13 Blog Exercise: Contrast

Many times contrast is used in logos in order to attract attention for a company. Contrast is especially important because when logos are designed they are constantly resized to fit many different criteria, whether it is a sign, or letterhead, the use of contrast is highly important to companies. Many companies have used this to their advantage by designing simple shaped logos where very little explanation or words are needed to represent a company. For example the logo above expresses a great use of contrast. The simple colors of black and white, along with the unique shape of the symbols used for the logo help to create a simple and clean logo that is a perfect explanation of what the company specializes in, wine. In addition, through the contrast of colors, and shapes, the bottle and wine glass can be easily seen and cleverly expressed.

The above logo for the 2012 London Olympics is a bad use of contrast. First of all there is very little contrast of shapes and becomes hard to read and understand. Even though the shapes create interesting negative spaces, the overall orientation of shapes and sizes are so similar that it is difficult for the eyes to process and visualize.  Furthermore, the color contrast is very stressful on the eyes. Although you have two colors, they do not contrast well with each other because the two colors are very intense and bright. This is a bad example because i believe that great logo designs are clever, easy to understand and visually stimulating, not stressful. Furthermore, the text, and the official Olympic logo, along with the logo itself clash because you have rectilinear shapes, and round shapes, and you have text that is neither. Everything about this logo is so confusing that there need to be some sort of correlation between anything.

12 Blog Exercise: Movement/Motion

The image above is an example of an illustration depicting motion through the activity known as "Parkour." The illustrator presents the idea of movement through the characters and their type of clothing. For example, each character is wearing really baggy clothing, therefore the author is able to manipulate the folds and wrinkles in the clothing in order to introduce the idea of movement. Also, the author has included five different characters, each at a different level of the picture plane, representing the idea that they took turns jumping off the building. Furthermore, the variation in size also helps to introduce this idea of movement through the picture plane. Finally, the idea of motion can also be seen through the fisheye distortion of the background. This technique utilizes the idea of motion after affect, the fisheye background helps illustrate this idea that they were all running fast along the roof, and as they met the ledge, the slight pause before the jump causes the eyes to catch up, creating this distortion. Ultimately I feel that the techniques that are used to represent motion, help to create a very dynamic and captivating illustration that symbolizes what the feeling of "parkour" is like. 

In the image above, the designer expresses the idea of movement through the wrinkles of the clothes from the various dynamic gestures that are introduced. Through the idea of apperent movement the center image acts as a spring board to all the other gestures portrayed as if the image itself were dancing. In addition, This image utilizes the idea of optical flow, where the center image is the largest and most detailed, which represents our focus and since the various gesture around the focal point radiate from the center it feels like we are being sucked in allowing for the different gestures to "pop-out." Furthermore the clothing on the image creates a huge role in the depiction of movement. The wrinkles in the clothes and the different stretches and creases help to illustrate the dynamic gestures of the image. In addition the fact that the images are just placed in open space, with no relation to a ground introduces the idea of floating, hovering, and even falling. Ultimately I feel that like the first image, this image also makes use of motion techniques and ques in order to create a dynamic and unique graphical design.

11 Blog Exercise: Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

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The above logo is a design for an eco friendly neighborhood. At first glance and from a distance the image is visualized as a somewhat abstract plant form and leaves. However if ou focus on the leaves a little more you will notice that the shape of the leaves are in the shapes of simple, abstract, house symbols. In addition to create the idea of a neighborhood, the design emphasizes the use of perspective and relative size to its design. Perspective is expressed in "one-point" perspective, where the houses converge into one point along the horizon line giving the illusion that you are looking down a neighborhood street. Furthermore, relative size is expressed in the shadows of the houses and the gradual decrease in size as the houses move farther back into the horizon. By emphasizing certain visual aspects and techniques, designers are able to produce logos that are clever, interesting, and unique, without the use of typographical elements...

10 Blog Exercise: Tone and Color

I had used this image in the previous blog exercise however, it is the perfect example for this blog exercise as well. In the image above of a Russian Landscaping company they used the silhouette of a bull and filled it with different colors, and tones of colors that help the image appear three dimensional and "pop" out. For example if you look at the hind leg of the bul you will be able to notice that the colors are of a darker shade representing that the hind back leg is in the background. The different colors, tones, and shades of the bull help to create an abstract dimensionality to the logo. In addition, the vibrant colors help to attract the eyes of the viewers because the colors are vivid and emphasize the bull's three dimensional form and structure.

9 Blog Exercise: Logo Design

Most commonly recognized by their three stripes, the Adidas logo above makes use of the basic elements of scale. As shown above the three varying diagonal stripes leads the viewers eye along the company name. Since we commonly read text from left to right, the scale of the three stripes also increases from left to right. Furthermore the slanting stripes and variation in sizes creates an abstract cubist form of an actual shoe facing the to the left causing our eye to also travel back and forth through the company name. In addition, the basic colors of black and white allow for a strong contrast emphasizing the negative and positive spaces of the logo. Also the simple colors establish a clean, crisp, and fresh logo design, which is representative of their shoe and clothing styles and designs. 

The above image is a logo design for a famous Russian Landscaping company. In the above logo the basic element that stood out to me was the use of color. When i think of a landscaping company i think of very earthy colors, like browns, and greens, however the colors for this logo are very bright and exotic. For one, the logos bright colors helps catch my attention, especially since there are a lot of bright and vibrant colors. Another thing that i found interesting about the logo was that the different colors and shades of colors creates a dimensionality for the logo, for example the back hind leg emphasizes darker shades of colors which tells me that that leg is in the background picture plane. In addition, what helps compliment the colors and how they express dimensionality is the shapes that are used, the polygonal forms help to represent the abstract forms of actual shadows or tonal shapes on an actual body, and emphasizing that idea with the use of different color shades allows the logo to "pop" and seem three dimensional.

Similar to how the Adidas logo creates movement through the scaling of shapes, the logo above creates movement through line. As stated previously, we are accustomed to reading from left to right, therefore our eyes are accustomed to travel in that direction, from left to right. The above logo emphasizes this through the use of a black line that is thick in the beginning and gradually narrows as you lide along the curvature of the line. Furthermore the path that the line draws mimics a stylized cursive "e" for the company name Elastic Software. In addition, the colored orbs help in assisting through the movement of the line from their color and size. Starting from the left most, lightest colored orb, if you travel along the line the orbs gradually get smaller and darker in shade of color. 

8 Blog Exercise: Visual Thinking

The above test was attempted by my girlfriend. She chose choice "E" because she believed that the order followed a square, triangle, square sequence. It took her about 2-3 minutes to answer.

The above test was taken by a classmate in one of my other classes and he chose option "C" because he felt the pattern followed a "line, shape, line, shape" pattern but he was unsure because even though option "C" is a line, it still forms the shape of a triangle. It took my friend about 5 minutes to decide on a final answer.

The above test was performed by my older brother, and he was able to find all 11 squares in the image. It took my older brother about 10 minutes to solve because he said that at first he didn't notice the larger squares, and he kept recounting.

The above test was performed by my younger brother and he was only able to find 7 squares. It took my younger brother about 5 minutes to solve because he said he tried to work fairly quickly, and that some of the colors would throw him off. He had failed to notice the 4 other squares because he said that he didn't think about them or pay attention to them.

6 Blog Exercise: Visual Perception

When searching for logos, I usually look for the designs that are simple, but at the same time clever and complex in concept. When i think about logos, i feel that they should represent and help the viewer to describe what it is that the company does, or helps the user remember the company's name.

In this sense I guess you can say that I focus and utilize top-down processing more. For example, I tend to focus more on logos that present a certain meaning, or i try to understand certain aspects of someone's logo, like the name of the company, and the image they have designed for their logo. A great example of this is the logo for the "Spartan Golf Club."

When I see the word "Spartan" I am already focused on seeing a spartan soldier or a helmet, and at first glance you can see that the logo is a Spartan helmet. However at the same time if you focus more on the details of the image, you will notice that there is a golfer in full swing creating the shape of the helmet.

This example helps to illustrate the constant linking and re-linking of the image of the helmet and the word spartan, and the golfer with the word golf club. 

I found this logo interesting because it had fit my search criteria for finding logos that i like. The design is simple, but complex in concept and very clever.

5 Blog Exercise: Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

Above we have a logo that i feel is a clever and well designed logo that follows much of the syntactical guidelines. It combines the ideas of a chef's hat with the mushroom cloud from the aftermath of an atomic explosion, hence the name "Atomic Chef." The Idea of a mushroom cloud and chefs hat is a very symmetrical object, however the designer varies the each of the vertical axis sides to help create balance. Further more there are other aspects that also help to balance out the image such as the two variable sized rings. The design is simple in the aspect of colors and design, the eye easily flows and follows the lines of the designed image where the eye isn't draw too much to one area.

The next image that i chose for an example of a design that didn't work out so well is of an Hungarian reale state business. The image that they chose to reference was a cavernous hole. Due to the detail and variation of lines, color, size and shape to the logo, your eye is drawn directly into the center of the hole. This makes the viewer seem like they are trapped or confined within the hole. Which is not the type of persona that i would not be looking for, especially in a real estate agent. To further create a confined space the logo and text is again outlined by this gray brush stroke border. 

4 Blog Exercise: Visual and Symbolic Language

1. Long lines/Endless lines

2. Many different people of all races and color

3. Faces of anxiousness, concern, and sorrow/unhappiness

4. Sides walks filled with trash and people

5. People dressed up in business suits

6. Looking for work

7. Resumes in hand

8. Faces tired and hopeful

9. Black snake of trepidation slinking through the streets of the city’s business district.

10. Cellphones in hand

11. No conversation

12. Strong tension

Like a snake slithering through the streets of the city’s business district, unemployment lines filled with people of all shapes, sizes, and colors are dressed in what was now considered their finest clothes to sell themselves in hopes of being chosen for a job, if any. Black suits, ties, blazers, slacks, dress shoes, briefcases, and fake smiles cover the bodies of the people who fill the city street sidewalks like an oil spill contaminating the area with trepidation, concern, depression, sorrow, and very little if any, hope. Like cattle entering a slaughterhouse, the cattle are guided what to them could mean salvation, or death, as they walk a few steps and wait, walk a few steps, and wait, with their resumes in hand, as they slowly make their way to the interview room in hopes that they will be chosen.

Name: Luis Marcjay Pascual

School: San Francisco State University

Major: Visual Communications (DAI)

Level: Senior