
Visual Hierarchy
Understanding typographic variables in clarifying a message based on content’s hierarchy
______________________________________________________________
The main objective of this project is to understand typographic variables when trying to clarify a certain message based on the content.
______________________________________________________________
10/31/19
Introduction to Visual Hierarchy
After everyone presented their final research for their first project, we were given our second project. We had briefly been asked a few classes before two time slots that we were free. Afterwards, we were placed into groups and give a location to go to. I was put in Pittsburgh Shorts. In addition, we were assigned to do four exercises to give us a taste of what different types of typographic variables there are.
11/1/19
Introduction to Visual Hierarchy
It was on November 1st to 7th. I went on Friday, November 1st. For that day, they had two times: 7pm and 10pm. Annalisa, Jamie, and I decided to go to the 7pm one together. We saw “Dream Homes According to Kids: Milo,” “The Neighbors’ Window,” “Funky Butt,” “Lost & Found,” “The Translator,” “Hello Jemina,” and “The Return.” Before going, I did not expect much. As soon as we walked in, we had to check-in. Once we got our tickets, my eyes caught all the papers they had laid out for people to take. Because we went on the night of the grand opening, there were finger foods and drinks after the films were all played.

I went “POSSUM MODE.” I took one of everything they had. I accidentally took a flyer that was not for this event. When I found out that one of the pages had no relevance, I was so disappointed but I still put it back. After the premiere was over, we were asked to vote for what our favorite shorts were. While flipping through the booklet that was handed out, it was interesting to that I could understand what the grid structure was. It was cool to see that I could get a sense of what the designer’s intention was when gridding the booklet. Though the films were all drastically different content wise, all of them were able to make me feel emotional. I was able to relate to all the short films in some type of way. For example, the first short film “Dream Homes According to Kids: Milo” helped me remember when I was young and had a fun imagination. In addition, the film that is extremely tied to Pittsburgh, “The Return,” was very impactful because my dad is a big fan of Rocky Bleier because he went to Notre Dame. In addition, my grandfather also served at the same time when Bleier was drafted during the Vietnam war. It was interesting to see how the films brought to light issues that many can relate to. “The Neighbors’ Window” left a big impact on me because the issue that was brought up is something I try to understand and fix to this day. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and had a wonderful time.




11/5/19
First Assignment
Our first assignment required us to play with stroke weight, line spacing, Margins.This assignment allowed me to explore information hierarchy of preexisting text by manipulating three different features of text: stroke weight, line spacing, and horizontal shift. While doing this assignment, I thought that there was not that much freedom due to the restrictions. Here are the iterations that I did the first time.



For the second part, we had to play around with color! My group discussed the emotions that we felt while there. It was interesting to see how different Annalisa, Jamie, and I felt compared to Sarah. Sarah went the next day so she felt a different vibe. This exercise really helped me understand what my color palette should be to better portray the feelings that we felt that night.
I decided that I wanted to convey the feeling of being comfortable and local yet grand at the same time.
In order for us to use color in our works, we need to explore hierarchy using color combinations.






On Illustrator, I started pulling colors and making combinations. It was fun to see the different ways you can use colors. Because I wanted to have a grand feeling, I tried using colors that were slightly darker and muted. In addition, I tried using deep reds to bring about a grand feeling.







11/7/19
First Crit
After our first critique, I realized that I was restraining myself a lot. This whole time I thought that because of the requirements, the project was not flexible. Looking at other people’s work, I was able to see that there is so much freedom, I was just constraining myself. I redid the color and text exercise, because I felt that I needed to practice more. I thought it was interesting how Annalisa used color. Most people just changed the text color, but she played with the background and other shapes. Here is the link to see the second iterations of text. Here is the link to see the second iterations of color.






11/12/19
Incorporating Images
I was super excited to use images. I had so much fun looking for them, because I would be able to scroll through for hours and hours. After our class discussion, I realized that my photos were much darker than what the intended message was. In addition, I tried to play around with using the whole image which helped me have cool interpretations of my layout. Similar to the previous exercise, I was straining myself from have more freedom. I assumed that we had to keep our color palette that we choose from the color exercise. So, I had a hard time having my text visible because I was only using those colors.






11/13/19
Meeting With Vicki
I realized for my final I need to use images that gave a brighter and happier feeling. I made many different iterations that ranged from completely different layouts to slight size changes. In addition, this time, I tried to play around with adding white space rather than filling the whole page with images. I also tried using digital illustrations to play with the poster. I had a lot of fun trying new things. I was able to have lots of exploration, but it was harder for me to get to a solid concept. After talking with Vicki, I decided that I wanted to use images from the short films. This would help explain what the event is in a more straightforward manner.




I decided to create a layout that gave viewers a glimpse of what each short film is about. For the main poster, I just used one photo from Funky Butt and cropped it to make it seem more interesting and allow the audience to feel as if they are apart of the film. For the next to in the series, I tried using different number of images and sizes to give more of a storyboard feeling.




11/14/19
Final Presentation
For my final presentation, I showed the design that is above. It was fun to see how much everyone has developed their poster. In addition, it was interesting to see how different other people in my group portrayed our event. After the presentation, I was able to talk to Vicki one last time and get feedback.
11/14/19
Final Presentation
After getting much feedback, I decided that I wanted to stick with creating a series for my posters. My final series did not change much, but if I had more time, there are many other things I would like to try. When I talked to Vicki, I realized that I had way too many elements. For example, the photos are different sizes and number of them amongst the posters. In the future, I would want them to be more consistent. In addition, the Funky Butt poster is comprised of cropping one image, while the others are more like a storyboard. In the future, I would want to learn how to place photos in a storyboard manner well, because right now I am unsure how to do it in an effective way. Adding on, Laura mentioned that in my previous poster that the short film names were confusing because it felt as if they were blending in with the title. So, I tried to make more contrast between hierarchy. I made the date bigger and made 7PM and 10PM the same size as the titles of the short films.



