Project 2

Fundamentals of Visual Communication

For Project 2, we conducted a series of exercises that helped us understand how typographic variables (ex. contrast, proximity, alignment) affect the reading of information. We were given a prompt from our respective communities from Project 1, which served as a fun extension. This project was very exciting, as I was simultaneously doing similar exercises for a project in another course, Communication Design Fundamentals (CDF). For reference, I have included at least one (print) example from each exercise below.

Exercise 1: Line spacing

Line spacing is the variable that makes me feel most comfortable. It gives blocks of text space to breathe, even with as little as one space in between each line. Furthermore, I believe that it is the only variable that can effectively communicate a message on its own.

Exercise 2: Stroke weight (x2)

One thing I unintentionally did during this exercise was choosing weights that were two or more steps/levels away from one another. To my surprise, I discovered that this is a basic principle of communication design. While most students used 45 Light & 65 Medium, I preferred to use 45 Light & 75 Bold for more emphasis.

Exercise 3: Horizontal shift

Without line spacing, uses of horizontal shift left my poster feeling very cluttered. However, this exercise was the one I spent the most time playing with, as I was unsure which information was the best to highlight/emphasize over others.

Exercise 4: Horizontal shift (x2)

Adding another horizontal shift was frustrating, as it brought attention to irrelevant information at times. Despite several bad attempts, this exercise proved to be helpful when prioritizing information with my final design.

Exercise 5: Line spacing + Stroke weight (x2)

Combining variables felt liberating! I combined my ideas from earlier exercise, and things seemed to fall into place. While line spacing separated information, bolding brought attention to the most necessary/relevant information.

Exercise 6: Stroke weight (x2) + Horizontal shift

I tried to avoid pushing things too far, but I thought I might as well take advantage of the two levels of horizontal shift given the amount of relevant information. Since the event title and date were combined, I had to think of different ways to give more importance to the title, while still giving the date importance.

Exercise 7: Scale

While the scale exercise wasn’t visually pleasing without line spacing, it helped me conceptualize my final text arrangement (see below). Combined with bolding, font size served as a very helpful variable to bring the readers eye to the places I deemed important.

Exercise 8: Color

Playing with color was a lot of fun! Due to the delicacy of the topic, I decided to use soft, yet simple colors and shapes. Although these elements didn’t make it into my final design, these were my favorite exercise results.

Exercise 9: Image

Using images was a little tricky. I tried my best to avoid being too straightforward or cute, while still capturing the essence of the prompt. In the end, I decided to use imagery without children and focus on the mood/environment that I felt was communicated.

Additional exercises

Throughout the assignment, we were given two additional exercises which included arranging a Top 20 Love Songs poster and a collage from a magazine(s) of our choosing. The poster helped us to get adjusted to working with grids, whereas the collage tested our sense of color (warm vs. cold) and an assigned element, mine being dominance/emphasis. For the poster, I kept things simple and used a classic font to represent the classic songs. For the collage, I used graphs to give the college a scientific theme while making the illustration look as if it were at the center of the experiment.

Final

For my final poster, I decided to take Vicky’s advice and experiment with the placement of text chunks on paper, which proved to be very helpful. From my understanding, the final poster was received well, especially in regards to the information hierarchy. After receiving feedback, I simply decided to go against traditional style (which is hard for me) and start from the top right rather than the top left, while flipping the image to maintain the proper contrast with the title colors.

Reflection

I found this Project to be very helpful and exciting. This was one of the first times (aside from my experience in CDF) where I had the opportunity to use my artistic creativity. Going forward, I will seek out opportunities where I can apply these new skills, especially with advertisement opportunities for my on-campus commitments.