#visual structure

[interiorergonomics]

The Need for Focal Points in Interior Design

Interior focal points are essentially design techniques for providing visual structure. Basically, they guide the eye and creating a sense of balance within a space. Without a clear focal point, a room can feel disorganized or lacking in cohesion. We simply have to strategically incorporate statement pieces—such as an accent wall, a bold piece of furniture, or striking lighting. These elevate the professionalism of interior designers by anchoring the space, drawing attention to key elements while enhancing the overall interior aesthetic. In fact, focal points help establish hierarchy in design. How? They ensure that spaces feel intentional rather than overwhelming or cluttered.

Functionality of Focal Points

Beyond aesthetics, focal points contribute to the functionality of a space by defining areas and improving spatial flow. In open-plan layouts, for example, a well-placed focal element can create subtle separations between living room, dining, and work areas. Additionally, focal points evoke emotion and set the mood of a space, which can be through a calming artwork in a bedroom or a dramatic chandelier in a lobby.

So, integrating thoughtfully designed focal points, interiors become more engaging, practical, and visually compelling, elevating the overall experience of a space.

Read more from an Interior Design Company in Dubai

[theartingace]

Murderbot meets ART (who knew transports could be smart enough to be MEAN)

[imvec]

Sequel to Sunshade

[discard-celestia]

USE MOUTHWASH / DO NOTHING

[roridomyces]

Triptych

[garadinervi]

Nedda Guidi, b. March 22, 1927 / 2025

(image: Nedda Guidi, Convergenze divergenze, (ink and cotton thread on paper), 1972. gramma_epsilon, Athens. © Nedda Guidi)

[gonkaccino]

Finally saw Megalopolis today. It's like Cats 2019 except every single person involved put their whole pussies into delivering the most perfect realization of Coppola's lifelong dream. One problem: his dream is dogshit garbage. Turns out having people who can tell you 'no, this sucks' is one of the most important parts of creating art.

Wow Platinum was perfect in every way though zero complaints give Aubrey Plaza an oscar

[astral-herald]

Jayce Talis' Joycean Epiphany

Tracking the textual similarities between James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Jayce's character journey, specifically in Arcane season 2, episode 7.

As time goes on, my appreciation for Jayce's arc only grows, and I think episode 7 captures the best of the showrunners' narrative concision and cohesion. Within that perfect storm I noticed a lot of similarities between Jayce and James Joyce's main character, Stephen Dedalus, who spends the 1916 classic shedding attachments to the material world in pursuit of ultimate freedom, including monikers of creed and country and friendship, captured in his famous epiphany.

This isn't a perfect mapping, but comparing Stephen's epiphany to Jayce's meeting with Mage Viktor is pretty enlightening/interesting! More below!

The Joycean Epiphany

Stephen Dedalus' epiphany occurs in the last third (ish) of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and happens as follows: Stephen, consumed with anxiety, loneliness, and confusion about his place in the world, finds himself wandering toward the ocean. He steps knee-deep inside and sees the figment of a woman out of reach, who he describes as a "strange and beautiful seabird" who awakens him to "the wild heart of life." The Bird Woman inspires Stephen to shake off material attachments to nationality and religion, as well as to break off personal relationships in order to arrive at his true self, which he must do in isolation. This is the most egregiously brief synopsis possible...

Jayce's journey in Arcane does, in fact, follow a very normal, non-epiphanic arc in general; I'm not merging Stephen and Jayce together here. Instead I want to call attention to the visual cues and specific plot points that truly give me pause and think/hope they were intentionally building this parallel.

The Irish Coastline, the Undercity Grey

In Portrait, there is great emphasis attached to the sea's physicality as Stephen enters the waters. He's permeated a barrier as the tide wrestles with him:

"In a few moments he was barefoot...and, picking a pointed salteaten stick out of the jetsam among the rock, he clambered down the slope of the breakwater."

Jayce also permeates, with a lot of struggle, pain, and anguish, a physical barrier/obstacles - the Grey, which we see as a thick green miasma throughout the Undercity in this timeline, and the Fissures he's fallen into. Interestingly enough, Jayce also has a pointed stick that's figuratively eaten by the Anomaly. Not salt, by any means, but each character takes up a damaged implement at the onset of their journey.

The Epiphanic Figures

In Portrait, Stephen is drawn into the water towards the woman who inspires his epiphany: "A girl stood before him in midstream, alone and still, gazing out to sea."

Within the Grey, Jayce encounters Viktor as the mage, staring at him with his face obscured. When he turns and leaves, he prompts Jayce into action, thus spurring the epiphany, the necessary movement through the Grey.

Upon his approach, Stephen describes his epiphanic woman: Her long fair hair was girlish, and touched with the wonder of mortal beauty, her face..."

"...and when she felt his presence and the worship of his eyes her eyes turned to him in quiet sufferance of his gaze, without shame or wantonness."

In Portrait, Stephen never reaches his Bird Woman; she remains out of reach, just like his ultimate freedom will remain until he commits to his quest for self-discovery. Similarly, Jayce and Mage Viktor never touch, despite Viktor and Jayce's established physical intimacy.

The Quest

Stephen spends the remainder of Portrait systematically shedding what he feels are restraints to his true self. If you haven't read Portrait, there is a lot, a lot, a LOT of syncretic philosophies wedged inside, Platonic, Aristotelean, Aurelian, etc., to showcase Stephen coming into his own intellectually and emotionally. But the way he describes this quest, when speaking to his best friend, Cranly, is key when comparing him to Jayce:

"You made me confess the fears that I have. But I will tell you also what I do not fear. I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another or to leave whatever I have to leave. And I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too."

Jayce, inspired by his own Bird Woman, the Mage, sets out on his quest of ultimate solitude, wherein he traumatically relives his past mistakes.

But now, with Mage Viktor's wisdom and an understanding of what's to come, Jayce finally becomes a powerful and independent force. He doesn't rely on his betters or outside approval. He attacks Mel for her past treatment of himself and Viktor as tools/investments for her will. He will leave behind the comfort and privilege of his old life. In order to do what needs to be done to save Piltover, Jayce is willing to make those mistakes, to sustain on his own, etc., when he was never willing to do so before.

"Alone, Quite Alone"

Nobody asked, but my favorite scene in Portrait is the last dialogue between Stephen and Cranly, whom Stephen frequently describes as his closest friend, and whose opposition to Stephen's departure he considers the most. Try as he might to be sympathetic, Cranly struggles to understand why Stephen can't relent and warns him of what will happen to Stephen if he takes on his quest: "And to not have any one person...who would be more than a friend, more even than the noblest and truest friend a man ever had."

Cranly tells Stephen that "you need not look upon yourself as driven away...or as a heretic or an outlaw." He invites him to stay, to return.

And Stephen is grieved by this: "A voice spoke softly to Stephen's lonely heart, bidding him go and telling him that his friendship was coming to an end..."

"...Yes; he would go. He could not strive against another. He knew his part."

In killing Viktor as the Herald, Jayce has fully accepted loneliness and the necessary suffering it incurs on others. Guided by Mage Viktor, his own Bird Woman epiphany, he plays his part in the fate set before him.

In this moment, the Herald Viktor is Jayce's Cranly: "Stephen watched [Cranly's] face for some moments in silence. A cold sadness was there..."

"...He had spoken of himself, of his own loneliness which he feared."

*To note, Stephen's epiphanic realization amounts to isolation for his own benefit, whereas Jayce endures isolation and commits these "mistakes" (killing Viktor) for the greater good - very important difference!

Regaining Cranly

This same idea comes across every time I post about Arcane season 2: subversive endings. And while my opinion of the season has been on the downturn, I will never cheapen the shock and awe of the Mage Viktor reveal, and I will always find new ways to break it down and appreciate it.

In Portrait, Stephen leaves Ireland, his religion, and his loved ones behind. Stephen asks Cranly to clarify what he means by his talk of loneliness: "'Of whom are you speaking?' Cranly did not answer." In the essential modernist way, Stephen seeks out the independent soul amidst the masses.

Jayce, meanwhile, uses his newfound autonomy and sense of self for the greater good. He followed his epiphanic figure as Stephen did, and abandoned his Cranly, for a higher goal than self actualization.

And that's where this comparison just about falls apart.

Because Jayce and Viktor are "inextricably bound," the fundamental crux of the epiphany - its independence - isn't possible. Jayce guides his Cranly away from "his own loneliness which he feared." He invites Viktor to partake in his epiphany and they complete the quest together.

the end <3

I'm excited about this comparison! And I know I'm offering a very cursory read of Portrait here. I actually wrote about it for my latest conference CFP so it's fresh on the mind. And a lot of these comparisons can be chalked up to Joyce's just General Narrative Influence, that he refined this exact mode of quest -> self discovery -> loneliness, but we're here to have fun, not to submit to a journal lol.

[iridescent-serpent]

Unsurprisingly been drawing Bayverse stuff again. Specifically however, instead of doing stuff for my AU (I Need to make a tag/name for it), I’m currently working through figuring out how to Actually draw the bayverse designs (rather than coping out and making them nigh unrecognizable as bayverse)

Specifically first up was Ravage (technically it was Shockwave but I haven’t really sat down and figured out how to accurately draw his body. Only figured out the head and vaguely the fact he’s got a skeleton torso texture). First page is without reference at all and the second is With reference

Also used my special power of “idk what that is near the mouth but it’s Tusk Like Enough for me”

Anyways, next up on the “to draw” list would be soundwave and lazerbeak, I should check to see what lazerbeak looks like-

OH HES UGLY UGLY

[reksink]

Connection & Familiarity Found in What's Been Lost

Day - 18 & 20

[marquisecubey]

[abby-howard]

Scarlet Hollow decision tree

People occasionally ask to see a decision tree for Scarlet Hollow, so a while back I put one together for episodes 1-4! It’s not comprehensive, as most scenes at this point have at least some variation due to any number of tracked variables, but it accounts for most of the really major deviations.

For those who don’t want spoilers but would like to hear about how we kinda structure the game: I like to talk about it as more of a braid than a tree, which is not a new concept or anything, but I feel like it helps other narrative designers understand how to limit the absolute vastness that you can get with branching structures. The narrative branches off at decision nodes, but instead of continuing down significantly different routes, it comes back together at key moments. So there’s a single narrative throughline to the game-- events unfold in the town and you witness them in some capacity, but your perspective on them, who you’re with, the options available to you, all these are impacted by other choices you’ve made along the way, including the character traits you chose at the start of the game.

It’s not necessarily easier than doing routes, since it means Tony and I have to keep track of a ridiculous number of little variations including one-off dialogue choices players have made AND steering players to the important narrative moments can be tricky, but I think it makes for an interesting player experience! People get so excited when, say, a line at the end of Episode 4 calls back to something they said when they first met Tabitha at the beginning of Episode 1.

ANYWAY, HUGE SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT, do not proceed if you don’t want to know about basically everything that’s currently in the game!

Things start to get a little hard to read from here on out....

Episode four had to be broken into four images and looks like spaghetti

I’ll make another one of these for Episode 5 after it comes out sometime next year! (I know that’s a bit of a wait but it’ll be worth it >:D)

[luniviravosshipper]

So what if I said season 1 and season 7 of TDP are my favorites. Can you blame me?

And I'm tired of having to pretend those are some of the worst seasons of their retrospective arcs.

[xenomorphicdna]

On the string propaganda

Heeellll yeah

Bestie is an entire PLACE

I look at those guys and let me tell you the soul of that thing ain't just in the puppet, it's in all the neurons carrying the thoughts and emotions, it's in the power rails that serve as the heart. All the memories in the memory conflux and all the numbers we see flicker across displays, the flux condensers, the puppet; a little avatar.

No way these massive machines see life the same way we do. They have their own experiences and senses and things they hold dear. A world we can't imagine, a way of living we couldn't even comprehend.

I could never tear an iterator apart to be just a puppet. Who am I to decide how's life supposed to be enjoyed or perceived?

You treat your creechurs however you want- I ain't gonna dictate that. But damn, hearing the thrums and buzzes of the linear systems rail? They are alive with so much power, these mechanical beasts are exactly what they should be.

[garadinervi]

Bruce Nauman: 'overzichtstentoonstelling 1962/72', Van Abbenmuseum, Eindhoven / Museum Associates of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, 1973 [Studio Bruno Tonini, Gussago (BS). Art: © Bruce Nauman / ARS, New York]

Texts: Jane Livingston, Marcia Tucker

Exhibitions: Kunsthalle, Bern, June 16 – August 12, 1973; County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, December 19, 1972 – February 18, 1973; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, March 29 - May 13, 1973; Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, August 24 – September 23, 1973; Stedeliik van Abbenmuseum, Eindhoven, October 12 – November 25, 1973; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX, (unspecified date); San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA, (unspecified date)

[xponentialdesign]

Structure in progress v2 // 300 frames // freq(0.7) 50 FPS inspired by 2ᴺᴰ generation #OpArt master Jean-Pierre Yvaral (1934-2002)