Wangzongran Wushan
Abstract: In the high-tech and fast-paced life, the cultural trend of advocating nature is gradually respected by people. Concise and clear form is pursued by more and more people, and it is also reflected in all fields of modern design. This paper combs and summarizes the formation, development and characteristics of simplicity in graphic design, and analyzes the application of simplicity in modern graphic design from three aspects: morphological elements, spatial levels and picture composition with examples, hoping to provide some reference for designers to grasp the style.
Keywords: graphic design; Simple concept; Element; Spatial composition
Simplicity can be regarded as an aesthetic style, or a doctrine, or an idea, or an aesthetic thought. Although we can't have a title recognized by everyone at the same time, it doesn't affect the exploration of it. Let's analyze it as a train of thought for the time being.
First, the concept of simplicity formation and development
The concept of simplicity does not originate from contemporary times, but has its historical origin. Both the East and the West contain the formation and development of naive ideas. We can find clues from the primitive totems and symbols of ancient oriental nations. All kinds of totems, patterns and symbols mostly exist in simple or simple forms.
During the Warring States period, Mozi put forward the idea of taking "Jane" as the beauty, which was opposite to Confucian aesthetics. However, after entering the feudal society, influenced by religious culture and the aesthetic consciousness of the feudal ruling class in pursuit of luxury, the artistic form became more and more complex and gorgeous. /kloc-In the 7th century, due to the influence of Baroque and Rococo culture, elegance and grandeur in western culture and art became the mainstream, which was reflected in the beauty and excessive decoration in works of art, and the culture and art in China in the Tang Dynasty were similar. Under this cultural background, people's aesthetic concepts are affected on the one hand, but at the same time they begin to "rebel".
Then, with the advancement of western industrial revolution and the rapid development of science and technology, in the middle and late19th century, art began to take "simplicity, practicality and comfort" as its aesthetic trend, and the most representative beginning should be the popularity of Bauhaus's design ideas in Germany in the early 20th century. By the 1940s and 1950s, the internationalist graphic design style had matured, and the concept of simplicity was constantly developing under the influence of various design movements. By the appearance of post-modernism in 1960s, under the influence of increasingly diversified cultural concepts and design theories, "simplicity" absorbed the nutrition of diversified concepts and developed forward.
Second, the characteristics of simplicity in graphic design
Simplicity is not simple, nor is it simply reducing elements. The characteristics of simplicity in graphic design are summarized from two aspects. If there are few elements that make up the picture, the picture will be refined and meaningful, that is, "simplicity is better than complexity"; If the elements are rich, the picture will be more and not chaotic, more and orderly, more and interesting, that is, "more but not miscellaneous."
(a) Under the influence of "simplicity is better than complexity", "less is more"
"Less is more" is a design idea put forward by Mies Vandero in architectural design. Simplicity is characterized by simplifying design elements, colors, lighting and raw materials to a minimum, but it requires high quality of colors and materials. Therefore, simple space design is usually very implicit, which can often achieve twice the result with half the effort and win with simplicity. Graphic design is influenced by this, and many people regard this concept as the core concept of simplicity, because in the early19th century, this concept just catered to the social changes brought about by industrialization, people's pursuit of functional design and pure and simple unadorned design, and various design styles and schools emerged one after another, and the concept of simplicity was reflected in different fields of design. Including industrial design, fashion design, graphic design, architectural design and so on. The expression of "less wins more" in graphic design: the pursuit of vertical and horizontal arrangement, the pursuit of rational and mathematical grid segmentation of the picture; Emphasize the simplicity and strength of fonts and use sans serif fonts; The pursuit of simplicity and clarity in color, the application of common primary colors and basic colors, and the application of popular colors. For example, mondriaan, a representative of thermal abstraction, put forward the concept of universal primary colors in colors. The use of color is strictly limited to the collocation of red, yellow and blue primary colors with black, white and gray achromatic colors. In the layout, the picture is divided into vertical and horizontal lines, and the nature is summarized with highly refined abstract elements, refining life, and the design works are concise and vital.
(B) "Less is boring" under the influence of "more is not complicated"
After the 1960s, the simplicity of design moved towards "more without complexity". 1966, American architect Venturi put forward the view that "less is boring" in his works. This idea is aimed at the design influenced by Mies Vandero, especially the design that goes to the extreme of minimalism. The advantage of this idea in design is to liberate some designs from the hutongs that are about to or have entered extreme minimalism. There are two aspects when it is used in graphic design: (1) There are many ideas, but there is no order. The globalization of the modern world, the blending of multi-ethnic cultures and the pluralistic collection of ideas, coupled with post-modernism, have brought about the extreme liberation of human freedom, and also made various ideas disorderly and mixed; (2) There are many morphological elements that make up the picture, which is also a reason why the design tends to be complicated. Because of the rich theme ideas and many levels of themes to be expressed, the selected elements cannot be reduced, but formal beauty and various expression techniques can be used to make the picture achieve the effect of more without chaos.
Third, the application of simplicity in graphic design
(A) simple morphological elements
The simplicity of form is the simplicity of constituent elements. It can be summarized as: (1) From the perspective of graphics, characters, colors and other elements that make up a picture, whether it is abstract and concise geometric graphics or figurative graphics, it needs to be as concise as possible. (2) From the point of view of the cohesion of each element, it is necessary to cooperate with the theme. Just like the formation of a building, it needs not only masonry, glass, steel bars and concrete, but also various materials to be connected according to the style and name of the building before it can be called a building. In graphic design, according to different themes, elements need different relationships to connect. For example, logo design requires elements to be compact and appear in a relatively complete form, while DV envelope design requires artistic arrangement of elements in space. There is a large amount of information in layout design, so it is necessary to arrange elements and connecting elements according to the priority of information and apply the principle of formal beauty to make the information clear and orderly.
As shown in figure 1, the concise abstract elements similar to water droplets constitute a loving, warm and lovely happy family scene. Elements are interconnected by overlapping and repetition. Although there are few elements, the content is rich and the picture is lively. Figure 2 The poster of the car salon uses realistic induction to make the flexible and exquisite appearance of the car jump above the picture, with highly summarized abstract elements as the material and simple and lively visual elements connected in a repetitive form, with many elements but not miscellaneous, so that the whole picture presents a lively atmosphere. Figure 3 is a public service advertisement to protect the environment. The elements that make up the picture can be said to be very simple. Two leaves are like a pair of innocent eyes staring at human beings who are destroying the environment. Several elements make up a simple picture, which requires higher connection of elements. According to the principle of balance and symmetry in the formal law, the two leaves are located in one third of the picture, which is a more comfortable position for human vision. There is a big gap between the picture elements, and the leaves and the text below form an inverted triangle, so that the elements are naturally connected. This is also a common composition method in Chinese painting, which pays attention to blank space and forms the artistic conception of "silence is better than sound here".
(2) Simple composition
Picture composition refers to the division of space and the arrangement of different elements in a two-dimensional picture according to the needs of the theme. Let's take the building as an example. Reinforced glass concrete and so on are ready for construction. They are used to build the frame structure of buildings and support them on the ground. People will know what it will look like when it is completed. The same graphic design, as long as the elements are properly arranged according to the theme, will produce a comfortable and simple feeling. The picture composition of modern design is greatly influenced by the international graphic design style and Bauhaus design. Many excellent works not only absorb the international style's pursuit of rigorous simplicity, concise and bright layout and harmonious overall feeling, but also try to make up for the lack of artistry and human touch of international style with various expression techniques or formal rules. Simple composition is widely used in posters and layout design.
As shown in Figure 4, it is a public welfare poster advocating the protection of trees. With concrete expression, the paper from trees is made into a sharp gear style, and with the expression of rotation repetition, the elements are rotated in the center. The layout of the picture is concise and powerful, and the picture is static and dynamic. As shown in Figure 5, the background is completely unified in the blue sky, and the birds on the overhead wires tend to fly out of the picture like the notes on the staff. The childlike eyes exposed from below look up at the blue sky, and the clouds in the distance make the picture fresh and concise, comparing the size of the dots. The contrast between black and white with long lines is orderly and natural, which makes people feel relaxed and happy. As shown in Figure 6, concrete and abstract elements are freely and flexibly unified in the picture, except for the generalized concrete hand shape, the rest are simple abstract elements. Although there is no strict sense of order in the layout of points, lines and planes, it is harmonious, concise, lively and full of strong interest.
(3) Simple spatial hierarchy
A piece of paper without deep space can hold the whole world, which is the charm of two-dimensional plane. Or everyone should lament the wisdom of human beings, their wonderful creation and disposition, whether lively, noble, solemn or elegant. "Plane can't be flat", that is, using various plane elements, trying to stretch the visual space on plane materials (such as paper). Cezanne, the painter, began to try this theory a hundred years earlier than us, and it has reached the extreme. If we can pay attention to the simplification of spatial hierarchy, even if there are many elements that make up the picture, we can make up a simple and hierarchical picture.
As shown in Figure 7, with the contrast of colors, the spatial hierarchy is opened, and red comes into view first, because red has jumping and eye-catching visual effects, and the effect of light and shadow increases the hierarchy of the picture. This work has four layers of information, but it is not confusing. This shows that no matter how much information there is, as long as the spatial hierarchy is handled well, the hierarchy can be clear and the theme can be prominent. As shown in Figure 8, although there are many visual elements, the author boldly divides the picture with a large area of regular graphics, including a large area of characters arranged on a large fast surface, which makes the picture form a strong sense of order, with many but not chaos, and two yellow trapeziums with perspective effect, which makes the picture have a strong sense of spatial perspective. Although there are many elements in the picture, the designer grasps the information moderately, and draws lessons from the perspective principle to make the picture concise and tense, increase the interest of the picture and attract attention.
Four. conclusion
Modern cities are gradually surrounded by buildings, noise, dust and other pollution. The space is getting narrower and narrower, the noise is getting more and more agitated, the competitive pressure of life and work is getting greater and greater, and citizens' hearts are getting less and less quiet and rested. As a result, more and more people in Beijing began to abandon red tape and luxury, and strive to have a natural and plain state of mind. People are more eager for fresh, natural, casual and concise pictures. Simple design in graphic design can meet people's psychological and physiological needs, so there is no doubt that graphic design will continue to be influenced by the concept of simplicity, and with the discovery of new technologies and materials, there will be new forms of expression in design to reflect the continuous development of this concept.
refer to
Wang Shouzhi. History of World Graphic Design [M]. China Youth Publishing House, 2002.
[2] Mao. Plane composition [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 2003.
[3] Teng Shouyao, Nie Zhenbin. Aesthetics and design in the era of knowledge economy [M]. Nanjing: Nanjing Press, 2006.
Xue shuyang. Minimalist style [J]. Design platform, 2007, (12).
About the author: Wang Zongran (1982-), female, from Weifang, Shandong Province, holds a master's degree in Design Art College of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, and her research direction is design art.
On Blank Images in Graphic Design
Liaolong
Blank can be regarded as a special form of image expression. Introducing blank image into graphic design and studying its performance and function in graphic design can better convey the deep meaning of the work and excavate the connotation of the work.
Keywords blank image in graphic design
The word "image" is a very important theoretical concept in China's ancient artistic creation, which is widely used by people. It is a unity with multiple meanings. Although there are different meanings in different disciplines, one thing is the same, that is, it must be presented as an "image", and the element on which the image depends is the image, that is, the object image. Image is the basis of image, but image is not an objective mechanical imitation of image.
Image is a materialized artistic image created by the objective object through the unique aesthetic activities of the creative subject, and it is "an objective object with subjective feelings, or the subjective feelings expressed by the objective object."
"Meaning" is intangible and abstract, just like salt in water, intangible and tasty. "Meaning" can only be expressed through the "image" of language or graphic symbols. Images, namely "images in words and meanings" and "images in meanings", are the organic blending and unity of subject and object, mind and object, meaning and image, and the product of the fusion of subjective feelings and objective images. In an image. People see "image" and taste "meaning".
The word "Xiang" first sprouted in Zhouyi. The Book of Changes, also known as the Book of Changes, is a famous philosophical work of China in ancient times, which was crowned as the first of the Six Classics by Confucianism. Among them, the copula is an overall overview of Zhouyi and explains its philosophical significance. The Book of Changes has gradually been sublimated into the root of China's traditional culture and the source of all academic thoughts. Firstly, it expounds the relationship between "meaning" and "image" and the special ideographic function of "image", which is manifested in the connection of Zhouyi:
Confucius said, "The sage tries his best to set up an image, make up his divination, use his words, change his interests, and dance and drum."
Setting up an image with all one's heart not only clarifies the relationship between image and meaning, but also clarifies the purpose of setting up an image with all one's heart. "Image" is based on "doing your best". The "image" here is not a natural image, but a divinatory image, that is, the symbol of "suggestive image" and "mental image" has great expressive functions: do your best, do your best, do your best, and do your best.
The early images in ancient China were all regarded as an abstract rational carrier. At that time, "Yi" was a symbolic meaning, which basically stayed in the field of philosophy and could only be regarded as a conceptual image in the general sense. Liu Xie is the first person who put forward the concept of image in the field of China's literary theory. In Wen Xin Diao Shen Long Si, he said: "A craftsman who takes pictures alone can catch a glimpse of the image and get lucky. This cover is also the first article of the article and the end of the article. " He emphasized the importance of internal image in the process of artistic production and raised it to the height of "controlling the first article and seeking the big end of the article". Liu Xie's concept of image had a far-reaching influence, and people in the Tang Dynasty used the concept of image on this basis. In the poem Beware, Si Kongtu said that "the image is outside, and the nature is strange", which also means "the image inside". After the Song Dynasty, literati in Ming and Qing Dynasties often treated images as artistic images, and the ancient meaning of images gradually faded, and the meaning of images began to generalize.
Image is a vast atmosphere that is freely derived and galloped in people's minds. It is a kind of natural beauty and a kind of unrestrained true feelings. Contemporary artistic creation draws nutrients from traditional culture and shows great vitality, but no matter what form it takes, "image" is still a potential language component in modern design language, which is closely related to "meaning" and permeates many "meaning" factors such as designers' thoughts, ideas and emotions.
The combination of traditional image view and modern design theory has formed a unique design image of the times. As an artistic creation activity, image design takes the representation of feeling form as the premise of creation, and then analyzes and synthesizes this seemingly complicated representation. But this is not a simple reflection of rational logic. Nor is it simply to summarize the abstract content of the perceptual form of things, but to find isomorphic elements corresponding to the subject's emotions, intuition, cognition and life experience in the representation according to the needs of design, so as to construct the design image.
All kinds of graphic symbols in graphic design often appear in the picture as the carrier of images, conveying some internal meaning and causing some association of viewers. In addition to some common image expressions such as plant image, animal image and scene image, there is also a special image expression, that is, blank image.
Blank is "virtual" and vice versa. Virtual is nothingness, and real is truth. In graphic design, space can be divided into real space and virtual space. Among them, the real space is the real part of the picture space, and the virtual space refers to the rest. Virtual space is not a background, nor an unnecessary part in design, but also an important part of the image of the picture. The blank in graphic design is the "white as black" and "implication" of design works. This kind of blank, seemingly invisible, is actually the ingenuity of the designer, although the pen has not yet arrived. And the meaning is here. Therefore, the blank is the image. As Xin said in the Qing Dynasty's Painting Guide: "Virtual and real coexist, without painting, there will be wonders."
China's traditional art doesn't pay attention to rational cognition and reasoning like western aesthetics. But more is to understand nature and appreciate life in a perceptual way. In the theory of Chinese painting, ink color and colored ink belong to color, and white paper itself belongs to color. Therefore, the painter attaches great importance to "blank" and forms a special artistic conception through the treatment of reality and reality. The sky, clouds, water and so on in landscape painting. Often it is not ink, but just on paper, with a few strokes and a complete meaning. However, the viewer can get this feeling of "emptiness" under the contrast of "reality" in the picture, so as to achieve the effect of drawing finite infinity and leaving blank space.
For example, the Southern Song Dynasty painter Ma Yuan's "Fishing Alone in the Cold River" shows only a boat floating on the water and an old man sitting at the bow fishing alone. In addition to several ripples around, the picture is blank in a large area, but it truly shows the emptiness and chill of the river. The depressing atmosphere set off the fisherman's concentration on the front line more strongly. It also provides the audience with room for imagination. The blank in this painting is not white paper, but white in the painting. There is truth in emptiness. It is a special form of graphic symbol. As Zhang Qing's style said in Painting Pool: "Blank is not empty paper. Blank is painting. " In the eyes of the painter, the blank in the painting can be the sky, the earth or the clouds. It is water.
Chinese painting's treatment of virtual reality and blank space has been well played in the layout of modern graphic design. In the arrangement and design of "Liu Qing", the artistic element symbols of blank space in Chinese painting are used for reference, and it is integrated with modern design language, so that a large area of blank space fills the layout, and the rest of blank space is combined with several goldfish swimming in the center of the picture, which is skillfully transformed into water surface. It brings a sense of harmony and tranquility to the viewer and expands the artistic conception of "clean flow" in the picture. The "white" here shows the void without representation, which can be connected with the space outside the picture and has the double extensibility of vision and psychology.
Modern graphic design takes conveying information as its main goal. Design works often need to attract the attention of the audience in a short time and leave a deep impression on people. It is often monotonous to rely solely on direct expression. Moreover, the meaning of images is endless, and proper use of the contrast between "virtual" and "real" can achieve good artistic effects. Sometimes "truth" can only be better highlighted under the background of "emptiness". The emptiness here is not "emptiness", but "emptiness" contains "scenery", which implies "emptiness" of "emotion". In the design of a set of tourist brochures in Zhangjiajie, the technique of "virtual" supporting "real" was successfully used. Designers outline the shapes of some utensils such as Aquarius with traditional pen and ink expressions, and then arrange the beautiful natural scenery of Zhangjiajie in them. Except for some necessary text descriptions in the upper right corner, the rest of the picture is a big blank, and only two flying cranes or a few auspicious clouds seem to be randomly depicted near the shape of the objects. This blank way not only creates an ethereal situation, but also sets off the main object of creation.
Sometimes the blank treatment in design works, like ellipsis in literary works, can arouse people's visual and psychological meditation. This triggered some kind of association. For example, the well-known logo design of Apple computer, a vacancy on the right seems to destroy the integrity of the picture, but in fact it just blends with the background, breaking the bondage of shape and giving people more room for association and imagination. At this time, the blank has become an integral part of the image, which is the continuation and derivation of the image.
The blank in graphic design is a "virtual space". It is a kind of "gas field" existing in the picture, and all the elements in the picture are coordinated and unified by this invisible "gas field", thus showing a kind of wholeness. If this element is skillfully used, it can become the most prominent and eye-catching place in design. The information it conveys, sometimes even physical elements, is much richer and deeper. More designers should pay attention to the rational use of virtual space generated by blank screen layout. Because it can stimulate the artistic imagination of the audience to the greatest extent, so as to better explore and appreciate the hidden deep "meaning" in the works.