Monday Videos

The videos went through Gestalt Theory. The first one is proximity, which is when different objects are placed together so that the audience thinks that they are a group. Similarity is next, which is when different objects are similar-looking, then the eye thinks that they are a group together. The next is continuance. Continuance is when the designer makes a line in their designs so that the eye the objects in a linear way. Lastly closure is when a design has missing elements and visuals, so our eyes fill in the rest. The second video is about organizing and ranking things in order of significance. In my special topics in communication media, we learned that this is called visual hierarchy. Using visual hierarchy the author of the visual can lead the audience to what is most important and how they want the audience to read the document.

While I was reading about these design elements, all I could think of was my special topics in communication media class, because we’ve learned about these visual strategies already, and it is very interesting to me. So I thought to myself “damn I gotta think of something”. I leaned back in my chair, looking around my dark room. It was about 11:20 pm, so I was a little pressed for time. I look behind me and looked over my favorite poster in my room. The poster is the Michael Jordan poster called “Wings” shown below. I realized that even this poster that featured hardly any writing had some of these elements. Take a look at the dope-ass poster below. I know it’s sick right?

The first thing you notice is Michael in the middle, arms outstretched. That’s where the designer wanted you to look first. That is the top of the visual hierarchy. Next you notice the “Wings”. The Continuance makes you read it slowly, and because of the huge kearning between each of the letters, you feel the scale of the poster again, yet again looking at the length of Michael’s outstretched arms. Lastly, you notice the block at the bottom. Because it’s all the same font, size, boldness, all in italics, you group it together, reading it all at the same time. The proximity also makes you group it together. The visual hierarchy, is first Michael, then the “Wings” then the text at the bottom. I had never noticed those tiny details before, but reading this chapter has shown me those details.