Reflections –
So, the aim here was to create a sense of space and depth within the image using just three elements, a lightbulb, block of colour and the text LIGHTBULB. Using my initial thumbnail ideas as a starting point I concluded that having the lightbulb too large created the complete opposite effect than a sense of space. It was too dominant. And being an object that really does not have too much of an aesthetic appeal (like a cute kitten) having a large lightbulb bought no value to the image and left little room to be creative and bring in any zing with the colour block and text. On the other hand, an extra small lightbulb may add space, but seems tokenistic and confusing. Ok, we have the text LIGHTBULB which tells us the image is about a lightbulb, so why then have the image of the lightbulb so small that we make it seem insignificant. It is like advertising a Big Mac and then having a time thumbnail image of a big mac in the corner, lost amongst the text and colour! Medium size is the way forward here. Depth and space – Adding the block of colour behind the image of the lightbulb makes the lightbulb pop, it adds the sense of depth that we are trying to create here. On one of the above designs I left the colour block in front of the lightbulb, and even though I quite like the image, there is no real sense of depth here. Likewise, with the designs where the colour block is on the same level (not in front or behind) as the lightbulb. These designs look contemporary but flat, there is no illusion of space or depth. Colour block – Rather than sticking with a right-angled quadrilateral shape, I played with distorting it to add interest. I feel this worked rather well and could give the impression that it is light shining from the bulb? If I were to do this exercise again, this is something I would take further and experiment with. I chose green because it’s neutral and vibrant. Reds and yellows could look too bold and dominate the composition.
Text – I found using a white text against the colour block added a degree of depth, made the text stand out. I preferred the visual of the black text and felt that though the white text did add a little depth, it was not enough to persuade myself to make the white text an ongoing theme. Black text also gave the text a more important hierarchy, white text made the word LIGHTBULB seem insignificant.
Medium size lightbulb. Colour block behind image. Black Text. Angle – When I sat back from images and viewed them from a distance the tilted bulbs looked unbalanced and almost careless. In the context of other tilted objects on a page, adding balance, these could work for the larger composition, but as single items I was unhappy with the effect which I felt lacked a justification in the viewers eye. Why tilted? There’s no rationale. This also applies to the text – the slant looks contrived and unnecessary.
Context I felt that not knowing the context of these compositions was very unhelpful.
I would have approached this differently if I knew this was for a children’s book, or a magazine or a science article. Why? Because then I’d have a sense of the relative importance of the image of the bulb and the text. With that knowledge I’d be able to define the hierarchy more accurately and know which element – photograph or words – had the greater importance. My favourites From these compositions, these two are my favourites. The bulb photograph is centred and has a bold confidence with the text secondary in the hierarchy. I like the simplicity of this image
In this composition I pushed the text behind the bulb and applied transparency to the glass to highlight the material that the bulb is made from. I chose to push the screwthread out of the image slightly as it’s not as an important in telling the story and adds an unsightly curve that clashes with the curves of the glass. Over half of the image is whitespace and this gives a luxurious feel to the composition.
Final thoughts Aside from not knowing the context of the composition and therefore not being able to accurately theme the weights of the photograph, text and colour block, this was an enjoyable task. There are obviously an infinite number of combinations of relative size and position of the elements in the composition, but the ones that work have an aesthetically satisfying feel, which I think is hardwired in to us as humans. Our experiences of the visual world and our personal preferences generate a feeling for heirarchy of size, placement and colour. Obviously matching these to a style is important for graphic design and not knowing what the composition was for made this task frustrating at times but it did make me reflect on the pros and cons of my own knowledge-based of hierarchy and juxtaposition.