Visual Literacy

OK, so my PowerPoint app decided to randomly fail due to licensing, so I guess I will transfer my ppt work to here from scratch. So first off is my Visual Literacy

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading.

Aspects of visual literacy which are used in everything that we see today from advertisements to movies and everything seen by the human eyes which is analysed and read.

Fully utilizing the aspects of visual literacy and its abundance of options allows you to portray different things to the audience and allows you to create a different feeling or different desired outcome for the viewing audience.

So after researching and studying the principles and aspects which build a visual outcome. I chose some random objects and took pictures of them, but I did'nt really like the all the ideas I had in relation to the objects. So I decided to choose one, which was the Alarm clock heart Idea and I liked that the best.


I started to thumbnail some ideas for my 4 2D images and after much thought and trail and error I came up with these 6 ideas which I though were quite strong. So I decided to choose 4 of these and just go for it.

I chose the alarm clock idea because during the last pitch and crit I had there was a good response regarding it and I thought I wanted to progress and develop on it.

So once I had my ideas clearly envisioned, I was more confident in starting the manipulation process in photoshop. I sourced some freestock images of some clocks.

I used this one for my heart concept

This is the clock which I transformed into speakers

I decided to try and let my creativity run loose but fully aligned with my original concepts. Each image is closely related with the concept of breaking the boundaries of time and the expressing how time is such a large issue in today's society.

Here are my 4 2D images:

In this image I used the numbers of a clock and switched them around, and tried to show that time and space are a deep void and only once we pin point the time does it become relevant to out lives.

The concept here is that we don't know how much time we have left in life till we will pass away and that time or the lack of time can be a painful thought.

I used an image of the clock above and turned it into a speaker, you can still see some of the numbers on it if you look close. This is that annoying alarm that wakes you up everyday. This is a bit different from my final one as I changed the glowing rings with the ring of the actual clock to vary things.

The concept here is what I really like, that its a new way to perceive time in a futuristic way.

Next are my 2 2D Images from my chosen book.

I experimented again with the concepts of of manipulating an image and what is read by its appearance. Here I was experimenting with character design and if a story can be seen by a simple image.

I liked this futuristic clown character I did and I might experiment with it in the future.

So the book I chose was "A Bold Head and a Strawberry" which is a spiritual book about faith and religion and life. I decided to take one small story that is told at the beginning of the book.



The story goes as follows:

Strawberries
Once upon a time there lived a humble farmer that toiled in the rice fields throughout the day. One day, he took a nap and as he awoke, night had already fallen. He got up and immediately started home. Attempting to expedite his return, the farmer decided to cut through the forest. As he walked, the sounds of midnight stood still as a lone owl could be heard in the distance. There was something in the air.
The farmer quickened his pace, as his breath began to pick up. He could hear something -- something tracking him, following him to make a kill. So he began to run. Undoubtedly, the farmer now heard heavy strides quickening their pace from behind -- something was coming. He could hear its breath, dripping with hunger. Fearful for his life the farmer began to sprint with all his might.
But suddenly a cliff emerged in front and the beast was closing in from behind. He leaped. He tumbled through the air as his and fortuitously grabbed hold of a single vine that now suspended him from his doom. From above, the beast emerged peering over the cliff -- it was a monstrous tiger. It said, "Come up and I shall devour you." At that very moment, the man peered down and from the blackness emerged yet another tiger saying, "fall down and I shall devour you." But it didn't stop there. As he looked up he noticed one black and one white mouse gnawing on the very vine that sustained his life -- the life vine. At that precise moment he gazed in front and beheld a luscious strawberry. He picked it and ate it -- how delicious it was.
Now what is this story supposed to meant? Didn't it seem like a rather abrupt and ostensibly unfitting conclusion? Well, the story is supposed to represent us all -- our human condition, so to speak. We are all hanging on that life vine. The black mouse and white mouse symbolizing night and day propel us towards the inevitability of death or suffering -- which ever comes first. We are all going to die (the one thing we can be sure of), or experience a desperate moment.
But as we hang there the message of the story is to recognize the "strawberries" in our lives, like a sunset on a Sunday walk in the park, or even an argument with a friend, you fill in the blanks. Our lives are filed with wonderful, rich, aromatic strawberries, if we are willing to pay attention to the moment here and now. Our lives are filled with moments that are more wondrous than wonder itself and all its synonyms combined, if we pay attention.
But something remarkable happened as I told this story to Abba. He immediately said, "Yes, my son, but then you must give the strawberries to the mice and to the tigers"! Upon hearing this I fainted! Here was a response that was not a thought-out rejoinder, but a reflection of Abba's being, as he just blurted it out. He, without pause for thought, blew me away with this profound elevation of compassion -- to have the heart of giving ones life "strawberries" to the very beings that are trying to bring about your demise -- to completely love even your worst enemy! I fainted. When I awoke, I was bald.

Reference freestock images I used to help me with my finals.

Here are my Final 2D Images:

This is also a bit different from my final version as I wanted to make it look more depressive as the man is against all odds hanging off a cliff with no mercy from nature yet he is still able to share his found strawberry. I tried to make this have a lingering feeling as if there was a lot of emotion in the air and if you look closely even the mountain has eyes and is against him too.

Here I manipulated the image of the man above as I though he was perfect for the farmer. I merged it with a texture which I thought was fitting. I also merged some grass on his head to make it seem as if he has a strawberry on his head. The main effect I wanted to achieve here is that it is very nostalgic and sympathetic towards the man that faced an ordeal in which everyone and everything (nature) was against him. Although he was still able to give his last grace to them.