ITAP - Three Act Structure & Developing Narrative

the two principles i am about to write about are not conventional principles relating to design but i do believe that you can make links anywhere so i hope to do so in the following post.

1. The Three Act Structure

This is the simple notion that every narrative has a beginning, middle and an end. Another way to put it is that there is always equilibrium, disequilibrium and equilibrium within a story. And finally a more detailed view of this principle shows us that in these 3 acts there are various common occurrences that make up the acts these are; act 1: setup, inciting incident, act 2: rising action, climax, act 3: falling, resolution.

When i try to apply this to photography or graphic design it is difficult to think of how a photograph can have a beginning middle and end, but i do think that a photograph tells a story. partly i think that a photograph can be any one of the three acts, and i think it is then up to the photographer make sure the photograph is an accurate depiction of the particular act in the story.

In this photo for example (the first image i came across on the website, ffffound.com) we see a girl looking out onto a boat dock, maybe a quayside and she had her arms folded. she is out of focus and her face is turned away. i can instantly think of a few different stories to go with the image, perhaps it is the start of a new day and she is looking out onto what her world beholds, this could easily be act one. equally it could be mid afternoon judging by the blue sky with some fairly established clouds forms floating, she could have returned home from a traumatic incident, she has her face turned away from us, maybe we are a character and she is deliberately looking away from us, she could be contemplating jumping from the window to escape the pain of life, everything is up in the air and nothing is certain for her, this is could well be act 2 with disequilibrium. or finally she could have just finished a task, a quest, she may have returned home and she is looking out on what she has not seen in a long time, normal life, her normal view. this could be act 3, resolution.

1. Developing Narrative

in all stories there are certain characters that fit into this principle, Kelvin talked about how there is always a protagonist and an antagonist. In simple story telling there is a ‘goody’ and a ‘baddy’, a hero and a villain. In the early western films there was always a hero cowboy who wore a white hat and then a villain in a black hat.

This was a very simple way of depicting the characters. nowadays you can have a hero in dark clothes and the opposite. this makes the naravtive more complex and interesting.

for example here the villain wears light clothing, and the hero is a ‘devil’ character so this adds to the narrative, and shows how narratives have developed since the early days of traditional story telling. 

ITAP ~ Legibility and Visual Hierarchy

In this past lecture in our Integrated Theory and Practice series we were given a talk about Visual Vocabulary. As always there were 5 key principles, the two of which I will be speaking about are: Legibility and Visual Hierarchy.

 ~ Legibility

In these three examples  i am unsure as to whether they display good legibility or not. If you were to simply look at these images on the internet, then i do not think they are easily read. the text is smaal, and in somewhat a seemingly un structured format (image three). But as you can see these are images of publications that were created for print production, which changed everything. When you have something in your hand you can bring it closer to be able to read it better but that is not the point is it. If something is deigned so that you need to bring to book/page closer then is is poorly designed in my opinion, but even still i think having these publications physically in your hand makes a difference. Depending on the size of the publication i think these are legible despite first impressions. If these were to be any smaller than an approximate A4 size then i think you would have trouble reading them. So to conclude my small study on legibility; 

The context of the image (web/print/screen) is important in analysing weather something is legible.

It is important to know the parameters in which the boundaries for legibility are set (size of publication/type of paper it's printed on/finish of the paper [gloss/matte]).

Here are some examples of good legibility:

- ~ -

 ~ Visual Hierarchy

These three examples show how in visual communication and design there is always a visual hierarchy. The Geography text book has a bold title located at the top of the page (but i don't think the location is the most important factor) and it stands out on the page. Your eye is drawn there first and you read the title and are immediately informed as to what the book is about. In the image of the watch, the aperture on the camera, controlling the depth of field, brings our attention to the watch itself, not the text on the page that it's on or the page behind but the watch. You look at the watch face first then your eye may wonder around looking at it's setting and perhaps the buckle which is out of focus. This is a technique that would be great for advertising, if this was an advert for a watch then you would be looking exactly at what the designer wants you to look at.

For example;

You can see how the focus of this image is vital in the understanding of the advert. when the watch is blurred you can't help but assume the watch is not the most important thing in the image, you look at the bits of the image that are sharp. In the 1st image where the watch is sharp it makes for a pretty good advert for IWC swiss watches.

ITAP - Research and Inspiration

In this weeks ITAP lecture I learnt about Research, Practice, Visual Vocabulary, Inspiration and Audience. The 2 of these ‘principles’ I am choosing to talk about are Research and Inspiration.

Primary and Secondary Research, Visual Research, Collecting and analyzing information, research is made up of different ways of gathering information. It can range from a very formal method of collating data by use of questionnaires, surveys, recording data patterns, but it also can be done visually, this is what is more important to me as a visual communicator. Visual research ranges from, sketching, photographing, videoing, collecting images anything that helps you get towards your destination, by that I mean things that help you, inspire you, give you knowledge of the subject field you are researching. As mentioned there is primary and secondary research, primary being research that you have collected yourself, sketches, your own photographs or videos, even questionnaires. Things like other peoples videos, photo’s, images, data that has already been collected, that is secondary research. Both are relevant but you cannot go one one or the other. For example I may want to research people in Birmginham, so I decide to sit for a day and sketch the people, but I may only see fat old people all day. This is not a fair representation of people in birmingham so I need to look at other peoples studies of people in Birmingham to get a fair and true representation of  the people here. These things all help you progress forward in your work, they provide you with a head full of knowledge regarding your chosen field of interest which prepares you to engage fully with the project you’re working on in a more dynamic and fresh way. Linked closely with research, you could almost call part of what I would consider looking for inspiration, Secondary Research. Frank Gehry once said, “You can look anywhere and find inspiration.” (Frank Gehry) And I agree I can look at an illustration and be inspired to draw. I can also see something in nature and be inspired to draw. I hear a song and be inspired to make a video to go along with it. In our lecture we were told, that inspiration is based on research, observation and recording and experimentation. I fully agree with this statement, as i have said, i think inspiration and research are very closely linked! So as i go on to research i hope to be inspired and as i am inspired i hope to be thrust into more research.

stop motion tests

this is the first stop motion test i did, using photoshop and after effects.

this was created using my iphone and a tonne of clicks with capture roughly 2/3 photo's per second on my journey home from uni one day.

Doing these tests is really helping me learn more about the art of animation/stop motion and also inspiring new ideas for our own work.

ITAP Lecture 3

In this ITAP lecture blog post I have written generally about the over arching principle of originality as I found it to restrictive to pin point 2 principles.

I find it extremely interesting to think that there is nothing in art that hasn’t already been done before. It actually quite hard to come to terms with, the fact that I will never create anything that has never been done before. I am however not quite sure about the truth of that statement, I do not think that there is nothing in the entirety of my and/or others creative mind that has never been done/drawn/designed/painted/photographed before. I think there is definitely clear and extensive evidence to show that in art themes, ideas and concepts have been recreated over and over but I would like to suggest that there is still a wealth of originality within the creative minds of today. 

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

C. S. Lewis (Source http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/originality.html#Fs1VsjLq2YwrJzsh.99)

Here I think C.S. Lewis is saying that originality is achievable, if you simply care not about originality. You need to forget about being original to cultivate originality. there are plenty of quotes to of people with the opposite opinion, but I think how can you ever think that in this world of advancing technology and progression. Maybe their answers to the questions, ‘What does original mean?’, ‘What does new mean?’ are different to mine. I would argue that even in a blatant copy/remake of a piece of art, there is originality. Even in the act of copying you can come up with something the is incredibly better than the original. You see this in music and in art very often, and that is why i think that originality is something that can be achieved and is not lost.

ITAP Lecture 2

The two principles I have chosen to write about are Principle 4 & Principle 5, Developing Ideational Fluency & Managing a Creative Environment.

Developing Ideational Fluency
So I don't think I've ever started a project without a mind map or 'brain storm', writing down words in a crazy mess that spring to mind when a certain topic or theme is given. I'm not entirely convinced that this is the best way to generate ideas, for a something that is visual, why write a tonne of words down on a page? I have found more recently that sketches and drawings is a much easier way to get my creative side flowing. Here is an example of what I'm talking about...

          

So you can clearly see here the progression of ideas. however i would like to say that i think this particular project was very narrow minded. I didn't generate enough ideas and ended up with something that was basically a development of my first idea. Having said that I still think there is good fluency between the ideas I had. In the field of idea generation i think it is important for visual communicators to maintain a high level of diversity and freedom in their thinking. The quality of little thumbnail sketches is something that has held me back in the past and I've discounted many thoughts or ideas just because they look terrible on the page. Even I think that they look terrible in my imagination and i don't trust that i will be able to draw or get the idea out 'well enough' but in this lecture we were taught that ideational fluency refers to quantity not quality. As children through school we are taught the opposite, 'quality not quantity' but we need to reverse this mindset to free our minds into thinking outside the box and creating a healthy number of ideas.

Managing a Creative Environment

I was very inspired after out lecture, this out of all the Principles made me prick up my ears the most! I decided that day to go to B&Q and buy some blackboard paint and paint a large section of my wall in my bedroom, right next to my desk and this is the result.

I understand the importance of a creative workspace and how it really does motivate you to be creative all the time! Since doing this i have written a song, drawn all sorts of drawings on the black board and generally had more of a drive for creativity.

I agree with David Hockney when he said, "People have asked me, 'Isn't it boring in Bridlington, a little isolated seaside town?' And I say, 'Not for us. We all think it's very exciting, because it is in my studio and it is in my house.' (David Hockney)". You can have a completely boring, uninspiring and dull hometown, yet still have a vibrant exciting and inspiring workspace that allows you to remain in a creative flow.

I think both of these principles are linked, an inspirational creative workspace is vital for developing and maintaining a healthy and fluent stream of ideas.