Visualization Project: Icons & Emotion
Introduction
This unit emphasizes how imagery is a broad term that encompasses a great variety of representational, abstract, or nonobjective images—photographs, illustrations, drawings, paintings, prints, pictographs, signs, symbols, maps, diagrams, optical illusions, patterns, and graphic elements and marks.
This unit also introduces students to basic color theory principles such as: subtractive & additive colors; color properties of hue, saturation, brightness; color theory historical timeline facts; CMYK and RBG; color schemes; warm and cool colors; emotional effects of color; color association. Students are encouraged to think outside of the box with the overall design and approach to this assignment and include representational, abstract, and non-objective imagery.
Learning Objectives
-- Understand how images are classified
-- Learn about signs and symbols
-- Study the basics of designing icons
-- Become familiar with media, methods, and visualization
-- Learn about image creation, selection, and manipulation
-- Grasp visualizing form
-- Become conversant with drawing for designers and graphic interpretations
-- Begin to learn about designing with color
Step 1: 20 Visualizations
Complete the following exercise in your sketchbook:
-- Choose one image, such as a cat, dragon, tree, or crab. It is important to pick an image that has an interesting shape.
-- Sketch or draw the chosen image 20 different times, trying different sketching styles or techniques. Experiment as much as possible with drawing or sketching tools.
-- Try as many techniques as possible, including experimental ones (drawing or painting with unusual tools and substances), sewing, stitching, using fabric, natural materials, and building or composing with found objects, found papers, or recycled materials. For example, paint with black coffee. Or you can paint with rubber cement to mask white areas of paper, then paint over it, and remove the cement to reveal a white silhouette. Also, feel free to make some of the images three-dimensional.
-- Select 2 sketches with the most potential and develop them into roughs (further developed sketches)
-- Choose the best rough and refine into a digitalized comp (one digitalization)
Step 2: 10 Non-Objective Compositions
Complete the following exercise in your sketchbook:
-- Select one idea or emotion, such as reconciliation, freedom, anger, or anxiety.
-- Depict the chosen idea or emotion in a nonobjective manner.
-- Produce 10 thumbnail sketches for each.
-- Select 2 sketches with the most potential and develop them into roughs (further developed sketches)
-- Choose the best rough and refine into a digitalized comp (one digitalization)
Step 3: Final Composition
Combine your representational and non-objective elements together into one finalized design
Color Theory
Use a unified color scheme and address these points in a writeup attached to the submission:
-- Choose one of the basic color harmonies to follow: analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic, tetradic, duotone
-- Are you using warm and/or cool colors?
-- What are the emotional effects of the colors selected?
-- Consider color association
Specifications
In Illustrator, create a new document with the following specifications: letter 8.5x11” portrait or landscape orientation, 3 Artboards, no bleed, CMYK color, 300 ppi.