Midterm Flashcards
The eye and brain break up the visual world into various aspects such as…
color, form, motion and depth
Eyes take in what
the stimuli. The brain makes sense of it.
Vision is
1 tenth physical and 9 tenths mental
Perception is what
limited and selective. We detect only a slim portion of the information around us. What we decide to see is determined by what we know, believe and want.
Perception definition
the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting and organizing sensory information.
Visual Perception
Gathering information through sight, organizing and making sense of it.
2 parts of Perception
- Making sense of it (tasks and mental shortcuts)
2. Judging what to focus on (selecting objects)
Western countries focus on what
objects
Eastern countries focus on
the spaces between objects
Japan: the ma
the intervening interval
7 visual communication theories
gestalt semiotics constructivism ecological Theory Cognitive Theory Huxley/Lester Model Omniphasism
Gestalt
The whole is greater than than the sum of its parts. Perceive parts/objects as whole. Primary, kicks in first. Form-forming capability of our senses. Grouping.
Grouping
Creates visual cohesion
Grouping similarity takes into account what 4 aspects?
size, value, color, and shape
Grouping proximity
Dominate all other grouping concepts. Spacial nearness.
Grouping closure
Pleasing to the brain. Fill in missing information to form an unfinished object.
Grouping continuity
Brain tends to form lines, follow what it perceives to be a path.
Grouping figure-ground contrast
differentiation between the object and the background.
Philosophers associated with Gestalt theory
Max Wertheimer- formal gestalt theory
Rudolf Arnheim- applied gestalt theory to interpretation of the visual arts. Also have to worry about the quality of the individual elements as well as the whole.
Semiotics
The science of signs. A symbol (something that stands for something else)
C.S. Peirce
Semiotic theory expert, “we think only in signs.”
Ferdinand de Suassure
Semiotic theory expert, “signs are divided into 2 parts.”
- signifier
- signified
Icon
resemblance. looks like or resembles what it stands for.
Index
cause and effect. Logically connected, can make sense of it.
Symbol
convention, have to be taught it, no logical connection.
Constructivism
Relating patterns of shape, visually arranging planes together. (Saccadic jumps our eyes make)
Ecological Theory
Take into account the environment/real world setting. Lighting, depth, scale, etc. contribute to the visual communication.
Cognitive Theory
Based on process in the brain like memory and comparison. Brain will seek out what is familiar based on experiences/memories that you already have. Went beyond the stimulus and made the best guess.
Huxley-Lester Model
The more you know, the more you see. Sight and thought are inseparable. “Images have no use if the viewer’s mind doesn’t use them.”
Stages of Huxley-Lester Model
-Sensation
-Selection
-Perception
sensing + slecting + percieving =seeing
Omniphasism
“All in balance.” Balancing the two primary cognitive systems: the rational and intuitive.
Paleolithic man paints in cave walls (when and where)
25,000 BC Lascaux
Cave iconography centers on 3 themes
- Animals (dominant images, scary animals are not shown as often)
- Humans (people are not drawn as well as animals, stick figures)
- Signs (often associated with animals)
Cussac cave
Found in France, mostly etching, birds are present, sexual icons lots of bison and people.
Catal Huyuk mural 6200 BC
Neolithic portrayal of active volcano
Written language
Began in Africa created ideograms, then Sumerian clay tablets, then Egyptian hieroglyphics
ideograms
pictures representing words
Rosetta Stone
Had three different languages:
- Egyption hieroglyphics
- Egyption Demotic
- Greek
David Diringer: 4 historical stages of writing
- Iconography
- Synthetic or Ideographic writing
- Analytic or Transition Writing
- Phonetic
Synthetic or Ideographic writing
pictures used to tell a story, poem or epic, used to call something to mind
Iconography
picture writing (cave drawings)
Analytic or Transition Writing
picture becomes an accepted symbol of its name
Phonetic
symbols representing oral sounds
Visual processing cells account for…
30% of the brain cortex,
touch has 8% and hearing has 3%
We receive __% of information through our eyes
80
we process more info through our eyes than…
all other senses combined
eyelid
protects and keeps cornea surface smooth by evenly spreading tears
pupil
black opening in center of iris that regulates how much light gets let in
sclera
white of the eye, the tough protective layer
Iris
the colored part, regulates light by dilating and constricting the pupil
camera lens=
cornea lens, vitreous (focuses the light)
film=
retina (the surface on which the light rays are focused)
dark room=
brain (images are processed)
macula
small highly sensitive center of the retina (detailed central vision)
Fovea
center of macula (sharpest vision)
what area contains cones
macula/fovea (reading)
what area contains rods
retina/peripheral retina (night vision, playing sports)
right brain
space orientation, artistic
left brain
analytical, logical, linear
primary purpose of typography
facilitate, organize content in lucid manner
primary colors
colors at their best essence
colors that cannot be created by mixing others
tints
addition of white
shade
add black
secondary colors
combination of 2 primaries
intermediate (tertiary colors)
primary and secondary combination
rods
120 million rods are more sensitive than cones
good at sensing low level light but not color
cones
gives us the ability to see color
chroma
intensity of a color
analogus colors
next to each other on the color wheel
hue
interchangeable with the word color
tone/value
lightness or darkness of a hue
additive color
mixing of colors of light
when all are combined they create white
subtractive color
mixing colors pigment
when all are combined they create black
monochromatic color harmony
combining hues of a single color that have varying levels of value
victoriansim
simple, feminism, ornamentation often shows up, floral typestyle
Art’s effect on graphic design photography
1880s photographs appear in print, photography changes fine art
Photography takes the place of
realist art
Impressionism
capture the impression by focusing on color and light
Art Nouveau
curved, organic patterns, integrates type and art, lots of french women
expressionism
raw, crude, primitive
cubism
looking at multiple planes of the subject at the same time
constructivism
intersecting geometric shapes and typography
Dadaism
deliberate, irrational
bauhaus
form follows function, simple, combining art and craft
futurism
speed, movement, machine over nature
de stijl
shape, geometry, Mondrian (looks like a newspaper front page)
swiss style
lines disappear, clean, sans serif
art deco
angles, lines, geometric elements
surrealism
inspired by unconscious mind
abstract expressionism
action, color, experimentation, emotion
new realism
montage and multimedia
what effect did photography have on art
allowed artists to experiment and break away from realistic art
3 types of signs:
icon, index, and symbol. These signs are often blurred.
photojournalism
the blending of a journalists and a photographer, telling a story through the images, seek the truth and stay objective
- timeliness
- objectivity
- narrative
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The father of photojournalism, the decisive moment
photojournalism ethics
accurate representations, was it staged, was it just meant to shock, too gory, was it manipulated?
Categorical imperative
what is acceptable for one person it should be acceptable for everyone
utilitarianism
the greatest good for the greatest number
hedonism
act to maximize pleasures now and not worry about the future. (whatever sells the most papers and makes the most money)
Golden Mean
finding a middle a middle ground, a compromise between two things
Golden rule
Do what you would like to be done to yourself
Three levels of digital manipulation
Technical, accidental, essential
Technical change
making slight adjustment, not related to content (making photo more readable)
accidental change
a content change that has no effect on the meaning (took out the power lines behind ladies heads)
essential change
changes the meaning of the photo (fictionalization)
only change allowed in photojournalism
technical
photo-fiction
applies to any photo that has been manipulated
vail of ignorance
stepping someone else’s shoes
