Looking for Graphical Opportunities

When combining images, sometimes it can be hard to find creative ways to make two images one. Here are some things to keep in mind:

-Sometimes, when you put things next to each other, it is easier to see a similarity between the two.
-Sometimes, if you just mush two images into one, you can develop (through several attempts) one image that successfully combines the two. With the method especially, you might just have to go for it, knowing that your first couple attempts are not going to be exactly what you are looking for, but they might lead you to the final image you want.
-Using positive and negative shapes is an easy way to combine two images into one. One image is white, the other is the black around/next to it.
-Using one line or one shape as a commonality between the two images is also a way to get to the two to merge into one.

Finding graphical opportunities has a lot to do with exploration. You might try to combine an image 10 different times before finding the one combination that has everything you want in it. And sometimes, you might have to draw something that you know is not what you want at all, just to get your mind working in the right direction. No image is a wasted image! Everything is important to the process!

Developing Graphical Images

For some people, like myself, it is very hard for me to eliminate the details and just leave the important information. I feel like everything is important! So there are some things to keep in mind when you are having trouble simplifying images to make them less like a picture and more like a graphic image:

1. try to make things as geometric as you can... boxes, circles, squares, etc. Even if you go back and make the shape more complex, simplifying the image with just geometric shapes can really help you identify what is truly an important part of the shape.

2. try to make things solid. Solid shapes are much easier to read, especially from far away. And sometimes, when you are trying to a figure out how to make the image have the information it needs and still make it a solid object, it will help you eliminate unnecessary details.

Semiotics (and other big, fancy, cool sounding words)

So, as an Interior Design major, our exercise on Friday was very difficult for me. In Interior Design, we try to represent things as accurately as possible without going overboard, spending hours and hours on one little detail. So, when we were doing the exercise in class, it was very hard for me to not draw an accurate picture of what I was trying to say... Then I put my picture up, and after looking at the other drawings, I felt ridiculous. I also felt like I had pretty much failed the assignment... but that's ok. I learned a lot from actually doing the drawing wrong. When Babcock was explaining what would have been better for me to focus on and what I could leave out, it really helped me understand exactly what it was that I was supposed to be doing. Today, I redid my drawing from Friday and completed the other drawings with much more ease.

So anyway, we are supposed to talk about our understanding of semiotics. Well, I feel like I pretty much understand, but not 100%. This is what I have so far:

Semiotics is like a sciencey-way of talking about communication and language and symbols. People understand things when they are easy to see and read and comprehend. Sort of like, it's easier to read someone's handwriting the neater the handwriting is. People also don't need "fluff" and "frill" to get the picture. If you want to draw a lamp, you don't have to add carved wood details and fringe around the edge of the lamp shade and all of those details for people to understand that it is a lamp. When you leave those details out, there is less for the person to look at, ergo, they can comprehend the picture quicker. People also can understand things easier when they can quickly recognize the images. Sometimes, when you are trying to convey something via picture, it is easier to use a graphic image that may not necessarily be exactly what you mean, but for the viewer, would be easier for them to understand. Example: if you want to draw a story about a person cutting down the rain forest, you don't necessarily have to draw trees that look exactly like the ones in the rain forest. It would probably be easier to draw the traditional tree with a trunk and a large bushy top.

So, other vocabulary we are supposed to understand...

An icon is a graphic image that very accurately represents the object. Lets use a pencil as an example. A photograph of a pencil would be an icon.
An index is a graphic image that has to do with the object, but isn't that object exactly. An eraser would be an index for a pencil. They are related, but not the same.
A symbol would be (as far as I understand...) is simply the written or spoken word for the object. Saying "pencil" would be a symbol for a pencil.
A metasymbol is a graphic image that is easily recognizable and a learned image/relationship. Kind of like clip art images. Clip art images (generally) do not represent the object perfectly, but enough that you can easily recognize the object.