Visual vs Symbolic Language

  

 Sad
Stress
Nice suit
Brief case
Blurry
Staircase
Head in hand
Business building
Exposed
Dark
Slumped
Looking at the ground
Bottom of staircase
Off-centered

The man in the image seems to be in distress by the position he is sitting. His head is ducked and his left hand raised to his forehead. His shoulders are slumped and by the expression on his face, it looks as if all hope has gone. He is also sitting at the bottom of a staircase of what looks like a business building. He is in a very nice suit with a briefcase next to him. It looks as if he had a nice job but was just laid off and leaving the office. The image is slightly blurry with the edges of the images fading out to black. This further emphasizes the despair. The way he sits on the staircase makes it look as if he's vulnerable and now exposed.

{IMAGE CREDIT}

Visual Thinking Research

FIND THE NEXT SYMBOL
First thing we did was to try and find a pattern - mainly reflective and mirror imaging. I figured the bold straight line had to do something with the pattern of the reflection. My partner in crime had a similar thought process. We would tried splitting the images in the middle, sideways, and all sorts and finally, we exclaimed in realization. They were numbers reflecting each other. It's hard not to see now but at first it was quite puzzling. I also forgot we had this example in class.

GET EVERYONE HOME
This one was bit tricky. It took a lot of error and trial. The way I tried to solve it was by reasoning. Perhaps if I found the shortest way for each person to get home, I could eliminate some processes. When that didn't quite out, I tried finding ways that wouldn't block any of the houses. I tried looking for patterns, filling in spots, different variations (like moving by one square). Eventually, I figured it was to be complicated and everything would be intertwined and would have to go around about ways, and finally got the answer. My partner in crime went straight for error & trial and just tested many different ways.

Feature Hierarchy and Visual Search

The hierarchy of the product, in this case, a poster will be determined by the message it wants to send out to the public. What pops out the most here, are the images of the two females. Using simple shapes and contrasting colors, the two create a balance that attracts the eyes. It depends on the viewer, whether they see the white or black first but the way the colors are arranged create an implied depth that makes the piece dynamic and stand out. The shapes that make up the images are very simple and straightforward which makes it easy for the eyes to take in at a quick glance. The text is in the corner, smaller, and not obstructing the whole image. With simple text to go along, it would take but a second to realize what this poster is about.

(Image Credit: Cheap Ticket Monsters)

Top-Down Visual Processing

Top-down visual processing is considered to be goal oriented. The goal, in this case, is the need to wash the dishes. This requires attention, and a constant priming of action, planning ahead so that the next step is ready to be executed. There are certain points in the process of washing dishes that a higher level of attention will be needed while others only need a lower level. For example a high-level point might be focused on the dish that is being currently washed and a low-level point might be a glance at the next dish that you are wanting to pick up or, where you might want to place the dish that is already in your hand. Without this process, washing the dishes would become very difficult, and the likelihood of breaking a dish is much higher.

IMAGE CREDIT: emotionaltoothpaste