Design Principles - Exercises and Projects

27.08.18 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Joseph (0336620)
Design Principles
Exercise and Projects

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Instructions

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Lecture : Module Briefing and Contrast
27.08.18 - 30.08.18

Our class began with a brief introduction to the modules and what to expect for the upcoming weeks. We also started getting into the first topic which is Contrast, a distribution to value to enhance a certain element between 2 things or more. The aim of contrast is to catch the eye of viewers or grab the attention so to speak. Usually we can see contrast everywhere but mostly in things like brochures, posters, magazine, etc.

After this brief introduction we were given assignments and task to try and express our knowledge of contrast, we were requested to draw using pens, board markers or any drawing utensils using only black and white color on a A4 sketchbook. We were free to present our style of contrast.

Fig 1.1 Final Work On Contrast

This is my take on contrast, essentially I've created a white cat on a black colored background. This was inspired when my mom took a photo of our cat sitting on a black wall.

Feedback

Ms. Sherry said that the overall picture was good, however she mentioned that the background was quite messy.

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Lecture 2 : Gestalt Principles
04.08.18

Add caption

Gestalt is a way of seeing things as a "unified whole", It attempts to put 2 very different elements and let the eye sees it as a unified whole. The Gestalt Principle is divided in to 5 principles, which is :

1. Similarity

FIGURE 2.1

This occurs when a certain shape shares similar characteristics to another shape, as we can see from the example above, the first second and third shape share a portion of the first face.

2. Proximity

FIGURE 2.3

Proximity occurs when shapes are being placed equally or given equal space towards each other.

3. Continuity

FIGURE 2.4

Occurs when the eye is compelled to move to one object into another object.

4. Figure and Ground

FIGURE 2.5

The eye differentiates an object from its surrounding area. This principle invites the eye to see things in a different way. As we can see from the black part, we can see some sort of a mug and if we look at the white area we can see two face facing each other.

5. Closure

FIGURE 2.6

This occurs when there are certain elements are missing from the object, however the eye can still tell fully what the object is.

So I decided to make a figure and ground, I didn't quite understand the concept of it. So I randomly tried doing work that looks like gestalt. Eventually I've come up with this.

FIGURE 2.7

Feedback:
Ms. Sherry said that I didn't know what I was doing and she wasn't wrong, she said that I felt lost while doing this and explain to me what the whole thing was about.

After the feedback, I decided to get a better grasp and understanding of what gestalt is. So I went back to some of the pictures that Ms. Sherry showed us about Gestalt, eventually I've come up with this.

FIGURE 2.8 Final Work on Gestalt

I didn't have a sharp cutter at the time so I had to improvise, in the end I did this using a kitchen knife. Hence the cut wasn't perfect nor tidy. The picture was supposed to be 2 leaves facing upside down towards each other and the middle forms a bottle.

Feedback :
Ms. Sherry said that I had a better understanding of the gestalt theory, however, she mentioned that the cut was very bad, she gave me credit for using a kitchen knife to cut the black paper.

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Lecture 3 : Symmetry, Asymmetry, Balance, Dominance
11.08.18

For this week's lecture, we were divided into groups and given a bunch of topics to work with. For this week our friends presented the following :

1. Symmetry

FIGURE 3.1

Symmetry is shown when elements are balanced from each side.

2. Asymmetry

FIGURE 3.2

Asymmetry is the lack of balance in an object, it shows that each sides isn't balance.

3. Balance and Dominance

FIGURE 3.3

Balance - An even distribution of weight, attention, or attraction of the various element of the object.

FIGURE 3.4

Dominance - It shows how one element attracts the eye first.

So I've decided to go for asymmetry, I didn't have clear idea of what I was going for. Since we're using water color, I had trouble with using water color since it was my first time using water color.

This is my work :

Fig 3.5 Work on Asymmetry

Feedback :

I forgot to give this to Ms. Sherry so there wasn't any feedback.

Lecture 4 : Pattern, Texture, Repetition, Surface
18.09.18

Repetition - Repeating a single element.

Fig 4.1

Pattern - Using 2 or more elements in a repeated fashion.

Fig 4.2

Surface - Any type of artwork created by any designer with the purpose of enhancing visuals in an artwork.

Fig 4.3

As for the exercise I made a simple pattern, this is what I came up with.

This is my work on Patterns.

Lecture 5 : Alignment, Visual Hierarchy, Visual Direction
27.08.18

Alignment - The arrangement of elements so they line up in an order or a certain way.

Fig 5.1 Examples of Alignment.

Visual Hierarchy - The arrangement of visual elements in order to signify importance.

Fig 5.2 Examples of Visual Hierarchy

Placement - The arrangement of visual elements in order to make an artwork look beautiful and nice.

We were given an exercise to make a collage out of anything, it could be from magazines, newspapers. For my work this is what I did.

My First Work on Collage Fig 5.3

My Second work on Collage Fig 5.4

Lecture 6
09.10.18

Harmony - The belonging of one thing or another, it could be the repetition of color , texture, shape, form, unity, and variety.

Examples of Harmony Fig 6.1

Movement - The path of the viewers eye through the artwork.

Example of Movement Fig 6.2

We were given an exercise where we were required to take a photo that shows movement or harmony. During this exercise I looked through some of my old photos and I used this photo to show harmony and movement as the clouds kinda represent the colors while the movement.

Fig 6.3 Work on Harmony.

Lecture 7

Wasn't in class for lecture 7, but I did do the exercise, this is my work.

Final Work on Lines and Dots.

Project 1 : Self Portrait
23.08.18

For this project, we are required to create a version of our self-portraits, we were given a length of 2 weeks to work on out self portraits, Ms. Sherry allowed us to look at some of other famous painters. Knowing my lack of drawing skills, I used Adobe Photoshop for this project to create my own self portrait. This are the pictures and elements that I used to create my self portrait.

FIG 7.1

Fig 7.2

Fig 7.3

Cat Reference Fig 7.4

Fig 7.5

Fig 7.6

In the end I came up with this version of my self portrait.

My Work on Self Portrait Fig 7.7

Lectures 8 : Perspective, Proportion, Unity/ Variety

Perspective
A way of representing three dimensional objects into two dimensional objects surface, so that it looks realistic.

Proportion
A division of elements that makes an composition look good or better, it doesn't make an element look more dominant as it is balance on each element.

Unity

An artwork that creates a sense of harmony that unifies certain elements that creates wholeness into a composition.

Project 2 : A Sense of Place
30.10.18

For this second project we were given an assignment where we would express the feel of a place familiar to us or a place that we like, I've given it some thought for a week and decided that I would express that place that I live since that I don't really like it, so the main idea of this project is to express what we feel about the place. Due to my lack of drawing skills I decided to use Adobe Photoshop, I had a few photos for reference, these are the photos that I used ;

Used Photo Fig 8.1

Used Photo Fig 8.2

Those are the photo's that I used and this is the end result that I come up with :

My Final Work on Project 2 Fig. 8.3

The aim of this final work is to show that I do not like living in this place, the money on the background is to show that living there is quite expensive. It is also why I used dark and grim colors.

FEEDBACK:
For this project we did a group critique, Ms. Sherry and my classmate think it was pretty funny, because most of the people that did this place, made it look happy and fun while mine was dark and grim.

Project 3 : Billboard Study
30.10.18 - 27.11.28 ( Week 10 - Week 14)

For this project we were told to look around he environment and look for motivation and inspiration through looking at the billboards around us. I took a few photos of billboards during the holidays and these are the photo's that I took :

Fig 9.1 Billboards of Inspiration

Fig 9.2 More Billboards of Inspiration.

As I was looking through these pictures, I giggled a little bit and thought of how disorganized I am in this semester, I was stressed out and overwhelmed by the amount of work that has been given to me. I was worried that I wasn't going to make it this semester. However,WITH THAT BEING SAID, I had a few ideas and a few art style that I was going for it this final project. I looked up for a few cartoon artwork that I can find, and this is what I found :