This weeks lecture was about 'Production and Outcomes' in Visual Communication. The five principles were Interpretation, Delivery, Medium, Testing and Methodology. The two principles I have decided to look at are Interpretation and Methodology.
Interpretation - An explanation of the meaning of another's artistic work .
Methodology - A study into the way in which we solve a problem .
To begin I am going to look at the use of 'zeitgeist' to interpret an image. Zeitgeist is the ideas and spirit of time; how time is expressed in creative matter. In the lecture we were shown many examples of different artists takes on Alice in Wonderland, ranging from 1865 through to present day. Being inspired by the idea of looking at children's books, i decided to look at the famous Aesop's fables to see how these have been illustrated differently over time. The one particular fable i looked at was 'The lion and the mouse'. Shown below are 3 illustrations created by different illustrators in 3 time periods.
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| Lion and the Mouse Milo Winter - 1919 |
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| Lion and the Mouse David Wenzel - 1990's |
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| Lion and the Mouse Jerry Pinkney - 2009 |
The first image is the earliest of the examples. You can tell this without looking at the date from the tone of voice of the image. The colours are dull and faded and the image looks slightly dated. As you scroll down through the 3 images you can see them getting stronger, more colourful and more detailed. Also, the lion itself appears to get more lifelike, as if to say the two later illustrators knew more about what lions looked like than Milo winter back in 1919.
What's interesting is how all 3 illustrators have taken a different approach to this design problem. Milo winter has used a simple, traditional approach by drawing the whole image. David Wenzel has gone for a slightly more abstract approach, drawing as if he was on floor level looking up at the lion and using the final image as a long rectangle shape. Jerry Pinkney has gone for a front on, close up effect which makes us see more what the lion is thinking, rather than whats actually happening. This shows how different people's creative brains work in different ways providing evidence of Methodology.
So what's the importance of methodology?
Methodology enables an illustrator, designer or photographer to be able to follow a thorough and versatile design process, which then enables them to be able to work independently and professionally. The designers with a strong sense of methodology shown in their work are likely to do much better than those who have no structure or system to help them along. Employers are also more likely to employ someone who can show evidence of a design process in their work, than those who just have one idea and one final outcome because it shows they're able to constructively critisize they're own work in order to produce a better final income and are therefore hitting high and professional standards.
What's interesting is how all 3 illustrators have taken a different approach to this design problem. Milo winter has used a simple, traditional approach by drawing the whole image. David Wenzel has gone for a slightly more abstract approach, drawing as if he was on floor level looking up at the lion and using the final image as a long rectangle shape. Jerry Pinkney has gone for a front on, close up effect which makes us see more what the lion is thinking, rather than whats actually happening. This shows how different people's creative brains work in different ways providing evidence of Methodology.
So what's the importance of methodology?
Methodology enables an illustrator, designer or photographer to be able to follow a thorough and versatile design process, which then enables them to be able to work independently and professionally. The designers with a strong sense of methodology shown in their work are likely to do much better than those who have no structure or system to help them along. Employers are also more likely to employ someone who can show evidence of a design process in their work, than those who just have one idea and one final outcome because it shows they're able to constructively critisize they're own work in order to produce a better final income and are therefore hitting high and professional standards.
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