Connotative Imagemaking 1

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From the course by California Institute of the Arts

Fundamentals of Graphic Design

4729 ratings

California Institute of the Arts

Fundamentals of Graphic Design

4729 ratings

Course 1 of 5 in the Specialization Graphic Design

Graphic Design is all around us! Words and pictures—the building blocks of graphic design—are the elements that carry the majority of the content in both the digital world and the printed world. As graphic design becomes more visible and prevalent in our lives, graphic design as a practice becomes more important in our culture. Through visual examples, this course will teach you the fundamental principles of graphic design: imagemaking, typography, composition, working with color and shape... foundational skills that are common in all areas of graphic design practice. I don't just want you to watch a video of someone talking about design, I want you to MAKE design! If you want to be a designer you have to be a maker and a communicator, so this course will offer you lots of opportunities to get your hands dirty with exercises and with more practical projects. At the end of this course you will have learned how to explore and investigate visual representation through a range of image-making techniques; understand basic principles of working with shape, color and pattern; been exposed to the language and skills of typography; and understand and have applied the principles of composition and visual contrast. If you complete the course, along with its optional (but highly recommended) briefs, you will have a core set of graphic design skills that you can apply to your own projects, or to more deeply investigate a specialized area of graphic design. To succeed in this course you will need access to a computer. You can complete this course without one but it will be tougher. Access to, and a beginner's level knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign will help you, especially if you want to complete the optional briefs.

From the lesson

Week 1: Fundamentals of Imagemaking

This week we are going to look at how images function in terms of conveying denotative and connotative messages, I'll show you a range of analog and digital imagemaking techniques and discuss how they work. In the first peer review assignment you'll create your own series of images, experimenting with formal techniques. Later, you'll have the opportunity to rework those images to enhance their ability to communicate an idea through connotation in an optional assignment: give it a try, it'll help you develop your communication skills as well as your formal skills!

Connotative Imagemaking 15:05

Connotative Imagemaking 24:29

Meet the Instructors

Michael Worthington
Faculty, Program in Graphic Design
School of Art

In this next section we're going to look at connotation with images.

Now, we've already looked at denotation, and

we described that as being it is what it is.

In other words, as a designer, we might make an image of an object, and

that image directly represents that object.

In other words, it is what it is.

The image of the apple can only be read as being an apple.

But connotation works in a slightly different way.

It's when we start to want to suggest something else, or

build a metaphor or an idea.

And that can obviously be very useful for

designers in terms of communicating something more complex.

The dictionary defines connotation as an idea or

feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning.

But as designers we're also dealing with images.

So we're going to also be looking at how images evoke,

in addition to their literal meaning.

So let's go back and think of our apple.

When we looked at denotation,

we looked at making an image of that apple in the most simple means possible.

And one of our simplest denotative images was just the line drawing of the apple.

And it's very hard to read any other kind of meaning into this image

other than the fact that it's an apple.

The form is really not very ambiguous in any way.

It can't be read as being some other shape, some other thing.

Pretty much all we can read as a viewer, from this image, is an apple.

So how do we make the apple do something else?

How do we make the apple mean something else?

Let's look at some examples of what kinds of connotation

we can build from the apple,

what we might have to do to the image of the apple in order to tell those stories.

One of the examples that we'd looked at earlier was the idea that the apple might

represent the choice between good and evil.

For instance, in the fairy tale of Snow White,

the wicked witch gives her an apple that's half red and half green.

So if we think about that as a cultural context, as a reference

that people understand, or a lot of people understand within a given culture,

then we can start to use that to build meaning.

In this case, we can construct this image that, instead of being just about

two pieces of an apple, it becomes about choice, or again, about good and evil.

Now, we could also create that same kind of idea,

that same kind of context of good and evil in Snow White,

by actually thinking about adding another element to the apple.

So if we look here, just the fact that the apple has a bite out of it,

and then the hand is laid down by the side of it, that suddenly tells a much,

much larger story.

So we're really telling that story by adding an additional element,

by giving some context to our narrative.

If, for instance,

we were to take away the hand, we'd be left with a totally different image.

Without the hand to create the story,

we're really just left with an image of an apple that could be very ambiguous.

It could just be an apple that's had a bite taken out of it.

So what we're doing with our image making here

is much more than just making a visual representation.

We're actually making meaning.

We're telling stories, creating narratives, and

giving extra information to the viewer.

So let's look at another example.

Here's our apple, but now it has a snake next to it.

Now, what does that mean?

How do we read this image?

Reading denotation is quite easy.

The apple's an apple.

That's the only reading that we're trying to get as an image maker.

But now with connotation we're trying to suggest something or

tell a secondary story, and that's a little bit harder.

We're trying to actually control the meaning that we're conveying

to an audience member.

And that's a key design skill.

So here, you can see there's an image of a snake, and

suddenly this becomes about sin, or temptation.

It has a Biblical reference in the Western world.

Now, denotative images can be very culturally contextual.

They can mean different things to different cultures.

In general, we're trying to work with an idea of cultural consensus here

that most people might understand what this image means.

But sometimes that does involve a certain culture knowing a certain history,

or a certain context.

So things can be different in different parts of the world.

So with this image for instance, it relies on the audience knowing the story of

William Tell, of the archer placing an apple on his son's head and

shooting it with a bow and arrow.

Otherwise, this image might just seem very strange.

Somebody with an apple on their head with an arrow through it.

But if you know the context,

then you really understand what the connotation of this image is.

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