Kadinsky Psychological Test

In 1923 Wassily Kandinsky , student at the Bauhaus, directed a simple experiment. Asking people to fill in a triangle, square and a circle in the primary colours. He created this experiment to find a correspondence between shape and colour.

When thinking of this myself I developed a response based on synesthesia. This was caused by memories of learning three dimensional shapes in primary school. I distinctly recall the colours of the block shown to demonstrate this, many of which used bright primary colours. I often associate the appropriate two dimensional shape to the ones I was shown at this time. This is something I have subconsciously done since that moment.

I asked a few people I knew to take the test to see what varied responses I would get. Each person had their own unique and technically still correct way of explaining why their thought process led them to the results they got.

The first person I asked created this combination. They explained that they chose red for the triangle because 'red' had three letters. They used the same logic for the square with 'blue'. This left the remaining one with the yellow circle.

Kandinsky considered to be the correct answer at the time of his experiment. 

The next person I asked created a different combination. They chose to colour them in order of the light spectrum as it seemed to make the most sense to them. This is the same colour combination Kandinsky considered to be the correct answer at the time of his experiment. 

This colour combination was considered overall the most popular at the time however I believe that this may have differed through time due to traffic signals and other more 'modern' symbolism. It is more common for people to associate yellow with the sun or The square with a body of water or the sky.

Form Follows Function

The Modernism movement I would consider to be a nonanachronistic creation. It was towards the end of the 18th century and the industrial revolution had the potential to create new forms of media. Things were rapidly changing and yet the art world stayed dormant. Growth of cities and WW1 made resources scarce and thus the modernist artist came about.

Probably one of the most prominent incubators of the modernism movement was the Bauhaus Art School based in Germany. This was the first school to follow the modernist formula of teaching and artistic exploration. The founder Walter Gropius explained that it was to encourage the idea of creating a "total" work of art. No art or creative outlet was above another and implementing scientific or more industrial techniques was encouraged. Because of this the students were taught the basics of all types of creative media from painting to metal works. Walter was a believer that "art may not unconsciously blossom from the labour of his hand"

First and foremost this movement was to create and design things that could change the future. The idea of creating an item with function and practicality was key. It was no longer about romanticism and the focus was the trim away any unnecessary frill till all that was left was the core idea. Artists until this point were taught to provoke and use light,colours and atmosphere in their work. This was the first wave of new artists and the route of the modern day art student. In order to do this Items or images were stripped down to their core minimum making uses of strong lines, shapes, spaces and most importantly the simplicity overall.

Marcel Breuer - Wassily Chair

A student of Bauhaus, inspired by his bicycle, was able to create a historical piece of furniture. This practical piece of art is a lightweight and simplistic chair and the first of its kind. The design has been stripped to its bare minimum and created using cheap and more importantly mass producible materials. Even with this it still is a aesthetically pleasing piece.

Marianne Brandt - Tea Infuser and strainer

This piece is made purely from geometric shapes but each piece serves a purpose avoiding cluttering the object.

These examples prove that you can create a quality and efficient product that simultaneously can be considered in itself a piece of art. Making the function the first most important without disregarding the visual aesthetic of the item.

In modern society we have adopted this movement with open arms and is seen Everywhere from architectural structure and public spaces down to office spaces and 

house interior.

A current example would be the Glasgow's School Of Art Reid Building. This building was designed with environmental effects in mind as well as how the space would be used. Using reflecting shafts, the design of the building allows light to travel throughout the entire building.

The examples below are all from our popular Scandinavian ready to assemble furniture brand, IKEA.

Cause and Effect Future Genealogy

A small change of pattern in the past has the potential to greatly affect the outcome of the future. This is the basic principal of chaos theory - also known as the Butterfly Effect. This though concept is a great creative outlet for many great artists, authors and designers alike. Many great creative works implement this thought process to create new alternative futures; dystopian or otherwise. Here are a few popular examples:

1984 (Nineteen Eighty Four)- George Orwell

Atlas Shrugged 1957 - Ayn Rand

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray bradbury

Equilibrium 2002

V for Vendetta 1982

In groups we had to re-imagine something with cause and effect. The subject our group chose was a cure all pill. In america people are obsessed with the idea of a cure all pill. Taking into consideration what it would do and the effect it would cause. From this we imagined re-purposed propaganda posters playing with themes such as nationalism.

In my spare time I re-created this more refined piece of work.

Sense of Place - Where Do I Start?

Deciding where to begin with a project is always a funny thing. You often find that the finished ideas come before the development and exploration. In this case, as a group, we devised a mind map. This could give a good sense of where to start or where to look first for resources. You soon find that one idea or concept soon derails into so many minor factors. Some of that subject matter being mental and physical space.

Visual Audio

Combining colours with audio in After FX

 
project 1 (Converted) from Sophie Wales on Vimeo.

Introduction to Theory

Why learn theory?

Theory provides a strong structure and explanatory framework to support a graphical concept or idea. It gives an idea more depth and meaning and therefore more structure to support this concept. It can be used to explore support and develop as well as being a base for critique.

As a designer it is important to develop a visual 'voice' and authorship to work we create. We craft our own style and approach to a graphical problem and this is what makes our work unique. In the commercial world this is especially crucial.

Once we apply logic to our work it enhances and expands creative freedom by grounding us.