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1. A piece of “data visualization” or an infographic (this one you can pull from somewhere online). What underlying agenda do you think this visualization has? Remember, nothing is ever just showing us data objectively. Everything "lies" to us in some way (see the "Disinformation Visualization" article).

a. Well, we are starting off with a very strong example and a simple one at that. The visualization Shows a line graph of murders committed in Florida with firearms. The main point they make out shows the point when Florida passed the Stand Your Ground law. The graph dips immediately after implying that the policy enacted a positive result. However, after closer inspection, the y-axis values are inverted. Meaning that the number of firearm murders increased immediately after the passing of the legislation. The underling agenda here would be anti-gun control and the idea that good people with guns stop bad people with guns which in most cases when enacted only results in more violence.

2. A piece of design that is part of a larger identity system. What are the visual "relationships" between the elements that construct this system? (think about packaging for products like those from Target’s house brand, Up&Up). How does the brand achieve consistency? Think about color, typography (going beyond consistency in terms of typeface, think about text alignment, positioning, kerning, use of caps, etc.), imagery (is it illustrative? photographic? etc.).

a. The first and most minimal example I could think of would be the design language and branding of Apple. This is one of the strongest brand identities not only because of their brand assets like the iconic apple logo, neutral colors, large amounts of white space, and Gotham typeface, but also in their design language in products. Apps from the brand use colors of high saturation and minimal icon designs for users to easily identify. The design of their products are also assets of the brand. All are finished in high quality materials with precision cut edges, sharp seams, thin products, and brilliantly bright and color accurate screens.

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1. Find a piece of design and use your caption to describe its denotative meaning.

a. This jar of maple syrup has plenty of denotative ques that give ques about the product inside. The largest one being the shape of the container that resembles old glass jars of syrup. The second denotive clue, excluding the text, would be the orange maple leaf near the top right of center on the label. Maple syrup has been the long-standing standard for most syrup products and again makes it very clear what the jar contains.

2. Use the same piece of design (can be the same photo or different photo of the same object) and use your caption to describe its connotative meaning.

a. The first connotative element is also the first denotative feature in this design, the jar. This jar being in the same shape as old glass ones implies the old-fashioned recipe. This is reinforced in the gentle illustrations of a log cabin in the woods that gives off feelings of warmth.

3. Find a piece of design and describe its iconic function (remember icon/index/symbol from the lecture).

a. The illustration of raspberries here is an iconic function as it is a clear representation and recreation of actual raspberries.

4. Find a piece of design and describe its indexical function.

a. This ad for Progressive Motorcycle insurance has a couple of indexical function. The first was an example from lecture of the woman’s hair blowing in the wind to represent her traveling through the open air. The second would be her sunburnt face. This would indicate very warm weather and could also allude more to the location.

5. Find a piece of design and describe its symbolic function.

a. This is a symbol with great meaning to the Michigan State community. This icon carries a lot of pride for students and staff and is easily recognized by many across the country. Even if you weren’t to recognize it as the MSU mascot, you would recognize it as a spartan helmet. This alone can imply strength, skill, and determination.

6. Find a piece of design that references a past “style” and in your caption say what you think the design is trying to signify by its reference to that style (think about the Stubb’s example).

a. This bottle of Jose Cuervo contains a few keys to a past style. The lettering is large, bold, and intricate that resembles old class. The red seal below resembles those of wax and are often used by companies and organizations that are high tier and well established.

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1. Rhythm: The first photo documents a great version of repetition not only in formatting and layout of the pages but in the formatting of the text itself. The paragraphs are weighted uniformly on both pages and following strict rules of hierarchy.

2. An example of typographic hierarchy to establish the order of importance on a page This automotive article is a strong example of hierarchy to help guide the reader through information as well as enticing them to read more. The large Title in all capitals carry the most visual weight by size, followed by smaller portions of text acting as captions that are blended into the photograph and color.

3. A letter with an ascender This subheading “fleet” has 3 ascenders. The letters f, l, and t are all are ascenders that rise above the x-height set by the two e’s in the center of the word.

4. A letter with a descender A portion of this title contains two descenders in the word “Flying.” The descenders are attributes of the letters y and g. hanging below the base of the other letters.

5. A letter with a counter In this heading on a magazines title page there are many counters with the use of all capital letters. This includes B, D, R, and A. Some appearing repeatedly.

6. A letter with a crossbar The cross bar in this title is located in the H. The linking horizontal line makes the H a cross bar character.

7. A font (in use) that has a large x-height (look for comparatively short ascenders) The height of the capital letters in the American Airlines logo is very close to that of the lowercase characters.

8. A font (in use) with a small x-height (look for comparatively large ascender The title,”Select” uses a small x-height in the large difference bwtween the capital and lowercase characters.

9. This is the cover of a textbook for graphic design. This typeface has a very proportionate x-height, evenly weighted strokes, and lacks serifs making it simplistic and timeless compared to graphic and decretive typefaces that age quickly.

10. The cover of this typography book specifically uses decorative and highly contrasting typefaces. This is meant to connote that there are many variables in type for a student to explore and learn about rather than trying to show a proper example on the cover of their use.

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1. Complementary Colors : The branding of animal crackers is a solid and basic example. The red is complementary to the lighter tones of blue towards the top of the bag. Then as the eye moves down there is another example between the yellow typeface and the darker blue of the gradient.

2. Analogous Colors: The peach mango BodyArmor is a good and soft example of analogous colors in the pink, red, and yellow orange hues. This makes the design very subtle. It also relates the the fruits used in the drink.

3. Cool Colors: The cool colors of the blueberry BodyArmor are used to resemble the berries used in its making. It can also assist provoking thoughts of something cold and refreshing.

4. Warm Colors: The Cheez-It box here uses many warm and deep hues. These warmer colors help convey the ideas of the baked cheese snack having a tasty taste.

5. High Contrast: This canned beverage displays extreme contrast not only between the black background and white text, but also with the lemon at the top and yellow detail text under the name. This helps these elements “pop” off of the can and grab the consumer’s eye.

6. Grouping: This box of cereal shows the impact of subtle grouping. The name and logo are fixed and inline with the header details and that helps convey importance and bring the view there first. Underneath, various related details are grouped by fonts, colors, and sizes and bring the reader slowly down to read through in an organized manner. 

7. Active Figure-Ground: This container of Yoplait shows a great example of this relationship with the strawberries seemingly sitting on the bottom table of red. This gives a hyper realistic image to convey messages of freshness.

8. Historic: This modern bottle uses many historical recreations. These questions are seen in the old fashioned key and lock, as well as using a tan background to stand in as old paper. Lastly the script and cramped typefaces also strengthen these thoughts.

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Design Scavanger Hunt #2

Image 1: This Lululemon Dry Shampoo has a few great examples of contrast. The vertical text near the top of the can contrasts the text description placed at the bottom of the can. This also gets a view to read the title downwards towards the description below and helps turn consumers into active ones. In the second image of the same bottle you can also see a good deal of contrast between the light grey pattern of text that covers the bottle and compacts as it goes down. This creates weight and also guides the users eyes to the description below while allowing enough white space for the title to dominate the top.

Image 3: This small travel size face wash bottle contains the strong contrast of the entire CeraVe brand. This contrast is leveraged with the one large colored corner with an otherwise entirely white face. This shape cuts the title in two, (Cera\Ve). This is because the brand claims that its products help restore your skins ceramides and the split at “Cera” is a call back to that information.

Image 4: Graphic Design Idea Book was a textbook I bought my sophomore year at Michigan State University. I was always intrigued by the cover of the book as it seems so unconventional and still so simple. All of the images on the front have a different sheen or gloss to them as well as being embossed that allows them to gently stand out. These softer images compared to the thin and dark title and subtitle are very different and stand out on a seemingly blank yellow page.

Image 5: The book, A Work In Progress has always had one of my favorite covers. Not only because when you open it up inside the book there is a gorgeous picture that you see through the cut out, but also for the calming and inviting nature of the art. The soft and slightly textured white space, (minus my coffee stain), seems warm next to the Sharp and detailed image. Beyond that the container for the image, this large triangle, stands center and points to the title and provides movement for the viewers eye.

Image 6: This is a jar of PB 2. Its a health conscious peanut butter powder that I like to mix into my nutrition shakes. The contrast here took me a while to find but I’m even more in love with it now that I have. I really enjoy the contrast in there Kerning of the name of the product. PB 2. The letters for peanut butter are close as the phrase is often slurred together as one and the 2 implying the second version. However, if that spacing was even, PB2, the idea may not be as clear if not explained to new viewers.