Design Elements/Texture: Exploration of a Good Example

I have chosen this book cover as my example for the use of texture in graphic design. It's a Turkish book and I've recently finished to read. The title of the book is ASK (you should read it as ASHK), which means LOVE in Turkish. The texture goes beyond a simple illustration of a leaf. It is actually a photograph of the radiography of a leaf, but in the shape of a heart. The strength comes from its clarity and simplicity.


For me, good photography is stronger than words. But if you have a good photography and powerful words, even better! If the photography is a good one (like here) then you can trace elements of design, which are well-used too. Lines here are veins of a leaf symbolically resembling veins in the heart. The life brought to leaves through veins is the same like the blood (life) carried by our veins to our heart. The novel tells a modern love story between a Jewish-American housewife and a modern Sufi living in Amsterdam, set against a historical background that narrates the spiritual bond between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. So the shape here is a representational, intentional and meaningful one supporting the title and the content of the book.

Design Elements/Lines - A Self Critique

My design element was "Scale" at first, and Jason had "Lines". He offered to change his paper slip with me and we did :D I was fairly happy with my scale exercise but not with my lines. So thanks Jason for the offer. It has given me the chance to re-do my line exercise and have a bit better snapshot to post.



In Line exercise, the objectives were:

-- To define, explore, and create lines of varying type, quality, direction
-- To create the illusion of spatial depth and texture
-- To explore lines ability to convey emotion
-- To gain experience using some of the basic drawing tools in illustrator.

I tried to create different type of lines with varying quality & direction and explored a bit more what the line is. My favorite part in exercise was creating the illusion of spatial depth by playing with blend tool. It was quite fun to draw very basics lines first and then fill in between. I didn't know what to come up and had fun. But it was a little bit challenging for me to work with lines to create a texture and emotion. My object for texture was close up of an old tree, but I think it looks more like a forest with thin trees and a sun behind. There is always a better one, especially if you are at the very beginning of your learning curve. Could be better but I am Ok with my texture. And creating an emotion was the hardest I guess. Since I love spiders and their nets, my hands unintentionally started to draw a spider net and a cartoon spider. What I felt afterwards were two, actually opposite, emotions. On the one hand, it gave me the emotion of being light but very agile and strong (for the hunter). On the other hand, there was a feeling of fear and falling in a trap (for a hunt). I think with my second try, I did better with lines and overall satisfied with what I did. I gained a little bit more experience with drawing tools in illustrator and gave a better demonstration of the Line element. I had some awareness about the importance of Line through photography, but hadn't had a chance to study it that closer. So this exercise taught me that Line is very simple to draw and work but could be the strongest element of design by carrying personality and expressing emotions.

Goal Setting

One day Martha Graham, who was an American dancer and choreographer, said very quietly:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

How truly and beautifully said! Her words made me remember that I have that vitality, the life force, energy moving in me all the time and putting me into action (like now it made me start to a design program). Maybe world is already full of graphic designers or digital artists but there is only me, only one of me in all of time. So my personal goal, here, is to unblock my unique expression and don't let it lost! Since there is no way for me to determine how good I am or how valuable what I did, my only focus would be just to keep my channel open and let that life force and energy move, in and out. And I know that when action is pure and selfless, everything settles into its own perfect place.

But...On the way to achieve this very personal goal, I do need some measurable steps to know that I am still on the track walking with a concentration and discipline. So at the end of 9 months, I would expect myself to,

-- Use Illustrator, Photoshop and In Design proficiently and take any design challenge without being afraid.

-- Learn conceptual thinking and add more creativity to my photography.

-- Build a solid and authentic portfolio.

-- Build my own website and manage it without being in need of any other person.

-- Get connected with my class, play and have fun with them :)

My source of inspiration?

Could be anyone and anything I come across with on my journey and help me tap into creative source within myself.