Design Codes

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  • Design Codes
    • Figure Expression
      • pose incorporates symbolic + semiotic meaning & embodied action and feeling.
        • e.g Minority Report
          • close up of wooden ball - interruption - chaarcter's move.  change in potion represents character's beleifes (Sides)
          • shot of two character's on each side of screen (equal) with guy in middle (audience) - asks audience who's side their on
          • Addison's power diminished with body lang.
          • shots where character on edge of screen - opinion
        • can determine how characters look, feel and behave
        • e.g Safe (film)
          • ?affluent + unexceptional homemaker develops multiple chemical sensitivity.
          • Carol is set at the back, hidden away - excluded
          • walks in bathroom + just look at self - controlled
          • dress + hair similar to child - mirrors her with child
          • Carol placed by balloons - barely being held down + like she's air headed + fragile (about to pop)
          • comment about her skin - like a ghost - barely a human
          • wrappning paper louder then crols voice - limits her power
        • Beach body ready advert banned
        • e.g characters close to each other - comfortable around each other
    • Proxemics
      • How characters are placed on page/screen = how closely linked emotionally + physically.
    • Sizing
      • can add emphasis or diminish meaning within a media text.
      • By altering an objects proportions, it can affect how we perceive and understand its significance
      • By manipulating visual imagery, we can influence how objects are perceived.
      • digital technologies, makes it possible to create new compositions that re-contextualise and offer new meaning.
        • we can express ideas that aren’t grounded by the usual rules of time and space
    • Juxtapositon
      • two unrelated elements placed side by side -purpose of comparison or contrast.
      • media often use this technique to highlight and emphasise the disparity between two groups, imply a connection or create a bold impact.
    • design elements
      • Lines push + pull eyes toward / away from visual information  
      • Shapes can suggest emotion + feeling; triangle = ‘sharp + cutting’ while a circle, with its continuous line, feels ‘round and soft’. 
      • Direction can give a sense of motion + ‘narrative’; typically media texts are read from left to right and from top to bottom.
      • Texture (e.g shape) can be emotive; smooth textures (velvet) = comfort. rough textures (sandpaper) = friction
    • Design principles
      • Balance = how evenness is maintained within a combination of visual elements.
      • Alignment = adjustment of arrangement / position in lines of a text / image — left, right, centered, etc.
        • e.g Black Swan film title is straight line - formal. Captain underpants title is curved - informal
      • Repetition = elements reoccur to add emphasis within a visual composition
      • Contrast =  juxtaposed elements. e.g dark vs. light, thick vs. thin, rough vs. smooth, etc.
    • Layout & Composition
      • Fonts = individual characters which make up a complete typeface
      • Typography = the artistic arrangement of type in a readable + visually appealing way. usually concerns the design + use of various typefaces in a way that helps to better visually communicate ideas
        • can be used semiotically to express emotion
          • e.g formal typeface connotes authority and refinement; by contrast, an informal typeface can suggest fun and playfulness.
        • can be manipulated to add emphasis to these qualities; for example, adding various different styles to the type, such as bolds, italics or underlines!
      • Whitespace, / ‘negative space’, refers to the areas of a design that are not filled with content.
        • ?an important design element as it helps to let a design ‘breathe’, helps avoid overly complicated designs, and keeps designs looking simple and elegant.
          • e.g. eBoy’s LA Pixel poster, saturated with colors, logos and detail, with the Art of Video Games; increased level of readability that is afforded the book cover through its use of negative space.
    • Visual Hierarchy
      • bigger + bolder = see first = more important

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