OUGD404: Visual Literacy, studio session

'You will be introduced to a range of fundamental Design Principles including the anatomy of type, colour theory, frame & format, Type and Grid all of which will inform your emerging understanding of the building blocks of Graphic Design.

Using these sessions and the related tasks as a starting point , develop an increasingly independent investigation into the principles that are introduced. You should document and evaluate your practical research thoroughly on your Design Practice Blog and record any Contextual research on your Design Context blog.'

Visual Literacy

-The ability to construct meaning from visual images and type.

-Interpret images of the present past and of a range of cultures.

-Producing images that effectively communicate a message to an audience.

Visual communication...

... is based on a level of shared understanding of signs/ symbols, affected by audience, context, media/method.

Difference between rules and principles...

Rules - Cant be broken

Principles - There to be explored

Type

Different materials produce different type...

stone, sable, bone, wood, lead, silicone/ digital.

A lot of type is now mimicked through digital textures.

Fred asked us previously to bring 5 fonts, lowercase and uppercase to the session. We were split into groups and had to create 5 categories which we thought each of our fonts could be placed into.

Here are a selection of the categories which the class came up with:

Script

Typewriter

Modernist

Transitional

Contemporary/ Digital

Serif

San Serif

Handwritten

Western (cowboy)

Decorative

Bold

Light

It was interesting to see the range in which the type could be placed into. From this we had to place the fonts into categories of 'method of production'. It was difficult to depict some of the fonts, and we realized a lot of the fonts could fit into the category of 'silicone'.