-Grapus
Grapus poster 2, was made by a group of artists named Grapus. They were founded by Bernand in 1970. Grapus wanted to change life by graphical work andpolitical actions. They expressed their concerns by placing their self-made posters on the street. 1
Grapus poster 2, was made by a group of artists named Grapus. They were founded by Bernand in 1970. Grapus wanted to change life by graphical work andpolitical actions. They expressed their concerns by placing their self-made posters on the street. 1
Figure 1. Grapus poster 2
Chapter 3 – Structuring Two-Dimensional Space
In this poster, figure 1 the viewer will receive the most information in the sideways directions. All details are in the middle of the poster in the vertical plane. From the three dimension, two, including the sideways direction are special. They are perceived differently from each other and from other orientations. [44,47]
People are very sensitive to whether something is exactly vertical or horizontal. We immediately see that black objects (weaponry) form a vertical straight line and that the colored boxes are not parallel to that line, see figure 4.[57]
Figure 3. The weaponry Figure 4. Vertical and parallel
Objects can be separated from its background in many different ways; luminance changes at its silhouette, color differences, texture boundaries and even motion boundaries. In this case the weaponry, figure 3 is distinguished from the environment because their continuous contour is running all around the objects and they differ in color with the background. In the pattern-processing stage of perception the brain requires a generalized contour extraction mechanism. [45, 49] But pattern perceptions is more than contours. Groups of objects like, this weaponry, can form patterns based on the proximity of the elements; spatial layout.
Figures 5 shows two patterns, they both will excite the same large-scale feature detector giving the same overall shape. Because these patterns are large-scale structures, the large-scale oriented feature detectors will be stimulated by them. [56]
The objects/ the weaponry are shaped differently, which means that they are actually patterns of a pattern. This stimulates both small-scale features and medium-scale features. [57] The objects in proximity are similar concepts and have related information. They are all different weapons in the same color. The objects are not connected to each other by any graphical form, but because people recognize the objects as planes, boats, tanks etc. and they are pointing in the same direction, the objects have a common relationship; attacking the world. [63]
Figure 5: Spatial layout
Chapter 4 - Color
In the middle are two images in color, the background and the objects mentioned in the previous chapter are in black and white. The colors of the earth are not very saturated and close to a gray scale. So the colored boxes attract the attention more effectively. But a color is even more effective as a highlighter when there is only a single color used, other than black and white. [81] So a pop-out effect depends both on the other colored objects in the scene and on the background color. [77]
Black, white, red, green, yellow and blue are the colors most commonly used in the world. And according to the opponent-process theory these colors are special. All of them accept green are used in this poster.[70]
Figure 6. The colored boxes
The meanings of colors are culturally determined, and therefore colors may have different meanings in other countries. In the western world red represents danger, heat and stop. This is the reason why the text explaining the main goal of the poster is placed in the red box (figure 6). And this also explains why green is not used; green represents go, safety and renewal. [84]
Using colors for indicating categories of information is very important. Each colored box contains a part of information.[77]
Showing small yellow text on a black background is very easy to read. There is sufficient luminance contrast. [68] When using large fonts, the luminance contrast with the background becomes less important. [76]P aris
Showing small yellow text on a black background is very easy to read. There is sufficient luminance contrast. [68] When using large fonts, the luminance contrast with the background becomes less important. [76]
Chapter 7 – Visual and Verbal Narrative
In most cases images do not make good labels, and describing complex patterns of relationships with words is confusing. Here a combination is made. The reason for the protest is expressed with images;weaponryattacking the world and the protest information is expressed in words. [134]
We humans can only fixate on one point at the time because we only have one fovea. The two images in the middle are the only ones in color and attract the viewer’s attention immediately. Here the most important information is shown.
When people have a more closer look and switch their attention to the background, they see that partly the same information is shown as in the colored boxes; the location, Paris. [140]
Cartoons often use actions lines, these graphical strokes show movement pathways. All different weaponryare placed in such a way, that they look like an arrow. This is not exactly an action line, but we understand that they are approaching the earth. [142]
Innocent Advertisement
-Innocent
Innocent was founded by three Cambridge
Chapter 1 – Visual Queries
The act of perception is determined by two kinds of processes. From the picture shown on the right you will first perceive some visual information, like a little bottle in a meadow. Secondly you reinforce relevant information by the demands of attention. You are trying to solve some kind of cognitive problem.
In case of figure 7 it may be to determine the message of this advertisement; for example, what do they want to tell me? The answer of this question can be obtained by a series of searches for particular patterns, visual queries [3]. You will find yourself making a series of eye movements focusing your visual attention on the little bottle and then the fruit pile. You will notice the background but as you perform the task it will recede from you awareness. Even the bottle recedes from your awareness if you focusing on the text on the bottle, by the visual query what is the name of the band? It makes it possible that you can create patterns about the picture and solve the problems. Perceiving the fruit pile and the bottle may give you the answer that the fruit pile stands for the fruit in the bottle. This is called the top-down effect.
Observing figure 7 is a skilled active process. Your eyes move across the picture seeking out what you need. The critical information falls on the high-resolution fovea. Each time the eyes briefly come to rest the pattern-processing starts and search for the most relevant information to you current cognitive task. According to the picture your intermediate pattern processors detect and pass the information about the color red, that is imaged on a particular part of the retina, a moment later this red color is come labeled as strawberry. The same with the grass, the retina sees some figure; little green features became patterns what leads to the objectgrass (figure 8) This is called the bottom–up effect.
When you see the bottle, you do not simply from an image of that bottle in your head. Instead the few features that you have directly fixated are bound together with the knowledge you have about bottles in general and this bottle.Thus, what you see depends on both the information in the pattern on the page as it is processed bottom-up through the various neural processing stages, and on the top-down effects of attention that determines both where you look and what you pull out from the patterns on the page [9].
Chapter 2 – What we can easily see
The white label almost certainly popped out at you the moment you look to the advertisement. It is not surrounded with other related colors. The label distinct itself so it becomes the centre of fixation by eye movements. This fixation is strengthened by the sky, forest and meadow, because of their blurriness, the label is a sharp white color.
From the label the eye will make a movement to the orange child drawing head with the halo. It is a non-filled drawing, a feature what distinct the drawing from the filled surrounding. But also the orange color and the curvature make the drawing pop out.
The label does have a square orientation, as well as the text underneath the head, instead of the round head and halo. Thereafter, the fruit pile becomes visible, because of the size and triangular orientation. If the eyes are fixed on the fruit pile the strawberries will pop out. The red color is more different from the surrounding then for example the light green color of the grapes. The light green color is almost equal of the banana and lemon. This makes it difficult to discriminate the different kinds of fruit. However, the red strawberries in the fruit pile can be found with a single fixation because there is only one red colored object in the fruit pile. Last, the forest and then the sky become visible. The dark color from the forest will force you to look at first instead of the light color of the sky. When your eyes move across the sky you will perceive the number 169 what leads to an eye fixation at the end. See figure 9.
The whole picture does have a horizontal orientation, see figure 10. Even the line between the bottle and the fruit pile is a straight horizontal line. Only the fruit pile and the bottle, they are more vertical orientated. This horizontal orientation makes the bottle and fruit pile more outstanding. The spatial grouping in this advertisement is also a reason the fruit pile and bottle pops-out. Because of the group of fruit and the stand alone bottle, your eyes will see the little bottle the first the moment you see this advertisement. The little bottle is the outsider and falls on.
Chapter 3 – Structuring two-dimensional Space
The brain contains mechanisms that rapidly define regions having common texture. Excluding color and overall lightness, the primary factors that make one texture distinct from another are gain size, orientation, and contrast.
Figure 11 shows different textures. The messy vertical orientation of the grass makes it easy to discriminate the bottle and the fruit pile. The bottle does have a smooth texture like the grapes on the fruit pile. The strawberries distinguish themselves by a more rugged texture from the grapes.
Figure 11. Textures
At the top and the bottom of this picture the blur distinct the middle of the picture. The dark forest stroke discriminate the white bottle cap and the sky. The different fruit is also recognizable though contrast.
In this advertisement all details are in the middle of the poster. You will receive the most information about the whole advertisement in the sideway direction. The eyes are constantly make movements from the Innocent bottle to the fruit pile and back. However, if you look more detailed, at the innocent bottle itself, the sideway direction still gain you the most information. For instance, you want to read the text on the bottle, your eyes will make a movement from the left to the right.
Only the size of the bottle will demand an up-down movement.
As we are very sensitive to whether something is exactly vertical or horizontal, the innocent bottle strikes you immediately. It is only rotated a few degrees from the vertical, see figure 12, yet this little difference is clearly visible.
Figure 12: Vertical or not?
Madonna of the Harpies
-Andrea del Sarto’s (1517)
Madonna of the Harpies (Madonna delle Arpie) is a painting made by Andrea
Figure 13. Madonna della Arpie by Andrea del Sarto
Chapter 2 – What we can easily see
What directly pops out when you look at the picture is the polygonal pedestal, centrally located on the lower part of the painting. The pedestal is the most shining object between several objects with a more flat character. The colors are light and the object contains some highlights. The human eye is triggered by the high degree of feature-level contrast between the pedestal and the surrounding and a single eye fixation is enough to notice the pedestal. [28] This effect is strengthened by the step under the pedestal, because of the light color and the orientation of the step. Almost all objects in this painting are oriented in a vertical position, even the line in the background of the painting. Conversely, the step is place in a more horizontal orientation. Also on the top and the bottom of the pedestal you can see horizontal orientation. This is horizontally oriented makes the step, and at the same time the pedestal placed on this step, even more conspicuous. [33]
Figure 14: Orientation of the objects Figure 15: Main focus points of the human eye
From the pedestal the eye will make a movement to the right, where the clear red robe of the lady standing next to Madonna draws the attention. From the robe the eye will move straight up, along the clear blue colored mantle of Madonna, to Madonna’s upper part of the body and the child in her arms. The bright colored yellow fabric on the shoulder of Madonna and the light colored cloth on her head catch the eye. Also the child is light colored and the arm and leg of the child contain a subtle highlight, which makes the child stand out from the dark background.
After Madonna the person on the left will become visible. His dress is sober in color and his head almost disappear against the background. It takes a longer time to see all the details, like the books the two ladies have in their hand and the cross in the hands of the man. These objects have almost the same color as the background and are small in proportion to the bigger colored surfaces, like the robes, fabrics, the pedestal and the child. [35]
Chapter 5 – Getting the information: Visal space and time
Andrea made use of the most powerful pictorial depth cue called occlusion; objects that visually block other objects appear closer. Some examples of these occlusions are: the feet of the man on the left are painted in front of the step. This tells us that the man is standing in front of the step. Next to that you can see that the pedestal covers a part of the two angels standing on the left and the right of it. From this we can conclude that the two angels stand behind the pedestal. The hand and the arm of the angel on the right cover a part blue mantle of Madonna. Because of this we know that the angel is holding the leg of Madonna.
The amount of occlusion is reduced to a minimum, which also reduces the amount of depth in the painting. Almost all the persons on the painting stand next to each other and behind them there is only a wall. The minimum of occlusion does ensure that no information is lost. Andrea even made use of transparency to show more or less the whole wing of the left angel, which is actually behind the dress of the man totally on the left. [91]
Figure 16: Foot with the cast shadow and right without
Figure 17: Left an enlargement of the wing behind the transparent robe
Figure 17: Left an enlargement of the wing behind the transparent robe
Another pictorial depth cue used is the cast shadow. This shadow provides information about the distance between different objects. For example the foot of the man on the left is lifted up from the ground. The cast shadow on the ground helps us to understand the position of the foot and makes it much more realistic. [92, 95] The size and position of the cast shadow of Madonna and the child on the wall shows that they are standing close by the wall, but not against it.
Not only cast shadow helps to understand the position of the objects on the painting, but also shading plays a big role. By using shading the creases in the fabric appear, which shows the way the clothes cover the bodies of the people. The shading is also used on the naked body of the child in the arms of Madonna. These shadings help to make the difference between the limbs of the child and explain his position. Next to the shadings the highlights play a big role in showing the limbs and explaining the child’s position. [92]
The highlights are used on the pedestal too. Here the highlights are not only used to show the different elements of the object, but also to let the pedestal shine. The highlights help here to show the polished texture of the pedestal and that goes for the step under the pedestal to. Andrea used some more highlights on the bodies of the angels and on arms, hands, toes and faces of the people.
Not only small elements of the painting make it come more alive and perceived as 3D, but also the used perspective contributes to this. It looks like Andrea made use of a linear perspective, but during the reconstruction of the vanishing point, all the lines look randomly chosen. That is why it seems more likely that Andrea made use of an oblique projection; he painted the frontal view of the objects and added the sides to it in a way it seems to look realistic. [92]
Figure 18: An attempt to reconstruction of the vanishing points
Chapter 7 – Visual and verbal narrative
The painting of Madonna of the Harpies does not contain much text or textual symbols. The only text is the Latin text on the pedestal. This text is “Ad summu regna tronu defertur in altum” which is translated by art experts into “The queen is transported to the supreme throne high above”. Under this text the date is written in Latin MDXVII (1517) and above this text Andrea del Sarto placed his own signature.3 [130]
The objects on the painting could also tell a whole story. Beside the text there are also some figures on the pedestal. They faces look scared and despaired and they seem to look up to Madonna. Their bodies do not look totally human, because of the very long legs and feet and the wings on their backs. [135]
The main focuses of the painting are the objects in front of it. The background is very clean and sober, to ensure the attention of the viewer will not lead away from the narrative thread. In the middle a woman is standing central and somewhat higher than the other figures on the painting. This let us assume that this woman is Madonna. Because she is the one who is standing on the pedestal with the text it looks like this text applies to her, so she could be the queen and the pedestal could be the throne. The man and the woman next to the pedestal, respectively on the left and the right, are standing on the ground and more to the side of the painting. This makes them look less important. [139] The three characters seem to look to something in front of them which is a little bit lower, because their looks are directed towards the ground. The beaten down eyes of Madonna makes her look a little bit sad. The two people on the side seem to protect the cross and the content of the book.
Figure 19: Pedestal with Latin text
Their bodies are turned towards Madonna, while they look towards the viewer of the painting. The position and facial expression of the angel on the left, holding the leg of Madonna, looks desperate. He wants to stay with Madonna or maybe he wants to be lifted up like the child on Madonna’s arm. [137]
There are also a lot of symbolic objects in the painting, like the cross held by the man on the left, the almost invisible aureoles above the heads of the people, the books in the hands of Madonna and the woman right from her and the child with the angel wings. All these symbols point at a religious representation. Striking is that all these objects are painted very dark and inconspicuous.
The whole representation is very static. The position of the people is very static, especially Madonna standing on the pedestal, which could be associated with a statue. Andrea did not made use of features to encourage the intention of movement, but maybe he even didn’t want to give the viewer the intention of movement. [142]
Fishing boats on the Beach at
Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
-Vincent van Gogh (1888)
Vincent van Gogh completed Fishing boats on the Beach at Les Saintes
Maries de la Mer (figure 19) in 1888, after spending time sketching on the shore of the Mediterranean fishing village.
It has a nearly even division of beach and sky. The boats are positioned in such a way that they break through this division created by beach and sky and unite them together. All used colors are controlled and individual objects are bound by black lines. 4
Chapter 1 –Visual Queries
We apprehend only a tiny amount of the information in our surroundings, but it is usually just the right information to carry us through the task of the moment. [1]
Visual thinking consists of a series of acts of attention, driving eye movement and tuning our patter-finding circuits. These acts of attention are called visual queries. [3]
The act of perception is determined by two kinds of processes: bottom-up and top-down. Driven by respectively the visual information in the pattern of light falling on the retina and driven by the demands of attention which in turn are determined by the needs of the tasks. [8]
Looking at figure 19 the queries could be:
- What is this painting about?
- What do these boats mean?
- Why are these boats on shore and the others at sea?
- Why did the painter paint these, other than because the look pretty.
Van Gogh was a true Impressionist, which means that he used an impression to paint. He wanted you to have the feeling of an impression. A glimpse. You don’t need to look at the painting for long to know what it’s about. Rough paint strokes indicate boats on the beach and boats at sea. Or wait, unique colorful boats without a sail are on the beach and the boats at sea have their sails out, but there unique colors blend in with the background and look the same, yellow and blue.
After having a better look you see the symmetry in the painting. Four boats on the beach, four at sea. The sky and land-sea division is also equal. The once impressionistically painting doesn’t seem to be that random anymore. Van Gogh carefully placed these boats on the canvas.
To find an answer to this query your eyes will search the painting via a series of eye-movements. But how do we decide where to move our eyes in a visual search task? How do we know where to look? And if we already know what is there, why do we need to look? [14]
A useful way of describing the way the brain operates to solve problems is as a set of nested loops. Outer loops with generalities. Inner loops process the details. [17]
Figure 20. Fishing boats Figure 21. Black and white fishing boats
Van Gogh always used colors in his paintings. Perceiving colors is a biological thing and mostly depending on light. There are two basic types of light receptors in the retina at the back of the eyeball: rods and cones. The rods are used for low-light levels (which we hardly need in our artificially lit world) and the cones are the basis for normal daytime vision. They come in three subtypes; short-, middle- and long-wavelength sensitive. These three different types of cones mean color vision is fundamentally 3D. [66]
Most of the important principles for effectively using color in design can be derived from understanding of the red-green, yellow-blue and black-white color channels. [69]
In the painting (figure 20) we can clearly see the difference between sea and ocean and even more clear see the difference between beach and sea. But when taking away the colors the only thing very clear are the four boats on the beach (figure 21). The separation between sea and beach is hardly to see, maybe by viewing the colored version first, you understand that the light grey parts in the right of the painting is the white foam of the sea when coming to shore. The contrast we had in de colored version almost evaporates in the black and white version.
The more vivid a color, the more saturated it is said to be. More saturated colors are those that have strong signals on one or both of the chromatic channels. [71] The colors for the background (sky, sea and beach) are not very vivid and therefore have a low saturation. The subject of the painting, the fishing boats however have vivid colors and therefore also a high saturation. Van Gogh obviously wanted to focus all the attention to the boats and specifically the four boats on shore.
Chapter 5-Getting the Information: Visual Space and Time
We live in a 3D world. But the painting is only 2D although it is a representation of the 3D world.
In order to understand space and therefore 3D we make use of several depth cues. Depth cues can be divided into those that are pictorial and those that are non-pictorial. Pictorial depth cues can be reproduced in a photograph or in our case a realistic painting.
The most powerful depth cue is occlusion; objects that visually block other objects appear closer. [90]
Van Gogh easily made use of this depth cue by placing the boats on shore in front of each other. Also the sand that is in front of the bottom of the boat indicates that the boats are in/on the sand and therefore not floating around above the sand or in the sky.
Perspective size gradients is also a commonly used depth cue. As you can see in figure 22 the depth is created by making every boat after the one in front smaller. The four boats on the beach are the same model boat (only different colors), the boats at sea also have the same main characteristics as the boats on shore. The boats on shore are close enough to be examined and therefore the conclusion can be drawn that the all the boats are the same model (and size). So by picturing the same model boat first on the beach and later also at sea we can assume that the smaller the boat is, the further away.
If the boats on the beach were all different models the observer would never be sure to assume that the smaller the boat the further away it is. For instance, it could also be a small toy boat.
Van Gogh used cast shadows to indicate where the boats are positioned in the space. The cast shadows tie them to the ground and therefore give the observer a fair shot at estimating the distance. The cast shadow can be found, although very slightly under the boats with a darker patch of sand (figure 23).
Depth of focus: The human eye, like a camera lens, focuses objects at a specific distance. Objects that are farther away or nearer are blurred. [93] In the painting of Van Gogh he made use of this depth cues by blurring the boats at sea. The smaller the boat gets, the more blurred it becomes. Of course this is also because of his painting technique (the impressionic strokes) but also to emphasize the depth of the painting. You can’t see the boat clear, just like in real life because it is too far away, only now Van Gogh blurred it for you.
Figure 22. Perspective size gradients Figure 23. Cast shadows
Figure 24. Close up from painting, blurry boats in the distance Figure 25. Close up from painting, closest boat
Figure 24. Close up from painting, blurry boats in the distance Figure 25. Close up from painting, closest boat
2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_Drinks (26-02-2011)
3 http://www.scribd.com/doc/33498536/Simona-Cohen-2008-Animals-as-Disguised-Symbols-in-Renaissance-Art-Brill%E2%80%99s-Studies-in-Intellectual-History-Vol-II (21-02-2011)
4http://www.paintingmania.com/fishing-boats-beach-les-saintes-maries-de-la-mer-6_2866.html (25-02-2011)
