VizCom

After the completion of Project 1A and B this week, we learned about colour theory, which I believe would come in extremely handy for Project 2. It helped to put into perspective why some previous experimentations of mine worked and some didn’t. Our learning for this week would be divided up into 4 main sections: Munsell Colour Theory, Functional Colours, Natural Colour System and Colour Combination and Others/Other Thoughts. Munsell Colour Theory In the lecture video we first learnt about American painter Albert Henry Munsell, and how he was generally considered the most successful in attempts at constructing a colour system to provide standard samples according to a logically organised plan as well as catering for the perceived affinity of colours. Colour Components (as defined by Albert Munsell), included        Hue (The quality by which you distinguish between diff colours e.g how blue is a separate or different hue from yellow)     ...

Singer Nathan Hartono participating in a CSR effort by Nestle's Milo . Image Reference: The Straits Times. (2016). Retrieved from: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cuzh0WIVIAANCNF.jpg We covered Corporate Identity and Communications this week, which would be a good stepping stone in framing our thought process and solidifying our understanding of our company of choice in Project 1B. History of Corporate Identity (CI) Emerged around the middle of 20 th century Originally understood as symbolism Important names: Walter Margulies and Wolff Olins Definition of CI What makes a company unique and special Its values and approach to business Reflected internally (the way a company works, management and leadership style) and externally (visual appearance, product quality, communication and marketing strategies) Corporate Culture One of the most important parts of corporate identity Human part of the organisation i.e. the language, norms, folklores, as well as ot...

Yay! We learnt about typography this week, and it’s a topic I’m really excited about because I have certain ideas of doing a comic strip or children’s storybook so learning about typefaces is essential. Plus, I love going to the library to pore over typography books and just stare at how gorgeous they are in my free time. Lets get started! My biggest takeaways this week was the ability to distinguish between Type Family A set of typefaces derived from one basic design e.g. bold , italic Font A specific size and type of style within a type family e.g. Helvetica, Times New Roman and Georgia which I write my blog posts in Size Type is measured in points, with 1 point being 1/72 of an inch Type Classification Serif, Sans-Serif, Slab Serif, Text, Script, Decorative Image Reference: GCF Learn Free. What is Typography? Retrieved from: https://www.gcflearnfree.org/beginning-graphic-design/typography/1/ Image Reference: GCF Learn Free. What is...

Besides Harmony, Contrast, Repetition and Unity, we learned about Rhythm, Movement and Emphasis, Balance, and Scanning Patterns this week too Harmony Can be harmonious is shape, size, texture etc. Contrast Can contrast in shape, size, texture etc. As with harmony, it can be employed together to draw attention to certain components of a picture Unity Too much contrast or harmony can be monotonous Harmony with contrast gives rise to unity Ratio of contrast to harmony or vice versa should be decided by the Golden Mean as learnt in Lecture 3 Rhythm Repetition in variation Movement While rhythm refers to the repetition of items at a predictable frequency It can give rise to, based on quality of duplication, internal movement too Emphasis Emphasis gives particular prominence to a part of a design Can be used to attract attention to create visual and conceptual impact Emphasis can operate through contrast, such as when two or more forces...

I have always been fascinated by MC Escher’s works of visual illusions. So this week, I’m very glad that the lecture covered his pieces, and how he made use of Gestalt’s principles in the process of creating his intriguing designs. According to the lecture, Gestalt is the psychological term that means ‘unified whole’ (surprising, it is not named after the psychologists/researchers who came up with the idea. I had foolishly assumed at first that there must be someone named Gestalt. Ha!). In essence, it is a collection of theories that attempts to describe how people perceive and interpret images even when they lack meaning, because of how they tend to organise information and visual elements into groups or unified whole or groups. To be honest, even though I have visited the Science Centre so many times in the past, I had no idea the workings behind the illusionary phenomena I was witnessing, such as the Rubin Vase, were all attributed to Gestalt’s Principles. The fundamental p...