Sound Visualization
Wendy Xu
Yangzhou City by Tian Yu
Concept and Design
When listening to the music, the rhythm is fast and repetitive. I feel really enjoying and even want to dance to the music. The music combines traditional Chinese musical instruments and modern popular music. There is the sound of drums and water dropping. The sound of the bird created by string instrument makes the music sounds a little bit naughty and cute. So I decided to use the while background so as to build a bright and positive atmosphere representing the music. Also, I would like all the outlines of the design to be fluently curved since the melody of the music is also fluent.
As for the Gestalt theory, I used several principles to make my design more interesting and attractive. I have practiced these principles in One Black Square, so it is easy for me to come up with some of the ideas using the Gestalt theory.
The law of continuity posits that the human eye will follow the smoothest path when viewing lines, I use letters “O”, “o”, and “a” to create a kind of direction and movement as a symbol of wind.
The principle of closure allows our eyes to follow something like a dotted line to its end. The four large letter “O” can be directly seen by humans’ eyes so as to increase more details to the design and make more layers, thus making the lower part has a connection with the middle lines via the same letter element.
Proximity refers to how close elements are to one another. The letters in my design are in different sizes and some are nearer to their next ones while some have a larger distance. With the proximity, I can create an image of winds blowing. The wind is heavier in some places compared to the others which are more natural in the real world.
The figure/ground principle takes advantage of the way the brain processes negative space. Our brains will distinguish between the objects it considers to be in the foreground of an image (the figure, or focal point) and the background (the area on which the figures rest). The curves in the bottom and also at the top can consist of a complete rectangle. Using the same curve can help make the whole design consistent and looks like one. The curves show the repetitive rhythm and look like the sound effect of drum beats, but also are similar to the dropping drips matching the music.
Process
I first learned how to make the type follow the curve path, which I consider to be a good way to reflects the sound of strings in the music. I relate the element of drums and water with the curves and dots at the bottom of the design. I really like this since it perfectly matches the music and the design while visually attractive at the same time. I also drew half a circle to represent a window for citizens to look out from.
However, in the mid-critique, I found the three parts of my design a little bit separated from one another, which makes the whole picture awkward. The professor also pointed out that the font of the letter “S” is too western-style, which is not consistent with the music.
After that, I took part in the illustrator workshop held by the fellow and LA. There I was introduced to a technique called pathfinder which can perfectly help me to deal with the shapes that I want. LA Ken also gives me some suggestions about the design. He suggested I use small letters to form curves instead of simply using letters along the path. This improvement makes my design more creative and variable. So I combine it with the Gestalt theory. Also, the curves look more natural than the previous one with branches growing at the side of the main curve.
Conclusion
I received some useful suggestions on the critique class of this assignment. The instructor suggests I should make more dots at the bottom and some of the dots can be at the middle of the curves so as to make the design more harmonious and well-organized. The variety of the letters can be more obvious with different sizes and distances from one and another. There can even be some letters outside the main curves, making the curves more natural and dynamic. All in all, if I could have more time doing the assignment, I will keep working on the composition of the whole picture, and make those elements better connected with each other, while reflecting the emotion and feelings of the music.
Image of Project
