Visual language is organized around two types of tools that construct meanings and significance. The first are configuration tools and the second are organization tools. These types of instruments allow the creator to define the meanings that structure his message. It is therefore very important to know them and understand their relevance.
Configuration tools The Size
One of the first things to consider when creating ghana phone directory or analyzing a visual product is its dimensions. This is often related to the viewer's scale: the image can be either larger or smaller than the person analyzing it. Size is important because it provides information about the image, and is usually a choice made by the creator to convey some kind of point. The selection of a particular size depends on several criteria:
This is related to the physical link between the image and the viewer. When faced with a small image, the viewer is seen as predominant over the image. When faced with a large image, the opposite occurs. A good example of the different sensations when faced with a small or large image is the difference we perceive when watching a film on a cinema screen or on television.
The conspicuousness effect: when the size exceeds normal limits, its viewing becomes an event. For example, the large dog designed by Jeff Koons for the entrance to the Guggenheim.
Convenience or location: this is the most common criterion. In many cases, the size of the visual product is imposed on the creator by the format used to create it.
Size usually implies a hierarchy such that the surface area of an element of audiovisual content in relation to the total surface is directly proportional to its visual importance. The dimensions of objects also help to create both perspective and the feeling of distance.
The Shape
Shape is the outer limits of the visual product. There are two types of shapes:
Organic: that is, those that are typical of the natural world.
Artificial ones: they are geometric and created by humans.
It is necessary to distinguish between the form of the visual product as an object, that is, the characteristics of the physical limits of the visual representation (the support on which the image is found) and the form of the content of the visual product, that is, the form of the elements that make up the image.
To address the shape of the image it is necessary to address three levels:
1. The shape of the visual product: also called format in two-dimensional representations. If they are rectangular, they are usually oriented either vertically or horizontally. When choosing this orientation, the author must keep in mind three criteria:
Adaptation of the medium: in many cases the format must be adapted to the medium on which it will be placed. For example, photos from a newspaper or magazine.
Reading direction: depends on where the image is taken. In the West, horizontal format is more common because it makes reading from left to right easier. In the East, however, formats tend to be vertical because the reading system is different.
Symbolic content: In many cases, the support of two-dimensional representations is not rectangular. This usually means that something is meant to be conveyed simply by the shape. Circular shapes can represent religious elements, indicate perfection or unity, or, like traffic signs, indicate that something is prohibited… In three-dimensional representations, the shape of the visual product is usually determined by the boundaries of the object.
2. The shape of the visual product content: that is, of the elements that are within the product's boundaries. In a photograph of an apple, the shape of the content (the apple) would be natural while that of the product (the photo) is rectangular and therefore artificial.
3. The shape of the space in which the visual product is located: the place where the image is to be placed is also important. In modern art and in the design of commercial spaces, it is called an installation.