Written Component 1
Reflecting on your ‘100 screengrabs’ experiment, identify the way(s) that it is positioned relative to the discipline of graphic communication design. Its position(s) could be intentional or incidental. Look with a critical eye. What aspect of graphic communication design does it interrogate? Does it confront or exploit a principle of form, meaning, distribution, or circulation? Articulate this position in writing and critically discuss how it is either supported or challenged by a reference from a reading list.
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During the 100 Screengrabs project, I had the opportunity to focus on one specific aspect (snippet) derived from my Elaborate project, where I was exploring storytelling through diagrams; creating narratives in a diagrammatic form. Finding out that most of the diagrams use arrows, the question ‘What does an arrow communicate?’, as an isolated element or as part of a diagram, structured my research and shaped my position throughout this brief.
Investigating the arrow as a technical element, led to the various types of arrows (an arrow with a pointed/circle head, a triangle shape, etc.) and how these can affect or be affected by the surrounding elements. Therefore, the arrow can be considered as a powerful tool of storytelling, while as an individual element has its own meaning, but this meaning changes according to the elements around it.
My intention was to keep a general approach, without a specific context/content, pushing progressively to find out how far the arrow as an element of communication can go, engaging in
a systematic process where the process is the output/product (Blauvelt et al., 2005, p. ii). Passing through various stages of exploring the arrow in relation to other design elements (lines/shapes/ text) using the diagram as a common medium, the following findings emerged; The arrow can be used as an element of sequence, process, destination, transformation and storytelling.
Focusing on storytelling as an aspect of graphic communication design that is being interrogated, interpretation is one of the aspects that incidentally occurred, finding out that it cannot be prevented. Creating iterations consisting only of arrows/shapes (without text) at first, led to an interpretation that changes from viewer to viewer. This is happening because of the visual training of each viewer (ability to read shapes, symbols, etc.) and how they connect each composition to their personal beliefs/experiences. On the other hand, when I experimented by adding text to the diagrams, the interpretation became more straightforward, narrowing down the borders of imagination.
This is where Marshal McLuhan’s (1967) theory ‘The Medium is the Message’ relates to my work. His theory outlines the ‘medium’ as a medium of communication, which is more important than the meaning or content of the message. In my case, the medium is the diagram that works as a channel through which a message is transmitted. The interesting part is that each viewer can define the connection of the arrows and shapes in a different way, shaping a new story each time.
Apart from the interpretation and the various meanings that arose, my 100 iterations intentionally exploit the form of the arrow as a technical element, exploring its function/meaning. To achieve
this, each new iteration is critically reflected based on the forms that occurred in the previous one. However, Andrew Blauvelt et al. (2005, p. ii) mention that “the process produces formations rather than forms”. A ‘formation’ (2021) can be defined as the manner in which a thing is formed; disposition of parts; structure.
Through the iterative approach I followed, exploring the relationship between arrows, lines and shapes, many ‘formations’ occurred, consisting of a different structure each time. Most of the time, these correlative and emergent diagrams are characterized by a visual metaphor that is interconnected with the form of each diagram as well as the wide interpretation of it.
Among others, the aspect of visual metaphor is obvious in iteration 51, where the diagram consists of many curved, straight and diagonal arrows creating a type of information visualisation; a flowchart. Nevertheless, this can easily be interpreted as a chandelier or an ornament, illustrating a comparison between the actual elements of the diagram and what visually looks like. Additionally, iteration 71 shapes an optical illusion of a three-dimensional drawing, trying to create a feeling of movement
and transformation. This is associated with the position of the elements in the composition and the relationship between the shapes and the curved arrow, creating the hallucination that the arrow passes through an object.
Figure 2. Iterations 87 and 89.
Regarding the form in relation to some diagrams’ meaning, there are some remarkable iterations such as 87 and 89 that instead of the technical approach followed before, they evolve in a more abstract meaning (illustrative/conceptual approach). These let the viewer form a story unless there are captions explaining the various elements or their general idea.
This aspect of interpretation (position) that occurs through a diagram, will develop the rest of my project, exploring the relationship between diagram’s elements as facts versus interpretation. I will investigate this through an iterative brief, consisting of experiments that will reveal how one interprets a diagram. The investigative journey through the interpretation of diagrams begins.
Regarding the form in relation to some diagrams’ meaning, there are some remarkable iterations such as 87 and 89 that instead of the technical approach followed before, they evolve in a more abstract meaning (illustrative/conceptual approach). These let the viewer form a story unless there are captions explaining the various elements or their general idea.
This aspect of interpretation (position) that occurs through a diagram, will develop the rest of my project, exploring the relationship between diagram’s elements as facts versus interpretation. I will investigate this through an iterative brief, consisting of experiments that will reveal how one interprets a diagram. The investigative journey through the interpretation of diagrams begins.
Reference List
Blauvelt, A., Maurer, L., Paulus, E., Puckey, J., and Wouters, R. (2013) Conditional Design Workbook. Amsterdam: Valiz, p. ii.
‘Formation’ (2021) Available at: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/formation (Accessed: 25 April 2021).
McLuhan, M., and Quentin, F. (1967) The Medium is The Massage. New York: Penguin Classics.
100 Words (position exercise)
100 words
Focusing only on the arrow as one of the most common elements used in diagrams let me explore all the possible uses of it and how its meaning changes by the surrounding elements. This revealed that the arrow can be used as an element of sequence, process, destination, transformation and storytelling. Focusing on storytelling, I have noticed that each diagram (without captions) is interpreted differently by each viewer, illustrating a comparison between the actual elements of the diagram, the possible meanings and what visually looks like. Exploring the relationship between the diagram’s elements as facts vs interpretation will shape my position for the rest of the project.
50 words
It is really interesting how a black and white diagram consisting only of arrows, lines and shapes can be interpreted differently by each one of us, creating endless stories. Why and how is this happening, and which is the relationship between the diagram’s elements as facts vs interpretation?
10 words
Which is the relationship between the diagram’s elements as facts vs interpretation?, or
Why and how a diagram without a specific context can be interpreted differently by each viewer?, or
Interrogating storytelling/interpretation through the exploitation of diagrams as a form/medium of communication.
3 words
Exploring diagrammatic interpretation
1 word
Interpretation