Relating text and image

Relating text and image

By adding text to an image or by reading a piece of text next to an image can really change how we look at and see the image. One simple word can change the whole meaning of the image and also the location of the image also has an impact on how we look at and feel about the image. If there was a landscape image in a police station we would think it was a scene of crime and yet it we saw it in a gallery with a gold frame we would think it was a famous piece of art work. Knowing a bit of history about the place that is in the image can also affect the way in which we view the image and how we feel about it. You can also choose what you include in an image and what you leave out so this can also totally change an image to make it look how you want it to.

There is also how people can twist and change text to get their point across such as in newspapers and using propaganda. How the text is laid on the image as well also changes things.

This is an image by Gillian Wearing and the sign makes us look at this image totally differently because it is giving us something to think about and the link between the man and the sign is a quote from him so it makes you have an idea of what he is like and gives you a bit more information than if it was just the photograph of the man.

http://www.maureenpaley.com/artists/gillian-wearing/images/23

This is an image by Joel Sternfeld and this is an example of a landscape which can change due to the location in which it is found and the text that is with it. “photography, memory and tragedy” makes you think a lot about the image and then you can realise that there is more to this image than we first thought or imagined. The light on the tree is really nice and makes it have a warm glow so that could mean they have warm memories of this place because of the way in which it is lit. This is also somewhere that if you knew the history of this place you would see it differently and you can relate to what it is and how you then are supposed to see it.

http://documentaryworks.org/punctum/onthissite.htm

This shows how by looking in to something a bit more allows us to look at the images differently and how we can change the way an image is seen by the title we give it or where we choose it to be displayed.

Production for Visual Communicators

Principle 3 – The Design workflow

Every visual communicator is given a brief from a client or lecturer and has to follow a time plan or the design workflow, this involves having a problem to solve or the design brief, then the next stage is the ideas, definition, research and facts, then there is the visualisation with images, illustrations and how to visualise it. Then there is the layouts to think about and what you main product is going to look like then finally how you are going to produce this.

This also involves how you go about doing things and is a very individual process and can be done differently depending on each individual person, and how you solve the problem that you have been faced with. There is also how much money you have because if you are doing this as a job you need to consider how much you are charging people for this and how much money you need to put in to create it, and not be too cheap or expensive.

The first stage that I did when we were given the brief was to brainstorm the brief and come up with some ideas on what our magazine was going to be about. By doing this it allows us to get loads of ideas down and then from there choose which are our strongest and best ideas to then brainstorm and research about that particular theme.

This is then the next stage which is researching in to our theme of graffiti and looking at artists who have done this sort of thing so that we can see the style and what the types of graffiti there are and have a better idea of the things which we can include in our magazine.

 

The next stage was to go out and take some photographs so that we have something which we can put in our magazine and then this shall give us an idea of the sorts of images our magazines can include and the type of images that could go with each articles and then ones that can go on their own.

Then this is evaluation the images to see what works and what doesn’t from the particular photo shoot which then allows us to plan our next one and what we can do differently.

The next stage I would create some front cover ideas in InDesign as this will allow us to get an idea of the style of our magazine and how it could look once it is finished. This all goes towards solving the problem of our magazine.

These are then some layouts of how our magazine could look, and this allows us to use the idea of double page spread images and see what images work with which articles and how it works as a magazine.

The design workflow is all about how you go about solving problems and the stages in which you do it the better your workflow the better the problem shall be solved at the end of it.

Production for Visual Communicators

Principle 5 – The Experts

Ansel Adams is a famous photographer who was born in San Francisco, California 20^th February 1902, he was an only child and he died on the 22^nd April 1984. He spent a lot of time in Yosemite Valley every year from 1916 until his death he began using his Kodak box brownie that his parents brought him for his first camera. After using this camera on his walks and exploring Yosemite Valley this is where his love of photography began. He loved all nature and this was the kind of images he loved to capture, they often showed no sign of mans presence it was all just natural things. In 1932 the F64 group was formed with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston. The whole idea of this group was the fact that they wanted all of their images to be all in focus so they looked like photographs and not paintings or images with shallow depth of fields. To do this they used apertures of F64 on large format cameras to create sharp images to capture the highest level of detail possible.

http://www.anseladams.com/anseladams_biography_s/51.htm

 

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adams/adams_monolith_full.html

This is a photograph taken by Ansel Adams in 1927 and is called “Half Dome.” He originally took this image with a yellow K2 filter which was the standard filter at the time. He then decided to forget what it looked like and see what it felt like he had one plate and a strong red filter. At first the sky was bland with no depth and the shadows had no strength, changing the filter made the difference and made the image that he wanted. (Booth 1983, P.10) I think you can always tell his work because of the high quality and time and effort that is involved in it the fact that they are on large format camera at F64 and everything is perfectly sharp and in focus makes these images have more of an impact upon us I think if they were in colour and shallow depth of field they would look nowhere near as good and would be completely different as I think he has his own very distinctive style and that is what I love about his work.

This is another of the images by Ansel Adams, I think the contrast between the black and white is amazing and the detail makes the image to be really striking. I think he has captured the textures really well and there is a nice tonal range within this image. The sky also has texture and because it is on film and in black and white it really adds depth to the image and creates an atmosphere instead of if it was just plain black or white sky.

http://fradinphoto.blogspot.com/2011/02/mimic-2-ansel-adams.html

This is another image by Ansel Adams and was taken in 1934 and is called Lake Near, King Canyon, National Park, California. I think again this really shows his still in photography and the amount of time and effort he put in because not only did he take the images on film he processed and printed them as well so he would have spent a lot of time on each individual image and he would have also only had a certain number of images he could take per film. I really like the level of detail within this image and also the reflection in the water is really striking within the image.

http://www.anseladams.com/Wanda_Lake_Near_Muir_Pass_Kings_Canyon_p/1501301.htm

Development of ideas and structures in moving image

Principle 3 pre-production Character Design

Every character has to be designed and there is a process in which the person designing the character has to go through. The main things are the dialogue so this is how the character speaks and what they say so if they have a catchphrase or something in which they are known for saying. Are they are a stereotype, this is a good way of creating characters as it is someone who everyone can relate to. There is also what the character looks like and their appearance then the actions and what they do and lastly the interaction with other characters.

A really good example of character design is Vicky Pollard from Little Britain, this is a definite stereotype of a teenager with attitude and someone who is very “chavy.” When they designed this character they got inspiration from people on the streets and have made her to be a funny character and someone who people can relate to.    

As you can see from this image her appearance is always a pink jacket and leggings she also has lots of rings and false nails. She wears lots of gold which also adds to her character and can look a bit cheep and tacky. Just by looking at her you can tell she has attitude.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/littlebritain/characters/vicky.shtml

This is another image of Vicky Pollard and you can see what she is like just by seeing the image which is how they have used a stereotype to make the character memorable. She has a lot of memorable quotes and sayings and she speaks very incorrect and fast and quote common. This is a quote from Vicky Pollard “No, but, yeh, but, no, but,, what are they doin' on our patch or sumthin' or nuffin' or sorta like thing coz they is well gonna get beat-ins!” By missing the g of the ends of the words allows her to have a specific dialogue and she also gets herself in to trouble by saying about someone who was gossiping and then ends up saying something she has done. http://littlebritain.wikia.com/wiki/Vicky_Pollard

This is an image of her with her mom and as you can see they have the same style but different colours and they both use the same speech and dialogue so you can tell they are related and are both created from the same stereotype.

http://www.littlebritainfans.com/abroad.htm

The interaction with them and the other characters they end up getting theirself in trouble and the dialogue is a huge thing with the interaction with other characters and because this is a comedy series it is based on stereotypes and people who will be memorable and you defiantly remember Vicky Pollard as she is a very well created Character.

http://landmarkreport.com/abrinson/2011/08/year-of-the-comedian-two-for-the-price-of-one/little-britain/

This is an image of a group of characters from Little Britain and you can see how they all appear different and look different and they all have different rolls within the series and they show how you can create a variety of different characters and by their interactions with each other and their speech and quotes they can be very memorable. To say that most of these characters are done by Mat Lucas and David Walliams makes it even more interesting and the fact that it is played mainly by two people and they can still look so different and have individual characters is really good.

Development of ideas and structures in moving image

Principle 1 Story Development

When a film is made it goes by a 3 act structure, this is the beginning, middle and end and is shown by setting the scene and establishing what the film is about, then there is some sort of crisis or a twist and then there is how that problem is resolved. This is the same in pretty much all the films and whichever genre it is so comedy, romantic, action, thriller or chick-flick they all go by this three act structure and a film wouldn’t be the same without this. In a 2 hour film it is normally 30 minutes for the beginning 60 minutes for the middle and then 30 minutes for the end of the film. This makes sense to the viewer for it to be like this without even having to think that there is a particular structure to it you just know it is correct and flows together nicely.

This is the film bride wars and this has a very good and obvious 3 act structure. It is shown really well and makes the film really good and interesting to watch. This is a good example because the 3 act structure is really clear.

http://www.moviemuser.co.uk/Reviews/36/Bride-Wars.aspx

This is an image from the beginning of the film when it is setting the scene and this is showing that these are two girls who have been best friends from a very young age and have always loved the idea and have dreamed of getting married to someone when they’re older. They have spent a long time planning and putting together little scrap books of how they would imagine their wedding to be and this started by them going to a wedding when they were young and they wanted to get married then at this specific venue.

http://www.mediafirebd.com/2011/03/bride-wars-2009-brrip-600mb.html

This is an image now from the film and they are older and still best friends and they are both now engaged and they have just came out from booking their dream wedding at this venue and they both have a date and are going to be each others made of honour. They are both really happy and it is all going really well.

That is the first part in the 3 act structure and is the introduction and establishing what the film is about.

http://amominredhighheels.com/bang-lust-kate-hudsons-bride-wars/

This then leads nicely in to the second part of the 3 act structure which is the crisis and the middle of the film. This is where they find out their weddings have been accidently double booked and are on the same day. This means they can’t go to each other’s wedding and that one would have to change it. None of them change the wedding date and they are then set out to spoil the other ones day and play tricks on each other such as putting a blue die instead of blonde and a very strong spray tan rather than a subtle one.

http://moviebugz.blogspot.com/2009/05/bride-wars-2009.html

This is now when they see each other at their weddings and they decide they have been silly and this is the resolve of the film as they make up and Emma decides she’s marrying the wrong man and ends up marrying Livs brother. It all ends happily and this is how the problem is resolved.

http://www.bridedressesphotos.com/vera-wang-dress-from-bride-wars/

Productions and outcomes

Principle 3 – Medium

People work in several different mediums and within these mediums it is important for other people to know about you and what you do. There are several different ways of doing this, such as videoing things and putting it on to YouTube, creating your own blogs showing your work, they can have exhibitions so that people get to hear about them and just advertising who they are and what they do. There are benefits for doing commercial client based work and then work that is just for fun and some which you would like to create.

http://rankin.co.uk/advertising/#/pic41
This is an example of a commercial advert which Rankin has created and this shows he has worked with a client and asked them what they wanted out of their advert and what it is advertising and then this is what he has came up with. I think this is a very good striking advert and one that you would remember so therefore it has achieved what it needed to by being eye catching and advertising something.

http://rankin.co.uk/beauty/#/pic148

This is another piece by Rankin however this is something in which he has created more just for fun and is a lot less commercial than the other piece. This is good to show that he has a variety of skills and is also showing people what he is about and the kinds of things in which he enjoys doing. By looking at this we can see it is a very creative piece with a simple idea and shows he is a fun person and enjoys what he does.

 Both of these pieces are important but both for different reasons, there are many different ways in which you can promote or get your name out to people and then there are times to work with clients and then time to work with a customer and just do something fun to let people know what you are about.

Productions and Outcomes

Principle 2 – delivery

When a creative is going to create something they will need to think about the final delivery of what they are creating. They will need to think about the location and if they are using technology which would affect this, and the size shape and scale of what they are creating is also important and something they need to consider. There are several different platforms which will also affect how and what they create, these platforms are editorial (magazines, newspapers), publishing (books, brochures, posters), on-line (animation) and advertising and branding (film, leaflet, brochure, bill boards). These will have an impact on how it is created, if your take a photograph for a business card it will be quite small so won’t need a large file, however if you take a photograph to go on a billboard it will have to be blown up huge so it will therefore need to be a lot higher quality and resolution for this to be able to be created. This can course problems because if you don’t have the correct equipment to be creating this then it might be ok for a magazine article or a leaflet but when it comes to a billboard you could experience problems.   

This is an example of an advert which could easily be seen on a billboard, it is large scale and the person jumping out to their motorbike makes it look a bit 3D and adds perspective to the image. This would be very effective as a billboard and would be eye catching and get peoples attention. It also looks the correct proportions for a billboard and has a simple message which is easily understood and doesn’t take too much concentration to know what the message is saying.

http://rankin.co.uk/advertising/#/pic31

This is an example of a different platform, a magazine and this is an editorial piece and this is different to the billboard as it is a lot smaller and therefore the image and type can also be a lot smaller. There is more information provided on this magazine as it is the front cover and wants you to pick it up and read it. You would have more time to look if you were in a shop rather than if you were just passing a billboard as you would just have a quick glance or look if the traffic lights were on red. I think these pieces both work very well for their particular platform and they would be totally different if they were swapped round because it wouldn’t be correct.

http://rankin.co.uk/advertising/#/pic36

Principle 4 – Tone of Voice

When you look at something you can see what tone of voice it has or what the theme of the particular magazine or advert is. By using different fonts and images you can change the tone of voice of something and make it look completely different. When you look at a form they can be quite complicated, by simplifying it and using a clear structure you can change the tone of voice and make it a lot more approachable. The audience also has an impact of the tone of voice and it also links in with whether something in legible or not.

      http://rankin.co.uk/covers/#/pic25

       

This is an example of the front cover of a magazine and in this you can see that it is pink and very simple and has a good structure, it uses two main colours and that along with the text and image sets the tone of voice. The fact that this is simple makes it a lot better and more understandable.

http://rankin.co.uk/covers/#/pic18

       

       

     This is another magazine cover and this is again very simple and the image and font set the tone of voice. These are two magazines and they have totally different tones of voice. We can tell this by looking at both of them they both have a totally different feel and this is due to their target audience and tone of voice. This has a feel of minimalism and is just using two basic colours and manipulation where as the other image is a lot brighter and has a totally different look.

   We can see now by looking at different magazines and adverts how they can have different tone of voice’s and how we can tell now the audience and the intension of the magazine. Tone of voice is all about getting your message across in the way in which you would like it to be seen.

       

       

Principle One –Legibility

When people design something such as a magazine, a business card or a billboard it is important to make it legible. There are a lot of simple things which can be involved in the legibility of an image. If you have a piece of text the simple thing is can you read it? There can be several things which can improve how legible something is and whether it will be understood or not. One of these things would be the type that is used what font is it? And can you read the font or is it too big or small or an awkward font to read?

Depending on the size of the media will affect how big or small your type needs to be, if it was for a billboard it will have to be a lot larger than the type on a business card. Alignment is also something which you need to consider if it is all aligned left, right or in the centre then that is normally very legible however if some of it was aligned right and some aligned left then it would be confusing of where you are supposed to look and what you actually need to read.

Colour is another thing in which you need to consider because yellow and white is a really low contrast and the most difficult colour combination to read whereas black and yellow is a very high contrast and easy to read. You also need to make sure you break things down in to paragraphs and there aren’t loads of words going across as you could get lost and not be able to read it well. The other thing to consider is if you include an image you need to put the text around it because sometimes if the text is over an image you can’t read it that well.

http://rankin.co.uk/advertising/#/pic128

This is an example of an advert, I think this is a good example of legibility because the white type is very clear and an easy font to read, it is a good colour contrast and it is clearly communicating the message that music gets your talking. I think it is a good use of photography and that the graphics is very good as well it is easily legible and understandable. This visually communicates to everyone the point in which they are trying to get across so I think it is a very successful advert.

This is an example of a magazine cover, The title is very bold and easy to see and read and then there are several different fonts on the front cover of this magazine which could make it a bit awkward to read and the left half of the magazine is quite bright and as it’s a bit over exposed and white font that makes it a bit awkward to read. I think this is still good and quite easy to understand however I don’t think it is as legible as the first example.

http://rankin.co.uk/covers/#/pic55

As you can see making something easily legible and understanding is very important because it someone can’t clearly understand what you have designed they are not going to be likely to pick it up and read it so it is a very important part of the design process.

What is key to a reliable and creative process?

Principle 5 What is the role of the audience?

Audience is another important thing to consider when creating an image or a product. There are several different audiences such as Male, Female, Adult, Teenager, Elderly, Children, and then they can be divided in to a lot smaller or more specific groups such as 3-5 year olds and all sorts of different audiences. We need to know what audience our product or image is aimed at so this allows us to know the kinds of things we need to include and the colours to use, this will allow us to have a better image of what we would like our final product to look like.

If you were creating something for a 4 to 5 year old girl it would be a lot simpler and quite pretty and fun where as if you were creating something for a Halloween event for teenagers it would be totally different in colours, theme and style, this is because the audience of what you are doing has changed so you then need to change the intension and content to suit your target audience. This is also the same with films and music and anything which needs to be created.

http://www.dealspwn.com/tag/edutainment

This is an image that someone would have had to create and as you can see by looking at it this shows us it is intended for a young audience because it is very simple and childlike. The colours used are fun and playful which also shows the audience and also the fact that the exclamation mark has a heart instead of the dot also shows us this is fun and intended for a young audience.

http://england.worldcupblog.org/england-team-news/england-certificate-15.html

This is a different logo and shows that to view this film you have to be 15 years old or older so this is a lot larger audience but shows that for people under 15 this would be too scary and have distressing images or too much violence in for younger people to watch.

http://www.thegamecollection.net/bride-wars-blu-ray-p-4911.html

This is a film and the 15 logo shows us it’s for 15 years and older and just by looking at the cover of this film we can see it is labelled as a “chick flick” and is there for in the female audience for over 15’s. The typography also allows us to see that it is a girly film and also having the pink as well.

By looking at different things you can see that each one has to have an intended audience and when you know what your audience is it makes it a lot easier to progress and know your theme and the sorts of things you need to use and create.

What is key to a reliable and creative process?

Principle 1 Research

Research can help all projects we start by being given a brief or a problem and the first thing we do is have to research the problem to find out more about it and how we could go about solving it. There are many different ways we can research and different ways to look at it, we could say it is a way of exploring, investigating and of being constantly curious. There are two main types of research, primary and secondary, primary research is the research which we have to go and create or find for ourselves so things like going out and taking photographs or interviewing people about your chosen theme. Whereas secondary research is something which you find from somewhere else such as the internet or a book. There are both advantages and disadvantages for each of these sources however it is good to have both ways of research to help find a way to overcome and understand our problem.

Visual research comes from us and is also an ongoing process which is created by photographs, illustrations, impressions and images. Creative people also have lots of sketchbooks in which they can keep all this research and visual exploring. They also surround themselves with inspiring things within their creative environments. There are also things in which people collect which could help with their research and problem solving. It could be something as simple as stamps and then you could be inspired to create something fully out of using just stamps.

This is an example of one of my images which is a primary source of research because I went out and took a lot of photos of this graffiti park and now this will allow me to talk about and show the different types of graffiti and if it can be classed as art or if it is just vandalism and it shall allow me to continue forward with this project. I think it is also interesting how the graffiti is right underneath this danger sign and is in a dangerous area.

  So it just shows how there are many different ways and types of research in which you can do which will allow you to have a better and deeper understanding of the problem in which you are trying to solve and how to deal with.

Principle 3 – Relationships developed from exciting forms of historical Culture

There is a lot to do with the relationship between the artist and the image in which they create, they can also be affected by the history of images and they could be inspired by a particular image in which they are inspired by and would like to recreate. The culture or the time and place can also affect the image because we can be inspired by everyday items or buildings and things we see on a day to day basis. This can have an impact upon the images which we create and how the overall look is. This could also affect the context and meaning of the image. When people couldn’t read or write they would look at paintings and visually look and understand what the painting was saying and if it had a narrative or story to it.

Elsie Wright – Cottingley Fairies - 1917

Rankin – Nokia – 2004














These are another two images which show the same theme however is totally different because of the time in which they were created. The Cottingley Fairies was created in 1917 during World War 1 and there were just two cousins who were playing around and having fun. These Cottingley Fairies images made people believe in fairies and they genuinely believed this to be as evidence however it was only the cousins messing around. The Rankin image was created a lot later and is image manipulation to create this image and we know now and are aware that it is manipulated image. This shows the differences between the times and the cultures as everyone believed in this 1917 image however now we know that it is a manipulated image. You can take two images and put them together to create something with a totally different context and meaning, people use the technique to create made up and unreal images it can also be used for irony and a commercial outcome.