NFrisch - Ex17 - Implied Motion

Implied Motion Example 1

This car rim design looks like a fan blade/saw blade/turbine from a jet engine. One thing that each of these have in common is that their main job is to spin, very fast. The swept look of the fins of this rim scream "motion" through their torque-bent-like spiraling vortex into the center of the axle. The taper of the width of the fins, wider at the outside and narrower toward the inside, also gives the rim the essence of looking down into a whirlpool. The pitch, or angle of the fins (like on a propeller) in theory could be functional by pulling air into the brakes to cool them, but most likely its just for show. The edges are sharp enough to look serious, but uniformly blunted as if they were precision-machined for zero-drag. The surfaces are ultra-smooth and look as though they'd be at home inside a jet turbine.

Implied Motion Example 2

This is a pair of Oakley brand sunglasses aimed toward an athletic or otherwise sports-related audience. The colors are loud, but balanced, and share similar traits with color palettes of ski wear and other "extreme sports," including all sorts of bicycling. These glasses are aerodynamic; they look streamlined. The contours seem as though they'd fit like a glove to the wearer's face, as not to let in any dust or unwanted wind. The shape of the lenses almost looks tear dropped from the side profile, suggesting very fast movement, almost like the trailing edge of an airplane wing. The lenses also have a swept back look; they are tilted, the down being swept back slightly. This gives the overall shape or stance of the glasses that similar to a bullet or a fast car. The lenses could also slightly resemble a bird with its wings spread out from above. These glasses have a lot of different implications of motion and movement and fit well on the faces of their target audiences, those who move a lot, and those who move fast.

NFrisch - Ex14 - Tone and Color

This is a basic Pro Tools hardware console used for recording music and other audio.

a) How does TONE operate in this example?

Tone variations are used to distinguish the five major panels of this console, the two at far left and right with sliders and other input/output adjustments, the middle two panels where signal routing, cues, and other data input happen, and the panel that runs as a strip along the top that monitors most of the audio coming in and going out. These individual panels are groupings of like-controls. The black (or very dark gray) of the housing or desk of the console contrasts with the lighter gray of these panels, and as a result makes them "pop out" visually. On the far left and right panels, the controls that are used most often (sliders and knobs) are dark in tone to contrast against the gray panels so that they pop out and are easy to see with the slightest of glances. Controls such as buttons and other things that aren't as commonly adjusted as the latter discussed are shown above in white, super-light gray or a chromed-silver finish so that they are easily seen when looked for, but when not needed can also blend in with the tone of the panels.

b) How does TONE interact with another element of visual design?

Tone seems to most directly work in tandem with lines and shapes in this example. The implied lines between the borders of the gray panels and the black housing direct my eyes in a generalized manner at first, then allow me to focus more precisely and with direction. The grouped controls like the knobs and the sliders all have uniform shape, and are separated from the panels by their color (and of course dimension). Their shapes somewhat represent what they do visually as well.

c) How does COLOR operate in this example?

Color is essential to using this piece of equipment. The level meters along the upper panel are made up of LED arrays and tell the user how loud a signal is. Out of a vertical line of LEDs per channel, perhaps 12 will be green (meaning that everything is fine), 6 will be amber (meaning that the signal's volume is near the upper end of the limit), and 2 will be red (meaning that the volume is at the limit before it will distort.) There is also a single red LED above each pair of these green/amber/red meters that turns on when a signal has become too loud and has distorted or "clipped." This is also a button that can be pushed to reset the clipping notification after other adjustments have been made. Other indicator lights across the console use similarly colored light to communicate various things. The keyboard shown is a special design made by Avid that should be used specifically with the Pro Tools software. Different sections of the keyboard correspond to different functions in the program, and each have a designated color so that they are easily identifiable.

d) How does COLOR interact with another element of visual design?

Color seems to be directly operating in conjunction with scale in this example. The LED lights are the primary source of color in this equipment, and they are also very small. This seems logical to me, since having worked with such equipment in a professional setting I know that often in studio control rooms the ambient lights are dimmed to enhance the mood and atmosphere. If colored readouts were too big, they'd be distracting and would feel out of place.

NFrisch - EX12 - Basic Elements: Color

This hanging light piece looks like two series of fluorescent or LED lights of different colors with canvas draped down both sides. The canvas gives a pleasant effect of smoothing out the colors emitted by each light and dispersing them much more than would be without it there. Since color can only exist with directional light, whether reflected or generated, it isn’t visible in plain, empty air, thus ways to disperse light across a surface improve its ability to be seen. The order of the colors in this piece are also interesting in their effect, having mostly warmer ones on the left and cooler ones on the right. However, whether or not deliberately created, the order of light colors directly follows the order in which they naturally occur in the color spectrum, starting with red, then amber/ yellow, green, blue, purple/UV (I’m not sure if the last color the designer used is a purple light or a black light.

NFrisch - EX12 - Basic Elements: Shape

This hanging light fixture is all about creating unusual and organic shapes through the curves of a single, long sheet of some kind of material. If for instance, the material used is sheet metal, it could be considered a kind of folding for structure. Starting with a single piece of sheet metal it was loosely folded back and forth to create an almost random-looking squiggle of an expression. Based on what Dondis says about shapes, if a circle represents enclosure and a triangle represents stress or tension, this piece as a whole could be holding stress inside – it’s almost like an abstract exclamation point with lights inside. Along the sides where each curve rests are the lights inside the “enclosure” created by a semi-circle. The lines connecting these (from the side) create rough triangles as the material weaves back and forth. I like how the designer used the essence of these two basic shapes to their advantage, and turned this piece into a display of light shapes, rather than just a way to dump light into a space.

NFrisch - EX12 - Basic Elements: Line

This picture of lights on a wall shows the visual power of the lines created by the design. Instead of the lighting fixture being designed with an interesting shape, the entire expression is communicated through the shapes created by the sequences of lines of light projecting out from each of the housings. Furthering this is the notion that each ray of light seen here is also made up of many lines radiating from one point, creating the visual appearance of a starburst. Similarly, if one were to view the patterns created by the light as a 3D representation, they might be able to see an array of wireframe cubes or a crystal lattice from the interior. Although lines are really one-dimensional things, having only a length but no width, these “lines” can be viewed as such in spite of their varying widths.

NFrisch - ex10 - Syntactical Guidelines

This image of a chair and its matching table was taken at New York Design Week 2011 - both are made of walnut, vertically laminated. Design aside, I like the composition of this photo; the structure of the way that space is used feels balanced, yet has enough contrast to keep my interest. Although there is no firm "levelness" to the image, nor is there suggestion of a flat horizon, all of the diagonal lines seem to compliment each other to form a suggested horizon. I also like the play between positive & negative demonstrated with the varying intensities of light and color tone. The brightest color here is in the foreground, the white platform on which the two pieces rest. The darkest and more subdued colors are those in the background: the pale green of the floor, the mottled grays of the concrete column, the dull gray of another exhibit behind everything else... However, the most prominent colors are the palette of oranges, browns, pale yellows and rusts that make the wood chair and table pop with such an organic glow. It's these colors, comparatively saturated over all of the others in the frame, along with the dynamic shadows and placement of objects on third lines that make this image enjoyable for me, as well as effective.

This image of two glass lanterns was taken at New York Design Week 2011 - both are similar in design, but slightly different sizes and colors. I wish that I could better see what these lanterns really look like. The primary definition they have over the background and other surroundings is brought by their sharpness and focus compared to the much softer and unfocused background. The object placement is very sloppy here, the pink/purple lantern is okay, but the gray/green one is almost totally hidden by the similar colors behind it, and is its presence weakened by what looks like a haphazardly placed broom stick right at its left edge. The overall light-dark balance is moderate, and the darkest things are the people in the background, whereas the lightest things are the wall behind them and the shining bulb inside the pink lantern. Perhaps if the photographer had used a long exposure to allow moving things in the background to move around a little, the resulting softer backdrop would have allowed the edges of the lanterns to pop out of the mess and truly show their beauty.

NFrisch - Meaning 1.3 Symbolism

Symbolism

'Om' is the Sanskrit symbol for the "universal sound." Since it is pulled directly from a written language that doesn't rely on pictograph-representations, like in Mayan or Egyptian written language, like a system of numbers it requires prior knowledge of its meaning to have any utility to its viewer. Though Sanskrit is an ancient language and not spoken or used often in developed countries, this specific symbol has developed a popular understanding of its superficial meaning. Many people will associate this symbol with those into alternative lifestyles and eastern knowledge. However, those who know its true meaning host a wealth of understanding on levels hardly implied. Comparing this level of visual representation to a more detailed one, it seems that the less explicitly visual information is communicated the more understanding is necessary to bring meaning to light and make sense of what is symbolized. In short, this symbol is essentially meaningless without prior knowledge of the context in which it's used.