The Amber Spyglass: Bookcover revamped.

 

For this book cover project I chose the book The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. The reason why I chose to redesign this particular book’s cover was simple. Previous publishers and designers have placed actual telescopes on the front of the cover. However in the book the “spyglass” is simply two panes of glass fixed together. This has always bothered me.

I selected a warm amber colored background paired with simple line art images of bare trees. There is a theme throughout this book and its predecessors about a material called “Dust.” Dust is glittering specks of light, literally sparkling dust, that surround an person once they have reached maturity. I selected my background due to its color and also its use of multiple circles of yellow, orange, and amber. Paired with the trees I wanted to create a scene from the end of the book. Towards the end of the book dust is released into the sky. The balls of light in this image give the effect of floating upwards, leaving the dead trees behind. For the text I chose to leave it left aligned so the ends of each text line mimicked the pointed edges of the trees. The barcode was also placed towards the top of the book as not to disturb the images at the lower half of the page. Also to reinforce the publisher’s logo it was placed on the back cover behind the text that stated what other books were available in this series.

Habitus & Flux

 

On some level everyone has an idea of what they want to do for their professional careers. For people who are visually driven that profession might be art. However if one does decide art they do not typically go to college to study art for their own personal enjoyment. More often than not their reason for entering the field is because they have a desire to become a working contributor to the art field. From their desire to be in art, innately there is a desire to perform a specific function in the world of art. It can be design, painting, sculpting or even education. People of similar interests and pursuits form what is known as habitus. In sociology, habitus is described as a “set of acquired patterns of thought, behavior, and taste.ˡ” The term “birds of a feather flock together” is a prime example of habitus. Like-minded individuals who share the same desires are naturally attracted and drawn to each other and form the creation of their own habitus. The image below is a group of people with similar interests in gardening and as such have formed their own habitus based on their interests and drives

Those within their own habitus, such as design, have a desire to keep their interests or fields thriving. There is a need among designers for constant construction and evaluation – this need is known as flux. The flux is the drive that keeps a group or field moving forward. Without flux the field runs a risk of dying out. Below is an image from the SKUUMA design competition. Competitions, reviews, critiques and other forms of flux are necessary for survival of a field. 

Digital Code & Relay

 

A unit that contains similar visual characteristics yet has its own unique qualities that distinguishes from others in a set – is known to have digital code. Letters in a specific typeface are known to have digital code. However, digital code can be found in everyday physical objects as well. Animals and humans for example have their own digital code. The iconic character known as Mickey Mouse has its own digital code. Apart from it being a cartoon character, it contains digital code that allows us to understand that Mickey’s species is a rodent. The large ears and long tail are codes that alert us to what Mickey truly is – a mouse. A real mouse and a cartoon mouse are noticeably different; however they can be grouped together in a set because of their similar digital code.

In some cases with an image, text is needed in order to convey a message to the reader that may not be clear otherwise. Relay is the written dialogue that guides the reader to the meaning of an image.

Below is a web comic strip. Without the text to inform about the situation and dialogue that is occurring, the viewer would not be able to easily grasp the meaning of what is transpiring in the panels. For some images, the image can convey its own message without any words, but for others were the image is vague, relay is needed to enhance and clearly state the message to the viewer.

Motivation & Myth

 

When a person looks at a sign they are absorbing a vast amount of information. The amount of detail contained in the signs image equals to its motivation. Small motivation is a very detailed sign where little information is needed to alert the viewer to its meaning. However an image with large motivation, such as the stick figure image below, requires that the viewer is alerted to its true meaning and conventions. For example, the image below is a stick figure with very little detail. It could represent many things such as a man, boy, child, person, human, etc. There is a high amount of motivation required to inform the viewer to the image’s true meaning and representation.

Having a prior understanding of a sign is known as myth. Below is the symbol for biohazard. Society already has accepted the meaning of this sign and an immediately view it as a sign for caution or contamination. Using this image on something not expected, like a teddy bear, might still convey the same wariness due to the myth surrounding the sign. The message of this sign is so ingrained into our understanding that in many ways the sign has limited meanings. Using this symbol for something positive like a sign for good health would fail in trying to convey that message. Once society forms a myth around an image it is very difficult to change its accepted meaning.

Disturbing control?

For this piece I decided to choose an ad that contained very powerful words. Within my selected ad was the words “control,” “knowledge,” “need someone with.” My image of Snoopy and war craft was already a little unsettling. Placing these words next to my image pair adds even more seriousness to the piece. The meaning of Snoopy thinking of war helicopters now brings context of the need for control and knowledge. Could this possibly mean forceful government control of ones thoughts? Or that war induced control brings about knowledge to the playful character known as Snoopy? The simple ad requesting help from someone knowledgeable in electrical work has been transformed into a scary almost apocalyptic message. The placement of the “K” in “knowledge” was made to balance the image and also to create an interesting negative space between Snoopy’s face and aforementioned letter. The diagonal line from the “K” also directs the eye towards the helicopters when the image pairs are placed side by side.

Image Pair: Girl & Angels

In this image there are two pieces of line art that are faintly similar yet very different. The angels are in a state of prayer, while beneath them is a girl, seemingly innocent, sporting a demonic skull umbrella. The girl with the skull umbrella is walking, and due to the position of the angels, it is almost as if she is being protected by them. Their circular form creates a bubble around the girl. Possibly they are protecting her from the world, or better yet, protecting the world from the child. The angels were enlarged on the image to utilize as much negative space as possible. The child was placed in the middle of the angels to give weight to the bottom half of the image. I would like the viewer to take away from this image a sense of desired or undesirable protection.

Image Pair: Snoopy & Helicopters

On this image, I chose an image of Snoopy, from Peanuts, and an image of military helicopters from the playbill of Miss Saigon. I wanted to create a sense of dissension. Snoopy is widely known as being a very fun loving character versus the helicopters that are widely known for resolving, or even creating, conflict. So positioning the war helicopters with Snoopy gives the loved beagle an almost maniacal feel. It is almost impossible to think that a docile creature such as Snoopy would have thoughts of battle machines. By keeping Snoopy large and cropping his blithe face in such a way that only his nose and eyes are seen, I was able put a dark side to an innocent and beloved cartoon character. It is my intent to have the viewer experience a ‘double take’ due to the unexpected idea of having the iconic Peanuts character paired with implements of war.

Symbol & Icon

 

Street signs & company logos are prime examples of the sign category known as symbol. In many ways the sign category of symbol and agreement are similar. Both rely on the viewer having an understanding of a sign’s meaning. Below is an image of a sign used to indicate that there is a flag wielding man ahead to direct traffic during construction. Just by looking at the image we can tell that it is a stick man holding something square. However, to understand this sign one would have to be told what the true meaning is before hand.  If we were not alerted to its true representation we could make any relation to the sign’s real meaning. It could be misunderstood for traffic or possibly even a high school flag squad. Once we are made aware of its meaning we accept this representation to mean there is a flagger ahead and nothing else.

An icon is an image which still favors the original sign. Below is an example of an icon. In this case it is an icon of a handicapped person in a wheel chair. The image is not a crystal clear depiction of a human in a metal wheelchair, but it is a simplified representation. Since this object resembles the appearance of a person in a wheelchair it is an icon. Detail is not necessarily important for an icon. Icons are quick and clear allowing us to understand its meaning in an instant.  

Image of traffic sign found from Rice Signs. < HYPERLINK “http://www.ricesigns.com/buy/flagger_ahead_signs.htm” http://www.ricesigns.com/buy/flagger_ahead_signs.htm>

 

Image from inmagine.com

< HYPERLINK “http://www.inmagine.com/objects-and-icons-1-photos/liquidlibrary-vl003″ http://www.inmagine.com/objects-and-icons-1-photos/liquidlibrary-vl003>

 

Duality & Agreement

Duality

Two things that both have separate yet equal meanings but are free of each other is the principle of duality. For example, in the below image that I created we see a cat. You can call it a logo or call it simply a cat. Its meaning and what it truly is are completely separate of each other. Yes, it can be a called a cat, that is our English word for a creature with short ears and whiskers. But the image can be called any number of things. It can be called an outline, a cat, a logo, a cartoon – all these words are descriptive to the image in question but they are not 100% bound to the image. In other languages their names could be different but it doesn’t affect the image itself. A dictionary definition of dual is “composed or consisting of two people, items, parts, etc., together.”1 The signified image and the name, known as the signifier, both coexist together and can change without affecting the other.2 If I changed the image to a dog instead of a cat but left the signifier word as “cat”, the change in the image would not affect the textbook meaning of the English word for “cat.” Reversed, I could also change the signifying word for cat and change it to “racecar.” The image would still be of a cat, even if the word changed. The word has its own meaning and so does the image. So these two parts work independently of each other and are free from the boundaries of their counterparts.

1. Dictionary.com - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dual

2. Visible Signs by David Crow – page 18-19.

Agreement

The power of signs is a truly great. Marketers, designers, and even the common public use signs every day. When a new company adopts a new logo and displays it for the world to see, the public then accepts that sign. However, before the sign or symbol is accepted it has to be made known what the symbol is used for and what it truly represents.

Below is an image that I have created to represent my artistic work on the Internet. It is simple and monochromatic. I use this image as my avatar or artistic signature. When I first displayed this image on the Internet I gave an explanation along with it. I explained that the image would represent my work and me from here and moving forward. If I had stated that I wanted this symbol to represent a new form of bathroom tissue, most people would probably not understand it. However, they would be in agreement about the meaning of the symbol. My handle, or pseudonym, on the Internet is MiddayDreamer. This is why I chose a sheep. Among my peers, they have accepted the meaning and context of my sign – it is as if this simple image talks to the viewer and says “this was made by MiddayDreamer.”

It is fascinating that once we are told what an image or sign means we store its meaning in our minds, much like new vocabulary in a verbal language. This is what agreement truly is – everyone accepting a sign and agreeing on its meaning as a whole.