Design Principles / Project 3: Visual Analysis
1/11/2022 - 29/11/2022 / (Week 10 - Week 14)
Derin / 0354969 / Design in
Creative Media
GCD 60804 / DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Project 3: Visual Analysis
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Visual Analysis
Visual analysis is a method of understanding design that focuses on the visual elements and principles, in its strictest definition -a description and explanation of visible structure for its own sake. Yet the purpose of visual analysis can also be to recognize the choices a designer made in creating the design and understand how the formal properties of a design communicate ideas, content, or meaning.
Visual analysis can include 3 phases:
Phase 1: Observation
Observation means closely looking at and identifying the visual elements of a design and trying to describe them carefully and accurately in your own words. Do not read beforehand about the design at all.
Phase 2: Analysis
Analysis requires you to think about your observations and try to make statements about the work based on the evidence of your observations. Think about how the specific visual elements identified combine to create a whole and what effect that whole has on the viewer.
Phase 3: Interpretation
Observations, descriptions, and analyses of the work are fused with facts about the design work (and, in some cases, the designer) and historical context that you find in trustworthy published sources.
Project 3 (-%): Sense of Place
Visual Analysis: Students are to utilize their understanding of design principles found in the design work. This project requires the students to assess, investigate, document and analyze a design material (billboards/television commercial/movie clip/work of design) of their choice. They should notice, size, placement, purpose, effectiveness, as well as aspects of design principles found in that work.
Learning Goals:
1. To apply design principles covered during the semester to your work
2. To create an awareness of how materials and composition are critical to your communication.
3. To practice and apply the design principles and be able to analyze them in the work of others.
PROJECT 3
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| Fig 1.1 Tears of Blood by Oswaldo Guayasamin |
This painting in Fig 1.1 is in a portrait format, featuring a person covering their mouth with blood flowing out of their eyes. The hands comprise 3/4 of the composition, characteristically contorted and stiff. The person's eyes stare directly at us with pupils as small dots emerge from his deep dark eye sockets. The colors overall are monotonous. The subject's color consists of a dirty yellow palette and a hint of red which stands out from the illustration, whereas the background and shadows are pure black.
Analysis
This illustration has multiple design principles: balance, symbolism, movement, emphasis, and contrast. Firstly, the overall composition is asymmetrically balanced, as seen in how 3/4 of the composition compromises the subject's hands. The principle of symbolism is represented numerous times throughout the painting. It is mainly shown in the subject's hands and tears of blood. Aside from that, the design principle of movement is illustrated through the fingers' placement; the flow and placement direct the viewer's attention from the hands to the subject's face, which initiates a visual hierarchy from the overall composition. Subsequently, emphasis is present in the design considering the size of the hands that take up most of the overall composition; this creates dominance and focus of this work. The red tear coming out of the subject's eye is also considered to be an emphasis principle as it is the most dominant color in the monotonous painting. Lastly, one element distinguishes itself from the rest of the image because, as said previously, the red color from the tears creates a contrast that distinguishes itself from the rest of the prevailing visual.
Interpretation
Oswaldo Guasyamin's works revolve around the suffering of the indigenous people of South America. His works are dedicated to the pain and struggles of poverty, injustice, and authoritarianism. etc., all around the world. The painting "Tears of Blood" is no exception. On September 11th 1973, Chile's economic, social and political life would drastically change forever. Salvador Allende, a democratically elected leftist president, was murdered alongside other prominent figures. The US-backed right-wing military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet was installed and would reign until 1990. The change was done so that this powerful country and its allies could continue to profit from Chile's resources.
An Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin's response to this event was his painting "Tears of Blood." He depicts the expression through hands as an element, the hands of the oppressed. Alongside the hands, tears of blood represent an allegorical association of sacrifice and feelings of catharsis. Firstly, the hands convey disbelief and shock, as seen by the fingers as they clumsily cover the person's mouth. Secondly, the subject's eyes break the 4th wall to stare directly at us. They don't convey pain but disbelief and fear. They're the brightest light in the painting, including two bright circles emerging from deep dark sockets. The pupils are simple dots, making the eyes appear larger than they are. Fear is conveyed through the subject's eyes and the darkness surrounding them. Thirdly, one element distinguishes itself from the rest of the painting because it has color, creating contrast. The painting gets its title from these red tears.
Visual Research
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| Fig 2.1 Fish eye view, The Legend of Korra |
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| Fig 2.2 https://id.pinterest.com/pin/3870349671505483/ |
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| Fig 2.3 "so scared" by PhantomRin |
Idea Exploration
Idea #1
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| Fig 3.1 Idea #1 |
For the first idea, I made my design look creepy and daunting. I'll be focusing on the symbolism principle for these sketches. The location for this scene is inside a wardrobe. The subject is desperately hiding from something by holding the subject's breath, trying not to make noise. Although it is unclear what the subject is hiding, the red contrast from the wardrobe gaps implies danger outside. Bruises are seen on the subject's wrists, indicating abuse. We can only notice this sign by connecting the elements present in the illustration, like puzzle pieces. The difference in power shows inequality.
Idea #2
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| Fig 3.2 Idea #2 |
The second idea is more straightforward compared to the first one. The subject in this sketch is hiding from someone. The subject is visibly anxious, as seen by their body language.
Idea #3
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| Fig 3.3 Idea #3 |
The third idea is related to the beginning of the visual analysis, it is about the inequality Chile had from 1973.
Finalizing Design
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| Fig 4.1 Cleaned up sketch |
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| Fig 4.2 Colored sketch |
Ms. Jinchi advised that I should continue with the sketch I am most confident with. Therefore, I decided to finalize Idea #1. I started by cleaning up the drawing and changing the canvas ratio and the shoulder placement. After being satisfied with the changes, I colored my sketch to figure out this illustration's atmosphere and color palette. Ms. Jinchi suggested that the color of the light darted onto the character be changed to yellow. She also recommended removing the subject's sleeves to display the bruises and wounds to imply the abuse happened.
Upon receiving feedback from Ms. Jinchi, I start working on my design. I removed the sleeves and added more bruises to the subject while changing the light source to yellow. I also tried to make the expression more twisted by making one of the eye twitch.
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| Fig 4.3 Line art |
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| Fig 4.4 Base colors |
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| Fig 4.5 Shading |
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| Fig 4.6 Adding light |
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| Fig 4.7 Color Adjustments and Effects |
Final Outcome
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| Fig 4.8 Final Outcome (02/12/2022, Week 13) |
I like how this design turned out. I had actually drawn this in the wrong canvas size, not in A4 nor A3, but managed to work it through by using Photoshop's fill content-aware tool and painting it over to incorporate it. The overall artwork is straightforward in demonstrating the idea of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and psychological maltreatment of teens. The subject hides in a closet as if to secrete himself from something/someone. His bruised hands are clumsily wrapped around his mouth not to make any noise. His eyes, where one is swollen, bug out in extreme fear as he darts outside the gap of the closet with tears running nonstop. Inside the cramped closet, he could only wish not to be found by the abuser.
There are multiple design principles evident in this drawing: balance, repetition, emphasis, contrast and symbolism. First and foremost, the composition of this illustration is balanced in approximate symmetry. The two sides of the drawing are nearly the same, with some slight variation. The light coming out of the closet's gaps creates a repetition pattern within the work, which also creates a contrast in colors. There is an emphasis on the subject where the subject is the focal point of this illustration. The bruises, wounds, and bandages function as a symbolism principle here because it implies the occurrence of abuse to the teen.