Design Principles ✦Final Project: Visual Analysis & Final Blog✦
WEEK 10 - WEEK 14
✦Ariel Chin Bei Yi 0343651✦
✦1.0 INTRODUCTION✦
1.1 Small Recap
The
final assignment of the design principles module is titled ‘Visual Analysis’.
Visual analysis
is defined as a description and explanation of visual structure for its own
sake. This is important in designing as it recognizes the choices made in the
creation of a design and how the particular design communicate the ideas,
content or meaning. It is also a critical part of visual literacy, which is
described as a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively fine,
interpret, evaluate, use and create images and visual media. The competence in
the aspect of visual literacy is essential in the participation of the
media-rich environment in current times. The practice in visual analysis aids
in the sharpening of critical judgement skills and the seeking of answers.
The three phases
in visual analysis include:
Phase 1: Observation
- Identify the visual elements of a design and describe them accurately based on your personal perception without learning anything about the design observed.
Phase 2: Analysis
- Think and make statements about the chosen design based on the evidence of the observation. The specific visual elements identified are analyzed in the way it combines to give a whole and the effect of the whole to viewers by applying design principles.
Phase 3: Interpretation
- Fuse the observation, description and analysis of work with the facts about the design work and historical content found in trustworthy sources.
The theme for this assignment is ‘Reduced Inequalities’. ‘Reduced inequalities’ is one of the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations. Inequalities are a prominent phenomenon that is still seen in our society and exist as many forms of discrimination, such as economic, sex, disability, race and many more. This assignment requires us to select an inequality that we are interested in and research about a design that reflects this inequality through visual analysis. Next, we are required to create a design surrounding the selected inequality which is inspired, influenced by the analyzed design or as a reaction to it.
◇─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────◇✦2.0 VISUAL ANALYSIS✦
As I was
researching for an artwork to conduct my visual analysis, I have browsed through
the gallery of multiple modern artists. Among all the bright and
colourful palettes, I have found one that is significantly different, which is
this particular illustration by Yuumei. On first glance, I could tell that the
message and symbolism behind this piece is strong although it may seem simple.
Hence, I decided to select this illustration to conduct my visual analysis.
Phase
1: Observation
This illustration in Figure 2 is arranged in a landscape format with minimal visual elements yet strong
representation. The visual elements appeared as saturated colours which were
mainly red, blue and white with a lightly coloured background. An unnamed girl is
placed in the centre of the composition facing the audience, where the body is
cut off, only showing the head until the neck area. The girl is placed on a
background of the flag of the United States of America which is arranged upside
down, as seen by the placement of the blue box with stars on the bottom right
corner. The red streaks on the flag trail onto the face of the girl, appearing to
cover her eyes and mouth, as well as one on her neck.
The eyebrows of the girl is seen to be furrowed showing an unpleasant
expression without the need of the rest of the facial elements, such as the mouth
and eyes.
Phase
2: Analysis
This is an approximately symmetrical illustration in the format of a landscape design where the more dominant element is the girl placed in the centre of the canvas, and the lesser element is the features of the flag that is placed on the lower part of the canvas. A balance is created in which one side of the girl’s hair is more voluminous than the other side to balance out the blue square on the right corner to create a visually pleasing artwork. The girl in the centre of composition is emphasized with the use of colours. The blue coloured hair as well as the red tape on the girl is highly saturated, where the colours of the flag background is slightly duller. The shading surrounding the girl also creates a light that focuses on her, allowing the main focus of the artwork to be emphasized and clearly seen. A repetition can be seen from the red streaks on the flag that continues to tape over the girl’s face. It also can be seen in the repeated stars in the blue box of the flag. The colours of the visual elements also creates a contrast against the lightly coloured white background, hence, creating an artwork that appears visually strong to the eye.
Phase
3: Interpretation
Figure 2 is an
illustration made by Yuumei, a
famous illustrator on Twitter and Instagram who is known for her brilliant
technique of painting over 3-dimensional assets with smart manipulation of
colours and movement. She advocates for many social and environmental issues
through her artwork. This artwork debuted on 25 June 2022 with no caption,
leaving the audience to guess the meaning behind the sudden dark themed illustration.
However, during this time, the United States of America were seeking to ban
abortion which caused an uproar within the female community, hence, it explains
the symbolism of this particular illustration.
This
illustration represents the oppression of women and the lack of freedom in the
decision-making of their own body. Based on the artwork, the women is angry as
their eyes, mouth and neck are restrained by the government which is
represented as the flag of the country. The flag is also arranged upside down,
showing that the illustrator disagree with the choice by the country indicating
a downfall. The symbolism behind this piece is powerful as it clearly shows the
lack of freedom of women.
NARAL Pro-Choice
America President, Ilyse Hogue claims that abandoning abortion rights means
abandoning women as well as going against a world where women can contribute equally.
Pregnancy is seen as the development of life, hence, many may think it is cruel
to take away a life. However, the debate should be centered on the human rights
and freedom of choice of women.
‘Reduced Inequality’
can be categorized into race, gender, sexual orientation and many more. However,
the topic that I am most interested in is women
inequality. Although the modernization of society with many presences of
feminist advocacy has reduced the indifference between males and females, the
issue in gender inequality maintains with men still securing the
decision-making positions. This is also followed by the objectification of
women where they face a lack of human rights.
According to United Nations (2021), nearly 641 million women aged 15 years or above have been subjected to physical or sexual assault by their close friends and partners. In the year 2021, one in five young women were reported to be married before the age of 18. This shows that females are still seen as a derogatory target by many, as often labelled as ‘the properties of men’. Based on the infographic, there are few improvements made throughout the decade in solving gender inequality as women still has a significantly lower employment rate than men.
Figure 2: Infographic provided by the United Nations regarding gender equality.
In the current society, females are still confronted by discrimination in which they are denied opportunities to learn, to earn, and to lead. As a victim of gender discrimination, myself, gender equality is a fundamental of human rights to achieve a sustainable society. Hence, I have chosen to proceed with the design process with the theme:
╔═*.·:·.✧ ✦✧.·:·.*═╗
‘The Freedom of Women’
✦3.0 DESIGN PROCESS✦
Yuumei is a
highly inspirational artist to me in which I have been following her for a long
time. Her artworks are usually bright and hopeful, however, the artwork chosen
for the visual analysis was dark and grim giving a significant contrast with
her usual work. Hence, it was a very memorable illustration for me which came
to my mind first thing when browsing for a visual inspiration.
I have decided
to create an artwork based on the freedom of women with a hopeful and cheerful
tone to respond to the artwork by Yuumei. I would like to create a contrast to
the dark theme that shows the oppression of females with a lighter theme that
shows the freedom of females.
Yoneyama Mai is a famous animator and illustrator that is highly respected for the ability in the manipulation of moving elements as well as the selection of colour gradient.
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| Figure 3: 'A Lot' by Yoneyama Mai @yoneyamai on Twitter |
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| Figure 3: 'Printemps' by Yoneyama Mai @yoneyamai on Twitter |
I have searched up on flower languages to be incorporated into my design. Since I would like to base my design on the freedom of women, I have found flowers that matches the symbolism I decided to convey.
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| Figure 5: Dandelion symbolizes the ability to free ourselves from everything that enslaves us. |
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| Figure 6: Mimosa flower was chosen as the official flower of International Women's Day as a symbol of strength, sensibility and sensitivity. |
The theme of
this artwork surrounds the freedom of women in their own choice. I have applied
the thumbnailing technique to decide on the elements to include and the overall
composition of the final artwork.
 |
| Figure 7: Thumbnailing and colour test. |
I have carefully applied various
elements that symbolizes freedom while sketching. During the draftings, I have
applied multiple design principles in the sketch. I wanted movement to be the
main principle applied by making the hair with flowers move with the wind to
show a sense of freeness. Balance was also applied to ensure the elements of
the artwork was placed strategically.
 |
| Figure 8: Initial draft based on 'Freedom of Women'. |
I have explored
other facial expressions to see which is better in expressing the positivity and
celebratory of the sense of freedom. I tried moving her head in other angles
and give her a bright eye smile.
 |
| Figure 9: Second sketch with a different facial expression. |
However, I
thought that my first sketch (Figure 8) was better as, in my opinion, it gives
a genuine look while the second sketch (Figure 9) seemed like she is exaggerating. The hair and expression of the girl is adjusted so that the
celebration of freedom is more obvious.
 |
| Figure 10: Refined version of the initial sketch by slightly adjusting her facial expression. |
After the
sketch, I have moved on to colour exploration. Bright and cheerful colours have
been used to show positivity. Contrast is also applied in which the bright
yellow flowers are contrasted against the dark flowy hair of the girl.
 |
| Figure 11: Colour exploration of the sketch. |
However, I have
tried various colour palettes to decided which suits the theme more. A light-colored
hair seemed to be more fitting as it expresses positivity better than a dark
tone. Hence, harmony has been applied by using pastel palettes throughout the
artwork.
 |
| Figure 13: Colour experiment with the utilization of a lighter tone. |
 |
| Figure 13: Final outcome titled 'Free Flower' |
This illustration
is based on the reduced inequality regarding ‘Women inequality’ in which the
theme chosen was ‘The Freedom of Women’. In current society, females still
stand at a point where they lack of respect as well as constantly being
objectified by the community. Females are unable to speak for their own body,
which can be seen in the cases where abortion is criticized and look down upon.
The argument stems from the mindset of abortion can take the lives of children
of the future, however, people seemed to not care that some women are unprepared
to have children in terms of mental age or financial situation, eventually
leading to the suffering of both the mother and the child. Both males and
females are proven to be able to serve equal roles in the society, but why do females
always get the end of the stick?
This
illustration was mainly created to celebrate the freedom of women, giving a
positive effect to encourage confidence in controlling your own decisions regardless
of the discriminatory system set by the society. The sense of freedom was
widely symbolized in this artwork through the use of flower language. Dandelions
plays a major role in representing freedom, as seen by the bright blooming dandelions
spread out on the girl’s hair, as well as in the background. Tiny dandelion
seeds appeared as flying freely with the wind, representing the sense of
unconstrained. Positivity is also represented by the wide smile shown by the girl,
the expression is not too exaggerated nor it is too mild, giving it a sense of
relief and happiness towards this celebration.
Multiple design principles have been utilized to complete this illustration, which includes movement and balance. Movement was widely used to represent the movement of the wind. The flowing effect of the girl’s hair as well as the movement of the multicolored flower petals and dandelion seeds following the direction of the wind produces a dynamic effect to express freeness. Balance was used to arranged the various components on the canvas to create a visually pleasing effect, such as the arrangement of flowers on the girl’s hair in which the dandelion, leaves and smaller flowers are balanced out. The spreading of the hair flow is also arranged in a way to fill the canvas strategically. Other than that, harmony and unity can also be seen in which a common colour palette and plant elements were utilized in the final outcome. Furthermore, a hint of repetition was used to spread out the blooming dandelions throughout the canvas.
During week 11,
we had our first evaluation for the final assignment for the Design Principles
module. Miss Yip checked through our visual analysis and gave comments to improve
our skills in observation and analysis based on the design principles learnt. Miss
Yip stated that my visual analysis was well done in which the observation was
particulate and the design principles were stated clearly with none missed.
After the initial sketches was completed, Miss Yip gave some advice to further improve the design. Based on my initial sketch in Figure 9, she suggested to further emphasize the symbolism of freedom by focusing on the small details to correlate with the theme. She advised to allow the hair of the character to appear more free flow as to give a sense of freedom. Furthermore, the expression of the girl can be experimented to be able to convey the celebration and positivity. The eye direction of the girl can be altered to be looking to the sky in which it shows that there is a wider sense of freedom. Hence, I adjusted my initial draft according to the advice given by the lecturer, in which I settled upon the expression with a slight eye smile.
Miss Yip agreed on the finalization of the
sketch, however, she suggested to provide more colour options to see whether if
there are improvements that can be done. The colour of the hair, eyes and
background of the girl is manipulated using both cool and warm tones. Hence, I
have explored with pastel palettes which made a great improvement in the
positive tones of the illustration. I went with light brown hair to enhance the
brightness of the overall image. The cool-toned eyes which were light purple were
added to balance the dominant warm tones throughout the canvas. After the final
outcome was completed, Miss Yip commented that it is ready for submission.
Week 10
As week 10
approaches, the semester is entering its final phase as the deadlines for assignments
are closing in as well as students are starting to prepare for their finals.
This week marks the start of the final assignment for the design principles
module. During the live lecture on Wednesday, our lecturer, Miss Yip gave a
detailed briefing on the final assignment in which we are required to conduct a
visual analysis on a selected design surrounding the theme ‘reduced inequality’.
The assignment requires detailed research in which we need to give out a significant
message through our created design, hence, it sounded quite interesting. It is
unlike the other assignments completed throughout the semester where much more
planning and brainstorming must be done.
After some reading
on understanding the definition of ‘reduced inequality’, I have chosen to work
on the inequality of women. Then, I searched up on other artists design that
may convey the message on the selected inequality and worked on the phase observation
and analysis of the visual analysis.
Week 11
This week I have
continued on the writing of visual analysis. I searched up on multiple articles
on abortion relating to women rights to understand more about the underlying
issue. Abortion was not a really known topic in Malaysia, hence, it was
interesting to look up on the multiple point of views from people of various
backgrounds. Research on realistic topics and social issues was not done throughout
this module, so it felt exciting to learn more about the experiences of people
around the world. I have done thorough research from trusted websites and completed
my visual analysis.
I have also
sketched some ideas for the final design using several visual references as
inspiration. I felt my progress this week was satisfying as I was following
closely the schedule provided by the lecturer. I am excited to see final
product of this assignment.
Week 12
During week 12,
we are required to show our lecturer our progress in the design process by
coming up with a few initial ideas. The ideation process was a challenge as
symbolism is a difficult concept in which all the elements in a drawing must
come together in the indirect expression of the state of mind of an artist. I have
spent some time on the planning process in carefully selecting the elements to
be incorporated into the artwork. I have also researched on flower languages to
enhance the message to be conveyed.
After the
evaluation by Miss Yip during the live lecture, more exploration in terms of
the expression of the girl towards freedom was suggested. Since this week is
election week in which we have a few days of holiday, I have sufficient amount
of time to do further research in the theme chosen and refine my sketches for finalization.
At the end of the week, I felt a sense of accomplishment as I have achieved my
goals set for the week.
Week 13
The time
provided to complete the final assignment for the Design Principles module is
longer than the previous assignments, in which five weeks were given. This is because
this assignment requires more elements to be added into the vlog, including the
visual analysis. Next week is the final week of the semester as well as the
deadline for the assignment. Although, there was only a week left to complete
the artwork, I am not flustered by the closing in of the deadline. I have
carefully followed the schedule provided by Miss Yip every week to monitor my
work, hence, I have completed the weekly goals successfully by regularly updating
the blog with my most recent works.
This week I have
continued with the colour exploration as well as the finalization of the design.
After creating a satisfying sketch, I started on the illustration of my final
artwork. As finals are also coming up, I have managed my time properly and worked
on it so I can submit the final assignment in time as well as start my revision for other modules.
Week 14
This week is the
final week of the August semester which marks the deadline for the Final Project
as well as the Final Compilation for the Design Principles assignment. As the
deadline is near, I have spent the start of the week to complete the final
artwork. The amount of time spent on this artwork is more than the other
assignments due to the complex elements such as the flow of the hair and the
variety of flowers. It was challenging to maintain the direction of the wind
throughout the elements as to prevent any odd placement of objects. I also
gained new skills in drawing flowers as it was hard to capture the beauty of
nature. Hence, I was able to carry out the final submission in time due to
proper time management and productivity.
The Final Project
for the Design Principles module served as a test for us in our skills in the utilization
of the principles learnt during the start of the semester. The visual analysis
plays a major role in helping us understand how to evaluate other works as well
as improve our abilities in recognizing the design principles. The heavy
emphasis on symbolism in this assignment was interesting as it is the basis of
all artworks. It is important as a designer to carry out a message through
their design. In conclusion, I have gained many knowledge and experiences
throughout these 14 weeks in which I am grateful for.
✦4.0 REFERENCES✦
Erickson, J.J. (2018). Abortion’s culture is antiethical to women’s equality. [Online]
Available at: http://2understandlatterdaysaints.com/documents/Great_News_Articles/abortion_undermines_womens_equality.pdf
(Accessed: 9 November 2022)
United Nations (2021). Gender equality
and women’s empowerment, United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved
from: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/.
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