DESIGN PRINCIPLES: TASK 2
Lee Rui Yen (0391797)
Design Principles (GCD62904)
Task 2: Visual Analysis & Ideation [30%]
Week 5 - Week 6
1) TASK DESCRIPTION: This task requires the student to assess, investigate, document and analyse the selected work of design in Task 1. They will study the design principles found in that work, as well as the size, placement, purpose, effectiveness of the design.
Table of Contents
Module Information PDF
Lecture Notes
ALL INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION ARE COPIES AND MAY BE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM
THE LECTURES
Lecture 6- Visual Analysis
Visual analysis is:
- A method of understanding design that focuses on the visual elements and principles.
- In its strictest definition - a description and explanation of visual structure for its own sake.
- Yet the purpose of visual analysis can also recognise the choices that a designer made in creating the design, as well as to better understand how the formal properties of a design communicate ideas, content, or meaning.
- It is a critical part of visual literacy, a skill that helps people read and critically interpret images, whether in a museum, on social media, in entertainment, advertising, or the news.
- As citizens of the 21st century, we are constantly confronted with visual media. Practising visual analysis sharpens critical judgement skills and helps people seek out answers instead of passively receiving information.
Visual analysis can include three phases:
- Phase 1: Observation
- Phase 2: Analysis
- Phase 3: Interpretation
Phase 1: OBSERVATION
- Observation means closely looking at and identifying the visual elements of a design, trying to describe them carefully and accurately in your own words. It works best when you do not read beforehand about the design at all.
- The observation phase is about looking, thinking and finding good language to communicate what you notice.
Phase 2: Analysis
- Analysis requires you to think about your observations and try to make statements about the work based on the evidence of your observations.
- Think about how the specific visual elements that you've identified combine to create design principles that complete that work of design/art, and the effects on the viewer.
- How are your eyes led through the work and why? Apply the design principles knowledge you have learnt.
Image taken from Lecture Slides
Phase 3: INTERPRETATION
-
In this final phase, your observations, description, and analysis
of the work are fused with facts about the design work (and in
some cases the designer) and historical context that you find in
trustworthy published sources.
-
What is the meaning of the design? What was the purpose for it to
be created.
Image taken from Lecture Slides
Image taken from Lecture Slides
Design Visual Analysis
2) TASK DESCRIPTION: Re-upload the design work that you have selected
in Task 1, along with it's credit line.
Figure 10
Artwork Name: The Water Lily Pond
Artist: Claude Monet
Date Made: 1899
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 88.3 x 93.1cm
Visual Analysis
3) TASK DESCRIPTION: Conduct a visual analysis of the design. Articulate
your observation and critical, analytical thoughts in about 300 to 400
words. Refer to Visual Analysis lecture notes and step-by-step
guide.
Observation
The artwork ‘The Water Lily Pond’ is a landscape nature scene painting of a
water lily pond. Slightly above the center of the artwork is a simple
bridge, spanning from one side of the canvas to the other side with both
ends obscured from view before they touch the ground. Behind the bridge
features several green trees and foliage. Underneath the bridge is a pond
filled with numerous water lilies and lily pads. The water reflects the
lilies and the same green foliage behind the bridge. Bracketing the water’s
edges are even more grass and foliage, concealing the edge where the water
meets the ground. The painting is mostly green in colour, with a cool tone
palette of blues and red-purples to supplement the shadows, and a cool pale
yellow to illustrate the sunlight. The technique used for the painting
feature small strokes in loosely defined shapes.
Analysis
The design is symmetrically balanced, with the central focus on the bridge.
This is emphasized by the difference in paint strokes between the bridge and
foliage, which are painted in small, undefined stokes that follow the
gravity of the leaves organically. This contrasts with the bridge’s strokes
that are mostly even and uniform with less variety in colour, so as to
illustrate the bridge’s planks and build compared to the spontaneity of the
plants. The strokes also follow the curve of the bridge across the canvas
horizontally, similar in shape to a rainbow. The bushes around the water’s
edge feature repetition, along with similar curves to the bridge. But
whereas the bridge is stationary and rigid, the curves of the plants suggest
movement in the painting, as if a gentle breeze was blowing through. The
Gestalt Principle of Continuation can be seen in how close up, the water
lilies are painted as undefined blobs. But when viewed from afar they can be
distinctly identified as flowers, due to the use of pink and white
contrasting from the greens and blues from the rest of the artwork. The
colours of the artwork indicate harmony, creating a calm and cool mood
throughout the painting. Unity is also present through the repeated elements
of nature, such as the lily pads and the bushes.
Interpretation
This painting was made by famous Impressionist artist Claude Monet,
featuring Impressionist techniques that aim to quickly capture the essence
of the subject and forgo details. It was made in a time of his life where he
was financially well off, enough for him to be able to purchase and design
his own garden and pond, which became the subject of ‘The Water Lily Pond’
painting along with over 250 more paintings. The bridge was an arched bridge
inspired by the prints of Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai. Japanese
garden bridges represented the transitioning between the mundane world into
a sacred or peaceful realm. Their design flowed more harmoniously with the
nature around it compared to products of the Industrial Revolution, which
were growingly prevalent in the late 18th century. As a result of this
growth, some artists like Claude Monet began creating paintings that
excluded human presence, allowing nature to occupy and dominate the
composition. This reflects a desire to preserve the untouched nature around
him from the oncoming industrial capitalism, evident in how there seem to be
no paintings of Monet’s bridge with people on it. Perhaps to Monet, ‘The
Water Lily Pond’ captured the fleeting moment of harmony and serenity where
nature was in abundance.
References
4) TASK DESCRIPTION: Cite your references and include a reference list at
the end of the writing.
The Water Lily Pond — Claude Monet
Classic Art. (n.d.). The Water Lily Pond — Claude Monet.
https://www.claude-monet.com/the-water-lily-pond.jsp
Monet, The Water Lily Pond
National Gallery. (n.d.). Claude Monet: The Water Lily Pond.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-the-water-lily-pond
Monet’s Japanese Bridge (blog)
Page, D. (2012, June 8). Monet’s Japanese Bridge. David Page Artist Blog.
https://davidpageartist.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/monets-japanese-bridge/
Japanese Bridges — Tradition & Influence
Redwood Garden Bridges. (n.d.). Japanese bridges: Tradition, symbolism,
and their influence in California.
https://redwoodgardenbridges.com/japanese-bridges-tradition-symbolism-and-their-influence-in-california/
Sketch Ideas And Analysis
5) TASK DESCRIPTION: Using design principles knowledge, sketch 3 ideas that
are inspired by the selected design.
6) TASK DESCRIPTION: Describe each idea and support it with a rationale in
about 30-50 words. You may include some visual references (cite the
sources) that inspire your own ideas.
Sketch 1
This sketch was developed based on the idea of looking out from the
perspective of someone walking on the bridge. It features similar cool
tone colours of blue, green, yellow and purples. The bridge is
symmetrical, with variation on the sides from the different types of
foliage. I also added a cloud on the left side of the drawing to balance
the trees on the right.
Sketch 2
Sketch 2 features two different variations of the idea, with the only different being the brightness of the artworks. The concept for the design is the idea of looking down from the bridge into the water at a lily, with the shadow of the bridge on the water and flower leading the eyes toward it. The positioning of the shadow underneath the yellow part of the flower is meant to convey the idea of a rising sun, subtly referencing Japan, as it is called 'Land of the Rising Sun'.
Sketch 3
Feedback from Lecturer
7) TASK DESCRIPTION: Include the feedback that you received from your
lecturer in the Task 2 blogpost.
Week 5: Hi Rui Yen. Good effort in developing ideas from the selected poster. Your sketches show that you studied the main design and tried to translate some of its visual elements and principles into your own concepts. Each sketch presents a different variation, showing exploration in your ideation process.
The explanations help clarify how your ideas are derived from the original poster. Overall, the development and sketches show good effort and understanding of the task. You may choose Sketch #3 for Task 3 soon. Keep up the good work.
The explanations help clarify how your ideas are derived from the original poster. Overall, the development and sketches show good effort and understanding of the task. You may choose Sketch #3 for Task 3 soon. Keep up the good work.
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