Design Principles - Final Project: Visual Analysis

1/11/2022 - 29/11/2022 / Week 10 - Week 14

Hayato Saito / 0350466

Design Principles / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

Final Project: Visual Analysis

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LECTURES

Phase 1: Observation
- Identifying visual elements of a design and describing them in your own words. (Do not read beforehand about the design at all)
- Looking, thinking, and finding good language to communicate what you notice.


Phase 2: Analysis
- Think about your observations and make statements about the work based on the evidence of your observations.
- How the specific visual elements combine together to create a whole, and what effect that whole has on the viewer.
- How your eye is led through the work and why?


Phase 3: Interpretation
- Observations, descriptions, and analyses of the work are fused with facts about the design work (and in some cases the designer) and historical context that you find in trustworthy published sources.
- What is the meaning of the design? What was the purpose for it to be created?

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INSTRUCTION

1. Visual Analysis
- Select a design of your choice (poster/billboard/illustration/etc).
- Conduct a visual analysis of the design in about 500 words.

2. Design
- Produce a work of design, in A4 or in A3 size, inspired/influenced by the design you have analysed, or as a reaction to it.
- Write a 150-200 word rationale for your design.

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1. Visual Analysis

Fig.1.1 artwork by Brian Stauffer. I couldn't find the title 

I chose this artwork because this artwork caught my eye due to the simplicity of the composition but it doesn't look boring. I thought it is easy to analyze it because it doesn't have lots of elements but it has a strong meaning in it.

Phase 1: Observation

The primary colors are mainly light blue which is in the background and different kinds of brown. We can see there are 8 people on the bottom and a man in the middle. the people are carrying a chair in which the man is sitting. The man is holding the earth with his left hand.

Phase 2: Analysis

This artwork has a strong contrast between light blue in the background and the man sitting in a chair because blue is a light color and the chair and the man are colored with darker colors. That also creates a good emphasis on the man. Where the man is placed which is in the middle is also the reason why it has the emphasis.

Phase 3: Interpretation

This artwork clearly is displaying the inequality in this world. How this artist painted the men on the bottom is rough and not clean while how the artist painted the man in the middle is so clean and so neat. That describe the inequality of their life. The colors that are used for the men on the bottom are also reminds us of dirt or sweat. The clothes that they are wearing also shows the inequality which are dirty t-shirt and pants for men on the bottom, clean black suits for the man in the middle. And the man in the middle holding the earth means the person like him who doesn't do almost anything control the world.

2. Visual Reference

Fig.2.1 https://pin.it/1ETOh7Y

Fig.2.2 https://pin.it/3t5GmCA

Fig.2.3 https://pin.it/1c6foeQ

3. Sketches

I decided to create artwork about income and economic inequality.

Fig.3.1 Sketch 1

In this design, I wanted to create a contrast between a wealthy person and a poor person and show the inequality by making the guy on the left stand on the piled money and making him wear good clothes while the guy on the right doesn't have anything but the ragged clothes. 

Fig.3.2 Sketch 2

In this design, I wanted to create a contrast between a wealthy person and a poor person and show the inequality by making the guy on the left be able to go to the other land on the top where people can live in so much better conditions from the land on the left bottom by using the money bridge while the guy on the right is not able to go to the place where the wealthy people live in because he doesn't have enough money.

Fig.3.3 Sketch 3

In this design, I wanted to create contrast and show the inequality by making the guy with the black suit be able to go to the higher land where rich and wealthy people live by using piled money while the guy on the bottom is not able to go to the place where rich and wealthy people live in because he doesn't have enough money so he can't reach there.

4. Process and Design Exploration

Fig.4.1 rough sketch

Fig.4.2 Outlines 

Fig.4.3 First outcome for the final design

This is the first outcome of the final design, Since I was told that I should use collage skills for the buildings so I tried to use images and artwork but It was hard to find pictures that fit the angles of my design. So I only could find pictures of the buildings of the rich and wealthy places. And I got feedback from Ms. Jinchi that I should reduce the vividness of the buildings on the top and I should put some symbols on the money to make it easy for viewers to understand it's money and also I should use deeper green color for the money, and I should draw a few more people in the poor place.

Fig.4.4 The image for collage 

https://pin.it/5Zquw4T

This is the image that I used to do collage.

Fig.4.4 Final outcome 

I made changes based on the feedback I got.

5. Final Outcome

Fig.5.1 Final outcome

This design shows income inequality. I created a contrast between the poor and the wealthy. I created the contrast by using different clothing, types of buildings, and colors for the poor and the wealthy. The money piled up allows the man in the suit to go to wealthy places while the poor people down below can only live in poverty because they have no money. This describes income and economic inequality very well. The difference in body size between the wealthy and the poor represents the difference in their social power. The difference in the vividness of the buildings represents the difference in the number of opportunities they have in society. The way the poor people are dressed, the way the buildings in the poor places are painted, and the darkness of the colors used in the poor places show their poverty.

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FEEDBACK

Week 11 ... Ms. Jinchi asked me to write about how the artwork that I chose related to inequality and bring some sentences in the observation part to the rationale part.

Week 12 ... couldn't show my progress

Week 13 ... Ms. Jinchi asked me to fix the mistakes in the writing part and she suggested me to use collage techniques for the buildings of a poor place and a wealthy place. and also she suggested me to use the huts for the buildings in a poor place. 

Week 14 ... Ms. Jinchi said I should reduce the vividness of the buildings on the top and I should put some symbols on the money to make it easy for viewers to understand it's money also I should use a darker green for the color of the money, and I should draw a few more people in the poor place.

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REFLECTION

Throughout this project, I realized that it is hard for me to analyze and explain what the artwork is trying to show because I can see the intention but I didn't know how to explain it with words but thanks to the guidelines from lectures, I was able to analyze and explain about the artwork.  And At the beginning of this assignment, I didn't know there is a theme which is inequality so I just picked random artwork that I liked and I realized after I showed my progress in the first week that misunderstanding made me left behind so much so it was what I suffered most to catch up with the other's but once I decided my directions, I was able to come up with ideas and make artworks fast. I think in this project, I did research the most compared to other projects so I was able to make great artwork. I am really satisfied with my artwork.