What struck me most about this article was how much of it’s ideas I was using in my current Lab project. The article discusses how, due to varied factors such as gender, culture, and upbringing, individuals can interpret the same image or text in different ways. My lab project used this idea to its advantage. Our goal was to show that while Times Square, in terms of buildings, may have been gentrified, the people who inhabit it still bring a wealth of culture to it. We asked people to fill out “name tags” which asked questions about their hobbies and cultural background. We used the information gained from this to prove just how diverse the people in Times Square were. It was really interesting to see how differently each person received and responded to something as simple as a name tag with a simple question.

While reading the article, I was surprised that this article contents almost everything about type and image. Phillip Meggs informs all the elements and strategies used in Graphic Design-the visual arrangement, and he provides enormous examples to explain them in detail. From those specific examples, I can clearly understand how designers arrange the elements and use the strategies to communicate with audience successfully. There was one thing about Graphic Space that attracted my attention the most-the human factor. As I learned in class, the Graphic Space should be well balanced between the subject and the negative space. But I never aware of the human factor that people have a strong horizontal and vertical orientation and human eyes focus sharply upon a very small area. Since a part of my project will be a poster, the visual communication is significant to my success. According to Meggs, human eyes are constantly in rapid motion as they scan, shift, and select, so I must create a strong and effective area in my poster to attract people’s eyes when then past by. And the placement of this area will be, which I agree with the article, the geometric center which is potentially a powerful focal point. I’ll also put the key message that I want to tell in the area, so that my audience can get my idea at first glance.