Visual Literacy Midterm

color

range of visible frequencies of light

hue

“redness” or blueness etc. that locates color on spectrum; human eye can distinguish about 150 distinct ___

primary colors

red, blue, yellow

secondary colors

orange, purple, green

value

every hue has its own ___'; add white or black—some colors will maintain their typical character

monochrome

one hue with variation of value

intensity

brilliance or dullness (greyness)

temperature

warm/cool; psychological impact; any hue can be mixed with warm or cool

gamut

range of colors available in a given system

printer’s primaries

cyan, magenta, yellow (and black CYMK)

digital color

RGB

complementary color

exact opposite; negative afterimage; each complement will make the same neutral

analogous

hues close to or touching on color wheel

triadic

3 color groups evenly spaced on color wheel

split complementary

a color with the two colors adjacent to its complement

weight and balance

darker hues=heavier

making light

a kind of consistency that unifies all the different color areas

levels of order

hierarchies; dominant/secondary forms; order/randomness

balance

lively configuration of visual forces to create something greater than simple sum of parts

tension

some degree of distortion. deformation or resistance

line

simplest graphic unit

handwriting

pressure-sensitive; gestural; intimate

impersonal line

unvarying; mechanical; intellect-signifier

material and line qualities

line affected by material used

implied line

direction established by gestalt (good continuity)

line as edge

sense of linear edge of shape; can have feathered transitions

line and three dimensional form

line can strengthen 3d form, actual or illusion

directed tension

gives motion; often diagonals

movement and change

essentially a gradient; orderly progression enhances change

vertical/horizontal

still

diagonal

motion

stroboscopic motion

overlapping gradient, or athletic training, “stro mo”

time

visual devices to imply the passage of time; e.g. comic strip, multiple images, left to right

value and light

achromatic (colorless); use of value to give illusion of light

value as light/comparing values

use context and comparison to make judgments

weight of value

darker=heavier; clustering marks (like text) gives darker value

value keys

music analogy; high/low

space and volume

the tonal gradient gives sense of volume

transparency and reflection

values can create illusion of transparency or projected light

-if layer decreases light=subtractive

-if layer lightens=additive

scintillating grid

your vision system automatically sharpens the contrasts on surface edges to make it easier for you to separate objects from their foreground

formal

what it looks like

content

what it means

visual culture

studies visual aspects of cultural artifacts

visual forces

“nuts and bolts” of composition of design

Gestalt Principles

essential point of gestalt is that in perception the whole is different from the sum of the parts

Law of Prägnanz

Law of simplicity. we are innately driven to experience things in as symmetrical, simple and regular

law of proximity

elements that are closer together will be perceived as a coherent object

law of similarity

elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form

law of good continuation

we tend to continue contours whenever the elements of the patter establish an implied direction

law of closure

we tend to enclose a space by completing a contour and ignoring gaps in the figure

law of figure/ground

a stimulus will be perceived as separate from its ground

the field

closed-off area where visual forces react

the center

a question of visual weight; visual, not actual, every shape or group different

the edge

“magnetism” of edge; decision of where

top and bottom

works with intuitive sense of gravity, work with or against ; can exploit sense of potential energy

left and right

reading habit; can play with sequence

grouping

graspable visual pattern; can be formal or conceptual

the picture plane

literal/illusion; historically, various emphases

mark making

specific evocative quality; sets tone

texture

actual and/or visual; helps give visual weight

pattern and ornament

repetition-based; can give texture, add or shade meaning; underlying grid system (pattern), large historic baggage. ornament generally repeats but with no grid

the grid

a proportional system to organize forms on a surface

Figure and ground

simplest visual duality to create space

gradients

any gradual, orderly, stepped charge in visual quality; creates space

atmospheric perspective

things get hazier or smaller as they are farther away

overlapping

simple depth cue; can imply importance

size change

another depth cue

vertical location

typical realism expectation is that foreground is at the bottom

the pictorial box

streses stage-like space

frontal recession

overlapping areas parallel to picture plane; orderly

diagonal recession

overlapping at angle to picture plane; dynamic

space moving out

illusion of things coming out of picture; another baroque innovation

enclosed space

sense of containment; cue dependent—intimate or oppressive etc.

open space

space seems to continue beyond picture confines

packed space

compressed energy; expressive

empty space

eloquent by omission; less is more

Vanishing point perspective

system with limitations; effectively places viewer; can distort - not how we really see; tends to weight bottom

isometric perspective

flattening effect/ linear perspective without vanishing point.

surface and space

various strategies to reinforce interaction of 2D surface and spatial illusion

scale and size

size - actual mass

scale - psychological feeling of size

Structure and Scale

smaller structures within the whole; substructures

Monumental Scale

larger, simpler forms; downplaying detail; independent of actual size

Intimate scale

implied informality, fluidity and impermanence; private

Shape

a visible record of forces on a flat surface.

Simple and complex shape

easily/less easily grasped by eye

Geometric and organic shape

Nature and "culture"; evolved/contrived

Positive and negative shape

always important relationship; like figure/ground, interesting when more equally weighted

Weight

Symmetric, geometric, squarer and higher placed shapes are heavier.

Tension and Shape

imagine basic shapes pulled, distorted; gives energy and direction

Golden ratio

another proportional system, fibonoci

Tatami Mats

A japanese proportional system

cool

__ colors recede

is

light __ color