Round vs Sharp Shapes Figure 1

To reflect on this week’s reading, I would like to talk about visual communication through two elements, shape and movement. Shape is one of the core components of visual communication. In its simplest form, it’s a line that represents meaning (shape). The basic shapes are circle, square, and triangle. Each shape, with its characteristics such as the angle, roundness, and sides, is perceived differently. Squares signal dullness and honesty, circles represent warmth and protection, and triangles portray action and tension. For example, in the Pixar animation Soul, the character designers of the counsels chose more round and flowing shapes to represent a loving and caring counselor with feminine features. On the other hand, they picked square and sharp edges in designing a dull cynical character with masculine traits. ( See figure 1)

Shading and Movement Figure 2

The other aspect of visual communication that caught my attention is movement. In the case of still objects, motion can be portrayed by tricking the precipitation of the viewer through manipulating elements of visual design. For example, artists use different perspectives and angles with varying light intensity to modify the dimension. In the form of actual movements like we see in motion pictures, a series of still images with slight changes are played one after the other to provide a sense of natural movements. This phenomenon is called persistence of vision.

To express this element more tangibly, let’s go back to the counselors in the animation Soul. We can see that they are a form of wire sculptures in a 3D world. Figure 2 shows how the 2D wire characters existed in the 3D environment. To create movement and expression to those shapes, the character designers relied on shadows and light directions to provide variations to their designs which they handed to the animators (Figure 3).

2D in 3D environment Figure 3

References

Dondis, Donis A. A Primer of Visual Literacy. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 1973.

Image Sources

  • fig1: https://i.pinimg.com/originals
  • fig2: https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/
  • fig3: https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net