Shannon Elward

Professional Writer. Poet. Aspiring Designer. Feminist.

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There is a focal point in each image—the ice cube. The ice cubes create the focal point because of size isolation. There isn’t a whole lot else going on in the photos—with the exception of the puddles of water, so the very large ice cubes are the immediate focal point.

The illusion of space is created a couple of different ways. First, I used a shallow depth of field when taking the photos in order to create a false sense of atmospheric perspective. Thus, illusion of space is created because the foreground (the ice and the puddles) are in focus and the background (where the blue meets the tan) is out of focus. Second, illusion of space is created through shadow. We can see the shadow of the ice cubes reflected in the water or the table in each of the photos.

In terms of color scheme, the original photos—I’ve included one as a reference—are almost monochromatic in terms of the background. The yellow and brown blend together to create a dull warm color scheme. However, I played with the colors to get them to stand out a bit more and emphasize the ice and water. By playing with the colors I created a cool color scheme. Blues and purple dominate the photos, which give the photos some intellectual integrity. Ice tends to come to mind with cool color schemes. In addition to this, the colors used are largely primary. While there are some violet tints, mostly yellow and blue—primary colors—are used in the images.

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Gaze motion—the woman’s eyes are looking down at the number “42.” Readers can then compare her implied age—42—which how much she’s aged. This lends to the purpose of the ad.

Negative Space: the image is surrounded—in the background—by dark negative space. This focuses the eye on the foreground. Additionally, it gives the whole image a “darker” feel, which mirrors the purpose of the anti-smoking ad.

Rectilinear shapes—much of the image is composed of harder lines—the woman’s shoulders, the cigarette, her fingers, the text. This all creates a sense of hardness to the image, again furthering the purpose of the anti-smoking campaign.

Focal point through isolation: the nicotine gum is isolated by itself in the corner, therefore creating a focal point.

Focal point through change in size:  The woman and the cake are both huge. The gum in the corner stands out from the rest of the elements. Our eyes are drawn to it because it is small.

Informal Balance: the image is largely symmetrical, although some differences do occur. The position of the hands creates some asymmetry, and the logo and slogan at the bottom do as well. However, the logo is balanced by the plants in the background of the image on the left.

Realism: the image is largely realistic looking. The age spots and lines have not been covered or erased (however the 42 does make it all a little off).

Sense of depth through overlapping: the cake overlapping the woman creates a sense of of space. We know the image isn’t meant to be viewed as 2-D.

Cool color scheme: most of the image—with the exception of the pink cake—has a cool color scheme. The blues, the grey of the counter and the dark background are all cool colors.

Visual texture: the lines on the cake and the wrinkles on the woman all provide texture in the image.

(source)

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I’m not very happy with this at all, but the last couple of weeks were slammed at work and I didn’t have much time for photos.

I do want to stick with a natural theme. I like the look of wood, so I know I’m going to stick with that. I’m planning on arranging the images somewhat vertically like this--with a lot of natural horizontal lines from bark and branches.

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I created this using folded paper, cardboard, adhesive and paint. I discovered it’s difficult to attach folded paper to folded paper, so that proved to be frustrating. However, you can see in the second photo that I did prove to be victorious, and everything is sticking. My focal point is the layered circle in the corner. I did this through a change in size, by layering three circles, and by using one circle without paint.

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Next up, I’ll be painting the paper and properly attaching it to a background. Since both of these are more permanent, I’m waiting until I have it completely figured out. For the background, I’m planning on affixing book pages to some sturdy poster board. In terms of the paint, I’ve picked up both silver and bronze metallic paint. I’m still deciding what exactly to do, though. I’ve considered doing the fanned circles different than the background fanned pages, but I’m not 100% sure yet.

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The focal point, at first, seems to be the yellow cup. The bright yellow color—which isn’t used anywhere in the ad—definitely make it stand out. However, I feel a secondary focal point is created by the missing spill in the middle of the ad. The color of it makes it stand out, but also the size. It takes up a significant portion of the height of the ad.

The balance of the composition is informal balance. Both the top and bottom half of the image have equal weight. While the top half has the large yellow cup, it is equally distributed. The smaller images on the bottom left (the cleaning projects) are given a similar weight, especially since they are so close to the edge of the page. If we were talking about balance from left to right, I’d say it’s asymmetrical. Most of the weight is on the left half of the ad.

Color is used to draw attention in this ad. Warm colors are used in the cup and the spill. These colors are balanced against cool colors (the background and the cleaning products).

I’d definitely call this ad idealistic. The spill is too perfect—nothing spills that nicely. The completely round drop at the bottom and the even spill throughout the whole vertical piece, along with very little side splatter, lead me to believe this.

Finally, using the completing partial images theory of Gestalt, we know that viewers of the ad are going to be able to fill that shape back in. Once it’s put together, viewers can ascertain that it isn’t supposed to be filled in—the Ajax product took care of that. (source)

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Materials: book pages, double sided tape and curtain hanger rings

I have a general idea of where I want to go with this. I like the fan folded pages going in different directions and the shape. And I like the juxtaposition with a harder element (the rings).

I still haven’t decided on a background. I’m considering just flat pages of book paper to draw attention away from the gaps between sheets (or add attention, possibly).

I’m considering coloring some parts of some of the folded pages to add an additional element (likely sticking to 1 color so it doesn’t get unruly). I also think I’ll be folding more pages to make this project larger and to add more fan shapes. Right now it’s only about 1.5 feet tall by 2 feet wide.

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Project 2 Ideas

I don’t have specific sketches, but I have so idea of what I want to do and what materials I want to use.

Idea 1: This idea is my favorite, right now, because I like the idea of using paper from books. I’d like to create a background with fanned pieces of book paper. I think this will give a unique texture, while also allowing for interesting designs from the font and photos of the pictures. On top of that I'd like to create a solid colored focal point with something of a rough texture (possibly a fabric like burlap or course yarn).

Idea 2: For this idea, I wanted to focus around something a bit more colorful. I thought about using crinkled, brightly colored foil paper to create a background. On top of that I’d like to create a focal point by using something that’s really flat--color wise--to contrast against the shiny foil. For this, I see some sort of curved pattern of lines, as it would be easily distinguished against the more squared lines on the crinkled paper.

Idea 3: For this idea, I thought about things I have laying around the house. I don’t keep a lot of “stuff” around my house, but I do tend to get A TON of junk mail (seriously--how do I make this stop?!). So my idea here would be to do some sort of shaped and patterned collage, filled in with various pieces of junk mail. On top of that, I’d use something more textured to form shapes that divert from the junk mail shapes. In keeping with the “found around the house idea” I thought about using sponges or food packaging.

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I used a unity + variation formula to create my abstract image. Unity was achieved first by the curved, vertical lines. I created variation first by flipping the curved lines on the right side of the image so they’d be curving in the opposite direction. Then, I added more variation by having varied thicknesses to the black and white lines. Next, I added a large oval toward the right-side of the image to create a focal point. I added smaller ovals in a few different places in the image as well, so the focal point felt unified in the image.

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Image 1: In this image, implied texture is used to illustrate how soft the yarn is. We can see the individual strands of yarn, just like we can see the individual hairs used on the cat. Three other principles that are used include a horizontal line of composition, focal point through change in form, and informal balance. A horizontal line of composition is evident through the line of the cat’s legs and the text, as well as the black horizontal bar at the bottom of the image. Focal point through change in form is evident on the top half of the image. The cat creates an easy focal point just by simply not being a ball of yarn. Finally, this image seems informally balanced. Although the top image with the yarn and cat is slightly larger than the bottom half of the image, the bottom half carries as much weight because of the detail in the text. (source)

Image 2: Here we have two textures. The background texture of the sorbet is to remind us of an ice cream-like texture. This is juxtaposed against the smooth glass of the bottle. Three other principles that are used include focal point through change in color, asymmetry and continuation. Focal point through change in color is evident. Much of the image is pink, and the white/transparent bottle acts as a focal point by the change in color. The image is also asymmetrical. The right side of the image has more weight, as it includes the ice cream scoop and the small text “sorbet without the spoon.” Finally, continuation lines are evident. The vertical lines of the sorbet lead our eye directly down to the bottle, and then down to the text. (source)

Image 3: Here the texture of the tire is very evident. It looks rough and rugged, which is what buyers would want out of a tire. Three other principles used include lost and found contours, focal point through one primary element and asymmetry. First, the use of lost and found contours are evident on the tire. The whole tire isn’t shown, but because of the bright highlights on the hubcap and the dark blacks in the background, we can finish off the tire in our mind. Second, we see a focal point through one primary element—the tire. It’s so large the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to it. Finally, the image itself is rather asymmetrical. The bottom left part of the image has the most weight. Although there is some weight on the top of the image through the text and logo, the image is heavily asymmetrical. (source)

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Image 1: In this ad, we see a diagonal compositional line. The line formed by the diagonal fist moves from the bottom right corner up through the top left corner (by the man’s head). As we learned, diagonal lines tend to show movement, which is the case here as well. We can picture the fits and the head moving due to the diagonal composition. (source)

Image 2: Here we see a continuation line at work. The paintbrush moves the eye from the text down to the jar of Nutella--the focal point. (source)

Image 3: Here we see gestural lines. The vertical, somewhat diagonal lines on the road represent movement and speed. BMW is also trying to represent power by these lines--fast cars tend to have power. (source)

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Image 1: In this image we see asymmetry at work. While much of the ad appears symmetrical, the addition of the bottle of root perfect on the right side of the advertisement creates asymmetry. There is more weight on the right side of the ad. (source)

Image 2: In this image, we see informal balance at work. The bottom part of the eye sits roughly halfway up the ad. If this were the only part of the image, it would appear asymmetrical. However, the addition of the logo and copy at the bottom of the screen creates balance. The two images near the eye have relatively equal weight. While the car is slightly bigger, it has less detail than the parent with the stroller, adding to the informal balance. (source)

Image 3: In this ad, we see symmetry at work. The left and right sides of the image are essentially identical (with exception of the slightly askew screw in the wall plate and the text). However, the main parts of the image are symmetrical, and these small imbalances only create more visual interest. (source)

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