Author: Penny Reeves

I am a student at BYU-Idaho and will be using this blog as an assignment page for Design 130. I enjoy learning about design and graphic art and look forward to hearing from you if you find this blog informational or helpful.
Reverse Engineer

Photography – 3 Rules to Consider

Penny Reeves

This week in our design class we studied photography. There are a variety of rules to follow that can really help a beginning photographer capture better photos. Three of these rules will be focused on for this blog entry: Leading Lines, Depth, and Rule of Thirds.

 

Rule of Thirds

The first image shown below is a great example of Rule of Thirds. I found this image online at Jane Allan Photography.  This is part of her family photo advertisement.  Her site is located at: https://www.janeallanphotography.com/free-the-photos-family-photography/

Jane Allan

As you can see from my draw-over of her photograph below, she exhibits great use of the rule of thirds. The best way to understand this principle is to imagine that whatever you are photographing is divided into nine sections with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines running through the “thirds” of the image.  The rule suggests that you place the main focus of what your shooting along these imaginary lines or at the points that they cross or intersect. This simple practice helps add greater balance to the image and makes it more interesting. The people are placed exactly where they need to be.

Jane Allan Drawover

Below is my photograph taken this week utilizing the rule of thirds. I have also included a draw-over. The similarities between my photo and Jane Allan’s photo are both utilize the rule of thirds and our main subjects are sitting right on those imaginary lines. We both use only one main item as the focus as well, mine is a cat and hers is a family. Another thing that is similar between both photos is there is very little variation of color in the background. I believe it helps bring greater attention and interest on the main subject.

Roo1

Roo1 draw over

 

Depth

The next image is an example of Depth. This photograph was taken by Roy Lee and is included in his blog article called Depth of Field in a Nutshell, found online at https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/depth-of-field-in-a-nutshell/.

Roy Lee

As you can see from the draw-over, he gives us a great example of depth. Having the closest bricks in focus with the further bricks and people out of focus gives us a sense of distance between the two areas. The lines of the bricks also create depth. There is a natural tendency to look at the focused bricks, but then travel with the lines to the out of focus items, which also creates distance. This photograph is considered a shallow depth of field.

Roy Lee draw over

My photograph and draw over below are similar because I have focused on the stones closest to the camera and allowed the items further away to be blurry. I also have lines in the photo, such as the mortar in the stones and bricks on the ground, that lead your eye away from the focused area into the background. My draw-over highlights these areas of similarities.

stones

stones draw over

Leading Lines

The image below is a fantastic example of leading lines. This image was taken by Jim Zuckerman and exhibited on his blog post called Composition: Leading Lines. This image can be located at: https://www.photovideoedu.com/Learn/Articles/jim-zuckerman-on-composition-leading-lines.aspx

MOC Zuckerman on Composition Leading Lines 2-1

The draw-over of this image highlights how each line in the tulip field and even the skyline create a natural tendency to look at the main focus of the image, the windmill. They draw your attention right into the main focus of the image, which is also following the rule of thirds. The windmill is sitting on the top 1/3 of the page.

Leading lines affect the way we look at a photo. They can lead us directly to a subject or right off the page. This photographer uses straight lines, but there are other types of leading lines such as curvy roads and zigzags.

MOC Zuckerman on Composition Leading Lines 2-1 draw over

My example of leading lines is similar in the fact that there are strong lines running directly to the main focus of the picture, which is my entertainment center. The focus of the picture isn’t as interesting as Mr. Zuckerman’s windmill, but I felt the kick boards on both sides of the room do draw the eye into the picture and lead the viewer along.

Entertainment center

Entertainment center draw over

Conclusion

Using leading lines, depth and rule of thirds can help a photographer capture the attention of the viewer. In using these three rules, I have been able to see my own photography improve. I now look for opportunities to use leading lines and depth in my photos, especially those that are of scenery. I really like how the rule of thirds helps balance the subject in the photo and creates interest and an element of professionalism. I now tend to look at the world around me through a photo lens to see if there are leading lines, an interesting depth perspective and if I could capture something fascinating using the rule of thirds.

Reverse Engineer

Alaska Anyone? – Holland America Catalog Review of Typography

Penny Reeves

Holland America Cover

This week we have been studying Typography and how to utilize fonts to their greatest potential. The image above as scanned from the front page of a Holland America Cruise Line hard-copy advertisement catalog that I received in the mail this week; therefore, it is not available online. Holland America has a beautiful website, but the catalog is not available to view online. The image belongs to Holland America Line® located at P.O. Box 34985, Seattle, WA 98124. The catalog was mailed as campaign #HAL16544US.  This is a beautiful use of typography and imagery that captures the attention of the reader. Who wouldn’t want to find out about cruising to Alaska and Yukon in 2019?

The first category and the most dominant wording is in Sans Serif as 2109 ALASKA & THE YUKON. See below.

Holland America Cover - San Serif Category

If you will notice there are no serifs on the tops or bottoms of the letter strokes. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a serif is, “any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of the strokes of a letter.” The structure of the letters are always tubular with no transition from thick to thin as seen in other category fonts. The words have been stretched across the page, but you can tell that some of the title has undergone kerning.  For example, the spacing between “ALA” of ALASKA is not uniform. They have moved the “L” and the second “A” closer together to create letter spacing that is more visually appealing. The same situation is true for the letters “THE”. The “T” is closer to the “H” than the “E”.  And finally, the “Y” is closer to the “U” than the “U” is to the “K” in the word YUKON.  Because of the kerning, the title is visually consistent and appealing.

The second category is the subtitle under the main title and is in an Italicized Oldstyle as Experience the Great Land and save with exceptional Explore4 offers. See below.

Holland America Cover - Oldstyle Category

This font has serifs that are curved away from the stem of the letters. The letters structure transition from thick to thin as well.  Even though the font is italicized to the right, there is still diagonal stress leaning to the left on the letters as you can easily see with “c” and “e”. I don’t believe any kerning has taken place on this subtitle because the letter “G” in relation to the letter “r” in the word “Great” is not visually consistent with the other letters.

To create contrast on the page, the main title words of “2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON” are of very large print size that run horizontally across the bottom fourth of the page. They are full capitals in contrast of form to the upper- and lower-case letters of the subtitle that runs below it. The subtitle of “Experience the Great Land and save with exceptional Explore4 offers” is much smaller sized print and is italicized. Using a Sans Serif font with a Serif font (Oldstyle) creates a great contrast in structure. There is no contrast in lettering direction or color with this design, but using the smaller sized fonts make them look lighter in color.

As an added design element that brings continuity and flow to the page is the “Holland America Line” and “SAVOR THE JOURNEY” text that is at the top of the page. See below.

Holland America Cover-Duplication

“Holland America Line” is in the Oldstyle category with diagonal stress and thick to thin transitions along with a weight that is much heavier than the subtitle below. It is much larger in size than the subtitle of “SAVOR THE JOURNEY” which adds form contrast and interest. The subtitle is in the San Serif category with no serifs on the letters and with consistent tubular structure. By adding the same elements to the top of the page that was used in the main section, the designer created repetition and visual balance while still drawing attention to the main focus statement “2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON”.

Sources:

Holland America Line®. 2019 ALASKA & THE YUKON, Cover Page, Campaign #HAL16544US. Seattle, WA.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/serif, Accessed 10/3/2018.

Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book, 4th Edition, Peachpit Press, California, 2015, pp 151-218.

 

 

Design, Reverse Engineer

Somewhere Beautiful Design and Analysis

Penny Reeves

I found this beautiful image “somewhere”…. Actually I found it at:  https://www.behance.net/gallery/67820241/FREE-FONT-Railey.  Michelle Ong designed this as an advertisement for a free font named Railey, published on July 12, 2018.

Somewhere-Beautiful-Original

My Analysis

  • Contrast – In the image below, you will see that the artist has used great contrast between the pink, white and black colors. The colors are bold against the white background.

Somewhere-Beautiful-contrast2

  • Repetition – The next image shows that the artist used the colors themselves as the repetitive elements of the image. The various shades and tints of pink, white and the black hue create repetition. The fact that each flower is going off the page also creates repetition. (1) is the pink found in the flowers and in the writing. (2) is the black found in the spiral spine of the notebook and in the paintbrush. (3) is the white flower and the white paper.

Somewhere-Beautiful-Repetition

  • Alignment – The next image shows that the artist used an interesting alignment, something beyond centered, left or right alignment. She used a diagonal alignment that is symmetrically spaced. The B of the word Beautiful aligns with the pink flower edge in the top left corner. The edge of the white flower aligns with the fist view of the black paintbrush. My lines are not straight, but you can still see that there is alignment and symmetrical spacing being used.

Somewhere-Beautiful-Alignment

  • Proximity – The next image shows that the lettering is written together instead of separated. The artist could have spread out the words across the note-page, but she grouped them together because they go together.

Somewhere-Beautiful-proximity

  • Color – The last image shows that the artist used analogous combinations of pink that is found in the flowers and words.  They all share a variety of the pink which creates balance in the image.

Somewhere-Beautiful-color

The overall design of this image is smart and the four basic principles of a well-designed project has been implemented. The alignment is interesting and present, the colors are simple yet bold in their contrast and repetition. The proximity of the words could have changed this piece, but because they are close together and bold it brings the eye to what is most important, the font.