Over the course of the semester we created a wide array of different experimentations based on our chosen objects and the ultimate goal of developing symbols, icons and ISOTYPES. Each week we created between 30 and 45 different variations, depending on challenges. We used a variety of media and technologies, from hand-drawn line art to digital photographs, photo manipulations, Illustrator experiments, hand-made collage, etc.

MARTINIGLASS

TABLE OF CONTENTSPick an Object! 1

Mind Mapping 2

Visual Research Collages 4

Point Study 8

Drawing Study I 10

Abstraction Silhouettes 14

Photography Challenge I 18

Drawing Study II 20

Photography Challenge II 24

Super Image Challenge! 28

Vectored Icons 32

Final Icon 34

Custom Fonts 36

Letters into Shapes 38

Computer Transformations 40

Pink Rubber Duckie: This object was a gift from a friend in high school. It represents childhood and is associated with playfulness and sillyness. It is brightly colored pink and just plain cute.

Sunglasses: This object is associated with sunny days and the outdoors. It reminds me of long summer drives, the beach and having a good time. Also, these specific sunglasses, [knock-off] Ray Bans are in style and especially associated with being ‘cool.’

Martini Glass: This object represents class and is associated with classy ladies. It is associated with social situations and gathering with others. The object is fragile and delicate. These are all characteristics I would like to associate with myself.

Pick an object!

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One of the biggest challenges that a designer often has to overcome is the habit of pursuing only the first idea that comes to mind when beginning a new project. While as designers we may swear that our first solution is the best solution, much of that ability stems from training and practice that can be gained from brainstorming exercises. People are not necessarily born creative — you can train yourself to think and act creatively.

The next step was creating mindmaps of terminology and short phrases that relate to our object.

A guide your brainstorming session:

Mind Mapping

• Impact - what does the object leave behind?

• Variations - what variations of the object are available?

• Subjectivity - an interpretation of what we see. Think of this as kind of like looking for shapes in clouds.

• Context - the setting or environment in which the object exists or is used.

• Actions - What does the object do?

• Connotations - what feelings does your object symbolize?

• Denotations - what does your object actually ‘mean?’

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IMPACT:spills, stains, splatters, drunkenness, lipstick stains, salt, sugar, bad breath, vomit, hangover, headache, stomach ache, memory loss, passed out, fogginess, blurry sight, intoxication, empty wallet, accidental pregnancy, broken glass, empty bottle, mess, car accident, DUI, loss of license, black eye, concussion, stubbed toe, cuts, wounds

VARIATIONS:glass, wine glass, flask, flute champagne glass, goblet, beer mug, dos boot, coffee cup, communion cup, vase, funnel, cone, pyramid, hands, windows, stained glass, eye glasses, gas can, paper cup, plastic cup, cantine, craft, bottles, jugs

SUBJECTIVITY:cone, exploding volcano, road cone, bowl, pyramids, flapper haircut, bowl cut, triangular road sign, bathing pool, bird fountain, fish bowl, stool, mountain, funnel, stand, hour glass, reflection, house, water tower, cup your hands, olives, little sword toothpicks

CONTEXT:bars, resturaunts, servers/waitors, bartenders, parties, ladies night, piano bar, cruises, nightclubs, country clubs, homes, kitchens, mini bars, beaches, vacations, sunsets, weddings, reunions, celebrations, after a hard day, bathtubs, hot tubs, poolside, (madmen) lunchtime drink, tropical locations, the martini bar, (colored) martini bars (blue martini, green martini etc.)

ACTIONS:makes a mess, catches liquid, holds/contains, spills, fragile, shatters, cuts, cracks, pours, break face, intoxicates, inebriates, decorates, tip, fall, throw it, drop it, gift it, slide it down the bar, ‘spike’ it, chug it, drink it

CONNOTATIONS:classy, partying, drunkenness, femininity, nostalgic, liberal, letting loose, alcoholism, addiction, drinking, vacation, disgust, sickness, memory loss, blackout, fragile, class, sexuality, promiscuity, rebellion, drinking, refreshment, relaxation, paradise, James Bond, masculinity, (colored) martini bars, sophistication

DENOTATIONS:drinking, bar, liquor, liquor store, relax, alcohol, alcoholism, partying, social, gatherings, social class, sophistication, on the rocks, shaken, stirred, salted, sugared, appletini, feminine, James Bond masculine, wealth, status

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For the initial round of experimentation, we created visual research collages using terminology from our mindmapping exercise using images found online. First, we looked through our mindmaps / lists and chose a minimum of two terms from per category. When looking through our terms, we had to think about what makes something ‘iconic’ or ‘symbolic.’ Some terms or phrases may be more vivid and/or descriptive than others. After choosing 14 terms, we began our visual research online using image search engines, webrings, online publications, online art galleries, etc. We searched for either the term/phrase itself, related terms, content based on imagery found, etc. We found as many images as possible, because the more you find, the more options you have when moving forward. Finally, we printed our images, cut them out and began to collage.

Visual Research Collages

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This study explored the actual creation of an icon / ISOTYPE / symbol based on the chosen object. This was the primary goal for the rest of the semester. Each week we approached this challenge by utilizing a variety of materials and techniques. In this challenge we created a minimum of 6 representations of our objects using only dots/points using a single marker or pen.

A drawing made of 2 dots

A drawing made of 3 dots

A drawing made of 5 dots

A drawing made of 20 dots

A drawing made of 50 dots

A drawing made of 100 dots

Point Study

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For this set of experiments, we focused on simplifying our objects through the process of creating a master drawing and then tracing/abstracting the object with each subsequent version.

Drawing Study { 1 }

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1. Draw a solid silhouette of your object as accurately as you possibly can — there should be NO interior detail. Think of this as a ‘negative space drawing’

2. Trace drawing 1, then go back in and add as many interior details as you possibly can

(your goal is to be as close to realistic as possible).

3. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the two most important geometricshapes.* Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

4. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the three most important geometric

shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap. 5. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the four most important geometric

shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.6. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the five most important geometric

shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

7. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the six most important geometricshapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

8. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the seven most important geometric shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

9. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the eight most important geometric shapes.

Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

10. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the nine most important geometric shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

11. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the ten most important geometric shapes.

Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

12. Lightly trace drawing 2, then, with your softer pencil, draw the

twenty most important geometricshapes. Your shapes are not

allowed to overlap.

Rules

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One of the big challenges we face as designers/creatives is working with defined sets of limitations, both of the project and of the materials we are using. However, when we are able to understand what the limitations are, we can then push ourselves to solve our problems more creatively and effectively. For this set of experiments, we revisited the simplification of our objects using abstract forms (not necessarily limited to geometric shapes), only now we did so using a less forgiving process: cut paper collage.

Abstraction Silhouettes

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1. Cut a solid silhouette of your object as accurately as you possibly can — there should be NO interior detail. This is kind of like seeing your object’s shadow. 2. Cut another solid silhouette of your object, but

this time, add as many internal details aspossible. Think about how you can convey different pieces of your object (like hard edges, decoration, etc.) using cut paper.

3. Create an iconic version of your object using only a single, solid shape. Think about what it means to be ‘iconic’ when choosing the viewing angle and orientation of your object.

4. Create an iconic version of your object using only two solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

5. Create an iconic version of your object using only three solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

6. Create an iconic version of your object using only four solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

7. Create an iconic version of your object using only five solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

8. Create an iconic version of your object using only six solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

9. Create an iconic version of your object using only seven solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

Rules

11. Create an iconic version of your object using only nine solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

12. Create an iconic version of your object using only twenty solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

10. Create an iconic version of your object using only eight solid shapes. Your shapes are not allowed to overlap.

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For this challenge, we explored the iconic physical qualities of our objects by experi-menting with lighting and photography. First, we found a neutral, high-contrast location to take our photos, a place that was devoid of any extraneous elements, like paint, other objects, light switches, etc. and was somewhat dull or matte in color to avoid unwanted glare. Next, we took a minimum of 6 different photos exploring the relationship between our object and the shadows it creates/casts. To do this, we were able to move the light source and our viewing angle, crop the object in extreme close-ups or pull back to capture very long shadows. Our goal was to look at these photographs as ‘iconic,’ again continuing to question what it means to be ‘iconic.’

Photography Challenge { 1 }

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Drawing Study { 2 }For this challenge, we will be exploring the iconic physical qualities of your object by creating a range of different, more traditional pencil drawings.

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Rules

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1. Orthographic drawings : these are technical drawings, so start on your cartesian grid paper, then trace the final solution using your tracing paper so that you have a clean, scannable drawing.

2. Isometric drawing : this is a technical drawing, so start with your isometric grid paper, then trace the final solution using your tracing paper.

3. A still life : choose items that relate to your object and create a more traditional still-life (minimum of three extra items required).

4. A drawing that uses cross-hatching to create value.

5. A drawing with no outlines.

6. A continuous-line, blind contour drawing : draw your object from life (while looking at it) but do not look at the paper as you draw. You are also not allowed to lift your pencil from the page as you draw (think about making a continuous line drawing, similar to our lineicon assignment).

7. A blind memory drawing : draw your object from memory, without looking at it.

9. Outline the literal object : put your object onto the piece of paper and trace it, like making hand turkeys at Thanksgiving.

8. Set up lighting and then draw only the shadows of your object. These can be shadows that are cast by your object onto other surfaces AND shadows within your object. DO NOT draw the object itself.

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Photography Challenge { 2 }For this challenge, we explored a variety of renderings of the object using photography as our medium. These renderings ranged from highly descriptive to highly conceptual to experimental in execution.

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Photograph the object in 6 different angles. 25

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Not every design solution can be solved with a crisp, clean, digital rendering in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Maya, Flash, etc. Sometimes the only way to make a design feel authentic is to get your hands dirty and actually make it authentic.

Super Image Challenge!

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Rules3. Choose one of your photos from the previous photo challenge, then use an x-acto knife to carve a stencil for spray painting. I would suggest mounting the photo to a piece of matte, poster or cardboard before cutting the stencil. Watch for overspray, underspray, drips, etc. — they aren’t bad, necessarily, but shouldn’t feel like they detract from the stencil. Don’t be afraid to do multiple attempts to get different ‘feelings.’ It might also be helpful to work on a bit larger paper then scan it and scale it down.

2. Marker line drawing — similar to the ballpoint pen drawing, only this time you are limited to marker and outlines/contour lines ONLY — no shading. You are also required to use a minimum of three different line thicknesses (can be used to show depth, emphasis, light source, etc.).

1. Ballpoint pen drawing — you are not allowed to draw with pencil first or do any tracing; the entire drawing must be done in ballpoint pen. The angle is up to you: experiment with creating images that are iconic, visually interesting, expressive and/or descriptive. You may or may not choose to add value to this drawing.

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12. Create a ‘wire sculpture.’ This doesn’t need to be mounted onto a base, nor do you need to create a nail guide (but you can if you want). Grab a pair of gloves and a couple pairs of pliers and go to town.

11. Create a white-medium-on-black-ground drawing, but ONLY draw the highlights/light areas. This is basically the opposite of the shadow drawings we did during the previous drawing challenge.

10. Cut out the words from your mindmap printouts, then draw your object using the words/phrases/ terms. You are allowed to use text of varying sizes and weights, but it should all be the same typeface. You can draw outlines, value, texture, etc. with these words.

9. Draw the object WITH the object. How you do this is up to you.

8. Draw your object by creating a collage using elements cut/ripped from magazines. You can use copy, solid colors, images, etc.

7. Create a drawing using a bunch of similar objects. For example, create a drawing out of toothpicks, macaroni, rocks, etc. Use a stiff piece of white paper or board. If your material is too large — like cars — you may need to take a really good digital photograph. No Photo-shopping allowed!

6. Create a negative space drawing using your black crayon. Try to be as detailed as possible. The object will be white on a black background and should have NO interior details.

5. Using India ink and a single brush, create an icon of your object using no more than 3 strokes. This will more than likely look like kanji or hanzi. Try different sized brushes and different pressures/techniques, but use only one brush per drawing.

4. ‘Ink’ your object with poster paint or screen printing ink, then create a print by pressing it onto a piece of paper. Think about what part of the object might be the most interesting/iconic, visually interesting. Some objects will only have a couple points that touch the paper at any given time, so be creative. Save this step for last and then clean your object.

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In this experiment, we needed to narrow down our best icons to six. They could be iconic, awesome or expressive. Next, we took our chosen icons, refined them and brought them into Illustrator to trace a black and white vectored version.

Vectored Icons

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FINAL ICON34

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For this experiment, we wrote the name of our object in a ‘font’ that represents an aspect of the object. We created the letterforms by hand and made a total of 6 variations.

Rules

Custom Font

1. The name of the object should have a single, horizontal baseline. No creative typographic layouts, just a single line of text.

2. Letters should have unifying elements. Think about how a font is designed: all of the characters go together as part of a larger system. The letters you create should feel like they come from the same typeface.

3. You are limited to black and white, no gray tones. You can use stippling or hatching/cross hatching to create gradients, but smooth gray tones are not acceptable.

4. Use only the letters in the name of your object. Do not add unnecessary punctuation and do not create any letters that you do not need.

5. I suggest drawing the letters separate from one another when you begin (not as part of the whole word) and then tracing them on tracing paper. This will allow you to make sure they are properly aligned, and if you have repeated letters, you can just trace a single letterform.

6. If you work larger, then scale it down, be aware that some detail might get lost. When you createyour letters, keep this in mind: what looks cool large might look like utter poop when shrunk.

7. If there is confusion, go to a free font resource (such as dafont.com) and type the name of your object into the search box. See what the typefaces that come up look like.

8. You can be subjective or objective with your designs.

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Now, we chose six of our favorite or most descriptive terms from our mindmap exercise, then used the words to build hand-drawn illustrations.

Letters into Shapes

Rules1. You can warp the letterforms to fill the positive space of your object. This means letter forms can be bent, re-sized, twisted, stretched, squished, etc.

2. You can make it appear as though your object has interacted with the letters.

3. You can layer your term on top of itself, over and over, to fill in the positive space

4. You can also take a more expressive approach, like the poetry of FT Marinetti or the calligrammes of Apollinaire. Look them up. You’ll see what I mean.

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Computer Transformations

Cropping:

The next experiment will both of which will force us to physically break down our icons and challenge what it means to be legible vs. readable. NOTE: For this assign-ment, you are required to use your final, refined icon. No other versions of you icon should be used for these experiments.

Use clipping paths, your icon and a boc from your template, create 6 cropped versions of your icon. Each cropped version needs to retain some recognition of what your icon is.

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Transform one part of your icon to create 3 different experiments. You can distort it, warp it, alter the scale, invert the positive/negative spaces, etc. You are not allowed to use any effects but you can experiment with envelop distoriton and any of the tools in the tool panel.

Dimensionality:

Part/Whole:Create 3 images - within the same square format- that creates the illusion of being 3-dimensional. You can make your icon appear to be 3D and/or the icon can inhabit a 3D environment. You are not allowed to use any 3D software or the 3D effect in illustrator.

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The Unexpected:Create 3 unexpected experimentations. By unexpected I mean do something that no one would expect (hence ‘unexpected’). These experiments are up to you.

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Repitition:Duplicate your icon, making the following (3 of each):- a series of decorative patterns - for an aded challenge, create a functioning pattern swatch- a random orientation of repeated icons at different sixes that create mini compositions

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Color:Change the color(s) used creating 6 different verisons of the icon. Think about the terms from your mindmap and how colors can convey different feelings/emotions. You will need to be able to tell the class what effect the color(s) has/have. You are allowed to use gradients, solid colors or experiment with gradient meshes.

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© Deveraux Harrington

All icons designed and printed by Deveraux Harrington for University of South Florida’s Graphic Design Program.

Introduction to Multimedia SystemsFall 2011