Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

According to Dondis, “All visual elements have the capacity to modify and define each other.  In this photograph, the viewer can get a relative idea of how large the car is because of what is around it. In Dondis’ words, “Scale can be established not only through the relative size of visual clues, but also through relationships to the field or environment.” Depth cues also provide an indicator of space, how large something is, and how close it is.  Overlap is present in this photograph; the car overlaps the jet, and the jet overlaps parts of the building and trees. This would be considered a retinal image.  Relative size and height are also indicated through the use of different objects; in this case the jet. We know how large the jet and car are based on familiar size as well. The viewpoint being from at a higher location also helps indicate the size. The space inside of the garage/hangar is shown through the juxtaposition of the car and jet inside and how both are not touching the walls. Lastly, linear perspective is present through the narrowing visual.  

Tone and Color

How Tone is Operating

“The most fundamental level of visual perception and any visual design is tone.”  The tone distinguishes the differences, changes, and edges on the Mclaren p1. Depth and dimension become more obvious through the different tonal ranges. The form of the car is captured through the use of different tones.  

How Tone is Interacting

One basic element that tone is interacting with is the element of shape. The complexity of the lines and shapes of the car are highlighted by the different tonal ranges of the different features. Depth is highly noticeable through the use of lighter and darker tones.

How Color is Operating

The intense orange and deep black intensify the Mclaren P1. The orange-red color is extremely bright and highly saturated. This color red would be considered “emotional and active”, which should be expected from a sports car.  These colors demonstrates symbolize the aggressive and exotic appearance of a sports car. 

How Color is Interacting

On the Mclaren P1, the basic element of shape is highlighted by the use of color. The deep black is used as an accent for certain dimensional shapes and juxtapose the orange. The side view mirrors, the roof, and the front bumper are all square-like shapes and are brought to the viewers attention by the use of black.  The orange-red color is used for the outer parts of the body shape, highlighting the general shape of the entire car.

Car Design

The Line

This featured image is a sketch of a BMW, highlighting the active basic element of, the line. The role of the line is to define visual perception countours, especially when the object is in the draft stages. It creates the boundaries and concept of what the car is going to look like. The surface and structure of the car are defined by the sequence of lines; leading the eye horizontally. According to Dondis, the, "line is the essential element of the drawing, which is a notation system that does not stand for something else, symbolically, but does capsulize visual information, boiling it down to a state of reduction where all superfluous visual information has been stripped away and only the essential remains. 

The Shape

The active basic element in this photograph is shape. The result of multiple lines is a shape, or in Dondis' words, "In the parlance of the visual arts, line articulates the complexity of shape."  The shapes visible in this featured image are a triangle, square, and circle. The car is photographed at a triangular angle, which creates perceptual stress. The role of the triangular shape is for the perception of movement. It accomplishes this by the car being photographed at an angle. The purpose for this is because it provides the car with a provoking aggressive sports car like stance, giving it dynamism. Other obvious shapes are circles and squares. The car itself is generally shaped like a rectangle, but contoured in an aerodynamic way, looking like it is built for speed. And the rest of the car is accented with square/rectangular shapes. The circular shapes are the wheels and headlights.  The shape captures the design of this BMW. 

Scale

This photograph represents the active basic element of scale. Scale, a visual measuring tool, requires juxtaposition, which is why this BMW is staged next to a motorcycle. The role of the differently sized motorcycle plays is to communicate the actual size and relative proportion of the car. It does this by showing that the motorcycle is comparatively smaller than the car. According to Dondis"Scale can be established not only through the relative size of visual clues, but also through relationships to the field or the environment."The hills, wall, and pavement all indicate the size of the motorcycle and car. 

Blog Exercise: Visual Thinking Research

The objective of this puzzle was to count how many triangles are visible within the pentagon pattern. The strategies that I employed in the solving of this puzzle were finding, pattern seeking, and visual memorization. I took started off by counting the amount of obvious triangles that are displayed in the puzzle. I then started looking for triangles along the outside of the pentagon. I soon noticed that there was a pattern with the triangles and the amount of sides on the pentagon. I noticed that the shape contained 5 triangles of each size triangle.

The strategies that my friend used to solve this puzzle were finding, and visual memorization. First he counted all of the most obvious triangles. After that, he started with finding other triangles with smaller ones first, moving up to the larger ones. As he took note of each triangle, he visually memorized which ones he had already counted. 

The first part of this puzzle required the user to figure out how many squares were visible in the puzzle. My friend used finding, pattern seeking, pattern completion, and filling in to solve this puzzle. First he found the most obvious squares, which were the ones that are verticle and horizontal. Next he noticed squares were also present using diagonal corners. He drew lines to complete the square patterns. He found 17 squares. 21 were present.

The next objective was to fill in 6 of the green dots in a way that would eliminate the ability to form any squares. He did this by filling in circles on each row or column, eliminating smaller squares first and then making sure that it also eliminated the formation of larger squares.

I used the same strategies in this puzzle as my friend. I found the squares and completed the patterns by drawing lines. I was able to find 19 squares.

For the second part of this puzzle, I accidentally filled 8 dots, which was two more than I was allowed to use to solve it.