DAI 323 Contrast Blog

Successful Contrast

This screenshot from the video game Alan Wake is an example of successful contrast. In this atmospheric game the contrast between light and dark is heavily emphasized, but there are other forms of contrast in this image that makes it a successful example. It's contrast in depth and scale allows the viewer to see that the forest ranger is further away than the main character, located on the left side. The contrast in shapes shows the differences between people, benches, doorways, railing, and paintings in this image. And the contrast in color identifies the red on the floor and windows as blood leading to the ranger. This image is an example of a game that has been carefully made, with much consideration given to how to approach a suspenseful atmosphere using multiple contrasts, the most important of which is the contrast of light and dark.

This image from the game emphasizes the use of contrast that identifies the enemies from the rest of the surroundings. As the enemies are covered in darkness, their appearance is black and fuzzy, showing both a contrast in tone from the background of the building, and in focus. This image also again shows contrast in depth, with the main character appearing taller than the enemies and building which shows that he is closer to the foreground than everything else.

This screenshot from the television show South Park is an example of bad contrast. While it does succeed in using contrast between depth and scale, such as the size of characters and lockers in the front to those in the background, it fails in its use of contrast of color and tone. The failure of this image is the great difference of design style between the giant bird and the children. The tone of colors in the bird is completely different compared to the rest of the scene. The tone and design style set it apart from the rest of the scene and makes it obvious that it does not belong there. Despite that, this was the point that the creators wanted to make, that this is completely random thing that does not belong here. However, from just this image, to someone who doesn't know the show this seems to just be badly designed, though well drawn.

DAI 323 Week 12 Navigation

http://www.gamedynamo.com/article/showarticle/4326/en/xcom_enemy_unknown_pc_digital_pre-sale_gameplay_walkthrough_video_and_screenshots_unveiled

In the video game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, from Firaxis Games, the user navigates through the 3D space of the game by controlling each member of their squad through the different levels. With this game, I imagine that the navigation problem that had to be overcome was balancing between movement and actions. When the player moves a character they can move within a large area split into two zones, the first zone being where the character can move and still perform an action, and the second zone shows where the character sacrifices their action in order to move a greater distance. This means that unless the two zones are made visually distinct, the player will not know where one zone ends and the other begin. This problem was easily overcome by highlighting the zones that each squad member can move during their turn and shows you the path they will take with a luminous blue line that leads to the highlighted spot that the player wishes to move to. When a character begins their turn the first zone is shown outlines in blue, and beyond the blue zone is the yellow zone. Another problem that the user may encounter while navigating the environment is defensible cover, where the user can move their characters in order to protect them from damage. However, this problem is also easily resolved by the use of a shield symbol which shows which direction they are protected from and how much protection the cover offers. If the shield is blue than they are protected from attacks from the direction behind the shield, but if it is red then that spot is not safe. This allows the user to navigate through the 3D space easily while being aware of their surroundings.

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/05/28

In this comic strip, from the web comic Penny Arcade, the user navigates through the panels by both following the speech bubbles and following the panels. Some big problems for users reading comics are when it is confusing who is saying what, and when the speech bubbles are not presented in the correct order because it would cover important parts of the image. The main reason that this would occur is when the artist either does not keep in mind the space needed for the bubbles or when the artist is unaware of how much text will be present in each panel. In this comic strip, however, the creators solved those problems in a very simple, three part way. First, and foremost, they left enough open space at the top of each panel for multiple speech bubbles so that they did not cover up the characters faces. Second, they connected speech bubbles to limit the number of arrows pointing to the speaker. Third, and most important to the understanding of the dialogue, they made sure to order the speech bubbles in order of when the dialogue is to be read. This means overlapping speech bubble borders and stretching the bubbles’ arrow to ensure that it is clear who the speakers are. This comic assumes that the reader knows to read it from left to right and up to down, and it orders its texts and panels to move in that direction as well.

DAI 323 Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

In this screenshot of game-play from the video game Call of Duty 4, from Infinity Ward and Activision, many depth cues allow the viewer’s mind to know that this image is of a 3-dimmensional space instead of a flat 2-dimmensional picture. The most outright cue is overlap, also referred to as interposition or occlusion, which is when one object blocks a portion of another object from sight, showing that the first object is closer in depth to the viewer than the objects it blocks. This can be seen most prominently in the overlap of the gun over the soldiers, trees, grass, and ground, but it can also be seen in the overlap of the trees and the helicopter and the trees and helicopter with the mountain. The second most prominent cue is relative size: when two objects that the viewer knows are the same size appear as different sizes depending on their depth from each other. An example is when a light post in a picture appears extremely large while another light post appears as a fraction of the size it means that the larger post is closer while the smaller post is further from the viewer. This cue can be seen in the sizes of the soldiers and trees, the closer they are to the viewer the bigger they seem, while the further away they are the smaller they seem. The third most prominent is texture gradient, which is when the viewer can see the fine details of objects that are close in depth, but the further an object is the more obscure the fine details become. This cue can be seen in the grass and tree branches of the screenshot. The clumps of grass that are close to the viewer can be seen as being composed of long blades of grass while the ones further away are clumps of similar, grass-like, colors. The same happens with the tree branches, the needles of the trees can be seen on the closer tree branches, but as they become further from the viewer they turn more into clumps of green with small partings where the sky is visible through and shading that shows the branches are at different depths even when they are so close to each.

DAI 323 Week 11 Tone and Color

http://www.thebitbag.com/2010/03/31/my-first-impressions-of-two-worlds-ii-private-press-meeting-at-pax-east-audio-and-images/

How TONE is operating

The tone in this image adds progressively greater detail in each part, though it is most important in the first two parts. In the first part, the sketch, the tone is used to show the difference between the waistcloth and the creature’s skin, and basic shading to draw out the details of the creature. In the second part of the image, the render, tone adds depth to make the creature appear 3 dimensional. This is accomplished by more complex shading that shows the curves and detail of the form. In the third part, the colored render, the tone of color enhances the depth and lighting in the image, giving it a more life-like physical and visual form.

How TONE is interacting

In the sketch, tone interacts with line to establish the boundary and contours of the subject. Line is also used to provide different tones of shading to show the build of the creature, and the detail on the horns, tail, and face. The lines in the render as less defined than in the sketch, but still serve the purpose of adding realistic shading to the muscles, body, and face. In the complete color render there are no longer any lines, they have been replaced by color and tone to show the contour and the detail of the subject.

How COLOR is operating

Color comes after, and as a result, of tone. Tone itself, in the first two parts of the image, provides color as varying shades of grey. In the colored render, color operates by enhancing the details and lighting that tone provided. The render becomes much more life-like when it is colored, the horns, nails, and waistcloth are set apart from the flesh colored body while the cuts are more obvious, all of which give “character” to the creature.

How COLOR is interacting

Color is interacting with texture throughout the image, but primarily in the colored render. In the sketch, the different shades of grey create enough texture to show which parts are supposed to be scales, which are cloths, and which are bone and flesh. In the uncolored render, texture is further fleshed out, now showing the bumps and curves and bulges of the creature, though some of the texture differences between the cloth and skin are lost. The scales on its arms and tail have also been removed and the horns have been changed so that they appear to have a pattern carved in them. In the colored render is where color and texture interact the most together. Here the final texture is added, the creature is given small grooves in the skin of its chest, legs, and arms; the cuts on its chest and leg are more prominent; even the lines on the knuckles are added. However, all this texture would be lost if it wasn’t for the color in this render: the red that makes its wounds more noticeable and the patterns in the horns easily seen, and the lighting that makes the grooves I the skin stand out.

DAI 323 - Video Game Concept Art

Tone is built upon lines and can communicate depth, light and even mood. It uses lines to create the edges between dark and light areas and is the easiest way to communicate depth and detail in the visual environment. In this concept art for the video game, Transformers 2, we see tone along every line, depicting the detail and depth of the image by the clarity of tone: the closer something is to the foreground, the darker it is as well as the more detailed; while the further something is from the foreground, the lighter and more blurred in tone it is. Another way depth and distance, as well as light, is shown is by the brightness in the background furthest from the given point of view. The light creates shadows and darkened areas that are facing away from it, further adding depth in the tone. The use of tone in this image adds a great amount of detail to the visual and helps not only to better convey the scene that the artist wants to show, but also to bring the it to life.

Lines are built off of dots, and by tracing the lines back the viewer can easily find the vanishing point that the lines originate from. The lines in this concept art from the video game The Bourne Conspiracy, by High Moon Studios, are tight and carefully measured. The detail given to the lines brings the buildings to life. As a notation system, the lines in this image create symbols that the viewer interprets, such as the lines on the ground symbolize the lane divides and cross walks while the lines on the buildings shows the pillars, windows, roofs, arches, and ledges. This environment heavily relies on lines for its form and detail.

Direction is active in this image, another concept art image for the video game The Bourne Conspiracy, because of the lines and movement within the picture. With this image balanced so that the subject is perfectly horizontal, the viewer can tell that the bullet lines and muzzle fire, bullets are moving side to side across the image. The viewer can also tell the direction people are facing by the lines of the image. By the movement of the people being shot, they are either moving backward or falling down. The unbalanced nature of the scaffolding conveys that it is collapsing and the unbalanced candles show that they are falling off of the broken altar. 

DAI 323 Visual Thinking Research

My relative solved this puzzle quickly. She first looked for patterns in the edges and noticed that three of the four images had an inner bar that the fourth one didn’t. Her mental process of solving this used the Pattern Seeking, Matching, and Rotating visual thinking operations described by McKim. 

Her puzzle solving strategy was more subconscious for this puzzle. She said that it was difficult for her to figure out which was the ring of cubes that was different. She began by counting the number of cubes in each ring and when she saw there were 10 in each she said that ring C seemed odd to her, but she couldn’t figure out why, and she decided to choose it as her answer. I believe subconsciously her mind used visual memory to see that ring C’s shape did not match the other options.

I began by looking at the center of each square to see if there were any differences, and then I scanned outer edges of each square. This was when I also saw the same bar in 3 of the 4 images. My process also followed the visual thinking operations of Pattern Seeking, Rotating, and Matching.

With this puzzle, I chose to focus on ring B and compare it to the other three options. I focused on the left side wall of ring B and by mentally rotating it was able to match it to A and D, but not C. According to McKim, I used the visual operations of Finding, Rotating, From Another Viewpoint, and Matching, during this puzzle.

DAI 323 Week 7 Visual Hierarchies

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/dishonored-your-guide-to-navigating-the-mean-streets-of-dunwall/

In this image, from the video game Dishonored, we see the visual hierarchies of color, spatial layout, and shape. As shown in this image color is the primary visual hierarchy designed to set it apart and make it obvious. There are three colors, each used to designate a different type of object. Yellow, the most obvious and eye-catching color attracts the player’s eyes to enemy locations. Blue is used to identify environmental objects such as security systems and watch towers. Green is used to show the location of items such as weapons and food. Shape is also an important factor in this image. Without being told what the colors represent the player can immediately tell by the shape of the objects what is a person, what is an item, and what is an alarm. The items are very small in comparison to everything else, the enemies can be identified by their shape because it is obvious that they have legs, arms, and a head. Finally, spatial layout is important to this image. The use of color to highlight objects and enemies allows the player to judge their location based on spatial depth, in other words the player can tell what is closer to him than other things. 

http://spong.com/article/22642/Batman-Arkham-City-Enhanced-Detective-Mode-Detailed

In the video game Batman: Arkham City two of the four primary visual hierachies – color and motion – are used to attract the player’s attention. In the game when the player activates “Detective Vision”, as seen in the above image, the color hierarchy becomes the focus as different things are categorized by different color. Enemies with ballistic weapons are orange while other enemies are blue, and melee weapons are yellow. While the color hierarchy does become the focus when in this mode, it still supplements the visual attraction of movement. The color makes the movement of enemies more obvious and eye catching, enabling the player to easily track the movement of their opponents in the middle of a large fight as well as diverting focus to the nearest enemies that move towards them to attack. Even when a player’s attention is driven to the orange enemies by color, immediately when another enemy approaches the movement draws the players’ attention. 

DAI 323 Week 6 Top-Down Visual Processing

This image, a screen shot of gameplay from the new video game Dishonored by Bethesda and Arkane Studios, is an example of Top-Down visual processing in my intended area of study: 3D animation and design. In this image the player is using an ability that allows them to not only view enemies through the walls, in order to give them their positions, but also allows the player to see where the enemies are looking. By both using this ability and learning how the enemies react to sounds, the player gains enough information to plan how they will either move without being seen, or take down their opponents.  This image depicts Top-Down processing because being able to visually see all this information causes the player’s eye movement to become goal directed, “Where do the enemies walk, where do they stop, what environmental objects can I use to hide or distract?”, these thoughts constantly go through the player’s mind as they move through the game, and this results in the eyes focusing on their goal and key locations, where they can go and where they shouldn't, creating a mental path in the player’s mind as well as a visual path that they follow that is constantly changing based on the behavior of the enemy, which supports the new model of visual processing: Active Vision.

DAI 323 Week 5

This poster for the movie Edward Scissorhands succeeds in leveling and sharpening. Immediately upon looking at the poster the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the face on the far right side, showing a large degree of sharpening. This clearly shows that the focus of the poster is the face and creates a sense of imbalance and stress in the image, drawing the viewer's attention, which is the goal of any movie poster: To capture the attention of people.

For me this movie poster, for the film I Am Number Four, is a clear example of an image that fails in leveling and sharpening. While the text and the face behind it are both attention grabbing and leveled, that is also what causes it to fail. The viewer is subconsciously unsure of where to look, either the words or the face, there is no clear focus in the poster and that makes it difficult to give it attention and makes it more likely to be glanced at and forgotten. The only attention grabbing part of the image is the orange color, but that does not hold the viewer's attention.

DAI 323 Blog, Visual Language Syntax

1) 

2)
This black and white image shows a man in a camouflage shirt resting with his arms and head against the Vietnam Veterans wall with the American flag blowing in the wind and a crowd of people reflected in the wall.

3) 

Dramatic

Sadness

Respect

Regret

4)

American Flag = Nation, what the soldiers represented and died for

Camouflage shirt = Uniform of the military

Wall of names = The soldiers that gave their lives and futures for their country.  

5)

The compositional structure of the image contributes to the feelings and responses, the man mourning against the wall and the columns of names shows the sadness of the image and of all the soldiers who died. The reflection of the American flag in the wall adds the sense of respect for the people who died, that they believed in their country so much and were so dedicated that they died fighting for their country’s beliefs. The flag also adds in the sense of regret for the loss of life, while the black and white filter of the image increases the dramatic sense of it.

Blog Exercise - Meaning 2

DAI 323 Visual Design Literacy
Blog Exercise - Meaning 2:  Interactions Between the 3 Levels of Meaning

Representational: 

-It’s the physical representation of a light bulb.

-It illuminates the area around it for the user

-This is the representational level where the abstract and symbol typically derive from.

Abstract: 

-It’s the form and shape of the object.

-A light bulb can come in various shapes and sizes and colors, allowing it to be pleasing to look at or create an emotional feel for the area.

-This is the abstract level, typically made by distilling the representational level and leads to the symbolic level.

Symbolic: 

-It’s a man made symbol that has been given meaning other than its actual function.

-It conveys the message of an idea to the viewer.

-This symbol is the result of a representational image distilled to the abstraction which led to this.

DAI 323 Meaning 1 - Blog Exercise

DAI 323 Visual Design Literacy
Blog Exercise
MEANING 1 - Blog Exercise

This image is representational because of its amount of detail, and it’s that level of detail that allows viewers to know what it is without question. Even if you have never seen this particular type before you know what it is immediately, it could be blue or purple or polka dotted but the viewer still knows what it is. You know that this is an image of a pine tree for any number of reasons: you live in an area with pine trees, you use them at Christmas time, you’ve seen them in movies, you learnt about it in school, etc. And even if you don’t know that it’s specifically a pine tree, you still know that it’s a tree, and you most likely relate it to a Christmas tree. The viewer is able to do all this from the shape of the tree, the detail of the branches and needles, and the height of it. All those details come together in our brain and cause it to tell us “this is a Pine tree”.

This is an example of abstraction because it takes the original objects of the image, 4 different smart phones, and distills them into their most basic shape and color. This communicates to the viewer the basic shape and form of smart phones now. If this was done five years ago the phones would vary more than now, with flip phones and slide phones and blackberries instead of the modern sleek rectangle shapes most phones have adopted. However, because they are abstracted they may not even be phones, they can be anything with a similar basic shape. Because of the lack of detail and representation, this image has become more general and encompassing. Between the two branches abstraction can take this can go towards abstraction towards symbolism with one or two simple detail additions, to give a message of the lack of differences between different phones. 

This image is symbolic because it is something man has created and fixed a meaning to. Nearly anyone recognizes it immediately and knows what it means and what it does, as it appears on many electronic devices that we use in our every day life as a symbol to turn the device on. As Dondis 4 mentions, this image can be easily recognized and reproduced because of it’s simple and lacks any sort of detail which gives credence to it being a symbol because, as Dondis says, a symbol cannot have a lot of detail. Dondis goes on to mention that the more abstract a symbol the more education is required to understand its meaning, but this is a symbol that requires very little to no education. We push it and the device turns on, we push it again and it turns off, we learn that this icon designates the power button. This meaning is universal, always meaning the same thing no matter where it is.