1 February, 2008
The History of Visual Communication
An amazing study and insight on the history of visual communication gives a good look on the development of this human endeavor. Please read it when you have some time.
Below is Wikipedia’s definition for visual communication. The translation of ideas, stories and concepts that are largely textual and/or word based into a visual format, i.e. visual communication.
“Visual communication is the communication of ideas through the visual display of information. Primarily associated with two dimensional images, it includes: art, signs, photography, typography, drawing fundamentals, colour and electronic resources. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically oriented usability. It is part of what a graphic designer does to communicate visually with the audience”.
The primary tool by which man has visualised ideas is through the usage of writing and, by extension, type: Writing/type is the visual manifestation of the spoken word. And words are what we communicate with. Thus it is no overstatement when we say that type is the essence of visual communication and by extension of visual communication design. Type, where it is present, is simply the single most important element that you put on a page, since it inherently carries the essence of communication and communication is what our subject of study as graphic/multimedia designers is all about. Thus, the history of visual communication, i.e. the history of the visualisation of the spoken word, will largely follow the development of typographic systems, with a special focus on the Latin typographic system, given that this is the one that we are operating under. Although the primary focus will be on typographic elements and methodologies, the course will, of course, also cover pictorial aspects of visual communication, such as illustration, illumination, photography, shapes, colour etc as and where they pertain to the essence of the subject.
By reading the study, I developed some ideas on the visualisaton of music as parallel form of communication. If word on paper are communication, I think music can be seen as communication as well. However, maybe a bit more abstract and targeting emotions, rather than practical words. In addition, music often uses words in poem form, further emphasising the abstract aspect of communication.
PhD study for “The History of Visualisation of Music” anyone?
19 August, 2007
Creativity 2.0
Michael Krigsman writes in his blog about failures of enterprise 2.0 concept. However he most prominently points to the fact about the successfull ideas of user generated contents power and, for small business, the power of inexpensive long distant and instant communication. One can only marvel at the level of innovation, creativity, and commerce that has been engendered as a result.
I totally agree with Mr. Krigsman and actually use networked working methods, projects reaching distant places. Collective creativity, can bring unusual outcomes, and when kept under a certain theme, I believe the results are better. Good example is our Global Cool project where me and a photographer, Emmi Kaarna, have created photos around the Europe to be used for live visuals. This collective mind and ability to reach larger content is just beneficial. However, the “Creativity 2.0” is not possible without the tools to enable the communication. All respect to Skype.
16 August, 2007
The New Seven Wonders Of The World
On 07/07/07 the below wonders from the past times were officially noted as the new seven wonders of the world. It is a contemporary attempt to create an alternative to historical lists of the Seven Wonders of the World.
GREAT WALL, CHINA
PETRA, JORDAN
CHRIST THE REEDEMER, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
MACHU PICCHU, CUZCO, PERÚ
CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATÁN, MÉXICO
COLOSSEUM, ROME, ITALY
TAJ MAHAL, AGRA, INDIA
PRYRAMIDS OF GIZA, EGYPT (Honorary member as the only remaining one of the original list)
19 June, 2007
On Emerging VJ Markets
VJing is fast emerging to be one of the most innovative creative movement of the 21st century’s first decade. Consequently market forces will became interested about the art form, and this post intends to discuss this emerging relationship a bit.
Back in the days, I have witnessed real business ideas been stolen by better positioned and more resourceful people, or taken them and then presenting them as their own. And that happens a lot. Often the success (in which ever way you define it) does come with a good self-promotion and networking. I think this is one of the things that is holding culture back. Looking from my point of view, you can be the greatest visual storyteller in the world, but professionally, you’re no competition for somebody who above else “wants to direct”. So better give some attention on that entrepreneurial will to push through the wall.
Well…nice. But what if I argue that coming up with your own ideas is a more fun way to go through life, than huge amounts of money earned?
It gets back to the idea that there’s no limit to what you can accomplish as long as you don’t mind who gets the credit. It’s legal to steal ideas in this society, but it is not legal to steal money. This means that where art and finance mix, there isn’t a level playing field, and the person who controls the money can steal the ideas. It’s basically rule by force – not physical force, but economic brutishness, with Adam Smith‘s Invisible Hand of the marketplace acting as a fist. As a result, a lot of nice people in their ivory towers of industry are somewhat sad figures because they’re isolated from the things that they love, from the very things that would inspire them. Sad even more because they are forced to be up in their towers by the Invisible Hand’s imposed pressure.
VJs have a huge advantage in this area, as they are by necessity always in the “cultural mix” and are interacting with audiences, getting direct feedback. Creative communities allocate resources by merit rather than force. So it’s not the kid with the rich parents who can get to mix the visuals on “Crossover of Senses”, it’s the kid who can mix visuals best.
This is very similar to open-source softwares taking over within IT world. This kinda relationship with the markets is relevant to VJing because historically, every time the medium takes creative leaps forward, the scene has enjoyed a collaborative atmosphere. Whereas when the VJ scene has been tighter and more competitive, the creativity stalls and even loses ground. This is evidence if you study the development of VJing, or actually development of other movements. The competition forces the innovators to secure their loose ends to stay competitive, though keeping the innovation robust would be the exact antidote for the competition.
This is well signified with music videos, which ultimately are recorded VJ performances without the improvations aspect. The videos were very innovative at late 70s and early 80s. Music channels’ rule over the preferred form forced the music video directors to stick in the format of portraying the artists. Consequently videos became mere marketing tools, and lost their music visualisation aspect. I personally realised this in the “Broken Promised Land” project, where our client was very concerned on how the public would react on the content. Our directing had a lot VJ ideas in it, and consequently created the main problems of the project.
So being in this situation of seeing my area of business rocketing to the mainstream, I wish I can keep my integrity. I really want to keep my faiths, but we will see how strong my will is. It isn’t an easy road to combine innovation and revenue. My personal definition of success is accomplishing what you’ve set out to do with your priorities still intact. To quote Citizen Kane, making a lot of money is easy to do if that’s all you want to accomplish in life.
The thoughts on this post were influenced by:
Spinrad. Paul (2005) The VJ Book, Feral House: Los Angeles
Faulkner, Michael (2006) VJ: Audio-Visual Art + VJ Culture, Laurence King: London
12 December, 2006
Research Publication
Got my university thesis published! Well, sort of… A music webzine in Finland, Noise.fi asked me to translate the theory part of my work into finnish and edit it into a form of an article. You can find it here.
For you who do not speak finnish, you can donwload the complete work here.
11 April, 2006
Brand Innovation
I recently received a book “Brand Innovation” by the author John Grant. He did gave it to me personally and I am grateful for this gift as it has a lot to do with my year long research on to visual aspect of branding.
Grant believes brands are constructed from clusters of cultural ideas, literally everything that goes into a brand; all its symbols, history, artifacts and codes. He goes on to identify 32 types of cultural ideas and creates a periodic table for brand ideas. They are organized according to the cultural space they inhabit; from the personal to the official.
In relation to the arts though, branding has to be for a certain credible reasons. Do not be attach it, if it does not fit the cultural idea around the art. AS my central point goes: “people freely choose signs that signify the self”. Therefore, in branding, what is needed is an insight into what is missing from your markets.
Teppo Hudson | Global Nomad 