Visual Literacy - It's not Rocket Science!

The most significant thing I've come to understand about visual literacy is that even a schmuck like me is capable of designing visual communications that are visually attractive and relevant. 

My professional life revolves around printed fundraising and marketing materials, so I think about things like color, layout, fonts, and branding A LOT. When it comes to designing these communications from scratch, I assumed that only remarkably talented, artistically inclined people were capable of producing quality work. 

I now understand that there are formulas that anyone can follow (eg: WET layouts) that turn out respectable products with minimal effort and almost zero pain. This is particularly exciting to me because I have frequently found myself clumsily trying to communicate a design concept to others on my team, or completely frustrating a graphic designer by being too vague. I feel like I now have the tools that will allow me to create a mock-up with confidence, and save everyone on my team a whole lot of time!

I have also been thinking about the simple graphics seen in signage all around me to provide directions, warnings, or other simple messages. Things like this:

 

 

 People from all over the world understand these images, regardless of their understanding of the language the text is written in. If anyone would have asked me to describe these signs just a few short weeks ago, I feel that "simple" would have been in my list of adjectives - but I may not have used words like "meaningful" or "powerful." Today, I truly understand how meaningful and powerful those simple signs are!

And a few additional words on layout...

After I received feedback on my WET layout from Dawn, I realized how helpful it would have been to read the chapter on Layout prior to designing my WET poster. Had I kept the concept of GRIDS in mind, I would have taken greater care to be more exacting in my alignment of various elements of my design. I feel this concept will be exceptionally important in designing for web presentation because the space allowable is so well defined and can get chaotic very easily.

I also particularly enjoyed the visual on page 73 with the caption "Who's the pinhead on the right?" It really drives home the importance of consistency and balance in graphic design! 

 

 

Communicating With Color

This week's CMS 170 topic was of particular interest to me, both personally and professionally. On a personal level, some of my earliest childhood memories are informed by color - which is why I believe it has been possible for me to remember things as far back as age 2 1/2, when I remember walking through a rental flat with my parents and noticing a kelly green toy box in one of the bedrooms we strolled through. I can describe the exact color of the box as well as its position in the room in relation to the bed and window. 

Forest green is also related to an early childhood experience. It's the color of the car I was in when my mother pulled out of the garage and into the alley, suddenly realizing she'd left something important behind on the kitchen table. She left me in the car as she ran in to grab it, and I climbed out of the back seat, and into the front - stepping on, and releasing the parking brake, which sent the car drifting backward toward the street.

In the third grade, we were asked by our teacher to fill out a list of "favorites"...favorite food (cauliflower), favorite animal (armadillo), favorite beverage (milk), favorite color M&M (the light brown color they no longer make), favorite color (brown). I was sent to the school counselor's office, and my parents were called. Is it against the rules to love milk while your classmates are all love Orange Crush? Certainly not. My teacher and the school psychologist did think it was very odd that most of my "favorites" were either white or brown in color. Who loves the color BROWN for goodness sake? All the other kids loved red, blue, purple, pink... There was no need for alarm, I started life as a serious and independent thinker - no big deal.

In taking Jill Morton's online Global Color Survey, I was not at all surprised to find that my responses differed greatly in a number of categories from those collected from online responses of people all over the world. I was also not surprised that they were pretty spot-on in many categories as well!

No one who knows me would be surprised to discover that Charcoal Grey has been my very favorite color for around 25 years now. The Dark Grey color of the survey comes closest to the one I prefer:

 


Interestingly enough, this is also the color I selected as the one that denotes "Power."

My least favorite color is mauve. Oh my goodness I hate mauve.We don't even have enough time to discuss all of the reasons I hate mauve. Look at this terrible color!

Most people selected a yellowish color as their least favorite, but I actually kind of like that color.

Another oddity was the color I selected for "good tasting":

Red was a popular result in this category, which I guess I understand...but I really really love green vegetables, and the dark yellow-green reminded me of veggies.

My responses to categories like "pure", "expensive", and "high-tech" were in-line with the most popular responses, but my data brain still wants to know more about the demographics of those responding to this survey. Are they skewed by geographic location (I'm not thinking those in less developed areas have much access to computers/internet, and if they do, I'm supposing they are not likely to be taking color surveys!) What is the average age of the respondents? Did they live through the 1980's? Can they recall how AWFUL the mauve phenomenon truly was?!!?

For the record, here are my results, with the omission of my favorite color, which has already been discussed:

 I think my "bad luck" color is influenced by "Mr. Yuck"

And I know that my "happy" response was influenced by these delightfully goofy guys that showed up on my juice glasses and matching pitcher sometime during the late 70's:

 

Now I'm cracking up because in searching for that image, I realize how queasy and even intoxicated these fruity guys look - but when I was a kid, I found them delightful!

On a more serious note, this week's color topic was interesting to me on a professional level as well. I work with direct mail fundraising and marketing, so I am no stranger to many of the topics that our guest speaker, Angelica Vasquez  addressed in her presentation. The PMS colors she mentioned are extremely important in my industry, and I have often struggled to remain patient when commercial printers deliver a printed product that is clearly not the PMS color my clients require to maintain cohesive branding. The information Angelica shared regarding how difficult colors can be to get "just right" was very helpful!

Equally important to me was the topic of designing for visibility and readability that was outlined in page 124 of White Space is Not Your Enemy. In my professional experience, organizations would be wise to brush up on these principles prior to choosing logos, team or campaign colors, and color pallets for their printed materials. Particularly for materials that need to be viewed from a distance (lawn signs, billboards, banners) it's all about the POP - without it, organizations waste money and risk losing interest in their message as well as damaging their professional reputations. Often times, printed materials are an individual's FIRST introduction to an organization - it pays to get things right, from the beginning!

Mexican Food Obsessions and Professional Food Photography

Honing in on professional food styling and photography is, without a doubt,  the easiest way to digest the current CMS 170 unit. There has been so much written about the topic - and let's be real, most of us really enjoy gawking at photos of food that looks amazing and delicious!

I am absolutely no exception to the rule, and quite frankly, "food porn" is made for girls like me.

As painful as it is, I fully understand that my culinary adventures will never turn out quite like the beautiful photographs in my cook books - but I am no less in awe of, and OBSESSED with real food. Food that doesn't always look perfectly crafted, but tastes delicious and looks 100% authentic.

In the article we read from The Guardian entitled WD-40 and Microwaved Tampons: Secrets of Food Photography Revealed, the author makes mention of the fact that Mexican food can be particularly difficult to photograph, because similarly colored items on a plate all running together do not leand to a visually attractive photograph.

As a regular consumer and home chef with a bent toward authentic Mexican food, I know first-hand how challenging it can be to present an attractive plate, while remaining true to the authenticity of the cuisine. I am perfectly delighted with a bowl of re-fried beans, but I know exactly what that looks like to those who do not dream about them regularly.

For my Animoto project this week, I chose to compare the photos I have taken of Mexican dishes I have recently enjoyed at two Milwaukee establishments (Conejito's and Cafe Corazon) over the last several months with photos I found online from well-known prepared food distributors and/or stock photos that anyone can download.

I feel as though all of the "tricks" mentioned in the reading materials for this week are very evident, and have a hard time figuring out how it is that the corporations who feature the "stylized" food on their websites don't get into legal trouble for failing to adhere to the guidelines for ethics in shooting/editing photos as outlined on page 144 of White Space Is Not Your Enemy. 

Below is an Animoto video that shows REAL Mexican food I personally photographed, and compares it with professionally styled food that sometimes looks like something I want to eat, and sometimes looks like a plastic prop - like the ones Jim Wend mentioned were very popular during the time he was doing professional photography.

Jim shared a story with us about a shoot he was on for Miller beer when he and his associate actually used a wet-vac to suck beer from a perfectly placed glass, and re-poured the beer over an over to get the perfect shot - never actually moving the glass itself. I couldn't help but think about the strange tactics employed to keep the food in the professional photos I included in this Animoto...did they use a wet-vac on the enchilada sauce to make it glisten "just so" with every frame?

Animoto Video Project

I must first express my most sincere apologies for the late post - it is so unlike me to let my work projects interfere with my ability to attend to school projects, but it happens to the best of us from time to time, doesn't it?

In the spirit of FULL disclosure, I was not all that thrilled to find that we would be making the abrupt transition from storyboarding to video production on a whim. It's not that I wasn't excited to give Animoto a try, it's just that I had planned out my time for storyboarding around a very hectic 10 days of an intense work project - and I was feeling uneasy about the change in direction AND TOPIC! I must be the only person alive who did not complete a storyboard outlining how to make a peanut better and jelly sandwich during the time I was in grade school - and I had half a mind to create a video about making a PB&J san dwich as some sort of off the cuff protest.

My initial brain storming sessions even involved taking photos of storyboard frames and inserting them into a video. Okay, I was kind of being a jerk - because I was afraid that Animoto would be more difficult than it turned out to be. You cannot imagine how relieved I was to find that the whole process was relatively painless! As joyous as this discovery was, I still needed a topic!

I really liked the idea of a "tutorial" video, and I have secretly always wished I could have my own cooking show on PBS - so I figured I would create a video about some manner of food preparation. The weekend turned out to be a real disaster for me, and the only food prep I managed was picking up a Zaffiro's pizza and a six-pack of New Glarus beer.

As I drove to work this morning, I determined to build my video from photos shot from my dinner preparation in my post-work hours. I wanted to do something simple, because I already knew I wouldn't get home until late, something easy to follow - since I really don't have a 30 minute cooking show on PBS, and something that was colorful to keep my photos reasonably attractive.

I came up with the video linked below for Buffalo Chicken Salads (so easy - and you can substitute vegetarian "chicken", baked tofu, or seitan for the chicken if you prefer!)

Most of my photos are medium to extreme close ups. I was hoping to convince my daughter to help with the prep work so that I could get some medium to medium-close shots for variety - but she bugged out before I could get home to ask for her help.

Once things got rolling, I really enjoyed this project. I look forward to exploring Animoto more in the future!

Here's the video for the salads - do share your own add-ins and modifications with me. I love trading ideas about how to make food more delicious!

https://animoto.com/play/pDE9sKzae9dkS2Olvqnlzg

 Consideration, Contemplation, and Spontaneous Meditation

In her article The Art of Slowing Down in a Museum, Stephanie Rosenbloom discovered that when exploring a museum, the typical visitor spends an average of just 15 to 30 seconds looking at a piece of art before moving on - and the explicit implication is that visitors seldom, if ever, return to a piece of great interest for further consideration, contemplation, or perhaps spontaneous meditation. Call me naive, but the idea that people do not regularly peruse what is before them with the intention of returning to that which truly sparks interest or curiosity, is both surprising and foreign to me.

For me, life is all about examining everything before me, and then returning to those things I enjoy most - this practice comes easily to me, and I take great pleasure in it, so I was really excited about the assignment we were given for this week's CMS170 class.

Upon entering the Sacagawea Art Exhibit I saw this:

Oh come on! A modernist painting consisting of a bunch of vertical lines all in different muddy hues of the same color palette?
Approaching closer, I saw this:

Ahhh…not a modernist line painting at all. They’re trees. I really like trees. I made my way through the entire exhibit once…twice…pausing to spend more time with a few pieces here and there…and a third time. On my third pass through the exhibit, I saw this:

It’s the same piece as the images above, but somehow on my third pass the subject matter resonated with me on a deeper level.

In the text White Space Is Not Your Enemy, the authors outline seven critical elements of art, and 6 design principles. The elements I found most striking in this piece were the lines – which are many, but upon examination have a profound way of communicating positive space (tree trunks) and negative space (everything other than the tree trunks) using color and value as critical deliminators. One is easily able to recognize the perspective from which the piece is created. The colors and values in this piece also effectively communicate movement, in the sense that one’s eyes travel up the lines of the trees, toward the lighter shades of the forest’s canopy – as well as look “forward” through the thick of the forest toward the edges that seem just yards away – what’s on the other side? Do I want to go there and take a look? Or am I happy just where I am?

I am definitely happy where I am. So much so that I sit cross-legged on the floor about twelve feet in front of this little piece of magic, and suddenly I am transported to my childhood. As a child I spent many solitary hours cross-legged on the forest floor, pondering the height, strength, and lifecycle of trees. I can hear the twitter of birds high in the treetops; the scampering sounds of squirrels running atop the leaves that cover the ground like carpeting that will soon dissolve into the ground. I am stunned by the beauty of the memories evoked by this piece, and humbled by the quiet power of trees, and artistic expression that I so misconstrued as nothing more than a hastily configured canvas of unimpressive stripes – and I am so very grateful that I have never had trouble slowing down in a museum to give consideration, contemplation, and even engage in spontaneous meditation to things that truly spark my interest and curiosity.

Looking Without Really Seeing

Something I look at every day, without really seeing is illy coffee. Every morning I reach for my can of illy, fine ground for espresso machines, and my stove-top press. There is something about this morning ritual that makes my mind wander, pondering all of the people all over the world who choose to make their morning coffee in this same slow and ritualistic manner. There is something about the silver can, the sleek rounded design, and very simple logo that evokes something rather old-fashioned,  something rather euro-chic. It brings to mind the shiny chrome and bright colors of the 1950's and 60's when air travel became possible for middle class America, and traveling overseas became an adventure that produced the most beautiful stories to related upon returning home. Stories about quaint cafes, and charming locals who served the most fantastic espresso - or so I imagine...

The first chapter of WSINYE discusses the topic of "dated" design, and in the case of illy coffee, I feel the somewhat dated design is intentional. The red box used in the logo has been around for decades, the font within has changed from time to time, but the red box has always been consistent, as has a fairly "art deco" type of design on the coffee tins, posters, and other marketing materials. I feel that maintaining this general design throughout the years has been an intentional act, designed to evoke a connection to the product's history in people like me.

The definition of Visual Literacy that Brian Kennedy provided n his TED talk is "The ability to construct meaning from images." I feel this is definitely the case with the illy designs. For one thing, the text on the can could be written in any language, and I would still understand the contents within. Specifically, I seek out this can:

 

It's the one with the black band, and it means that it is espresso ground for an espresso maker. The color of the band denotes what type of coffee is inside. The band used for whole bean coffee is another color, as is the band for decaffeinated coffee, and so on. I can walk into a busy market and spot the can I need on the shelf without trouble, and without actually having to read any of the text on the can. As I pondered the can this morning, I realized that if I thought about it, I can smell the espresso, and see the color of it as it foams through my coffee press, just by looking at the can.

Later in the day, I started thinking about something else Kennedy said, "The digital age has changed everything for visual literacy." I decided to test that theory by doing a google search for "Coffee silver can red logo" - I hit the search button, and sure enough, the results yielded not only illy coffee cans, but images of the vintage espresso makers I always think of when I make my morning coffee! 

Now I am trying to search my mind for images I remember, but do not yet associate with a product to see if searching descriptions from things I remember will pull up images of products that I am only vaguely familiar with. Assuming it works the way I think it will, this is definitely one way in which the digital age has changed things in the realm of visual literacy. Try it out - and please share your results with me!

    

      

My Pet Peeve

Divers Who Change Lanes Without Using Their Directionals

The pet peeve I selected to blog about this evening is drivers who change lanes without using their directionals. Using the directionals on one's vehicle to signal to other drivers on the road appears to to be an optional practice in today's day and age, and one I sincerely hope falls from fashion soon!

Why worry about signalling when you change lanes? Check out these statistics, they'll tell you why!