Circle – Unit 1.1 Visual Research Summary by Paulo Estriga

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Unit 1 MA Graphic Branding & Identity 2011 London College of Communication

visual research summarY

Paulo Estriga 3

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Unit 1.1 Design Literacy Brief – Partial Rewrite Objectives

Brief 1 – Object

• Investigate the basic fundamental laws that govern form. • Explore the application of those laws in visual communication. • Explore research methods. • Improve approach to practical and theoretical aspects. • Investigate visual language. • Re-evaluate design principles and analyse their relationship to content and meaning.

Produce a series of finished projects interrogating attributes of visual form:

Object • Analyse, inspect, test the form. • Seek diverse and innovative results. Context Document the form’s use as a representation, sign or symbol (its relationship to meaning). Output Develop a research question into a design project intended to communicate to a specific audience (single piece/series of pieces of work). Submission A complete body of work addressing all three briefs with consistent presentation throughout. Visual research summary • Documenting the staged progression of studies. • Showing diverse practical, visual, contextual and conceptual responses to all briefs. • Demonstrating investment of energy, time, ideas, skills and knowledge. • Constructed in any appropriate media. Resolution Piece(s) of work. I ntermediate records of process Sub-projects, work in progress, experimental pieces, contextual studies, sketchbooks, digital files, research dossiers.

Time • Rhythm • Order • Motion • Sequence...

Explore unfamiliar territory. Research, document, reflect on and respond to examples of existing work and written discourse to substantiate the practical work.

Light • Tint • Tone • Hue • Saturation • Transparency • Opacity...

State clear questions Document everything basis of visual research summary

Overview

Space • Line • Plane • Mass • Void...

Examples Recording transformation of the form through continuous cyclical processes: • 2D <> 3D • Moving <> fixed • Transient <> permanent • Predictable <> unpredictable • Drawn <> collaged • Modular <> holistic • Mathematical <> random • Generative <> unique

Carefully plan methods and define objectives

Realise progressively related practical experiments using design methods

Find answers

Translate <> Interpret through media.

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what makes the circLe UniQUe?

largest Possible area Per given length of Perimeter

all Points in Perimeter are eQuiDistant from centre

rotation is invisible when centre is the axis

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ http://mathworld.wolfram.com/

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With the same perimeter, the triangle looks larger than the square and nearly the same size as the circle, when it’s actually the smallest shape. Overlaying the shapes clearly shows the correct differences in area by allowing the comparison of extruding parts.

The area of the square is 78.545% of the circle’s. The area of the triangle is 60.642% of the circle’s.

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With the same area, the triangle looks larger than the circle. Overlaying the shapes shows that to be wrong.

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When rotating around a central axis, the circle shows no rotation, appears static. A square rotating at 45º shows rotation but appears more like an alternating pattern of orientation.

An equilateral triangle rotating at 30º resembles a pattern – states don’t relate closely enough.

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Rotating at 15ยบ angle, the circle continues to appear static. The square and the triangle show rotation and also appear to bounce slightly as vertices move away and then back to an imaginary horizontal line of reference.

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Rotating the circle off-axis produces a sensation of spacial movement but not really of rotation. Centre-rotating but keeping a point on the disc (another circle) highlighted for reference makes rotation apparent. The effect is more noticeable with a larger point.

This could also be read as simply a circle moving inside a circular static space. States where the dot is closer to the imaginary horizontal line that links all centres appear to show rotation better than those where the dot is farther (high or low).

45ยบ rotation provides a clearer idea of movement, with the circle having one point highlighted, than 30ยบ. The rotation also feels faster.

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If highlighting two dots, due to the symmetry and the fact that there are only four states, it starts feeling like a pattern, though it still feels more like rotation than with the square, which only has two states when rotated at 45º. Rotating at 30º makes the rotation feel slower.

Making the highlighted dot touch the edge provides a feeling of uneven speed of rotation: it appears to accelerate when going down and slow down when going up. The extreme position of the dot makes it upset the visual balance of the circle, aiding the feeling of rotation.

With two dots highlighted, weight balance is kept in every state. There is a sensation of “pause” when the dots form an imaginary horizontal line as it gives a feeling of rest and stability.

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Simulating conic vs. elliptical ascent and descent of a circle over another circle. Isolated, the conic movement may appear elliptical, but when shown together with the elliptical movement, the differences are clear.

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Progressively decreasing the width of the circle and then increasing it back, not only provides a sense of rotation in space but also of the circle bouncing from the place where it rested initially towards the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes.

Decreasing the length perpendicularly to the direction of movement gives more of a sense of compression than of rotation. The existance of more than one rotational axis increases the sense of rotation and decreases the sense of bounce.

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Changing the tint of the circle where the reverse of it faces the viewer does not increase the sense of rotation in space.

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Experiments on 3D rotation of semi-circles and projected shadows.

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When using a square pattern with circles where each circleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s centre is the vertice of a square, even balance between the mass of the circles and the surrounding space is achieved when the radius of the circles is less than half the distance between centres.

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Concentric contrasting circles appear static. No rotation can be apparent. Making circles touch alternatively in 180ยบ angles provides a sense of 3D radiation, but not of rotation.

Making the circles touch in 90ยบ angles provides a sense of rotation, which is increased at 45ยบ. Spirals become clearly visible.

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Random distribution of circles within circles provides a more chaotic 3D feel. Random distribution of circles with irregular widths touching along one axis produces a sense of 3D movement and shape.

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Circles aligned in a square pattern creating an image of a larger circle. As the elements increase size, circular overall shape becomes octagonal, then progressively square or cross-like.

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If the pattern is organised in a more natural hexagonal pattern, the hexagonal overall shape is kept throughout as the elements decrease in size, eventually becoming more circular.

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Central images formed by concave vs. convex. Not clear enough.

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Balancing weights: tint percentage vs. size percentage.

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Starting point for the next few experiments.

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Rotating tangent points every 45ยบ. Inverting the direction of the angle every few cycles provides the sense of a turbulent spiral.

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Rotating tangent points in 180ยบ but leaving some circles concentric provides a strong sense of 3D.

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Rotating tangent points in 90ยบ angles with random directions leaving some circles concentric provides a sense of 3D and rotation. Image has strong multistability.

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Applying different tint combinations to the image on the previous page makes it possible to give predominance to certain states of the multistable image.

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Experiments on the equidistance between all points of the perimeter and the circleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s centre.

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Experiments with 3D rotation of semi-circles and shadows.

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Use of perspective to give false illusions about relations of dimension.

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Notes from The ABC’s of

: the Bauhaus and design theory

Edited by Ellen Lupton and J Abbott Miller. Thames & Hudson, 1993. Elementary School The Bauhaus unearthed a visual grammar from historicism and traditional forms. Triangle, square, circle are central elements of that grammar. Johannes Itten, who taught at Bauhaus, used unconventional teaching methods to unlearn students and return them to a state of innocence from which true learning could begin – a clean slate. Kandinsky’s “Point and Line to Plane”: we must distinguish basic elements from all others. The Basic Course • Developed an abstracting visual language, the basis for all further development. • Aimed to strip away particularities to discover fundamental truths – principles – in the real world. Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852), precursor of the “basic course” concept, sought to break down the complexity of nature into its constituent forms – straight lines, diagonals, curves – a reductive graphic code, an alphabet. Kandinsky believed the inner world could also be given linear expression – translation. Kandinsky aimed to reduce images into progressively more abstract forms, the structural network clarifying the tensions discovered in the structure – also translation. Froebel believed there was a natural correspondence between the square plane (x and y axis) and the way we receive images in the retina – perception. From 1871, Froebel’s Kindergarten teaching model using the basic forms of the sphere, cube and cylinder spread through Europe, America and Japan. This created a consumer market for basic forms and colours. Frank Lloyd Wright, Kandinsky and Le Corbusier were educated in this model.

I tten, Klee and Kandinsky aimed to uncover the origins of visual language in basic geometries, pure colours and abstraction. • Analysis of forms, colours and materials directed to a science of art. • Theoretical constructions about primordial laws of visual form opening outside of history or culture. Visual Dictionary he Bauhaus tried to identify a language T of vision – a code of abstract forms aimed at immediate biological perception, rather than culturally conditioned. he word “graphic” refers to writing and T drawing, but also to numbers aligned in a grid. The overall grid pattern is perceived as a single image or shape – a gestalt. rids G • A graphic language free from perspectival realism. • Linked objectively to material fact. erbal language – verbal sign – V is arbitrary – words bear no visual relationship to the concept they represent. Semiology • General thesis of signs – nonverbal and verbal – trying to uncover their cultural significance. • Proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure, who also defended many common customs that appear inherently significant are also arbitrary (e.g. polite gestures, tasteful cuisine).

Psychoanalysis and geometry

woman

man

relationship between them

Circle • Dual unity (as in yin-yang, two interpenetrating halves forming a perfect whole, child in utero). • Society preserves that unity in childhood due to value given to infant’s care by the mother. Marriage is a return to that state. The couple is complete, self-enclosed, self-sufficient (symbolised by the wedding ring).

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Notes from Signs and symbols: their design and meaning Adrian Frutiger, translated by Andrew Bluhm. Ebury, 1998. CIRCLE We appreciate rounded forms more with our senses than with our mind – round is more humanistic. Due to daily encounters with level ground and structures, horizontal and vertical are something we react more readily to. Line • Eternal, infinite, no beginning, no ending – like time. • Rotating around a precise invisible centre.

Movement Eyes roll following the line • No beginning or end. • Insecurity. • Panic. Medieval Genesis representation

Earth Sky/Sea Feminine

Earth Day/Night Masculine

Life

Egyptian

The circle was primitively associated with sun, moon, stars. Today it’s also associated with wheels, gears. Primary associations • Sun, moon, discus. • Ball, balloon (spheric). • Wheel, record (invisible centre). • Hole (exterior space). • Hoop (line). Viewers will place themselves inside or outside the circle. Inside the circle • Impulse towards centre. • Search for unity. • Active life radiating from centre to the circumference (can mean disquieting enclosure limiting growth – egg shell) • Protection from outside influences: – Dependence vs. Independence – Security vs. Pressure – Protection vs. Anxiety

Day Zero • Positive and negative. • Object and hole at the same time. Elements

Fire

Water

Earth (matter)

Earth (world)

Air

Impulse to centre + Radiation to circumference = Pulsation (heart)

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1 6

6 7

1 5

3 4

Notes from From zero to infinity: what makes numbers interesting Constance Reid. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1956. Meaning of 6

Meaning of 7

First perfect number (Greeks) Sum of all its divisors except itself (6=1+2+3).

Unique among the first 10 • Not produced by any of the others except 1. • Does not produce any of the others.

Goddess of Love (Romans) Made by the union of the sexes – 3 (odd masculine) x 2 (even feminine). Perfect number (Hebrews) God chose to create the world in 6 days because it’s more perfect than 1.

Victory, no mother (ancient philosophy). Virgin goddess, sprung from Jupiter’s head. Ruler of all things (Pythagoreans).

3 4

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Notes from www.biblestudy.org

http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/introduction.html

Meaning of 6

6 marks the completion of God’s work.

Meaning of 7

4 (man’s world) + 2 (man’s enmity to god).

The Serpent was also created on the 6th day.

Spiritual perfection, completeness

5+1 (grace of God made of no effect by man’s addition to it). 7-1 (man’s coming short of spiritual perfection). The human number. Man destitute of God/Christ. Man was created on the 6th day – has number 6 imprinted on him. 6 days were appointed to man for his labour while the 7th is for sovereignty of the Lord God/Man’s rest. 6 is the number of labour. It’s connected to labour also by measures used. First divisions of time-spaces measuring man’s labour and rest: 24 hours (4x6), 12 months, 60 minutes and seconds.

The 6th commandment relates to the worst sin – murder. The 6th clause of the Lord’s prayer treats of sin.

Sheva, from savah (Hebrew) – full, satisfied • 7th day – rest of God from complete work of creation. • Oath – satisfaction, fullness of the obligation, the bond, end of all strife.

6 is stamped on the measurements of the Great Pyramid • Unit = inch. • Sexagesimal multiples: foot (12 inches), following rises 18, 24, 30, and the yard (36 inches).

Meaning of 1

6 represents all that is under the sun, all that is not of God.

Primacy The source of all other numbers.

Number of imperfection • 12 (governmental perfection) divided by 2 indicates imperfection in rule and administration. • Solomon’s throne had 6 steps, his kingdom was divided. • The 12 tribes were divided.

First commandment – one God.

Unity • Indivisible. • Not made of other numbers. • Independent.

Notes from www.hinduwebsite.com http://www.hinduwebsite.com/numbers.asp 6 Human mind. 7 Earthly plane. 1 First manifestation from zero, creator of gods. 0 Eternal mystery.

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Notes from WIKIPEDIA.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multistable_perception Perceptual Multistability Evoked by visual patterns too ambiguous for the human eye to recognise with one unique interpretation. An alternation between two mutually exclusive perceptual states.

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Notes from WIKIPEDIA.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithmic_spiral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code FIBONACCI NUMBER

Logarithmic spiral

MORSE CODE

Used in the analysis of financial markets, computer (search) algorithms.

Size of the spiral increases but shape is unaltered – self similarity.

A dash is equal to three dots.

Appears in: • Tree branching. • Leaves on a stem. • Pineapple sprouts. • Artichoke flowering. • Uncurling fern. • Pine cones. • The bee ancestry code.

Distance between turnings increases in geometric progression. Scaling gives same results as rotating. Appears in: • Nautilus shells and sunflower heads. • The approach of a hawk to its prey. • The approach of an insect to a light source. • The arms of spiral galaxies. • The nerves of the cornea. • The arms of tropical cyclones. • Many biological structures (molluscs). • Beach formations.

The space between parts of the same letter is equal to one dot. The space between two letters is equal to three dots. The space between two words is equal to seven dots.

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Experiments applying the Fibonacci sequence to an agglomeration of tennis balls.

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Applying the Fibonacci number to the angles at which circles touch creates oddities at increasing periods. The image on the right alternates the angle progression left and right.

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Applying the Fibonacci number to the scale of concentric angles provides a sensation of real perspective. Rotating tangent points at angles that also relate to the Fibonacci number produces a more organic shape than the linear increase of the value of the angles.

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º 60

U O I

A Z

T A N Z H B C

30 0º Y S M G

0º

J D 1 2 0º

V P

W Q K E

º 0 24 X R L F

180º Application of the English alphabet to the 7-circle image. Can begin and end in the centre – reference to alpha and omega (God).

Annexe

ANNEXE

Sketches derived from the infinite undertext of the seven-circle image. Thoughts on macro-inside-micro, as in the reversal of sink and plug hole.

ANNEXE

Cutting plans for the 3D structures photographed.

ANNEXE

review