| project
01:
Frederick
Catherwood's drawings of undeciphered glyphs of
the Maya civilization in the early 1840s.
|
Glyph
- is a figure or character, incised or in relief; a
carved pictograph; a pictograph representing a form
originally adopted for sculpture, whether carved or
painted.
Sign
- is generally defined as, "...something that stands
for something else, to someone in some capacity."
It may be understood as a discrete unit of meaning,
whether denotative or connotative. Signs are not just
words, but also include images, gestures, scents, tastes,
textures, sounds — essentially all of the ways in which
information can be processed into a codified form and
communicated as a message by any sentient, reasoning
mind to another.
Symbol
- in its basic sense, is a conventional representation
of a concept or quantity; i.e., an idea, object, concept,
quality, etc. In more psychological and philosophical
terms, all concepts are symbolic in nature, and representations
for these concepts are simply token artifacts that are
allegorical to (but do not directly codify) a symbolic
meaning, or symbolism.
This
assignment is the first in a sequence that will help
you learn some of the elementary principles and practices
of graphic design.
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Glyphs,
Signs and Symbols:
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Objectives
The assignment in this historical sequence will
provide you with many opportunities to learn about
and reflect upon the proper use of image and language.
This problem will work in three phases.
- OBSERVATION
and RECORDING
- ASSIMILATION
- APPLICATION
| phase
one:
duration one week |
Observation
and Recording
Using
your design notebook, make note of at least
25 seperate daily representations of glyphs,
signs, and symbols. Date each entry. Write
a short description of how the communication
unit is intended to be used and how do you
know? Think about it meaning and value.
There will be a minimum of 175 seperate
entries.
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| phase
two:
duration one week |
Assimilation
Uncover the connections
using the collected images, look for repeating
conventions. (arrows, circles, lines) Create
a categorized unit comparison (3-5 groupings)
for the glyphs, signs or symbols. Connect
the past and the present.
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| phase
three:
duration one week |
| Application
Choosing a domain, application
or object create a set of communicative
icons that take into considersation the
context and function of the unit.
How
to design an icon:
- Talk
to the users, and involve them throughout
- Start
in black-and-white
- Start
by drawing the outline in black
- Shapes
guide the user more than colour
- Avoid
too much detail
- Remember,
icons may be drawn at different scales
- Remember,
an icon isn’t a picture
- Don’t
make them too detailed, keep them to the
spirit of what they represent
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| |
Phase
one _ notebook |
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Phase
two _ notebook |
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Phase
one _ 11x17 unmounted (.pdf) |
Hand In
- Sketches
of the glyphs, signs, symbols
- The
final set of icons 11x17
17x22 (mounted and flapped)
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