DESIGN PRINCIPLES

on

03/04/19 - 03/07/19 (Week 1-Week 15)
Piyaphon Inthavong (0337589)
Design Principles

Project 3: Billboards

June 26th, 2019

 Purpose
Before we get into creating an art/design for billboards, it is important to know its core purpose thoroughly and the reason people used it in the first place.
Here are the selected answers according to the people on the Internet:

The main purpose of billboards is to attract customers and draw their attention to your brand. Placing it on busy streets will guarantee that most people learn about your business by creating a constant exposure which targets a diverse market.
The main motive of using billboards is to create brand awareness.
The purpose of billboards is to create awareness.
The purpose of a billboard it to help advertisers reach customers at the lowest possible investment level.
The purpose of the billboards is of course to make money!

Do you agree with all these? Let’s find out more about it.

My thoughts
Advertisements are everywhere! We live in this age where the money is power and the fact that almost anything we do is for money. That is also the intention of billboards. We fall into this age where happiness is money, maybe not literally, but foods do cost money and that’s for our own survival. It's understandable that people need money to survival, but the industry is overdoing it, and it's mainly due to greediness. Let me ask a question perhaps:

 Is it necessary for all of us to see advertisements every now and then? 

 It's not all about billboards but it's literally everywhere counting from banners, internet, digital advertisements, and majority of all social media platforms. It is shaping our thoughts, let’s give Mc Donald’s for example, everyone is now familiar with Mcdonald’s; That’s where the harm begins. Let’s expand this a little to the topic of obesity, one of the world’s biggest problems among people of all age nowadays, 35% of world's population suffer from such disease. 

 Do you think this is a problem? Not only that it ruins the distinctive aspect of our communities, but also the natural beauty of our countryside. While the industry would like us to think of billboards as innocent harmless signs, their negative effects on our health and safety have been well researched. Those are the impacts billboards have on us, environmentally, mentally and even psychologically.

Final thoughts
We spend quite an amount of time in our cars. According to statistics, each of us on average spends upwards of 20 hours per week traveling, and believe it or not, roughly one-tenth of our lifetime is spent just waiting in queues on the traffic. People see these kinds of advertisements daily, so much that it shapes their thought process, this gets to the point where everything turns into business; That is how it affects and shape the new generations.

 In a perspective, the intentions of billboards can be seen as an indirect brain washing tool, almost like the propaganda effect, it controls the way we think, and its obviously not healthy. Some people have even gone as far as to describe its role as the cause of social anxiety. Coming to a conclusion, billboards are not entirely bad, and I don't mean to eliminate them, but rather to create a positive impact with it and maybe, use them appropriately.
Analysis

A photo taken nearby KL. McDonald expressed their creativity on the place of advertisement. 

 I've chosen to analyse this billboard because it is actually one of the best billboard I've seen around where I live. It is made of simple design principles such as having a clear hierarchy of the ice cream, simple usage of color and contrast; lastly, they're asymmetrically balanced giving off a sense of ease to eyes of the viewers). Not to mention about how brilliant it is for the Twin Towers to be made with ice cream.

Bad examples of billboards


A photo taken nearby Sunway Pryamid.


Billboards are literally almost everywhere. This is a view from a bus, even with the camera zoomed in, people can barely see what's going on with the advertisements, some being blocked by trees, some with tiny texts and pictures. These are the types of billboards that everyone ignores, it is also not doing any good to people in this area.


Window view of my apartment. They're simply unattractive, the layout of the pictures have no rhythm/flow to the eyes, terrible hierarchy and the worse part is having those four giant boards standing next to each other and blocking all the greens. There is too much to criticize about this photo.

Project Progress

The drafting process. These are the outlines of the buildings manually drawn in Adobe Illustrator.

Continued sketches
Adding shades, during this process I turned all the outlines into simple shapes and structure
Patiently drawing more shapes and billboards in; Also slowly coloring in more shades.
Drawing the smaller details using the pen tool
The final structure of the city colored in basic shading and lighting.
After completing the structure of the city, I continued with the smaller details for each of the buildings (again with only simple blocks).
All the figures that was used for the crowd gathered, and modified with the "Image trace" tool.

Applying the rule of third to the composition
Trying out variation of colors
Final outcome, "They're Everywhere." 
The art style is highly inspired by the style of the early 20th-century, called Cubism. It is the use of simple geometric shapes to form complex images.

 Think about it, the industry has replaced almost everything you see with billboards. Huge screens of advertisements from different companies are now everywhere, ranging from large buildings, stores, signs, banners, there is really no escape. The artwork is a true reference from a big city in NY. This represents cities of all highly developed countries and the incoming future for all.

Design Principles
The contrast of colors and repetition of billboards emphasizes the effects they have on all the viewers first, which creates a sense of tension and pressure. The buildings mostly involve alignment, while the perspective of the camera draws viewers’ attention to the center of the image, directing the eye flow across left to right and following the orders of colors on the advertisements. I drew some buildings using the principles of gestalt; It is the building located to the left side of the center.

 Final Message
Not all billboards are bad; Sometimes they may be helpful at some point in our lives. The message is conveyed by the selection of colors. Green implies the positive side of billboards, while the color red does the opposite. Red and green also complement each other in the color wheel, producing a definite hierarchy and contrast to the visual.

Project 2: Sense of place

June 19th, 2019

Project

My initial drafts and ideas.
Why is Starbucks popular? What is it that differentiate them from their competitors? Have anyone ever thought about this before judging them about the coffee quality and their price? Feelings off, I think they did a great job in selling their services and even make people feel like it is part of their daily lives despite their price range. With this in mind, I always remind myself not to be too drawn towards their tangible products and to design something that makes people feel what the Starbucks manager wanted people to feel in the first place.
Starbucks is indeed a very old coffee shop chain. By studying their history and how they began their business, I learned about their main intentions about the thought processes and how Starbucks was designed.
To anyone interested in history like I am: http://retailhoreca.net/starbucks-coffee-history
Photos taken in Starbucks. I notice how the lighting and colors of the photos are consistent throughout different branches, people get familiar with this kind of environment and it is what make them feel like it's Starbucks.

First attempt on the final

Double exposure effect. The main idea behind this is to show the environment of the cafe in Starbucks coffee cup.

There is something about the Starbucks ceiling and lighting that makes it feel original, the minimalist design of color and shapes (the design varies throughout different locations). The lights to me are one of the most important compositions that create familiarity with Starbucks. During this step, I used a few blending modes (hard light, pin light), layer mask, and brush tool.

This photo is taken during the peak of the day where customers rush in to hangout and work.  I applied filters using adjustment layers to add the vintage feel to the background.
The polaroid camera adds a strong vintage feel to the composition, they represent old memories, nostalgia and the good old times. I erased the Starbucks logo to not over emphasize on the branding.
Lastly I blended the edited photos together using several blending options (hard light, vivid light, overlay, pin light). 
Final outcome of project 2
Everything began to make sense after the one experiment I did at the beginning of this project. With the intention to “learn” Starbucks and to reveal the truth of what makes Starbucks such a popular place, I went to three different places of Starbucks and sat there for a few hours. I remained there for at least five hours just observing the place and thinking about the impossible questions everyone is always asking:

 "Why do people like Starbucks? Their coffee is not even that good."

 "I don't understand why people like this place."

 "What is special about Starbucks?"

 Those are the questions that run through my mind, I hear them all the time, and not to mention that I say them all the time. So what is it that drives people crazy about Starbucks? The longer I stayed, the more there is to say about the place and how much psychology there is behind Starbucks.

 I felt very peaceful, just sitting there, there was no disturbance, people were quiet, and I felt as if it was a library (with coffee), a lively one with lovely aroma and peaceful jazz music. Just like another home, everyone is sitting by themselves and minding their own business. The indirect and dramatic lighting was calming, very easing to the eyes; The seatings were also soft and cozy. 

Free wifi, air conditioned room, good service, clean bathroom, nice aroma, free water (if you ask), free coffee refill (membership). Those are the qualities that people look for.

Feedback

"I actually feel like I am in Starbucks just staring at this photo."
"I can already hear some Jazz music from the vibe and the colors."

Some of my respected classmates mentioned how the lighting is on point, and the color scheme playing one of the most important role in this artwork. There was a major improvement of this artwork compared to the first attempt. The first one gave a sense of a “huge and crowded place” it is the opposite of what Starbucks is. The final piece looked comfy, more likely of an environment that people would preferably work in.

Project 1: Self Portrait

June 5th, 2019

Project

Our main aim of the project is to express our self in an A4 size self-portrait artwork in any way possible. I’ve chosen to do photography and surrealism photo manipulation for my self-portrait as it expresses me better in a design world.

The following are the original photos taken for this project (behind the scenes):



The wooden board used during the photo-shoot session.
The final filter chosen for the project. The filter shares a very cinematic vibe, the colors that express nostalgic feelings to such I feel for basketball, the sports I spent time on by far most.
An attempt to remove the inner part of the frame (this process is recorded in Adobe Photoshop).
Placing the images together in one canvas. The figures certainly need to be cropped. There was no need to worry about the shadows of the figures as the photos were well prepared and taken at the same location, angle, and exposure.
The final outcome of this project.

Someday I can become a technical or others a creative person; The picture expresses a little from both sides. Sometimes I have a mysterious personality where I don’t reveal to people as easily. By doing such surrealism artwork where not everything has to make sense, I tried my best to compose elements into this portrait to tell some story about a part of my life.

As a huge basketball fan, I live with it 24/7 (except at sleep). I’m holding a frame that allows you to see through a part of me (the hoop stand) with two figures at the background looking away (towards a new direction).

The artwork is asymmetrically balanced as both horizontal sides looked alike. Hierarchy is the main element of art in this photo since the center figure is the first thing we see as the eyes will move towards the right figure and then to the left because of the difference in scale, size, and distance of the figures (which also show movement and direction for the viewers).

Feedback

The artwork has a nice composition; however; The expression is a little mysterious and the odd shape inside the frame can easily lead to a wrong interpretation of the context.

Lecture 7: Rhythm, Movement, Harmony

May 29th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Rhythm 
Rhythm in art involves in repetition of elements in a pattern to create visual movement.

 4 ways to achieve rhythm:
- Linear elements (identical objects placed together in linear series)
- Alternating elements (two different objects placed in an alternating pattern)
- Gradiation elements (same object placed together in order of different values, such as gradient)
- Repetition elements

 Movement
Movement is commonly known throughout graphic design as flow. They guide the viewer through the piece of one point to another and hence creating the "movement" as an end result.
 
2 types of movement:
- Visual flow (Arrangement of visual elements in a way that suggests the eye where it looks first, where it looks next, where the eye pauses, and how long it stays)
- Directional  (incorporates actual movement, can be used in a form of delusion)

 Harmony
 Harmony creates flow resulting in a satisfaction feeling in an art composition, they can be achieved when the elements of art are formed together in a unified way.
Example 1 -  The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. This popular artwork incorporates lots of movement and rhythm as the illustration clearly suggests the direction of the waves heading towards the mountain; The mind sees the movement automatically when looking at details like the top part of the crest (looking like a claw) falling downwards.
Example 2 - A harmony composition achieved with the usage of the color wheel. It portrays harmony of music instruments in visual art.

Exercise

Figure 7.1. Initial plan for the final outcome. All of boxes were drawn manually with basic shapes and the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. The draft is really helpful when it comes to imaging how the final piece will look like.
Figure 7.2. This is the process where I played around with the text and basic shapes I've drawn earlier. I then apply the paper texture effect to the shapes to give it a realistic look of an old magazine.
Figure 7.3. Further progression on creating the composition of the torn magazine pieces.
Figure 7.4. Original photos of the selected figures in full color (I lost the original version of the woman on the right hand side). The photos were edited on Adobe Photoshop to give them the magazine and vintage look.
Figure 7.5. All assets & progression in one picture
Figure 7.6. The prepared photos and magazine pieces were then laser printed on sand papers (craft papers). The selected type of paper is a real fit for the desired texture and color.
Figure 7.7. Cutout progress
Figure 7.8. Final outcome of Harmony, movement, rhythm artwork

People often think about using actual magazine books or newspaper when it comes to an attractive collage design. However, instead of using others' resources, I made my own this time, this way I can create images and art composition directly the way I want.

 With the power to create anything I want, I began with the drafting phase of the software Adobe Illustrator instead of using pencil and paper because I've already planned a few things in my mind. I then searched for more inspirations from the Internet and that's where the journey of this work begins.

I incorporated a few things I learned from Typography such as using a classic typeface and the positioning of text and images to create "movement" in the design. The overall sepia tone shows harmony while the rhythm is achieved with the repetitive and alternating use of elements. The overall design is read from the center outwards, this is because the figure in the middle draws the most attention with its size, the eye will later move to the woman on the left side (because of the little contrast her face gives), creating movements for the design.

Feedback

The design principles in this work are clear. It is harmonious and the movement is easily recognized.

Lecture 6: Dot, line, scale, size

May 15th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Dot
Dots are the smallest element in art, they can be used to form endless variety of complex shapes, pattern, texture, and any other structure. They can even imply direction and movement.

 Function of dots:
- Space
- Distance
- Overlap
- Size
- Function

Lines
Lines are defined as linear marks extended from dots. Line has no depth, either width, but despite their properties, lines can be used to create depth and width. They're often used to show dimensions, lengths, and directions.

 Types of lines:
- Zigzag lines: are series of diagonal lines joined end to end to show excitement
- Vertical lines: express a state of equilibrium which shows cleanliness and neatness.
- Horizontal lines: represents stability
- Diagonal lines: represents instability
- Curved lines: creates depth

 Lines can serve to: 
- Join
- Link
- Support
- Surround
- Intersect other visual elements
- Describe the edges of and give shape to planes
- Articulate the surfaces of planes
- Outline; A starting place for many drawings or painting
- Lead the viewers eyes through a work of art

Scale
Scale is the size to an object in relation to others objects in design.

 Differences:
- Scale: comparing one object to another
- Proportion: compare the elements within the object

 Functions:
- Scales are used to draw large objects and dimensions.

 Size
 Function:
- Make a particular element stand out
- Hierarchy 
- Focus (commonly used in typography and UI) brings its focus without changing any meaning or context.

 Conclusion
- Dot is the smallest design element, which extends and become a line.
- Scale is the size of an object, relation between the same object with ratio being only the difference.
- Size is the comparison of dimension.
- Scale is a difference size of same object, size is the difference scale of same size. 
Example 1 - Dots
Example 2 - Lines

Exercise

Figure 6.1. The final outcome of dots, lines, scales, size. A semi-realistic portrait.

This is a portrait sketch of my friend, the artwork is done with only a pencil. A realistic drawing was my first idea, although to achieve a level of creativity to some extent, I intentionally showed all the pencil traces and the scribbles to create a little texture and a sketchy feeling (semi-realistic drawing).

Feedback

Classmates mentioned that it looked realistic to an extent, which is what I wanted from the first place.

Lecture 5: Hierarchy, Alignment, Directions & Perspective

May 8th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Hierarchy
Hierarchy is the system where compositions, elements of arts are arranged in an artwork accordingly to their importance. This is often used in UI design in order to create the best and easy understanding layout for users to interact with.

 Factors of hierarchy:
- Size (larger objects are more likely to be seen first)
- Color (brighter, vibrant colors attracts more attention)
- Proximity (refers to closer objects being more focused than objects behind)
- Contrast (objects with stronger contrast in color, values, etc are more focused)
- Repetition
- White space
- Texture (objects with more texture are seen first)
- Alignment (objects/elements placed differently stands out than ones in group)
"If you everything is bold, nothing is bold."  

 Alignment
Alignment is the way visual elements are arranged in an artwork.

Types of alignment:
- Edge alignment
- Center alignment
- Horizontal alignment
- Vertical alignment

"A misaligned object creates a focal point."

Directions
Directions in art refers to how an artwork is directed and how it directs the eye of the viewers to show meaning and emotion of the artworks.

3 common directions:
- Horizontal
- Vertical
- Diagonal

 Perspective
Perspective (latin word for "to see through") is most commonly known to create 3D art in a flat surface (2D). Mathematics are involved in perspective (such as the golden ratio) to create a nicely balanced and even proportions within the artwork composition. Perspective creates the illusion of depth and space, forms and distance to create the realistic looking images.

Types of perspective:
- One-line
- Two-lines
- Three-lines
- Foreshortening

 Depth Cues:
- Relative size
- Color
- Sharpness
- Point of view
- Overlapping objects
- Texture
Example 1 - Hierarchy
Example 2 - Perspective
 

Exercise
Figure 5.1. A photography of D'Latour Condominium building from a low perspective. The photo suggests that people are supposed to look up (not down) in order to see "the big picture" - dreams, goal. The photo was edited with Photoshop to bring about as much details as possible from the lighting.

Feedback

Simple and meets all requirements. The aligned rooms creates interesting attention to the eyes.

Lecture 4: Pattern, Repetition, Texture & Surface

April 24th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Repetition
The arrangement of similar or identical elements of art and objects in a repeated pattern. Repetition is everywhere around us and can be used to form movement within art and design.

 Patterns
Patterns in art are the repeating unit of shape or form, they are made from the repetition of visual elements. 

 3 types of pattern:
- Flow patterns
- Branching patterns
- Spiral patterns

 Texture 
Texture is the tactile quality of the surface of the object in design.

4 types of texture:
- Man-made textures
- Natural textures
- Tactile textures
- Visual textures

 Types of paper surfaces:
- Laid paper
- Wove paper
- Medium paper
- Hot-pressed
- Cold-pressed
Example 1 - Spiral pattern
Example 2 - Mix of the 3 patterns. This technique is commonly found in Mehndi/Henna design as it involves the flow pattern, spiral movement and branching of plant patterns (not to mention that they're a tattoo made with the dye from the henna plant.

Exercise

Figure 4.1. Potato used for creating a stamp.
Figure 4.2. After cutting, the slices were outlined with a marker and followed up by these two chisel knives.
Figure 4.3. The carved potato stamps. The blue snowflake is inked with a blue stamp pad, the tree with a green acrylic paint, while the heart with red poster paint.
Figure 4.4. The final artwork of texture.

Feedback

As everyone walked around the class to see and comments on different artworks, my artwork received many "minimalist, cute, Christmas vibes" and "simple but feels incomplete." I totally agree with all the comments, I know I was being way too basic, the artwork does feel incomplete because of the blank spaces so I decided to fix and add some more stamps to fill in the white spaces.

Lecture 3: Symmetry, Asymmetry & Balance

April 17th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Today we made our group presentation to the class about symmetry, asymmetry, and balance. Everything turned out as planned, we all clearly delivered all our messages regarding the presentation topic; We carried out few quiz activity with Kahoot and brought prices for winners.

 Symmetry
Arrangement of elements divided equally among different sides of an art piece to create equilibrium, they're also known for their "mirrored image."

 Asymmetry
Designs in which two sides of the image aren't identical visually, they may consist of different art elements and value but its composition is equally balanced in visual weight.

 Balance
Balance refers to how the elements of art relate to each other within the composition in terms of their visual weight to create visual equilibrium.

Psychology says humans are Bilateral symmetry, which means humans have a natural desire to seek balance and equilibrium. We feel uneasy when we are exposed to arts that are unbalanced as it appears unstable and creates tension.

The four types of balance: 
- Symmetrical Balance 
- Asymmetrical Balance 
- Radial Balance
- Crystallographic Balance

Group members: Angelina, Daryl, Wen Yi, and myself Joe.
Presentation link for reference: https://prezi.com/view/LCZPLQomdzDf46EePGwY/
Example 1 - Symmetry
Example 2 - Asymmetry
Example 3 - Balance

Exercise

Limited to watercolors only, paint an art for symmetry, asymmetry & balance.
Figure 3.1. Quick sketch of an Aloe Vera plant.
Figure 3.2. Painting progress. I tried painting with variable strokes to create texture, different values and various types of the brown watercolor mixture (to create depth and form for the flowering pot).
Figure 3.3. Tried to use the same technique as used with the pot, things didn't turn out the way I wanted. The little spaces between the leaves creates some difficulties for me.
Figure 3.4. The final outcome of the symmetry artwork.

Feedback

"Great for the first time" is the most common comment among my classmates during the critique session. There are lots to improve on, especially the texture of the top part of the plant. Ms. Sherry suggested me to play around with the watercolor effect, perhaps maximize the use of watercolor itself. She also suggested to not be too harsh on the color. Everyone likes the pot of the plant, and so do I.

Lecture 2: Gestalt

April 10th, 2019

Lecture Notes

Gestalt, a German word originally meaning shape or form, describes how human perceive objects by grouping similar elements, recognizing patterns and simplifying complex images. 5 rules of gestalt principles: Similarity, Proximity, Continuity, Closure and Figure & ground.

 Gestalt can create different images in a single piece of work as the negative space automatically connect objects and tricks our mind to form a new image that's not actually present in the artwork itself.
Example 1 of gestalt.
Example 2 of gestalt.

Exercise

Draw and express gestalt in an A4 paper with only black pen, markers.
Figure 2.1. The revolution of the art piece; Computer graphics are used for drafting purposes only.
Figure 2.2. This piece of gestalt artwork is mainly inspired by the Chinese style art on their animal paintings and zodiac signs (except the crow).

Here are some explanations to the artwork:
The white figure represents either a horse or dragon depending on how you perceive the image because they have similarities when compared in art and paintings. The black obviously represents a crow. In deeper analysis, the horse / dragon is on the ground while the crow is flying in the sky. The white color represents light & purity while the black represents the negatives (doesn't necessarily mean crows are evil).

Feedback

Ms. Sherry likes how I make use of the white space on this art; it helps the eyes to form the right shape and form on the white figure of the artwork, that is the horse. The eyes of both animals also represent the meaning of Yin Yang. "The art is good the way it is" she said.

Lecture 1: Contrast

April 3rd, 2019

Introduction

The class began the very first day with a little Ice Breaker activity, we were given a paper to fill in general information about ourselves and to trade with neighboring seats; We also made a quick sketch of their face. The activity quickly helped us to get to know about each other in a very friendly approach. Ms. Sherry then clarified everybody on the module and the weekly assignments for Design Principles.

Lecture Notes

Our first lecture on "Contrast" was informative yet uncomplicated. Contrast in simplest term is defined as the difference in art elements. Contrast is one of the design principles in art that creates an interesting image by creating the juxtaposition effect to the eyes of the viewers. Proportion, colors, balance, shapes, angles, directions, typeface, emphasis plays important role in contrast.
Example 1 of contrast. The warmth and cool color mixed in one composition creates a strong contrast and attention to the viewers.
Example 2 of contrast. A very strong contrast created by variable of lines to create an optical delusion.

Exercise

Create an artwork featuring contrast with only black and white papers.
Figure 1.1. Cutouts- carving knife was used.
Figure 1.2. Sticking the pieces together
Figure 1.3. The final outcome of contrast artwork.

 The artwork was already in my mind before I even started buying papers, it was simply what I see in my own mind, nothing but blank spaces and a tree. Some crows, birds was added to represent life in a lifeless zone (referring to the dead tree without any leaves).

Feedback

My classmates likes how the artwork is minimal and meaningful. I was advised to be more careful with the blank spaces a little more, the tree could've been a little taller to cover more space and that is to prevent the awkward room on top of the paper.

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