Major Project Research Summary | Davide Ragazzo | MA Graphic Branding & Identity | 2011
Major Project Research Summary Davide Ragazzo MA Graphic Branding & Identity // 2011
University of the Arts London
Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of London College of Communication MA Graphic Design. Title font is Optima; text is set in Garamond and Akzidenz Grotesque. UALLCCMAGB&I2011 I would like to thank all my tutors at LCC and every single person who took 5 minutes of their time to participate in the survey. A very special thanks to London, the muse of my whole year, I probably couldn’t have done it in any other city.
Introduction
1
Silence
4
Sound
16
Sounds and colours
22
Emotional colours
30
The outcome
38
Critical reflections
52
Bibliography
54
Boulevard | Leonid Afremov, 2004
1. INTRODUCTION
“Colour is the keyboard and the eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many strings.” - Wassily Kandinsky -
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Introduction
In a world dominated by sonic
The final outcome is a new brand
and visual stimuli everywhere, the
allowing people to manage and share
communicative power of sounds an
their emotions through music and
colours can lose its effectiveness.
colours.
This project explores sounds
All this areas represents the main
and colours’ features, meanings,
focus of this report as well.
correspondences and differences.
In order to not make it too long, boring,
The main common point they have
or misleading, the Report includes
is really the fact that both have a big
just the main points and experiments I
impact on people’s emotional sphere.
have done. Therefore, all the material
Therefore, my Major Project aims to
has been included in the Major Project
find an effective and simple language
Research Summary. That is because I
to communicate particular emotions
strongly believe that, although the final
to a wider public through the use of
outcome is quite simple and it doesn’t
sounds and colours.
show all my findings in it, everything
The starting point of my study was the
deserves to be quoted, being an
visualisation of an intangible resource
integral part of my mental process
like the silence in a visible and
thanks to how successful the final part
objective way.
of my Major Project has become.
Despite the initial definition of a
Given the chaotic nature of my
rigorous and detailed methodology,
research path, in the following
my research lent me to change my
chapters I will explain how I faced my
intentions many times, trespassing
project alternating theoretical sections
soon in the fields of sound, colours
to practical ones, because otherwise
and emotions.
the reader wouldn’t understand the mental process which brought me from one stage to another.
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Emotions
Colours
Sounds
“Colour is the keyboard and the eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many strings.” - Wassily Kandinsky -
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2. SILENCE
“If we all quieted down a little, maybe we’d understand something.” - Federico Fellini -
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Starting my research
My search for a topic for my major project was complicated by the directive: choose something that you are really interested in. Having an inordinate range or interests, I spent almost two months changing my idea and presenting my tutors new proposals. My final decision was about doing something related to sound, because in my own life it has always been very important. I am a musician, a devoted big music fan and I strongly believe that sound has the ability to evoke emotions. Despite of this, I am also aware that nowadays we are saturated by it. Loud and disturbing sounds are everywhere: at home, on the streets, at the work place, at the theatre. The list goes on and on. Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a home where a television or music system is not blaring away, or a street free from the constant ringing of mobile phones.
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A blurry image of London’s pollution | Personal picture
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Man is busy making his livelihood.
Environment experts have predicted
So busy that you hear mechanical
that in the 21st century we will suffer a
noises everywhere you go, but hardly
shortage of water and silence. 2
get to hear the sound of people talking
As people grow more aware of noise
to each other.
pollution, a need to communicate
1
The same is true on a visual level.
information about the need of silence
Light, colours and screaming
is increasing as well.
messages bombard us everyday
The problem is still not faced with the
all the time, ended up losing their
right prominence and the information
communicative effectiveness.
about it is usually entrusted to
We reached a level that there is
scientific languages, usually not
absolutely no silence in our lives.
accessible to wider public and visually
However, “in silence, we can hear
not attractive.
our soul speak”. So goes the saying. Getting in touch with our inner self
“I know all about noise, you measure it
is truly the way to attain joy and
in Jezebels!” 3
contentment. All this can have a catastrophic
In this context, my first idea was to find
effect on us, both physiologically and
a way to give a visual representation to
mentally.
an intangible resource like the silence. The goal of the visualization was not
But where is this ever eluding silence?
a scientific one; it was rather to raise
Life in this noisy jungle where we live
people’s awareness to ambient noise
makes one wonder whether such a
using accessible languages and
thing as silence exists.
showing them the benefints of silence. 1. Sai Ka Aangan (2010) | Power of Silence, p.42 2. Gordon Hempton (2009) | One square inch of silence 3. Rupert Taylor (1970) | Noise, p.18
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Silence visual languages
My research question at the time was:
I found a massive amount of
How to visualise silence?
material on the topic. Most of the
A quite challenging route to go, but
representations were just artistic
also a really general one.
attempts to express the silence from
In order to acquire the necessary
a personal point of view, but others
knowledge and to define better how I
really aim to make visible the intangible
wanted to face my topic, I focused on
features and effects of silence.
studying which visual languages have
The most interesting findings are
been used to represent sound, noise
available in my Research Summary.
and silence in the past and present.
Silent City | Kjellgen Kaninsky, 2011
Flowmarket e-commerce website | 2011
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Subject definition
In order to be able to communicate my
We probably can not express into
subject I needed to define it in detail.
words our emotions as much as we can do with the silence: pain, suffering, joy,
Silence is defined as the complete
melancholy, anguish, amazement, love.
absence of sounds or as the lack of
When we try to explain them by words,
any verbal communication.
they can lose their natural strength,
The sound, in turn, is by definition
and in any case they must be told with
a mechanical vibration transmitted
words enriched by silences.
through an elastic solid or a liquid
Therefore, silence does not mean
or a gas, with the frequencies in the
complete lack of expression; this is just
approximate range of 20 to 20.000
related to the verbal communication.
hertz. 1
Furthermore, its meaning can vary from very negative to extremely positive ones.
According to this perspective, silence and communication seem to be two
Also in terms of effects on humans,
contradictory terms, but they are finely
silence is able to induce relax, rest,
intertwined.
concentration and creativity, but it can also be the cause of fear or isolation, as
There is a silence that replaces the
well as a series of health’s problems like
word to say the pain and anguish, that
anxiety, insomnia and heart attacks. 3
expressing joy and tenderness, love or inclination to listen. There is a silence
This first stage of knowledge acquisition
that gives strength to the word, when
made me realize how vague my topic
dilates its timing and enriches the
still was and how the concept of silence
word of emotional meanings, there is
can assume completely different facets
the silence that feeds itself in waiting
depending on the context.
for a word.
2
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What am I trying to represent?
Next, to avoid reaching wrong or too personal conclusions, I decided to take
Before I was able to narrow and refine
a survey, to gather informations about
my research question, I clearly needed
what people really look for in silence.
to find out what exactly was my subject
In order to that, I set up a survey on
of study. I started brainstorming
Survey Monkey asking people three
and researching about the different
simple questions.
meanings and facets that the concept
They were firstly asked to sit down in
of silence can assume.
silence and relax for one minute.
The effects of silence | Survey results
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The situations of silence | Survey results
Next, every interviewee was asked to
Five hundred people took part on
think about silence in a positive way
the survey, and it allows me to have
and to write down:
a general knowledge of what people
• three situations related to it • three effects it can have on people • three objective features
think about positive silence, and which features and situations they use to link to it. To keep track of the informations I
I also tried to take the survey using
was entering, I entered them all into a
paper questionnaires. They have been
spreadsheet.
distributed in the Camden Town area,
When the survey was ended I organise
but people’s response was really low
them in charts to facilitate their
and their reaction often quite rude, so I
comprehension for the next stage.
soon stopped using that method. However, the pool of responses was generally quite good.
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1. Catherine Soanes (2005) | Dictionary of English 2. Fucsia (2009) | The silence in the world 3. WIlliams Kipling (2001) | The power of silence
Visual experiments
The survey had finally shed light what
Most of these exercises were visually
on what I wanted to visualize.
interesting, but they did not lead me to
Therefore, tired of theoretical research,
any real conclusion, probably because
I decided to start experimenting with
it still was too early to look for a
shapes and materials, in order to
practical solution.
transpose the results of my survey into
Despite of this, they have been a
a visual project.
positive exercise to deeply understand
I mainly focused my attention on
the subject, gaining feedback in the
the features of silence (absence,
definition of the project focus.
transparency, brightness), trying to get out a concept from the ideas that came out from the survey. In the first place, I wrote the world “silence” in different ways, underlining a different trait every time. Next, I started testing differently. I wanted to find more original and unconventional ways to make this features truly visible and universally understandable. I kept on writing the same world , but with different materials as transparent paper, sugar, gunpowder, chalk, light. Ultimately, I tried to find and photograph a “visual-metaphor” capable of reflecting as more features as possible in a single image.
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Sugar on white paper | Personal experiment
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White feather on red brick | Personal picture
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Audiovisual | Jakob Kirkegaard, 2010
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3. SOUND
“There is always something to hear, there is always something to see.” - John Cage -
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The sounds of silence
The previous experiments were clearly
Absolute silence is a quite extreme
addressed to give a concrete form to
condition in nature. It is possible just in
silence, understood as an absolute
three conditions:
lack of any sound. For this reason the set of colours was very limited, and the expressive possibilities as well.
• in the empty space; • in case of deafness; • in the anechoic chambers 1
I soon began wondering if absolute
An anechoic chamber is a room
silence is a really possible condition in
designed to stop reflections of either
nature. In fact, when you think about
sound or electromagnetic waves.
the highest level of silence you can
It simulates a quiet open-space of
hear, this is still far away from being no
infinite dimensions.
sound at all.
Moved by my extreme curiosity I went to visit the anechoic chamber of the
Is absolute silence possible?
University College of London, based in Euston Square.
The University College of London’s anechoic chamber | 2011
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White noise spectrum
I came across two important
hearing two sounds, one high and one
discoveries, confirming other people’s
low, respectively the nervous system in
opinions I previously read on internet.
operation and the blood in circulation. 2
Firstly, absolute silence is not even possible within this special room.
Therefore perfect silence is an impos-
Secondly, this extreme condition is
sible condition in reality, as John Cage
strange and disturbing, not positive at
said, “until the world survive, there will
all. As a matter of fact, these rooms
be sound.”
have a profound effect on the people
The latest discoveries and observations
who go into them.
opened my eyes. People are not looking for absolute silence, but rather
Stepping into the chamber is a strange
for a particular kind of sound.
experience, like being in a field in the
In this direction I consider the Gordon
middle of the night. Despite you expect
Hempton’s definition of silence much
to hear silence, you immediately start
more exhaustive than the dictionary’s one.
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Sounds of silence | Susan Kessler & Petra Eichler, 2006
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“Silence is the absence of all
After these findings I had to redefine
mechanical vibrations, leaving only the
my research question, because I
sound of nature at her most natural.
clearly was not trying to represent
Silence is the presence of everything
the total lack of sound, but rather a
undisturbed”
particular form of it. That is why, although I had always
This is confirmed from the fact that
spoken about silence but thought of
our own search for “peace and quiet”
sound, I definitely moved my attention
never extends as far as wanting no
on this field.
noise at all.
My new research question became:
Real silence is strange and disturbing,
“how to visualise sound”?, with a
not relaxing. Most people cannot sleep
particular focus on the sounds of
without at least some background
silence.
sound.
As soon as I changed perspective,
Moreover, studies have shown that
I have seen a whole new set of
natural or slow music played at a really
possibilities in front of me.
low volume have positive effects on
I did not have to visualise the absence
people’s mood and health.
or lack or something, but rather the
3
I also discovered the extremely
presence of it.
beneficial effects of a particular kinds
Therefore, I decided to start defining
of sound called white noise.
the visual form of sound from the basic
Consisting in a combination of all
visual parameter: the colour.
frequencies of sound being played at the same time at a low volume, it is an incredibly effective sound-source encouraging deep relax and rest.
1. George Foy (2010) | The Quest for Absolute Silence 2. John Cage (1973) | Lectures and Writings 3. Oli Usher (2005) | If these walls could talk (The Guardian article)
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The fol
used in
4. SOUNDS & COLOURS
The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble. - Wassily Kandinsky -
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Song visual translation | Personal experiment
llowing Research Summary contains all the material I collected and
n the last six months of my Master Degree.
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What has been done before?
Does sound have colour?
The phenomena started when Sir Isaac
And is there a way of knowing what
Newton puzzled over the nature of light
colour is emitted by a sound?
and its relationship with sound. The physicist undestood, as have many
Converting sound to graphical images
inventors and artist since, that both are
is hardly a new idea.
wave phenomena that operate over a
I found myself interested in the
range of frequencies.
physical correspondences between
Newton associated each of the seven
them, in how one can be converted to
colours that he saw in prismatic light
another and vice versa.
with the seven notes of the harmonic
The topic is certainly not new, since
scale, ignoring the fact that many more
it has been treated by many people
shades of colour exist.
before, but most of the time the
His arbitrary random associations
association was arbitrary, conditioned
inspired a three centuries movement
only by our cultural practices and
of artists. 1
psychological preferences. However, in order to be able to create
Another interesting theory based on
my own visual language I had to
randomness was given by the famous
became familiar with their vocabulary.
Wassily Kandinsky. He described each of the most common colours and
Over two centuries ago, dreamers
compared them to musical sounds.
started to imagine instruments
“Absolute green is the most peaceful
that would use combinations and
colour there is: it has no overtones of
sequences of colour to affect us as
joy or sorrow or passion. I would think
musicians do with combinations and
the best way of charaterizing it would
sequences of sounds.
be the sound of a violin.�
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2
Three Centuries of Colour Scales | Rhythm-Light.com, 2006
Light, Sound & Alpha Brain Wave Correspondences | Anthony Fiorenza, 2007
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While I was studying the topic in depth
It was then that I came across an
I came across a neurologically based
interesting theory by Anthony Fiorenza.
phenomenon called synesthesia. In simple terms it is a phenomenon
His study proposes a correspondence
where the senses of a person get
relation between light and sound by
mixed instead of remaining separate.
juxtaposing the spectrum of audible frequencies and the spectrum of
“Sometimes certain sounds make me
visible frequencies by means of a
see green dots everywhere that dance.
mathematical modellation. To do that,
I often see dancing waves of small
the values of the wave frequency from
pink octagon shaped things. Surfaces
28 Hz to 4 KHz (nearly the spectrum
can ooze red, black or yellow.” 3
of fundamental frequencies from the texture of a piano) have been
I found it really interesting for my
converted to values of wavelength
purpose, but being an extreme
from 400 nm to 700 nm. 4
subjective phenomenon, it has not been so helpful in my research of a
Despite there is still a random
universal correspondence between
parameter, this theory is by far much
sound and colour.
more scientific than all my previous
After all, sound has tone, light has
findings.
colour. 1. Fred Collopy (2009) | Colour - Volume 2.3 2. Wassily Kandinsky (1977) | On the Spiritual in Art 3. www.experienceproject.com (2011) 4. Andrè Range Macedo (2009) | Visible and Audible
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Visual experiments
How could I create a visual melody?
The sounds of silence are what I was trying to visually represent at the
After I gained the necessary
moment.
knowledge about the topic, I decided
In order to convert that sounds into a
to apply it in a practical way.
coloured representation I needed to
First of all I visited different places
establish a precise colour scale.
around London to record different
I assigned a particular colour to
sound samples.
each of the main seven scores of the
I have chosen to visit five of the places
musical scale, with reference to the
I have found through my survey about
Anthony Fiorenza’s study.
silence, because I still wanted to relate
Furthermore, I associated a particular
to silence in some way, despite the
colour tone to each variation which a
fact I had slightly changed my focus
particular note can assume.
point.
E
D
C
B
A
G
F
Colour Music scale based on Anthony Fiorenza Study
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Then, converting the .wav files previously recorded into .midi, I have been able to obtain classic musical transcription of the recorded sounds. Ultimately, thanks to the previously defined colour scale, I translated a small portion of every sound into a coloured representation. In order to do that I established a basic grid of lines, which has been coloured according to the pitch and duration of the various scores composing the samples. The results of this process are visually strong and interesting, giving a visual image of different relaxing natural sounds. Despite of this, I was still convinced that the chosen colour scale was too generic. In fact, according to what I was doing, different sources of sound emitting the same range of scores, they would have generated an identical visual translation. I was clearly still missing a real common point between colour and music.
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The underwater sounds of the Camden Road Indoor Pool | Sound visual translation
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Audiovisual | Jakob Kirkegaard, 2010 Chromotherapy Shower | www.luux.com, 2011
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5. EMOTIONAL COLOURS
“Each colour has its own expression value, that is why a particular colour can communicate emotions without showing real objects.” - Stanton McDonald-Wright -
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The meaning of colours
The previous set of experiments left me
regarding colours and emotions.
deeply unsatisfied.
Wassily Kandinsky had written a really
That is why I decided to visit again the
interesting theory about this topic.
locations under analysis, hoping to find
Thus confirming he was the pioneer and
a way out from my endless questioning.
his views were always interesting in the
I listened again to the natural sounds
subject.
and observed carefully the colours that were surrounding me.
“Light red is a warm color, which
This made me notice how the only
expresses force, energy, decisiveness,
aspect that truly differentiate a situation
joy and triumph. It is a persistent and
from another was the set of emotions
strong tone.”
that they were able to provoke in me. In fact, my feelings when I was sitting in
I then found another original theory by
the middle of Hide Park were completely
Robert Plutchik, according to which
different for the ones I felt being
primary emotions can be combined and
underwater in the Camden Pool.
mixed, exactly like colours.
That is why I should not have used the
He created a wheel of coloured emotions
same colour set to represent completely
showing his psychoevolutionary theory in
different emotional situations.
a very clear visual way.
I suddenly had an insight and I assumed the emotional sphere as the common
I also studied in depth the cultural
point between sound and colour.
meanings and associations linked to
I had finally found what I was looking for.
colours, focusing on the western’s ones in
Moved by my new intuition I began
order to avoid confusion.
studying in depth the meaning of
Combining all my findings, I have been
colours, to understand which feelings
able to have a clear overview of the main
can be expressed by a certain hue.
meanings associated to a certain hue.
I found many interesting theories 32 MAJOR PROJECT REPORT
The meaning of colours | Personal summary
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Physical effects of the colour therapy
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Colour therapy
Colours don’t only symbolise emotions.
Therapist trained in chromotherapy
They also have a strong impact on the
can use colour and light to balance
way we feel.
“energy” wherever a person’s body
We cannot avoid reacting to colours.
be lacking, be it physical, emotional,
They are an essential aspect of how we
spiritual, or mental. This form of
see the world, affecting our preferences,
therapy is surely really interesting and
characters, behaviour and personality.
innovative, but its effectiveness has
Colours are forces, radiant energies that
been repeatedly questioned.
affect our mind and spirit positively or
However, there is another form of
negatively, whether we are aware of it
treatment based on coloured lights,
or not.
which is valid and proven.
They are something that should be
It consists of exposure to specific
experienced and understood not only
wavelengths of light in order to treat
visually, but also psychologically and
physical and mental disorders.
symbolically.
It demonstrates the communicative
That is the reason why coloured lights
efficacy of the colours and the fact that
have been used for thousands of years
they are powerful instrument to use
as a truly holistic, not invasive and
knowingly.
powerful therapy. I discovered the existence of a real form of alternative medicine based on colours, called chromotherapy.
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An emotional colour code
Particular kinds of sound can
At this point I have been able to define
touch our soul and induce intense
a range of hues associated to every
emotions, which can be drawn by
emotion, and to visualise them in
colours.
different ways. Love, for example, can be expressed
After acquiring the necessary
with a range of colour which vary from
knowledge, it then became a matter of
bright orange to dark red.
practice.
Next, I tried to associate these scales
My conclusion was that the translation
to the places visited some time
of sound into colours should have
before, through a compatibility chart,
been related to the emotions that they
according to the emotions that I
both are able to evoke.
experienced in each of them.
Not every colour can be used to
I did that because I wanted to correct
symbolise a particular sound, because
my failed experiments, using just a
just a certain set of feeling will be
certain colour scale for each of them.
experienced by people exposed to that
My attempts have eventually failed.
particular sound.
In fact, because of the large number of
For these reasons I decided to define
emotions experimented in every place,
a set of colours able to express
the resulting colour scale resulted as
certain sensations. I choose to take
almost the whole available.
into analysis the main emotions I felt
Despite of this, all the study behind
in the places I visited for the previous
it has been really useful for me and it
experiments.
allowed me to fully understand colours
I then bound a set of colours to each
and their emotional power.
of them, according to the meanings of colours previously studied.
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6. THE OUTCOME
How do you feel today?
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Premises
Theoretical research and experiments had kept me busy for almost five months, and allowed me to acquire a substantial wealth of knowledge about the subject of study. However, time was getting short and I needed to find a practical outcome as soon as possible. I began thinking about how I could have applied the sounds/colours/ emotions correspondences and knowledge to a concrete and real project. Since the master I am attending is called Master in Graphic Branding & Identity, the final work was supposed to have some kind of relationship with the branding field. How could I apply my knowledge to branding? How can the emotional power of sounds and colours be used to gain a certain emotional effect in the user and enhance its experience of a brand?
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The idea
Target audience
Media
The first question I asked myself was
Because of my target audience choice,
about the users and their profile.
I needed to create a brand applicable
Who is interested in music, colours and
to a large number of media and devices,
emotions?
in ordern to reach completely different
Since it is a subject which basically
age groups. However, I mainly focused
interests all ages, I needed to create
on creating a screen based outcome,
a brand able to communicate to the
because I strongly believe that new
widest audience possible.
technologies are able to make a product
Despite of this, I chose to prioritize the
attractive, especially for young people.
younger generation, between 15 and
In addition, new technological devices
30 years old, because they are by far
such as iPhones and iPads are a
more interested in music and innovative
perfect media to combine sound and
products.
colours in a powerful commercial product.
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Brand In this context, my idea has been the
I wanted to extend that concept.
creation of a music player based on
Music is not just an emotional trigger.
the user’s mood.
It is also a powerful communicative
Songs are usually classified by criteria
tool. My aim was to create a sort of
as artist or album. However, when
musical community where people
people listen to music, they usually
could track, manage and share their
care about their emotional reaction
mood through music.
to it; they look for something able to
I wanted user to be able to listen
match their current mood.
songs matching their mood, but also
How many times have we listened to
enable them to change it using the
a song just because we are sad, or
emotional response generated by
angry, or to be energetic to go out?
particular sounds and colours.
What is really important about music is
In a few words, a sort of portable
our emotional response to it.
colour & music therapy.
That is why I thought to use two
Moreover, I wanted to make it possible
powerful tool as sound and colours to
to know how the rest of the world is
enhance the musical experience of the
feeling and to give the possibility to
listener.
connect with other people who feels in the same way and know what they are
At any rate, the classification of music
listening to.
by mood is not a brand new concept.
Therefore, the focus of my project
Musicovery for example, is one of a
was not just to create a music player,
few websites where people can select
rather than produce a powerful and
how they feel and listen a playlist
accessible tool to manage and share
based on their own mood.
the way people feel.
However, what I wanted do was much
A 360° emotional experience.
more than that.
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Project development
Visual language In order to give a strong and recog-
The choice of using this set of smileys
nizable visual image to my project I
has proved successful also because
focused on the creation of a coloured
they have been used as effective
language to express feelings.
pointers on the Mood Map (see pag.46), indicating the mood of a particular place
First of all I chose a set of eight basic
at a certain time.
emotions that people are used to feel. Next, based on my research about colours and meanings, I tried to
Happiness
express them through simple symbols. The goal was to find a effective way to
Love
communicate without using a spoken language.
Anger
For this reason, I created a system of coloured smileys, all similar but each
Boredom
one characterized by a certain colour and a particular facial expression.
Sadness
I tried to make them as simple as possible, to be usable on screen and even on a small scale.
Thoughtfulness
However, I could not help but include details such as eyebrows,
Relax
because they proved to be essential to characterize and distinguish one
Fear
meaning from another.
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Naming and logo The project name “Moodtrack” was
Then, after the creation of the eight
not only chosen to express the topic in
emotional smileys, I clearly understood
simple way, but also to emphasise the
that they needed to be present in the
meaning of both the words.
logo as well, to not lose the graphical
In fact “track” can mean song but can
unity of the brand.
also be also be referred to the act of
I could not use all of them for reasons of
“following your emotional state”.
space and design proportions.
For this reason I thought it was a
That is why I decided to place side by
perfect name for the brand I was
side the two most representative ones,
creating.
happy and sad, to give a clear idea
Simple, clear and attractive.
about the emotional connections of the software.
The choice of a logo has been a quite
In addition I added a pair of headphones
long process.
to each of them, not to lose the
At the beginning I was trying to create
immediate association with the music
a symbol clearly related to the music
world.
world. I tried to draw an equaliser, a
Ultimately, I wanted to add an effective
pentagram, a treble clef.
claim to it. At the beginning I was trying to include the essence of the brand in a few words: Track your mood; Share your emotion through music; Emotional music. In the end, I realized how the use of the question that I planned to appear just entering the music player was a much stronger and representative option.
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Functions and layout Moodtrack has been thought as a brand
All these functions are explained in detail
for various media devices.
in my Major Project Outcome, which is
I decided to develop the iPhone App
an instruction guide of the App.
because i thought it was the most representative device for the new brand.
An important feature of the new brand
In fact nowadays people spend most of
it is that its whole interface changes
the time listening to music through their
hue depending on the user’s mood,
smart phones, and Moodtrack has been
thereby taking advantage of the strong
thought as something that is able to be
communicative power of colours.
with you at all times. In my early tests on the layout of the The App’s interface is really simple and
App, I encountered some important
intuitive. It has got four main options:
obstacles. In fact this first hypothesis
• The profile, where users can update
were missing graphic unity and it was
and track their emotional history.
too focused on the music player’s
• The mood player, which plays songs
options.
and therapeutic coloured animations
Moreover the large amount of
according to your current mood. It can
information contained in each screen
also gradually bring you to another
made its usability very poor.
attitude if you are not satisfied by the
After experimenting with different
current one.
amounts of information, I deleted the
• The mood alarm, through which you
unnecessary ones and limited them to
can decide how to wake up.
the name of the track and the basic
• The mood map, that allows you to find
buttons.
out how people feel around you or in a
By limiting this information, I finally
specific geographic location and which
gave the necessary importance to the
songs they are listening to.
emotional affect of music and colours,
Furthermore, Moodtrack integrates
rather than the commands that any
with popular social networks including
music player can have.
Facebook and Twitter, allowing you
In addition, the result is clearer and
to share your feelings and emotional
cleaner.
playlists with your friends and contacts.
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First hypothesis
Go
5.
Gloomy Sunda y
Billie Holiday
Log Ou t
Final hypothesis
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Advertising / City branding One of the most interesting functions of Moodtrack is to allow people to know how people feel around the world and what they are listening to. I thought that the application of the same principle to the real world could have been a powerful instrument of advertising for the new brand and an attempt to brand the mood of the cities itself. People all over the world register their emotions through the songs they listen to, according to a colour coded “mood index�. Answers continuously get calculated statistically. The everchanging median value for a certain city gets projected on strategical places, representing a clever and powerful advertisement for the brand and an attempt of branding the cities themselves. A sort of audio-visual thermometer showing the dominating mood of a particular city.
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Hypothetical screen installation in Duomo Square | Milan
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Brand’s media Since Moodtrack has been thought to
The Mp3 music player represents the
be applied to various devices.In fact
transposition of the brand’s features
it is an App for iPhone or iPad, but it
and principles in a tangible object.
is also a website and a Mp3 Portable
It is designed to play playlists created
music player. I wanted to show how
through the Moodtrack App or website
the layout of the App can be easily
and downloaded on the iTunes Store.
adapted to the other devices.
Users can choose music by pushing
I made some sample screens for the
the coloured button corresponding to
iPad and the website (see Research
their mood, exactly as in the multimedia
Summary).
applications.
The layout is slightly different because of the different screen sizes, but the overall image and the distinctive traits of the brand are in common and clearly visible.
Moodtrack Portable Mp3 Music Player
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Further development The previous development shows the potential of this project, which represents far more than a simple music player. Its basic elements can be applied to further developments. I developed some hypothesis of merchandising. They represent another way to express people’s mood, through the visual language of the brand. The same concept has got endless application possibilities.
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7. CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
After a deep research into a variety of areas I can definitely say I enriched my knowledge. I found myself particularly interest in the colour theory and in the emotional connections of sounds and colours. The final outcome design process has been interesting and challenging, and I am quite proud of the result. However, critically reflecting back at the Major Project, there are some points that I could have improved. First of all, for interactive products the test with the audience is a vital part of the design process. The feedback from the audience can improve the quality of the product and eliminate any weaknesses. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to test my product on the field. Furthermore this would have required to make the real App and my knowledge in the area are quite scarce. Therefore, I would like to test the product in order to see people’s reaction on it. I think I will do ask help to someone expert in the field in order to practically make the software, because I believe it could be a useful and innovative project. MAJOR PROJECT REPORT
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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
What I have read. What I have watched. What I have consulted.
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Bibliography
Books and articles Listening to Noise and Silence: Toward a Philosophy of Sound Art Salome Voegelin | Continuum Publishing Corporation, 2010 Sound Art: beyond music, between categories Alan Litch | Rizzoli, 2007 Background noise: perspectives on sound art Brandon LaBelle | Continuum, 2006 Sound of Art: Musik in der bildenden Kunst; les grands Spectacles III Eleonora Louis, Brigitte Felderer, Toni Stooss | Salzburg, 2008 One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Silence in a Noisy World Gordon Hempton & John Grossman | Har/Cdr Edition, 2009 This book is about our sound of silence Hrsg. Petra Eichler and Susanne Kessler | Verlag der Buchhandlung, 2007 See this sound = Promises in sound and vision Dieter Daniels & Manuela Ammer | Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, 2010 Zero Decibel: The quest for absolute silence George Foy | Scribner, 2010 In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise George Prochnik | Doubleday, 2010 Silence: Lectures and Writings John Cage | Marion Boyars, 1973 The Anarchy of Silence: John Cage and Experimental Art Julia Robinson | Museu Dart Contemporani de Barcelona, 2010 The History of a Color Michel Pastoreau | Princeton University Press, 2001
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Colour and Meaning. Art, Science and Symbolism John Cage | Thames & Hudson, 2000 Cromophobia Davide Batchelor | Reaktion Books, 2000 My many colored days Dr. Fancher, Lou Seuss | Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996 Sound diplomacy: music and emotions in transatlantic relations Donna Dailey | AA Publishing, 2004 Colors of London Julia Robinson | Museu Dart Contemporani de Barcelona, 2010 Power of Silence Say Ka Aangan | Simon & Schuster, 2010 Noise Rupert Taylor | Penguin Books Ltd, 1970 Oxford Dictionary of English Catherine Soanes | UOP Oxford, 2005 The power of silence Williams Kipling | The Guilford Press, 2001 The Quest for Absolute Silence George Foy | Scribner Book Company, 2010 Lectures and Writings John Cage | Wesleyan U.P., 1973 On the Spiritual in Art Wassily Kandinsky | Dover Publications, 1977
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Websites Color and culture | Color School, 2007 <www.color-club.com/special/school/060901.html> Symbolism of color. Using color for meaning. | Deborah Griggs, 2007 <www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/color2.html> What is synestesia? | J. Weinstock, 2007 <www.scientificamerican.com> Plutchikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eight Primary Emotions And How To Use Them | Daniel Benjamin Smith, 2010 <http://dragonscanbebeaten.wordpress.com/2010/06/04> Kandinsky Color Theory | A. Evert, 2007 http://www.myspace.com/evertrobles/blog/316135676 I colori del silenzio | A. Roggero, 2005 <http://greyhound.myblog.it/archive/2005/10/27/i-colori-del-silenzio.html> Environmental color mapping using digital technology | Lisa Leff, 2007 <www.deseretnews.com/dn/view0,1249,66022741,00.html> Synesthesia | 2011 <www.experienceproject.com> If these walls could talk | Oli Usher, 2005 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/aug/11/4> Behance <www.behance.com> Deviantart <www.deviantart.com>
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