Visual Techniques

Economy and sharpness are the most evident visual techniques here.

Balance, symmetry, understatement, and exaggeration are the visual techniques most evident here.

















Andy Warhol who painted the Campbell's soup can has been my biggest inspiration to be in visual communication design. Economy and sharpness were the most evident visual techniques used in the can. There is very little excess decoration and it is not intricate at all, it is very simple(economy). Also the colors are very sharp against the background, which makes it very easy to read. Economy and sharpness in the first image make the advertising very clear, easy to read, and short and simple. The second image I chose because I am also very inspired by typographic design. Although the second image is not as clear and easy to read as the first, it stills conveys its own message. It is balanced and symmetrical making it very easy on the eye. We find a sense of  normality in it. Also, some letters such as ones on the left are more exaggerated than some of the understated words on the right. The larger, more exaggerated font tells us where to look and what to pay attention to in the piece.

Poor Contrast

This is a great example of poor use of contrast. This heart is made up of letters, words, and further decoration. The use of only one color makes it almost impossible to read what is written without another color contrasting the words from the decorations. Secondly, there is no contrasting size anywhere in the heart. All of the letters and the swirling decorations are exactly the same size and so nothing particularly stands out to the eye. In order to successfully display contrast in this design, I would make the words different colors, and change the size and shape of either the font or added decorations.

Successful Contrast

I think that this demonstrates a successful use of contrast. The whole thing can be read if the reader wanted to do so- the contrast of the black letters on the white background makes it extremely legible, and so does the size of the font- never getting too small to read. However, if one wanted to briefly look at it without reading the whole thing, one could read just the larger print, contrasting with the smaller print, and still understand the overall message. I like how the artist included about five different sizes of type, contrasting the more important words and slogans with the lesser important words or slogans. However, if I were to remake this same design, I would contrast tone and composition. The black on white makes it legible however not interesting, so by adding color to certain words, would give this poster more of a personality. By slanting, italicizing, etc. different words, the composition would be more interesting than just the linear composition it has now.

Implied Motion in Design

This is a very good example of implied motion in a photo. We can tell that this car is in motion at a high rate of speed because the edges of the lines of the car are blurred. The background is also extremely blurred expressing that the car is moving through its environment. We can also see the wagon wheel effect in this photo. The wheels look as though they are moving backwards although the car is moving forward.

Implied Motion in Design

I really like this example of implied motion in design. There are two ways that we can perceive movement in this image. First we can see that there are three separate groupings of ballerinas starting in the top left corner and moving down to the bottom right corner. This is implying that the same ballerina is moving across the page. Secondly, in each group there are three overlapping ballerinas. These overlapping ballerinas are an example of stroboscopic movement because the ballerina has appeared to move forward even though it has not. Both ways together show movement across the page because it forces our eyes to dance from one corner to another in a forward fashion.

Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

I think this poster does an excellent job at depicting the illusion of space. We see multiple things overlapping each other and this tells us which objects are closer to us, and which are further away. For example, everything is overlapping the Parcs sign, which tells us that the Parcs sign is the furthest thing away. The relative size of the people also depicts the illusion of depth. The people in the back are smaller and thus further away than the larger and closer people in the front. Relative height is also apparent in this poster. All of the people are below the horizon line, and the people higher in the field of view, such as the people in the back, appear farther away. Finally, linear perspective, such as the converging parallel lines on the field, depict the illusion of depth because they converge as they get farther away, with greater convergence indicating greater distance.

Tone and Color

I think that this poster does an amazing job at utilizing tone and color. We can best see tone at work in this poster in the different blue tones. We can see that the darkest blue represents the mountains, then the sky, then some of the low clouds. We are able to clearly tell the difference between the mountains and sky because of the juxtaposition of lightness versus darkness. Because of tone at work in this poster, we are able to see the expression of depth- that the darkest mountains are at the foreground, and a shade lighter of the mountains, indicates they are behind the darker. I think shape is interacting best with tone in this poster, because the tone in each shape gives that shape depth and dimension.

I like the chosen colors in this poster because they are surprising, visually interesting, and make the poster pop. I think it's interesting that only secondary colors are used with tonal differences. We seem not to know which is brighter, the pink or the very saturated gray, even the placement of the centered, large green cloud jumps out, so our eyes bounce across the poster in a pleasing way. These bright colors also get us excited. They are very loud colors as well, perfect for a poster advertising music. I think the lines compliment color best in this poster, because the excess of lines coming out of the larger shapes, allows for detail and a sense of movement.
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