Visual literacy is about being culturally aware and able to use visual and cultural references
to communicate to your audience. Knowing how to use visual language is crucial to being a
good graphic designer. If we think of a visual language the same way as a spoken language,
then the grammar, vocabulary, syntax, sayings, conventions and accents of the spoken word
all have parallels within the visual. For example a designer’s style could be seen as their
accent, it is how they use visual language to give their work a particular quality.
Visual language is not something that happens in isolation, the whole idea of a spoken
language is that it is shared and understood by other people and the same is true of visua
languages. Being a designer requires someone who is ‘visually literate’ and understands how to use visual languages to create meaning. Somebody who is fluent in the use of colour, line, images, composition and symbols from all the diverse elements that form a part of any visual culture.
Research point
Research the work of graphic designers that interest you. How do they use visual language?
What is it about the work that you admire? Make notes on their work, your reflections on it
and note down aspects of it that you could use as a starting point yourself.
Research response
Shigeo Fukuda
About: Shigeo Fukuda was a Japanese sculptor, medallist, graphic artist and poster designer who created optical illusions. His art pieces usually portray deception, such as Lunch With a Helmet On, a sculpture created entirely from forks, knives, and spoons, that casts a detailed shadow of a motorcycle.
As a young post-war designer, he was intrigued by the minimalist Swiss school of design. While at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts in the mid-50s he developed a minimalist and simple style that became part of his defining look.
Fukuda was an environmentalist and anti-war, which is demonstrated through his work below.
“I believe that in design, 30% dignity, 20% beauty and 50% absurdity are necessary. Rather than catering to the design sensitivity of the general public, there is advancement in design if people are left to feel satisfied with their own superiority, by entrapping them with visual illusion.”
SONY DSC 
Conclusion
I appreciate Shigeo Fukuda’s simple approach to illusionism, as well as his use of colours and references to war and environmental issues. His work is both meaningful and playful and is a perfect example of 60’s and 70’s Graphic design.
Saul Bass
About: Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.
He developed iconic, influential and noteworthy title sequences employing distinguished kinetic typography for motion pictures, including North by Northwest (1959), Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960). He was the first to introduce this technique in Hollywood films which previously employed static titles.
Working in the mid 20th century, when the importance of graphic design was just on the upswing, Bass branded a staggering array of major corporations with his iconic, minimal designs.
“I don’t give a damn if the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it IS worth anything – it’s worth it to me. It’s the way I wanna live my life. I wanna make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.”
Conclusion
Saul Bass had a minimalist yet unique style, which I really appreciate. His work shows how to use a limited colour palette effectively. He also demonstrated great examples of negative space, as well as some amazing typography.
Malika Favre
About: Malika Favre is a French illustrator and graphic artist based in London. Her style of works could be characterized by pure minimalism within Pop art and Op art, where it sometimes described as ‘Pop Art meets Op Art’.
Her unmistakable style has established her as one of the UK’s most sought after graphic artists. Malika’s clients include The New Yorker, Vogue, BAFTA, Sephora and Penguin Books, amongst many others.
“There is a lot of bad sex art, mainly drawn by men, and I have always approached it with bit of cheekiness and fun.”
Conclusion
Again, I like Malika Favre’s work for her minimalist approach, and use of negative space. Her ‘Pop art meets Op art vibes’ are cheeky, playful, sexy, yet classy. I love the way she uses restricted colour palettes, sometimes only black and white with just one other bright colour.
Noma Bar
About: Noma Bar is an Israeli graphic designer, illustrator and artist, based in London. Bar’s work has been described as “deceptively simple”, featuring flat colours, minimal detail and negative space to create images that often carry double meanings that are not immediately apparent.
His work has appeared in many media publications including: Time Out London, BBC, Random House, The Observer, The Economist and Wallpaper. He has illustrated over one hundred magazine covers, published over 550 illustrations and released three books of his work.
“My work is a painkiller for heavier subjects. While photography will give you a punch in the face, the overall look of my images is softer – but they still shock you in the discovery of the message.”
Conclusion
You’re probably noticing a theme by now! Again, I love the minimalism displayed in Noma Bar’s work. As well as his use of limited colour palettes and negative space to convey deep and meaningful messages. I find his designs simple, clever and sometimes cheeky.
Exercise: A visual Diary
It is very easy for the ephemera of everyday life to disappear; leaflets binned, magazines
recycled and books reprinted. If you get in the habit of collecting examples of design that
you encounter everyday, then you start to get a feel of your tastes and interests, and over
time both your design horizons and cultural awareness broadens.
Start a scrapbook, sketchbook or use a blog to document the visual world around you.
Find examples of visual language that interest you, these could be taken from anywhere
(art, film, photography, illustration, design, craft, cinema, hobbies, etc).
If you can, visit museums, galleries and consider all the graphic design around you – in
books, magazines, cinemas, shops and poster sites. This is your investigation, so follow
your nose. Collect leaflets, flyers and postcards; take photos of things you see in the street;
keep pages from magazines – anything and everything that is visually stimulating to you. There is no right or wrong, the important thing is to actively look at the world around you and become genuinely curious about visual languages.
Reflect on what you have been collecting: are there dominant themes emerging? You may find yourself interested in a particular area of design, era or design product. What does this tell you about your own visual language and cultural awareness? Make notes in your learning log.
Exercise Response:
This was a tricky exercise to complete during lockdown, and even now that things have slightly resumed, what I see in daily life is still very limited. I don’t tend to read magazines. The areas I live and work in aren’t particularly inspiring, and I haven’t visited any galleries or places of interest this year.
With that in mind I decided to improvise by using photos I have taken previously, and any inspiration I have collected over time, in hope that this would describe what normally makes me tick. I was keen to use my blog rather than making a scrapbook so felt this wouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.
I have broken this down in to sections:
Art / Illustrations
Photography
Sculptures / Installations
Film / Scenes
Trainspotting:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:
Pulp Fiction:
Inglourious Basterds:
Clockwork Orange:
Oldboy:
The Shining:
Pan’s Labyrinth:
Silent Hill:
Eraserhead:
Magazines / Editorial
Typography
Products / Packaging
Random photo’s taken by Me
Conclusion
It’s clear to see that I have quite a broad range of interests and styles, so narrowing it down to one is going to be practically impossible.
If I were better at illustration I would probably develop more of a macabre, fantasy type of style. However, I’m a long way off anything like that at the moment… but maybe one day!
In terms of graphic design, I think my main interests are minimalistic, bold colours, negative space, illusionism, fun and funky. Pop art / op art, abstract kind of vibes. Hopefully one day, something along the lines of Shigeo Fukuda, Malika Favre or Noma Bar.
I hope to gain a better understanding of Typography in the next section, where I can play around with fun, grungy, and other more decorative styles, which I suspect will help me establish more of my own overall style, with hints of all of the above.
In addition to this, I do quite enjoy the idea of packaging design, particularly in the alcohol industry. There were too many examples in my collection to add, so I think this is a slight indication.
Below is a list of all the dominant themes I found throughout my collections.
Common themes:
- Negative space
- Mostly 1960s – Current era
- Abstract
- Dark
- Grunge
- Illusionism
- Psychedelic
- Pop art
- Op art
- Humour
- Japanese
- Macabre
- Politics
- Punk
- Fun
- Geometric
- Photomontage
- Limited colour palettes
- Prominent Colours – Black & white. Red. Yellow. Blue
- Minimalism
- Decorative typography
- Surrealism
- Textured Photography
- Product packaging design
- Illustration
- Fantasy
Graphic Design - Core Concepts: A log by Jade Wylie 