Design Principles

14.04.2020 / Ending date
Mohamed Hammam Chebel (0342483) /B'des Creative media (hons)
Design principals
Taylor's university lakeside campus

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Lecture 5 
SYMBOL, IMAGERY AND TYPOGRAPHY
A symbol is on object or a shape that is used to represent  something. Symbols were used by ancient people like Egyptians for example they used hieroglyphics symbols to tell their stories and document their history. There are three types of symbols, abstract, arbitrary and pictorial.
Imagery is an important element in each design or artwork, it is crucial using the right images when designing.
Typography is based on typing, in design it's arranging a text in a way that has a meaning or deliver a message or express something. Typography adds balance in an artwork.
  
week 5 
Exercise 5
1.Design an arbitrary symbol and write a 20 to 50 word rationale for your final design. You can use any medium of your choice.
2.create a design that has a combination of imagery and typography. You can use any medium of your choice. If you are using photographs, they must be of your own.
In this exercise we have to come out with a design of an arbitrary symbol which represents a meaning and to write an explanation about it.
Also we have to do a work using an image combined with typography.

REFERENCE 

After reading the lecture slides, I started exploring on pintrest so I can come up with new ideas.

Fig 5.1
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/6e/6b/4a/6e6b4ad85604bd3e04a168a0ffd8b57e.jpg

Fig 5.2

ATTEMPTS

Fig 5.3

by Aghiles benhaddad

Iphone 8

22.09.2019
 Filfila Skikda Algeria 

Fig 5.4

I wrote a word in arabic which means I miss something, after that I put it in a picture I took a long time ago of a road near  my house.

Fig 5.5
combining my calligraphy with the photo using photoshop that was my first attempt 

Fig 5.6

This is my name wrote by me using marker

Fig 5.7

just an attempt for feedback purposes, typography + picture.

Fig 5.8

In this attempt I drew simple symbols and tried to make it look like hieroglyphics by arranging them in frames.

Fig 5.9 

I wrote a part of a poem which means " a person always misses his first house "

I used two different calligraphy styles

Fig 5.10
I moved my calligraphy to Photoshop traced it and masked it to combine it with the photograph. 

Fig 5.11 Final 

picture by Aghiles Benhaddad 

shot on Iphone 8

22.09.2019

Filfila Skikda Algeria

Calligraphy and editing by me

This photograph was token near my house, I wanted to express home sickness by doing this work. I miss home is the theme of this image, the poem used in this picture means that each one of us always missed his first and original home.

poem was written by Abu Tammam which is a well known Arab poet. 

Fig 5.12

I wanted to come with a design of an arbitrary symbol that represents fighting or stopping the spread of COVID_19.

I started to do sketches in order to come with an idea, I drew some symbols about hygiene and safety, washing hands and staying home.

finally I chose the symbol below which is a virus barred in a sign.

my goal behind this design is to help each other to stop the spread of the virus by obeying the rules and practicing social distancing.  

Fig 5.13
Final arbitrary symbol 

Feedback 

design an arbitrary symbol that has a meaning.
use more calligraphy in the combination exercise.
add sources and link for your references on blog.

Exercise 5: The final design for arbitrary symbol is partially accurate as the diagonal bar and circle is arbitrary, but not the Covid-19 virus as it represents the actual virus (abstract symbol). The image chosen is suitable to the meaning behind the Arabic calligraphy. The effects evokes a "missing home" feeling.

Use of Media: Relevant to the exercises and better finishing than previous 2 exercises.

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Lecture 4 
Week 4 Harmony and unity

 Harmony is combining elements that share a common trait. Unity happens when these elements are composed in a balanced way and give a sense of oneness. Those two principles work together.
In this lecture we learned about harmony in design and the various ways that we can achieve it in an artwork.

Fig 4.1 Harmony and unity 

Week 4 

Exercises 

HARMONY AND UNITY 

 In this task we are asked to do an artwork or a design and try to achieve harmony and unity. The lecturer has explained these two principles clearly and provided examples so we can use them as reference.

 After reviewing the online lecture, I did some research on Behance to find inspiration and possibilities of how my work will be.

 Since I like converse shoes I looked into an artist's work which contains photographs of converse shoes shot in a pleasing way.

REFERENCE

FIG 4.2 converse ref

SKETCHES 
 After I was done with surfing and exploring, I started sketching my idea on Photoshop, which is basically drawing a bunch of shoes in a scattered way and give them nice colors.

Fig 4.3 converse sketch 1

This is my first attempt for feedback purposes 

Fig 4.4 

Fig 4.5

Fig 4.6

Fig 4.7

Fig 4.8

In this artwork I wanted to express unity and harmony at the same time, as you can see unity is achieved because I used one shoe and duplicated it several times in different positions and gave it different vibrant colors. 

For harmony, I put the shoes in a scattered manner freed them from any framing or a specific pattern. That was my way of expressing harmony.

The lecturer allowed us to do one artwork which represents the two principles.

   

Feedback 
Exercise 4: The grouping of the shoes comes across as one object, thus reflecting unity. Harmony exercise is missing. The lack of description makes me not understand your work fully.
Quality of pictures: Good.

Descriptions/Reflection: There is more description to the design process and your thoughts - but only for Exercise 5. There is no explanation about the final outcomes and the design processes for Exercises 3 and 4...

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Lecture 3

Week 3 Repetition, movement, hierarchy and alignment.

  Repetition creates an active pattern in a design. it increases  visual excitement.
Movement can be seen in design by using lines shapes, forms, and curves. those components will lead the observer eye towards desired points, and make the design alive and energized.
Week 3  
 Exercises 

MOVEMENT 
REFERENCES

  I did some research about movement in  design and found a lot of ads and posters using that principle, it makes a still image look like it's moving, so it's pleasant to see. here are some of my inspirations for the movement exercise.
 

Fig 3.1 Movement 

Fig 3.2 Movement 

  

SKETCHES

  After that I started doing some rough sketches on the subject I chose for this exercise which is a hummingbird. I studied the movement of this bird and focused on its wings because it's the 
only moving part while it is hovering.

 Fig 3.3 Humming bird

 Finally I decides to go with this minimal and clean design of the humming bird, as you can see I kept on his wings and overall body but skipped the tail because it's not serving the goal behind that design (sketch number 3).

REPETITION
REFERENCES

 While exploring this principle online, I noticed that a lot of design works using repetition are usually patterns of different objects, I love patterns because they are satisfying to look at.
                                                              

  Fig 3.4 Repetition

SKETCHES
  
  As you can see used a bird too in this exercise, the idea is to align all the birds perfectly inside a box shape to create a pattern, The distance between the objects should be perfectly measured so the pattern won't be distracting.

Fig 3.5 Birds pattern

FINAL

     

Fig 3.6 Humming bird AI 

This image represents movement, I drew a design of a humming bird, I focused on the movement of the wings by drawing the wing in multiple positions, giving it different color tones so it looks like it's moving 

     Fig 3.7 Flying birds

this work represents repetition, after the tutorial session my lecturer suggested this layout so I worked with her advice. I drew one bird in several angles and positions to express repetition, you can see movement in this image too, yet it isn't what I wanted to represent.

Feedback 


Exercise 3: Figure 3.5 was shown during tutorial as a sketch. How come it is the same image used as final outcome? There are 2 designs for movement (Figure 3.6 and Figure 3.7). Which one is the final design?
Quality of pictures: Good.

Descriptions/Reflection: There is more description to the design process and your thoughts - but only for Exercise 5. There is no explanation about the final outcomes and the design processes for Exercises 3 and 4...

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lecture 2 Emphasis and balance, the golden ratio.

Week 2 
  
  Emphasis in design make one object dominate on other objects and make the observer focus on a specific part of the artwork, we can create emphasis using color, shapes, value etc ..
  Balance is the distribution of visual weight in an artwork.it can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Week 2 
Exercises 

EMPHASIS, BALANCE.
REFERENCE

 After reviewing the streamed lecture, I went and did research about emphasis and balance to see more visual examples on how these two principles are used in artworks. the overall idea of emphasis is to make one element stands out comparing to the other elements in a design work by selecting a different vibrant color or putting it in a unique position. 
balance is achieved by applying symmetry, distributing design elements equally on the surface. its pretty basic, yet crucial in any artwork. 

Fig 2.1

  

Fig 2.2

                              

SKETCHES

Emphasis 
  I was inspired by some works online, this artist used bugs in his work. So, I drew six ants and a lady... in the middle to emphasize it and make it different and pop out. 

Fig 2.3

                                                               

Fig 2.4

Balance 
  I like tattoos and how symmetrical they are. i find it really pleasing looking at tattoos especially ornaments. I did a sketch about it and tried to make it as symmetrical as possible, I drew it by hand so it's not perfect.

                                Fig


FEEDBACK 


Exercise 2: There is no exploration for emphasis and balance. For emphasis, although the ladybird stands out from the 6 ants, it doesn't visually stand out. You could've explored with size, color, positioning, etc. Again, the key word is EXPLORE. As for balance, that only featured piece has potential to be better. It is a beautiful design and there's much you can play around with in terms of balance.
Use of Media: Relevant to the exercises and quite neat finishing.
Quality of pictures: Good but again, there are little pictures shown. I do not see your design process in the blog. Please add that in for future exercises.
Descriptions/Reflection: There is very minimal description of your own about the exercises and the final outcomes. Your work should not be left hanging without any information as to what it is, why you designed it that way, etc.

Overall blog: For each week's topic, you should have a summary of that week's principles and include some visual examples related to the topic so that your blog is more complete. Do more exploration for future exercises.

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Exercise 1

this week we have to accomplish two exercises, one about contrast the second about Gestalt theory, using black and white paper and glue. Since I don't have these materials I used Adobe Illustrator instead after making a pencil sketch on paper.

Contrast

 I was feeling homesick, so I came up with this Idea, it represents "Home".

Fig.1.1

Africa sketchI made a simple sketch of a map, on paper 

Fig1.2

Africa, black and white 

That's my final work for contrast, I used adobe illustrator.

Gestalt

As an outdoor lover  and a dog owner  I wanted to represent both in one single sketch, trying to use the Gestalt theory.
 As you can see in the image below, I drew my dog and drew pine trees and mountains inside of it.

Fig1.3 Outdoors pencil

 Then I opened illustrator and drew it using pen tool, It took me a lot of time to finish it, but it was fun after all.
   I colored the dog in black and kept the trees and mountains in white color. I hope I used the Gestalt theory In the right way.
  I'm waiting for my lecturer's feedback on this one.

Fig1.4 Outdoors Adobe

Feedback
  The lecturer made a feedback on my first sketch. She advised me to change make a black background to Africa map sketch (Fig.1) and to make it white so contrast can be achieved.
   
Week 1 Exercise 1: There is no exploration for contrast and Gestalt. Although the final outcomes do reflect those two principles, they do not show much design idea from you (especially the map).

Week 6
Lecturer's feedback: Only found for Exercise 5. None for Exercises 3 and 4.

Overall blog: I have noticed that you have added a summary with relevant visuals for each week's lecture topic. please do the necessary to improve on your blog by the time you submit Project 1.

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