Shapes, concepts and sounds Design innovation
Index Symbols and sounds
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A brief introduction ......................................................... 3 Sounds and symbols relationship ........................... 6 Is the glass half empty or half full ............................ 10 A delicate sound ................................................................ 13 Horrizontal vs Vertical pressure ................................. 20 Rythm and visual associations ................................... 22 Innovation as a starting point .................................... 26 Diagonal stress- Ups and Downs ............................. 28 Feelings related to positions ....................................... 32 Horrizontal and vertical relationships ................... 34 Mixed innovation and theories ................................. 36
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Symbols and sounds
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A brief introduction In this research I am going to explore and visually analyze the relationship between symbols and sounds. This project will draw upon knowledge and researches that have been highly aknowledged by the design and sound community, but you will occasionally also find references to visual sounds experiments and representation .
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The relationship between symbols and sounds There has proven to be a strong correlation between symbols and sounds. As we look into the shape of a circle, for example, we can emotionally grasp a feeling of softness, a round and embracing symbol that seems to carry a peculiar stability to it’s presence. While
we dive into this shape, we feel a sense of calmness to it, as if nothing is bothering it’s essence. These feelings can be easily found when hearing a particular sound or a certain type of music. The connection between the visual and the musical art forms are inevitably linked
Symbols and sounds
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as they merge together to create a unified whole. For example, we can state that a circle can be linked to classical music instead of hardcore music, as it’s visual characteristics suggest us so. A triangle, on the other hand, conveys a more sharp feeling and thus making it
more likely to be associated to a harder and stronger type of music. We can state that rigid edges convey a feeling of higher and more penetrating essence, while round edges convey a feeling of softness. By using these visual elements we can also suggest what the
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musical sounds would look like. One of the most interesting shapes in these regards is undoubtedly the square. We can see how this shape has a very peculiar structure, as it visually suggest the same stability of a circle but has the acute edges of a triangle. In essence,
the square is a stable but strong shape, a kind of interesting mixture between two contrasting elements. The square can be associated with sounds having a medium strenght in their tone and quality, making this shape a solid visual experience.
Symbols and sounds
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TECHNO
DUB
HOUSE
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Is the glass half empty or half full ? After talking about shapes and their visual relation to sounds, we are now going to examine more spatial elements and concepts that help us to visually determine sounds, one of the most important ones being the weight and brightness. As we can see
from the examples below, we can see how a black box visually conveys a sense of deepness and fullness to it’s essence. We can literally feel the weight of this element, making us aware of the heaviness of it’s content. This is the same feeling we have when exposed
Heavy sound
Symbols and sounds
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to a heavy sound, such as when we pass near a loud loudspeaker in a discotheque. We can feel our body vibrate and experience the fullness of the sound. On the other hand, when the filling is missing and we are visually exposed to a white outline of the same
box, we feel lighter. Our emotions are neutral and we don’t feel a sense of heaviness as in the first case. We can associate this visual concept with a light and delicate sound, one that does not interrupt your thinking process and leaves you in a neutral state of mind.
Light sound
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Symbols and sounds
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A delicate space Sometimes less is more. In this spread opened and content-free spread we see how little amount of visual insights can convey a sense of lightness that can be associated to musical pauses.
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Symbols and sounds
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Space
Bass
Symbols and sounds
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High
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Low pitch sound
Horrizontal vs Vertical Pressure Continuing our analysis in the relation between sounds and visual concepts, we must mention the importance of vertical and horrizontal pressure. As we can see in the example above, when looking at a visual containing horrizontal lines, we feel a sense of calmness.
We also feel stability in these lines, as if they have an underlining structure that reminds us of the horrizon of the earth. This stability is interpreted with music and sounds with low dynamics. We would connect these horrizontal lines to low energy, stable type of music,
Symbols and sounds
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High pitch sound
while on the other hand vertical lines suggest us the opposite. Verticality is usually considered a connotation connected to dynamism, something that’s moving and does not stay still. The lines in the above example are not stable, but they communicate to
us a sense of movement. That’s what we would assume to be considered in music a higher pitch sound than it’s horrizontal counterpart. These principles have been applied many times in traditional graphic design and still are today.
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Rythm and visual associations When exploring the relationship between sound and symbols we cannot underestimate the importance of rythm. This principle is fundamental in both the visual and musical arts as it creates a timeline in which the viewer can grasp a story, a visual or sound
reference that makes him understand the general mood of the project. When seeing in the above example lines with different strokes in a rythmic pattern, we can understand that the pattern has it’s ups and downs. This can be associated to beats of a song, perhaps
Symbols and sounds
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the base of a low bass song. When the lines are of the same width, this pattern is repetitive and the rythm is perceived as stable and constant in time. This kind of rythm can be used when we want to convey a sort of stability to our visual projects, and can be beneficial to
make viewers understand a redundant concept. In music, we would expect to see this rythm in redundant songs, perhaps as a baseline for the music background.
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Dubstep
Classical music
Innovation as a start and end point At this point of our journey, we clearly examined and analyzed the relation between the semiotic value of visual and musical art forms. We can say that there is a strong link between them, as if one fades into the other and the barriers between the two are just the
limitations of our physical world. The question we must ask ourself now is how can we create a link between the two in an innovative value ? How can we weight the value of each one of them and explore the limitations of these link ? We can assume that this
Symbols and sounds
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aspect of communication has great relevance when exploring the possibilities that we have for updating our comunicational assets. We also must remember how these parts can help us to conoslidate a vision towards innovation, where the new reaches the
old, but the mediums and principles previously outlined remain the same as they are hard-wired in our brains by connections that have lasted for the past thousands upon thousands of years. We are now going to deeper explore and experiment these tools.
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Diagonal stress - Ups and downs At this point of our journey, we clearly examined and analyzed the relation between the semiotic value of visual and musical art forms. We can say that there is a strong link between them, as if one fades into the other and the barriers between the two are just the
limitations of our physical world. The question we must ask ourself now is how can we create a link between the two in an innovative value ? How can we weight the value of each one of them and explore the limitations of these link ? We can assume that this
Symbols and sounds
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In this research I am going to explore the relationship between symbols and sounds, also dedicating a final section to analyzing the integration of color. In this research I am going to explore the relationship between symbols and sounds, also dedicating a final section to analyzing the integration of color.
In this research I am going to explore the relationship between symbols and sounds, also dedicating a fin. In this research I am going to explore the relationship between symbols and sounds, also dedicating a fin.
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Wide sound
Feelings related to positions By further advancing our analysis, we stumble upon the concepts of spatial closure and pression. As we can see in the two examples above, we can visually communicate the width of the sound by using two different distances and sizes of the rectangles. Our brain is
hard-wired to perceive a sense of openess and wider width of the sound (ex. n째1) when we have a higher distance between two elements. This results as less oppressive on the amount of space that there is. By also reducing the width of the elements, we can further help
Symbols and sounds
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Closed sound
our mind to perceive it as lighter than it’s counterpart. On the other hand, a more full, thick and thight visual arrangement will result in a more tighter visual perception, making this being associated to a more closed type of sound. Be adjusting these parameters
to the type of sound we want to visually communicate, a viewer will be able to understand what the sound may be ike, even if they have never heard it. We are now going to analyze further into this topic.
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Horrizontal and vertical relationship As we further dive into this research, we must mention the importance of horrizontal vs vertical positioning. Horrizontality naturally conveys a sense of stability, creating an emotional reaction that is hard-wired in mammal brains.
When using horrizontal elements in design, we convey the same feelings that we have when listening to classical or lounge music .
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On the other hand, when using vertical elements, we find ourselves in a position that’s uncomfortable and unnatural. We usually associate vertical elements to a sense of unstability and movement, something that is not
as stable and that’s moving. This can help us conveying some particular sensations and we usually associate it to more dynamic sounds.
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Mixed innovation and theories As we advance with our analysis, we stumble upon a visual concept that confirms and explain almost all of these single theories in a visual form : the audio equalizator. As we see in the example above, the equalizator shows us the frequency,tone and amplitude
of the sounds being played, and makes therefor a quick reference to visually understand the whole composition, without having a single margin of error. This visual tool was introduced around the second half of 1900, and is still regarded as a fundamental tool that’s
Symbols and sounds
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being used from musicians, Dj’s, audio and sound experts from all parts of the world. We can finally declare that in the end, the single most important aspect when dealing with visual sounds is that we must grasp an understanding of these single elements and not apply
every rule within a fixed parameter, but we must contextualize and adapt each and every elements and spatial concept in such a way that will reflect our intended visual representation of the sound in it’s whole.
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Sound questionnaire 1. What do you associate to dubstep music ? [ ]
Triangle
[ ]
Circle
[ ]
Square
2. While playing classical music, what symbol do you find more appropriate ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 3. Imagine you heard a really low sound, what would be the symbol you expect ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 4. What is a Rolling Stones concern in your eyes ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 5. How do you see italian music ? [ ] [ ] [ ]
Symbols and sounds
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6. How does jazz makes you feel ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 7. What symbol do you associate to drum n’ bass ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 8. What does Bohemian Rapsody make you feel like? [ ] [ ] [ ] 9. How does a great song makes you feel like ? [ ] [ ] [ ] 10. How do you feel when you hear spanish music ? [ ] [ ] [ ]
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Innovation Design Ravensbourne University By Pierluigi Giglio
Symbols and sounds
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This booklet was created for the Innovation Design module at Ravensbourne University. Printed in London - November 2013
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