Hi! This week we continue on working with Design History and Styles, as well as the MA 04 Design History Website task. It has been interesting as well as fun working with these tasks, and this is the final learning activity for this week, about analyzing the use of design fundamentals. Here is the description of the task, as well as the complete answer:
Choose any one of the illustrations from the lesson «Design Drawing» and answer the following questions (when submitting your feedback – also provide the illustration you chose):
What fundamentals are used successfully? Describe in detail what you think is the most successful aspect of the illustration (remember to focus on the fundamentals.)
First of all, I decided to choose this image. I found it really interesting and unique, as it has beautiful colors and style. It appears to be drawn out of some sort of fantasy book for instance. I believe it is made by Tahier Variawa. As for the design fundamentals, I see a lot of important elements to discuss. Design Fundamentals are elements such as line, shape, form, texture, and balance, that are a part of almost everything we see and create. The most successful aspect of the illustration, might be the way every element is in balance. The shapes, forms and lines, are all beautifully floating around in the water, making the image look very realistic.
Furthermore, the artists use and choice of color is quite interesting. There has been used a lot of strong colors, such as bright orange on the goldfish, black hair, dark blue ocean, and these colors make a contrast to each other, making the image look more real and beautiful. The way the artist has combined strong colors and beautiful drawing, with realistic shapes and forms, is in my opinion the most successful aspect of the illustration, according to the Design Fundamentals as well. It looks a lot like a fantasy image, a magical place or something out of a fantasy book.
What style from the past is being used in a new way in this illustration? If no previous style is clearly apparent, does it use some form of pastiche? Why do you think this specific style or pastiche was used? Describe in detail whether you think it was used successfully or not.
For this case, I am not really sure, but I get a feeling that it might could be linked to the psychedelic art style. This is because this particular art form might be known for themes like fantastic, metaphysical and surrealistic subjects. This is in case a surrealistic subject, a girl sleeping on the books underwater.
It certainly catches the eye of the reader, and it looks interesting and creative. It also has bright and/or highly contrasting colors, such as bright orange and black hair. I think this particular style was used, to put the focus on the contrast in the image, between the girl, the sea and the fish, and to make the image look more realistic and interesting. It certainly is a successful effect, as I found the image quite beautiful and creative, by the use of colors, strokes and the way it is made.
Read again what Mondrian said about the expression of beauty or self. Which do you think played the dominant role in the execution of this illustration? Explain your thoughts.
Mondrian states that “although art is fundamentally everywhere and always the same, nevertheless two main human inclinations, diametrically opposed to each other, appear in its many and varied expressions. One aims at the direct creation of universal beauty, the other at the aesthetic expression of oneself, in other words, of that which one thinks and experiences.”
I think he means that it is individual what we as readers see as beauty in art. It is up to us to define what looks beautiful and unique, and we all experience and think differently. Even though art is everywhere, it might not look beautiful to everyone’s eyes. We either aim at the universal beauty, or the aesthetic expression of oneself. I do believe the last one plays the dominant role in this illustration. This image might not look appealing to everyone, as it up to ourselves, to find out how we think and express ourselves about it.
If you had to create this illustration, before starting the actual execution, what would your initial thoughts be on:
Colour (what would your approach to colour be?)
I would think about using strong and colorful colors, to catch the attention of the viewer and to make it seem recognizable and unique.
Line (what would you like to portray with the use of line?)
I would have used clean and simplistic lines, which does not distract the attention of the viewer, but look easy to look at and beautiful at the same time.
Composition (what would you wish to instil in the viewer by the use of composition alone?)
By the use of composition, I would create a modern and clean composition, with the main focus on the drawing in the middle, as in this case the girl with the books, and use strong and vibrant colors to make a unique and creative image.
/Vibeke
Vibeke Tveit 