Week 13: Visual Techniques

Final Fantasy X logo's visual techniques:

• Activeness
• Opacity
• Flatness
• Balance
• Boldness
• Spontaneity
• Intricacy

flOw logo's visual techniques:

• Diffusion
• Depth
• Accent
• Activeness
• Spontaneity
• Exaggeration
• Economy

Although they share a few visual techniques, flOw and Final Fantasy X's logos differ in their use of other techniques. They have activeness and spontaneity in common. Both the logos move the viewer's eye throughout the entirety of their image. Also in common is spontaneity. Both logos contain elements that look impulsive, free-formed, and organic. However, the differing techniques create distinct visual experiences for each. FFX's logo is intricate with its spectacular details in the background image, while flOw's is economical in its minimal use of elements, making the latter more clean and less detailed than the first. Another significant different is FFX's flatness versus flOw's depth. The flatness of FFX's logo creates an artistic feel to it, relating to the visually stunning graphics of the game it represents; flOw's depth is shown through the blue gradient in the background. It looks very similar to the colors of water—the game involves players "diving" through a sea-like environment. flOw's logo also shows use of exaggeration in the large O in its center, a hole that you just want to "dive" into. FFX's logo is very balanced in its appearance—resulting in a straightforward appeal.

Week 11 CONTRAST

Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo DS is full of mini-games based on rhythmic exercises. For this particular mini-game, the player is supposed to fill up the robot with red liquid to the beat of the music. It uses contrast to depict how long the player should hold down the machine that pours the liquid into the robots. First of all, there is a constrast in scale. The smaller robot in the left image requires only four beats to fill up, while the larger one on the right takes eight. The only want to know that there are different sizes of robots is to have both of them presented in the game. Furthermore, their contrast in scale produce a contrast in time: four versus eight beats. Thus when playing, the player waits to see if a small or big robot falls onto the conveyor belt and acts accordingly.


The game interface of PlayStation 3's Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires does not use the technique of contrast effectively. When players look at the screen, they expect their character's largest health bar to be the largest, because the game revolves around the player's actions. Yet, as shown in the image, the enemy's life bar is the largest and at the top of the screen. The contrast in scale should be switched around in my opinion. And in general, the other elements are about the same size. Contrast in scale should be created in order to help differentiate between the elements and produce a dynamic interface, rather than a confusing one.

Implied Motion in Video Game Cover Design

In the cover art of the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is implied movement seen through a number of elements. In the background, there is an explosion of light, bursting out rays that imply an outward direction. There is also overlapping of characters which explain their position on motion as they rush outward. The dynamic poses of the characters also support their movement in space. Life experience tells us that these are poses which depict action and energy. The use of relative size also represents implied motion. Large characters seem to be in the foreground and smaller characters in the background. This creates an effect of movement between the characters and through the space.










The cover art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves also depicts implied movement. The main character's right arm and legs are in a blur. Just like when we see moving objects, we can sometimes see a blur of the object's shape in the space it moved through. Next are the falling objects, such as the gun and suitcases. From common knowledge of gravity and other scientific processes, we know that objects like these do not float in space, so when we see this image, we know they are moving through the air. Finally, the white snow engulfing the entire image also implies movement. It is moving through space in an energetic, flowing manner. The snow that seems further away blurs and gradually loses value. It makes it feel like the snow in the direct foreground will also fall down into the abyss.