ning-qiao

[ning-qiao]

主项目研究过程 Part 4

人物与生活环境设定

赛博朋克人物设定参考：

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/678495500093817297/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/670121619527444842/

人物设定：

人物A

·姓名：Lennon Nancy

·性别：女

·简介：信息泄露后被垃圾广告骚扰的受害者

是个普通人，有着一份薪水不错的工作。因为智能家居所记录的个人隐私有所泄露，所以最近会不停收到来自各个种类的商品广告。

因为购买了 Bess Katte 推销产品与 Bess Katte 有线上的争执，所以通过查询 Bess Katte 的社交账号查找到了他的具体地址进行报复。

我尝试了许多种不同的风格的Nancy，最后决定采用这个风格：

人物B

·姓名： Broderick Locke

·性别：男

·简介： 信息泄露后被诈骗的受害者

曾经是个有钱的老板，被诈骗的倾家荡产后，妻子孩子离开了他，成为了一名流浪汉。

虽然有到警局报案，但是警局一直没有给出抓到诈骗犯的消息，所以他常常在警局周围游荡，希望有一天警察能够告诉他已经帮他追回了财产。

人物C

·姓名： Bess Katte

·性别：女

·简介：诈骗者，一直未被捕。但却因为社交账号透露太多个人信息与人产生肢                体冲突后，暴露罪行被逮捕。

是个骗子，曾经和人合伙观察到 Broderick Locke 是个有钱人，购买了他的个人信息并且骗光了 Broderick Locke的家产，后换了个身份继续做一些无良违法的事。

现在是个垃圾三无产品推销员，因为向 Lennon Nancy推销了三无产品与她产生争执。被 Lennon Nancy找到了私下的社交账号并且找到了具体地址。

人物D

·姓名： William Fast

·性别：男

·简介：戏份不多却有着链接故事作用的NPC

是个警察，处理这个地区的报案，虽然姓fast但是一点也不快。 Broderick Locke的案子调查了很久却毫无进展。

因为外勤都是机械警察进行，所以身条也开始走形了。后来受理了 Lennon Nancy 和Bess Katte打架的案子时，发现了 Bess Katte之前使用的身份，将其抓捕。

[ning-qiao]

主项目研究过程 Part 3

思维导图与故事梗概

现在的人工智能越来越普及。软件会通过各种只能家具去记录我们跟隐私的数据，像是身高、体重、体型

赛博朋克的世界观是未来世界，这种智能家具会越来越多。举个例子来说，智能门，会记录出入次数、出入时间、出入者身份。智能床能记录上床时间、睡眠时间、睡眠质量、起床时间。而地板会随时记录体重、体温。甚至一个听起来很荒唐的想法，智能的马桶会分析使用者的排泄情况从而提出更健康的饮食方案。这种特别私密的数据我想相信任何人都不想公之于众。

如果在这种背景下的隐私泄露更会被大家重视，所以我选择未来世界，也会更有意思。

Cyberpunk 2077 - Official World Premiere Trailer | E3 2018 

这个视频是游戏赛博朋克2077的预告片，这个视频是个很好的参考，它能提供一些很好的视觉化的的参考，尤其是其中的交通建筑，给我很多灵感。

故事背景：未来赛博朋克世界

故事大纲：

·故事一

人物A在回家的列车上看到最近上新的面膜，于是去购物网上购买下来。到家后发现面膜已经送到。但是开始不停的接收到有关各种各样面膜的广告，有一款面膜号称比上新款功能更加全面，价格也不贵。于是人物A购入了这款新面膜，在等待到货的过程中人物A打算看个电影，但是在观看电影途中总会弹出各种各样的广告。

这些广告仿佛是为她量身定制的一样推荐的商品都是她近期搜索过的，或者是为她身体状况量身定做的产品，她开始有点不耐烦了。但是这还没结束，电影期间还响起了一通电话，客服很亲切的称呼着她的名字，并且询问她要不要买一间属于自己的公寓，她有点疑惑为什么一个推销员会知道自己的名字。但是接下来推销员所描述的公寓简直就是满足了她所有的需求。人物A更疑惑了，她感觉仿佛有双眼睛在注视着她的生活。她匆忙挂断电话，连看电影的心情也没有了，这时她的面膜到货了，她的心情有点��晴了，暗暗决定明天就试试这款更厉害的面膜。

·故事二

人物B一人蹲在街角，路过的金发小妹见他疑惑的嘀咕了一句。这个时代了怎么还会有流浪汉。人物B谈了一口气回想起他曾经的经历。他的曾经还算小资，吃喝不愁偶尔还能出去潇洒一把。自从收到了一通电话之后一切都不一样了，电话那头的人打扮的是个警察，警察首先说出来一串他的个人信息，并且告知他有犯罪行为。人物B连忙否认，警察露出为难的神情询问他是否个人芯片有过丢失。人物B虽然有些不确定但是还是说了可能是，这时警察开始要求他注册网站审核身份芯片，以及所有存款芯片。并且催促他按照指令输入相应的密码。这便是改变他命运的一通电话，他的家人也离开了他，他无心工作天天能盼望着警察能告诉再次能改变他命运的消息，他们已经追回自己被骗走的钱了。

·故事三

人物c按照和平时一样坐在高级餐厅中自拍，上传到社交账号上，下面的评论都是羡慕的声音，唯唯有一条评论有些格格不入上面写着：骗子我找到你了。人物C有点慌了，就在这时有个女人一把抓住了她的头发，嘶吼着骂着她。从混杂的带有侮辱性的话语中人物C明白了这个人是谁，这人是前两天被她推销买到假面膜的女人。女人带着大大的口罩，也许是因为脸颊溃烂，她肯定不敢摘下口罩，人物C看准这点狠狠的抓下了女人的口罩，两人扭打到了一起。当机械警察赶到的时候，两人身上都已经挂了彩。到了警局审问她们的男人是一个体型比较臃肿的男人，男人要她们出示自己的身份芯片，并且了解了一下情况，突然男人打断了愤愤诉说着自己不公的遭遇的女人，狐疑的看向人物C，问了一个问题，人物C听见这个问题后就意识到自己完蛋了，他问：你是不是真名叫做D。

GameSpot（2018） Cyberpunk 2077 - Official World Premiere Trailer | E3 2018 [Online Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjxS9ciNlII  [Accessed: 16 May  2020].

[ning-qiao]

主项目研究过程 Part 2

新闻与案例调研

我调研了一些英国和中国的关于信息泄露的新闻，可见这个事情真的不在少数

·Virgin Media data breach affects 900,000 people

·Dog walker finds hospital patients' records

·Rail station wi-fi provider exposed traveller data

· City watchdog admits revealing customers' details -  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the names of the complainants, along with some addresses and telephone numbers, were accessible.

我之前曾经看到过这个视频，这个博主在视频的评论区收到了一些种族歧视的言论。通过评论者的YouTube频道找到了他的社交账号，评论者的社交账号有公开填写地址所以博主选择前往评论者的所在地选择当面和他交谈。等到了评论者所在的城市博主通过评论者发布的一条动态找到了他的具体位置在一个汉堡店中。博主通过评论者发在社交软件的中的照片认出来他。

这给我很大的灵感，因为我也看过类似的电影像是 Unfriended: Dark Web，这部电影是同过电脑中的各个软件中的信息为线索，一步步揭开事情真相。

我常常在网上能看到吵架的两个人因为太过激，会去通过账号去了解具体的个人信息。像是名字、电话、住址、学校。有的还会顺着线索找到父母、同学等周边人的信息。这些信息是通过各个社交账户拼凑整齐的，账号信息也是公开的。所以很难说这种行为有没有侵犯到别人的隐私。所以我也是尽量不会填写这些具体消息，这也是需要注意的一点。我会把这个情况加入到我的故事中。

隐私泄露后果总结：

1．垃圾短信

现在每天接到垃圾短信的数量远比前几年要多的多，我们平常在填写个人信息的时候，一定要多留意一下，否则很容易泄露自己的个人隐私信息。

  2．骚扰电话

   经常会接到莫名其妙的电话？是否经常接到卖保险的电话？当然还有办理信用卡的、装修的等等之类的骚扰电话，我根本不需要这些需求，他们又是怎样知道我的电话的呢？这些泄露的信息可能已经被倒手卖了好多次啦！

  3．垃圾邮件

  每天自己的私人邮箱都被慢慢的垃圾邮件给填满了，导致正常的邮件不能被及时的看到，会给我们的工作带来很大的困扰，而这些垃圾邮件以推销邮件为主

  4．信用卡被透支

  可能大家还不重视个人的信息安全，你的信息泄露之后，可能有人用你的信息来办理身份证，然后恶意透支信用卡，这会造成你的信用低下，对你将来的银行贷款、房贷等等造成不可预估的影响！所以自己的各种证件不要借给别人使用！

  5．惹上官司

  信息泄露之后，不法分子如果利用你的身份信息干了某些坏事，到时候公安部可能便会请你去喝两杯茶，到时候你可能还不知道为啥的吧！

  6．不法分子诈骗

  可能大家看新闻的时候，会注意到，不法分子利用你的信息去向你身边的亲人去进行诈骗。这个是最让人恶心的，身边的朋友一不小心便有可能中招！

  7．帐户被钓鱼网站盗取

  各种虚假网址，充斥着各种钓鱼木马，有时甚至不法分子利用银行短信来进行诈骗，当你进去他们发的网址之后，按照要求填写完信息之后，你的账户便有可能会被盗取了！

如何避免隐私泄露：

1、在公开网站平台填写信息时，避免用真名或拼写，非必要时不要在线填表，联系方式用截图方式，尽量用邮箱代替手机号码。

2、一定要仔细阅读涉及个人隐私内容（如通讯录、短信等）的权限获取申请。

3、在不必要的情况下记得关闭软件定位，以免泄露个人位置信息。

4、收集整理好含个人信息的票据，集中销毁。

5、不要在社交媒体随意公开自己及家人隐私信息。

6、及时注销，解除绑定长时间不使用的账户。

7、不点击浏览不知名的网站、不随意下载来历不明的应用软件。

REFERENCES:

BBC News.(2020). Virgin Media data breach affects 900,000 people [Online] Available at:https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51760510?intlink_from_url=&link_location=live-reporting-story [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

BBC News.(2020). Dog walker finds West Suffolk Hospital patient records[Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-51735975?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c0ele42740rt/data-breaches&link_location=live-reporting-story [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

BBC News.(2020). Rail station wi-fi provider exposed traveller data [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51682280?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c0ele42740rt/data-breaches&link_location=live-reporting-story [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

BBC News.(2020). City watchdog admits revealing customers' details [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51629219?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c0ele42740rt/data-breaches&link_location=live-reporting-story  [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

一座牢笼锁枯骨. (2019) .看角角如何收拾嘴炮，键盘侠，喷子，还敢种族歧视吗？ [Online Video]. Sep 27th. Available at: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tJ411T749/  [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

Sharma,K.(2018). Online Privacy Leaks – How to Avoid Personal Information Exposure? [Online] Available at: https://www.reveantivirus.com/blog/en/online-privacy-leaks  [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

宏景高端职业培训 .(2019). 个人隐私大量泄露能有多可怕？ [Online] Available at: https://www.zhihu.com/question/311346207/answer/940608538 [Accessed: 16th May  2020].

[ning-qiao]

主项目研究过程 Part 1

课题中心：个人信息隐私保护

 我选择这个问题的原因：

我来到英国之后发现好多朋友、同学的社交账号中填写的都是他们自己的真实姓名。也会用自己的照片作为头像。这使我意识到也许有一部分人并不是很在意自己的真实消息被别人知道。

我从小受到的教育是不要把隐私信息放在网上，有的地方要求填写询问个人信息的问卷，也尽量避免，因为有的不法分子会利用这些隐私信息进行诈骗。所以我做和这个问题相关的研究是想让大家意识到个人信息隐私保护其实也是很重要的。

还有一个原因导致我研究这个问题的原因就是，我和家人常常会收到一些垃圾广告电话或者短信，我甚至还遭遇到了电话诈骗。

 接下来我想例举一些我和家人遇到过事情：

1.首先就是因为电话号码和自己购物清单的信息泄露导致的垃圾广告电话：

①我姑姑的女儿现在在上高中，因为学习的竞争压力比较大，常常会报名一些学校外的补习课。有些人获得了我堂妹的消息，会不停的给我姑姑打广告电话来，询问堂妹是否需要报名他们的课程，他们通常会说“请问是xxx（我堂妹的名字）同学的家长吗？我们是xx教育，现在孩子是在上高一吗......” 他们清楚的了解到了我堂妹的名字、年纪以及家长的手机号。这种电话基本上是每两天就会收到一次。

②不光光是针对教育的广告电话打来，在前年家里打算购入一套房子，可能因为有打电话或者去中介中心咨询，从此会接到大量的房产中介打来的广告电话询问是否要买房。

2.电话诈骗：

这件事发生在我身上，我分别都接到过英国和中国的诈骗电话，英国打给我的那一通电话询问我是不是之前出过车祸。但是我没有汽车我很快的就辨别出来这是一通诈骗电话，骗子没有很好的掌握我的具体信息，可以说他们是在尝试找一些和假信息符合的受害者。

但是我接到了一通知道我名字、电话、并且了解到我是在英国留学等消息的诈骗电话。我接到电话首先是一段中国国歌，接着是一个电子音告诉我他们是中国驻英大使馆，说我有一条重要通知，这是最后一次通知，按9具体查询。之后按9就转入人工语音，是个男人询问我手机号。之后他说了我的名字，并且很严肃的说我近日从伦敦往上海邮寄了一个包裹，里面是各种药物，说我涉嫌制毒。还询问我有没有遗失过证件或者证件复印件。我意识到他是电话诈骗后于是质疑了他，他就瞬间挂断了电话。

事后我去查询了一些大使馆骗局的案例，还有很多被诈骗的受害者。于是我决定我要把我遇见过的事件进行改编加入我的作品。这也许能够提醒一些读者保护好自己的个人信息，以及提高意识谨防诈骗。

[ning-qiao]

Blog·10：Illustrator ：Victo Ngai

This is my last blog. In the end, I want to introduce one of my favorite artists Victo Ngai, an illustrator from Hong Kong. She is among one of the youngest winners of in Forbes 30 under 30 (30 winners aged below 30). She nearly won almost all famous awards for illustration in America at the age of 25, including two golden medals in American Society of Illustrators.

Her illustration works are thought to “demonstrate western philosophy by oriental colors”.

With focus on details, her illustration works are mostly composed of rich and bright colors and smooth lines. In my opinion, excessive expression of details easily turns the work to a mess. Whereas, her works are always well-ordered. They not only bring about strong sense of impacts because of intricate visual effects, but also highlight the subject so that audiences can see the leading roles in the illustration at the first sight.

This is the advertising board that she has designed for the shopping center Mixc World in Shenzhen, China.

Mixc World Launch Event Final Image

She designs two roles in this advertising board, namely Mixc elephant and little girl. She expects to create a pleasant and unrestrained shopping playground via her illustration. She has arranged visual foreshadowing in her works. For instance, the pattern on the bud sent by the elephant to the little girl corresponds to the cosmos pattern on the body of the elephant. Likewise, the outer lines of leopard are related to stripes on the elephant, skirt of the little girl, buildings and even the sky. The composition reflects the possibilities arising from the flowers sent by Mixc Elephant, just like the excellent experience created by the Mixc World for shoppers.

Mixc Spring Festival Final Image

Mixc World Christmas Final Image

The following is the outer packing designed by her for a wine brand.

Victo Ngai X Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Bottle Digital Mock-up

Prophecy Wine Labels

And the following are her illustrations designed for the cover and inside pages of fascinating collection of short stories by author Yiyun Li.

She has created a great many outstanding works, but I can’t list more of them one by one. So if you are interested in her illustration, you may visit her website https://victo-ngai.com/.

References：

Ngai, V. (2019). Victo Ngai. [online] Victo-ngai.com. Available at: https://victo-ngai.com/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

#illustrator #victo ngai #porfolio

[ning-qiao]

Blog·9：Visual Cyberpunk

Visual Cyberpunk

During my research related to bionics, I found an artist Darren Bartley, a capable mechanical illustrator from the UK. His works include not only 2D works but also 3D modeling. Many of his ideas are derived from animal bionics. I really like this theme illustration combined with mechanical technology, which reminds me of cyberpunk style artwork. Actually, I have seen many works on the subject of cyberpunk, but I may not have a thorough understanding of what cyberpunk is. Thus, I did some research on it.

BY Darren Bartley

BY Darren Bartley

Cyberpunk was originally a branch of science fiction, with a theme of computer or information technology. In the novel setting, a plot in which social order is disrupted usually occurs. Cyberpunk now revolves around hacking and artificial intelligence, and the story’s background is generally set on a dystopian earth in the future.

The term Cyberpunk first appeared in 1983, which is the same name as a novel published by American writer Bruce Bethke. Cyberpunk was later used by Gardner Dozois, the magazine editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction, to collectively refer to a branch of science fiction. The science fiction novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” published in 1968 and “Blade Runner” in 1982, by Philip Dick, were also adapted from this term.

“Neuromancer”, the debut of William Gibson, Cyberpunk’s father, pioneered the literary genre of cyberpunk. “Neuromancer” divides the future world into two parts, a real world without social order and full of crimes, and a beautiful virtual world with civilization and order. In “Neuromancer”, people who can afford the cost can freely transform their bodies. William Gibson first proposed the setting of “combination of lowlife and high tech”. That is, “Neuromancer” set a basic worldview for cyberpunk culture for later works.

His worldview can be summarized in the following seven characteristics:

1) The background is set in the near future, not in the unreal or distant future;

2) The ruling party rules by means of its strong scientific and technical advantages;

3) The ruling party can be a religion, political party, AI or plutocrat;

4) The advanced technology is combined with low-end life;

5) Conflicts exist between low-level people and AI, hackers or large plutocrats;

6) Individuals try to overthrow the decaying and primitive social order;

7) Man and machine are integrated.

In the following sections, I would like to discuss the visual work of Cyberpunk. The template for the visual effects of Cyberpunk comes from the comic book “The Long Tomorrow”, which was created by French artist Moebius and screenwriter Dan O 'bannon in 1975. The comic book provides a certain visual reference for a disorderly future city. Ridley Scott praised Moebius as a visual sci-fi god. Moebius’ comics have influenced countless people and created countless sci-fi worlds, which inspired the film “Blade Runner” released in 1982 created by Ridley Scott and provided Otomo Katsuhiro’s film “Akira” creative inspiration.

Many artists in Japan have also been influenced by Cyberpunk. The three most famous ones are Otomo Katsuhiro, the creator of “Akira”, Masamune Shirow, the creator of “Ghost in the Shell”, and Yukito Kishiro, the creator of “Gunnm”. The movie “Alita” released this year is adapted from the Japanese comic “Gunnm” created by Yuki Kishiro in the 1990s.

Another illustrator has also been influenced by Cyberpunk. The Spanish illustrator active on DeviantArt and Instagram, whose real name is Josan Gonzalez (INS @ deathburger), currently works as a colorist for Dark Horse Comics and Boom Studio. He created many illustrations for magazines: Games, VNDMG, Agat Films & Cie. The series of creations made by Gonzalez takes on a style of sordid cyberpunk, with characters in the illustrations often equipped with a variety of mechanical prosthetics.

As a senior sci-fi movie fan, Josan Gonzalez used the same elements of the character settings in the sci-fi movies that have become popular over the years in one breath to acknowledge the contributions of their creators.

BY  Josan Gonzalez

He brought together all the characters and images who had exuded charming charm in the sci-fi movies! When we casually look at several corners of his works, it is not difficult to find the elements contained in the previous works we are familiar with, such as “Blade Runner”, “Ghost in the Shell”, “Akira”, “Alien”, “Turbo Kid”.

BY Josan Gonzalez

The research on Cyberpunk brought me about a lot of inspiration, so I designed a robot using hermit crab as a prototype. Specifically, in the long future, people can use machinery to replace limbs, and they can also use machinery to build the house, a movable house. With Cyberpunk as the background, I intend to describe a world where mechanical hermit crabs are used as a living environment.

References：

ArtStation. (2019). Darren Bartley - fightPUNCH. [online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/fightpunch [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Spencer, A. (2019). What is cyberpunk?. [online] Polygon. Available at: https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/8/30/17796680/cyberpunk-2077-history-blade-runner-neuromancer [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Gibson, W. 1995, Neuromancer, Reissue. edn, Voyager.

#cyberpunk #blade runner #do androids dream of electric sheep? #the long tomorrow

[ning-qiao]

Blog·8：Ipad/Iphone and Art

In my last blog post, I talk about digital art, and today I want to continue my research on this topic. 80% of my illustrations are done through iPad, thus I would like to introduce creating with iPad as the medium in this article.

 I read a large number of books about creating with iPad, among which one of the authors states that a new art movement would usually be replaced by another. In this short period of 20 years, realism gives way to impressionism, and surrealism and pop art are separated from Dadaism. Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and Kurt Schwitters’ creative collages are outmoded by the idea of surrealists, who come back to re-emphasize the importance of technical proficiency. Dadaists and surrealists make place for abstract expressionists, pop artists and conceptual artists. If artistic freedom is the origin of the art movement, the artistic freedom in the 21st century brings art movement to a new level. Through the powerful network, the interaction and communication of this art movement are beyond the imagination of artists in the past.

Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain ”

Kurt Schwitters’collages

In the past, people needed to make a chart to connect each art movement. But now the art of digital tools, such as the iPhone and iPad, is influenced by the diversity of the world and the artists who share the same artist studio. The iPhone art movement encompasses the artistic styles of artists all over the world, including realists, impressionists, dadaists, cubists, surrealists, abstract expressionists, pop artists, concept artists, technical artists, music artists, video artists, and craft artists. What they have in common is that they use the iPhone or iPad and use any of their skills to create art.

There are certain times when the birth of a new art movement needs to be based on the destruction of another. However, the emergence of digital illustration does not disrupt any art movement. Application developers adopt the latest and greatest tools to provide a creative platform for the public. New technology creates new art. In the long history, people always create technology. For instance, in 1841, the first metal paint tube was first invented by an American oil painter, who applied for a patent for the collapsible metal paint tube made of tin, a way to bring the pigments to the outdoor for use. These tubes were actually syringes, which were used by squeezing the paint. In addition, this also made the storage time of the pigments greatly longer, which not only increased the flexibility of artists, but also allowed them to use a larger palette. Before the first metal paint tube came out, artists had to play the role of chemists, grinding pigments themselves and mixing them with oil and paint thinners.

In order to make painting outdoors easier, artists had to put the paint mixture in the pig bladder. Unfortunately, even in this way, the paint dried out quickly.

Therefore, metal paint tube was a new technology at that time, which enabled impressionist artists to create art outdoors, promoting the creation of the most popular movement in the art history.

The artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir once said, "without paint in tubes, there would have been…nothing of what the journalists were later to call Impressionists". In the field of digital art, the technology that drives artists is not the metal paint tube, but the introduction of hardware and software.

 Newspapers, life magazines and supplements were the most popular publications until the tablet computer came out in 2010. However, the rapid development of digital publications today offers new opportunities for designers, publishers and advertisers. Including website, mobile phone, Android tablet computer, iPad, and a wide variety of applications, all enable to designers to add mobile images and interactive contents to digital newspapers and magazines. Many people carry mobile devices with them, giving publications more followers via digital transmission than print editions.

The earliest digital publishing websites were mainly page sites with PDF documents, which could be viewed as quickly as traditional paper newspapers or magazines, but required large memory spaces and available fonts. Conde nast, an American publisher, developed its own customized software without using the external software system, and produced a series of magazines such as Wired, GQ and Vanity Fair. In the 1990s, HTML emerged as a computer-coding language, which made it convenient for designers to embed mobile content into websites, and then browsers read tags and convert them into texts and images for the public to view.

With the development of interactive design technology, a variety of applications attract a large number of advertisers to add mobile images and interactive content to advertisements. With the launch of the iPad in 2010, digital publishing has become a better and more portable way of publishing. The iPad puts all the editorials and life needs into a portable device, including email, photos, shopping, surfing the Internet, and reading.

 The painting above is by a famous artist Hockney on the iPhone, who has illustrated hundreds of works since he began using apple devices in 2008. He has been creating his own works on the iPad since the spring of 2008, some of which are on display at the Fleurs Fraiches at the Fondation Pierre berge-yves Saint Laurent, Paris, from October 21 to January 30. He often sends illustrations drawn on his iPhone to his friends. The iPhone is a new medium for him, with unlimited possibilities. He experiments with this unorthodox method of painting, choosing to use his fingers instead of pens. Hockney mainly paints with the edge of his finger, because the iPhone is so sensitive to heat that he can't use the whole finger. Finger painting is more than just touching. It is difficult to control the area where a finger touches the electronic screen, the lines can bend.

 References：

Leibowitz, D.S. 2013, Mobile Digital Art: Using the iPad and iPhone as Creative Tools, Taylor and Francis, Independence.pp.2-3

Caldwell, C. & Zappaterra, Y. 2014, Editorial design: digital and print, Laurence King Publishing, London.pp.23-24.

Gayford, M. (2010). David Hockney's iPad art David Hockney explains why the iPhone and iPad inspire him. [online] Prod-images.exhibit-e.com. Available at: http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_richardgraygallery_com/2010_DH_Telegraph.pdf  [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Tate. (2019). ‘Fountain’, Marcel Duchamp, 1917, replica 1964 | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Tate. (2019). Kurt Schwitters 1887-1948 | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/kurt-schwitters-1912 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Winsornewton.com. (2015). From the Archives: The History of the Metal Paint Tube. [online] Available at: http://www.winsornewton.com/na/discover/articles-and-inspiration/from-the-archives-history-of-the-metal-paint-tube [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Gayford, M. (2010). David Hockney's iPad art David Hockney explains why the iPhone and iPad inspire him. [online] Prod-images.exhibit-e.com. Available at: http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_richardgraygallery_com/2010_DH_Telegraph.pdf  [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

#ipad #iphone #art #digital art #digital painting

[ning-qiao]

Blog·7：New Art System Brought by Digital Revolution

I have been studying digital painting for several years. The source of it must be traced back to the 1960s, when the computer was invented. Since computers emerged, a new art system was brought to life to-digital art. There is not much difference from digital art and traditional one, only it adopts a new media which enriches the diversity of art. In this blog, I intend to introduce the development of digital media art.

Artists are always the earliest ones when it comes to studying new cultures and technologies, no matter in what era. They have always been ahead of their times since they are the first to think deeply about the cultures and technologies of their era. In the 1990s, over ten years prior to the time when digital technology was officially announced to the public, these trendsetters had already experimented with digital media and tried to apply it. At the beginning, their achievements were only exhibited in highly specialized technical conferences, digital media study sessions or specialized symposiums. At that time， this form of art was not the mainstream.

Frank wrote in his book: “The march towards the complete digitization of everything is now unstoppable. Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Underwood Books) started to include a few pieces of digital work in its selections around 1996; by 2006 digital images accounted for around 50% of the featured material”.

At a time when digital art was an emerging technology, although many artists had already started to use these advanced tools, some were not used to this form of art and even doubted there was a future for it.

In his book, Frank also mentioned Apple's first computer, the first Mac computer that was launched in 1984. He attended the product launch meeting himself and left a negative comment: he wasn’t a fan of the small black and white screen of the computer, he believed this computer was only suitable for technical work or typesetting since its function of making images was very limited. He insisted that it was absolutely impossible for computers to create art due to the belief that the development of computers would be very slow and might even stagnate. He believed that only actual tools one can touch can be used to create his art and some software in the box could never do it. Fortunately, however, he did not reject this new technology wholly. Although he did not show much interest in the Macintosh launched in 1987, he was not picky about ways of creation, thanks to which he got to use computers later launched, with larger and brighter screen, more expanded functions and faster processing program of images.

Mac computer launched in 1984

Mac computer launched in 1987

When computers were first launched, I haven’t been born. It was after 2004 when I began to have access to computers which got color screen. As school work was a little heavy for me, one of my few entertainment was the Ms Paint that came along with the Windows computer. After all applications such as Illustrator and CorelDRAW hadn’t been popularized, Ms Paint was one of the most handy painting softwares for many Windows users.

The end of 1990s saw the unprecedented speedy technological development of digital media, which is called the "digital revolution". Although many basic digital technologies were available as early as 60 years ago, these technologies were popularized in the last 10 years of the 20th century.

Now digital technology is almost everywhere, and both the hardware and software have become much more functional and cheaper. Digital art is a magnetic form of creating art. Since the 1990s, great changes have taken place in the field of digital art. In the early 1990s, digital art was a brand new field in the art circle, artists were still exploring, and most of them had upgraded their hardware and software. But by the end of the 20th century, "digital media" has become a term, museums and galleries collected digital works from all over the world and begun to organize large-scale exhibitions of them.

The technical art form of digital art has had its name changed for several times since its inception. When combining art with technology, you can name it in variable ways. What is now called digital art has had many versions of titles. From the 1960s to the 1990s, it was called "multimedia art" or "network art". It was then called "computer art" since the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, it was called "digital art" or "new media art". At present, digital art is a general term. Subjected to the category of new media art, it includes 2D, 3D, static painting, animation (movie), fashion design, industrial design, television commercial (CM) and web page design. It literally covers everything. Digital art is so extensive that it is difficult to list every form of it accurately, because computers could help in the creation process of most artists in the world. Digital art is generally regarded as 2D and 3D visual art made by computer software. These works of art can be: graphic illustrations, photo processing, digital painting and painting, virtual reality, 2D and 3D static images and animations, vector graphics, video game art, etc.More and more artists use it as their main medium.

Here I would like to introduce an artist, Omar Aqil. After graduating from Punjab University (Lahore) in Pakistan in 2008 with a master's degree in media design, Omar Aqil began to study 3D technology and focus on using C4D software to present 3D works. As early as 2017, Omar Aqil first exhibited a series of works on Behance that transformed Picasso's works into three-dimensional models and named them MIMIC series. The series was in the spotlight and attracted attention widely. I think his works are the best demonstration of the influence of digital art on artists.

References：

Paul, C. 2003, Digital art, Thames & Hudson, London.pp.7-8.

Frank, J. 2008;2007;, Paint or Pixel: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art, illustrat edn, NonStop Press, Chicago.pp.5.

lindsay, d. (2019). omar aqil renders picasso's abstract portraiture as creative 3-dimensional illustrations. [online] designboom | architecture & design magazine. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/art/omar-aqil-picasso-3d-portraits-10-14-2017/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Facebook.com. (2019). OMARAQIL. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/mirzaomaraqil/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

#digital revolution #digital art #mac computer

[ning-qiao]

Blog·6：Katsushika Hokusai’s Japanese Ukiyo-e and Western Painting

When I was designing a piece of traditional Chinese clothes, I conducted some studies on the decorative patterns. I found out that Japanese girls would apply exquisite and graceful decorative patterns on the traditional Japanese Kimono. When I appreciated some Japanese Ukiyo-e works, I noticed that the Under the Wave off Kanagawa was applied and cited in almost everywhere.

There has always been a fact that the popularity of a painter’s masterpieces exceeds that of the painter himself in many cases. For example, people are familiar with the painting “The Scream”, but many people do not even know the author, Edvard Munch. I have seen the work "Under the Wave off Kanagawa", a very famous painting among both the public and designers. However, many people know little about the creator, Katsushika Hokusai, whose work is so popular and famous. In this blog, I will talk about Katsushika Hokusai, the author of Under the Wave off Kanagawa , which has brought influences on the painting world.

Katsushika Hokusai is the only Japanese to be selected among the “hundreds of celebrities who have influenced the world during the millennium”, and some Impressionist masters such as Edgar Degas, van Gogh, and Monet have more or less been affected by him. They have studied and copied the works of Katsushika Hokusai. The Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists worked together to claim that they found a whole new way to represent the world and view the world through Katsushika Hokusai’s work. Ukiyo-e mainly depicts all kinds of people and things in the world, so Katsushika Hokusai’s works involve a wide range of topics. As long as he sees things that exist in the world, he will almost always depict them in the work. His works depict different contents and different qualities, such as the scenery of the market, the beauty of the girl, and the natural landscape. Katsushika Hokusai is a very hard-working painter, which was one of the most impressive characters of him. He completed more than 35,000 works in his life, which is unique in the history of painting. With the increase of age, his painting techniques also continue to improve. As he gets older, the painting technique becomes more superb. His most famous work, Under the Wave off Kanagawa , was completed at the age of 72. Prior to this, he also painted some paintings with the theme of sea waves. According to the comparison chart, it was not as good as Under the Wave off Kanagawa, and people could clearly feel his progress.

But the reason for the creation of this work was that his grandson was addicted to gambling and spent all his savings. In order to repay his grandson’s debt, the 71-year-old Katsushika Kitai had to choose to complete the work of "Sixty-six Views of Mt.Fuji", which presents views of Mt. Fuji from all over Kanto, Japan. Under the Wave off Kanagawa is one of the most famous works.

After the spread of Japanese Ukiyo-e to Europe in the 18th century, it affected the painting styles of many Impressionists, including Van Gogh and Monet. The most important factor is the special perspective relationship adopted in the Ukiyo-e, namely the overlapping perspective method. Western painting uses focus perspective method, while Ukiyo-e's overlapping perspective method arranges the foreground objects on the background objects, and making use of the front objects to partially obscure the back objects to express the sense of space, strengthening the immersive feelings of appreciators. This subverts the traditional perception of perspective in Western painting, namely to depict the distance relationship without focus perspective. Moreover, Ukiyo-e emphasizes decorative composition, with bold and bright colors, showing a unique oriental beauty. Van Gogh was deeply attracted when he first encountered Ukiyo-e. Then he changed the style of the dark hues in the past,and his work became brighter with clear lines and bold use of high-purity colors. Drawing in this way can quickly and effectively grasp the movement of things. These are all inspirations from Ukiyo-e.

Bridge Shower by Utagawa

Bridge Shower by Van Gogh

 In 1887, Van Gogh copied Katagawa's work "Bridge Shower" and also painted Japanese characters in the picture.

Van Gogh considers Japanese prints to be a purely artistic expression model without influences of the western representative model. "Japanese art is something like the primitives, like the Greeks, like our old Dutchmen, Rembrandt, Potter, Hals, Vermeer, Ostade, Ruisdael, "said a book he wrote to Theo in July 1888.

It is not only the famous Impressionist masters such as Van Gogh and Monet but also other Impressionist painters discovered the attractive charm of Japanese painting in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1883, art historian Louis Gonse mentioned in his landmark L’Art japonais, “The complete works of Hokusai would be the glory of any print collection and could be placed beside those of Rembrandt ...” (II, P.354-55).

References：

ooke, A. (2019). Van Gogh and Japan: the prints that shaped the artist. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180611-van-gogh-and-japan-the-prints-that-shaped-the-artist [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Cain, A. (2019). 7 Things You Didn’t Know about Hokusai, Creator of The Great Wave. [online] Artsy. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-7-things-hokusai-creator-great-wave [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Ives, C.F. & Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) 1974, The great wave, the influence of Japanese woodcuts on French prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art; distributed by New York Graphic Society, New York. pp.11-13

#katsushika hokusai #ukiyo-e #van gogh #western painting #japanese painting

[ning-qiao]

Blog·5：virtual reality painting

I will always learn something new whenever I appreciate other artists’ works. I take notice of the artist Anna Zhilyaeva this time. She displays many of her virtual reality paintings on her YouTube. Afterwards, I perform a research on virtual reality painting.

Virtual reality technology is a computer simulation system which creates a virtual world for user experience. This technology makes use of computer to form a virtual and stimulated three-dimensional environment in which users are able to interact with information in the virtual world, stimulate their visual sense, auditory sense and tactile sense by virtual reality technology, experience the sense of immersion and perceive the existence of virtual environment.

Users can break through the constraints in real space, and directly create any desirable 3D image in air by wearing VR head display and holding the hand shank.

According to BBC news report, “3D painting makes audiences part of the art—Artists are exploring a new frontier using Google's Tilt Brush to draw in 3D space”. Tilt Brush, the VR painting application developed by Design Studio Skillman & Hackett in San Francisco, 2014, can be adopted to create virtual reality painting in the three-dimensional space. Painters staying in the canvas can use the brush to draw three-dimensional painting. According to users, they are able to express their thoughts accurately through virtual reality painting. Apart from two-dimensional works, artists may also create three-dimensional works. It completely conveys the thoughts of artists to audiences. They can walk into the works, observe every detail and immerse themselves in the world depicted by the works.

 Glen Keane, famous Disney animator, has created works like Beauty and Beast, and The Little Mermaid. As to VR painting, he holds that “By putting tools in your hand that can create in virtual reality, I can put goggles on and I just step into the paper and now I'm drawing in it”.

As we can see, lines will keep afloat in the air in the three-dimensional space via VR display. Users can walk into their painting as long as it is finished completely.

 Just like Texture Brush, Tilt Brush enables users to create more natural and vivid works. It integrates software brush functions and three-dimensional modeling functions. Users may even choose materials non-applicable to two-dimensional painting, such as ink, paint, packaging tape, taffy, snow, and fire. Subtle exchange of hand shank in exchanging paint brush creates excellent interactive experience for users. In addition, brush application program is dynamic, which means that if painters choose a brush to draw flames, there will rise a ray of rising flames.

I guess that VR painting will develop to be a new form of art. In reality, such means of painting is much like a sculpture, as it is supposed to examine the effects of fluoroscopy in the picture. Besides, since painters need to move around in painting, the means of creation consumes much strength. Such experience of drawing and appreciating in a three-dimensional space is unprecedented by now. In the future, a group of painters may specifically work at VR painting.

References：

Zhilyaeva, A. (2019). Anna dream brush. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKEfXMw7538wvuulXy_RNcQ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Vincent, J. (2015). Watch legendary Disney animator Glen Keane draw in virtual reality. [online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2015/9/11/9309727/virtual-reality-drawing-glen-keane-disney [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Brunnett, G., Coquillart, S., Liere, R., Welch, G. and Váša, L. (2010). Virtual realities. Springer, p.5.

 BBC News. (2017). The artists working in virtual reality. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-40097664/3d-painting-makes-audiences-part-of-the-art [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Tiltbrush.com. (2019). Tilt Brush by Google. [online] Available at: https://www.tiltbrush.com/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

#virtual reality #painting #tilt brush #3d painting

[ning-qiao]

Blog·4：Digital Brush

In my daily painting practice, I mostly use computer instead of traditional brushes or paints. Different kinds of paints, drawing paper and brushes create different painting effects. There are a great many combinations, which seems to be a little bit sophisticated to me. For instance, if I first draw two water colors on the paper, the two colors may merge with each other. Then acrylic paint will cover colors painted on the paper. To be sure, this is very interesting. I would like to have a try in spare time. While because of my busy schedule, I am more willing to finish my illustration in a high-efficient manner. Therefore, I decide to finish my illustration with Photoshop.

 Though Photoshop just provides some brushes, it can develop thousands of brushes with varying forms, textures and special effects according to the setting of creators. Users may also install brush optional bar and brush mixing pad as they want. It is really a marvelous production base of brushes. Brushes produced could be stored in the brush library for convenience of use.

Digital brushes can not only simulate canvas texture, but more easily stimulate sophisticated surfaces and betray unique and accurate textures and tones that can’t be expressed by traditional painting. The website for the (George) Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago: “Current software gives artists tools capable of mimicking almost any medium. With practice, charcoal, oil, airbrush, acrylic, and collage can be replicated. Time-consuming traditional techniques, such as the creation of multiple layers of transparent glazes, can now be accomplished in minutes with no anxiety, no mess and no harmful solvent fumes. This flexible toolbox gives artists the time and the freedom to create unique work for print, games, television, Internet outlets, and feature films. ”

After reading artist Brian Recktenwald’s brush production process, I choose two of the most distinctive brushes that I commonly use as the example. First of all, I use brushes in different textures to draw objects in different materials. Because brushes shall stimulate the texture of other materials, 90% customized brushes are made by scanning high-resolution pictures. For instance, the texture shown in the picture is composed of ink, water and salt. Artists can intercept part of the image that they consider most beautiful and perfect and add it to customized brushes. In this way, a brush with texture can be gained. The following is the stone-like texture drawn by my digital brush.

Artist Brian Recktenwald’s finished illustration made with ink customized brushes.

There is another kind of brush that can quickly replicate images. I often need to use repetitive images in producing scenarios. For instance,while drawing grassland, I would not outline the grass by ordinary lines, but a grassland brush as shown in the picture. I will gain a plot of grassland just by clicking the brush for one time.

The following picture shows Mike Corriero’s brushes patterned after tree leaves. Such kind of brushes makes convenience for mass production, and moreover, avoids rendering problems. The most conspicuous advantage of such brushes should be the availability of mass production. Even new painters can boldly use it, because it has nothing to do with structure. As long as your brush tip touches the paper, there will rise a maple leaf immediately. If designers want to produce such a brush, they just require a model which has recorded leaf shape and profile, and introduce the model into the computer. And then the computer will automatically generate maple leaf-patterned brushes.

References：

Alcorn, S. 2015, "DRAWING THE LINE: Reflections on the importance of drawing by hand in an increasingly digital age", Voices, vol. 41, no. 1/2, pp. 16.

Greenway, T. (2009). Digital painting techniques. Focal PressElsevier.pp.23.

#photoshop #digital brushes #textures

[ning-qiao]

Blog·3：Using inconsecutive comics as language

The popularity of characters maybe has let people forget that characters were invented. All characters in the word have been through the development process from symbols to characters. About thirty thousand years ago, humans started using images to tell stories: the original shape of ancient Mesopotamia characters were some simple graphic designs which were gradually transformed into cuneiforms. In most of times in the human history, it was the image system that was applied, from the original graphics on the wall to Ancient Egypt, then to the pure character system people are using now. Although current language is very simple and effective, it is not an instinctive expression way for humans but requires a long time of study. People start to learn characters from childhood. But characters are the most abstract symbols in the world. When people are learning and use more and more of these abstract symbols, their ability of figurative and visual expression is gradually weakened. In other words, characters defeated graphics and dominated human language.

Graphic is the information that can be “received”. People don’t need official education to read graphic information. Its message is instantaneous. While character is “perceived” information. People need take time and use special knowledge to decode the language that is composed of abstract symbols. When people were young, the first book they read has a lot of images and very little texts because it is simpler. After that, as we grow older, the adults expect us to read the books with mostly texts and occasional images and then read these “real” books – with no graphics at all. In another way, imagine a child is using the way of “show and tell” to display his toys because his ability of “tell” is not mature yet. He mainly expresses the complex functions of toys through “show”.

Modern comic artist Chris Ware publicly declare in the McSweeny’s (Issue 13) that “Comics are not a genre, but a developing language”. Comic artists use their media to describe the characteristics of comics, like a language. The form of comics itself is a language. It is consecutive. The consecutive sequential graphics used in the comics construct their own “visual language”. Comics itself is not a language, but it is written in visual language, like novels and magazines are written by English, like the book Understanding Comics itself. The reason that comics become a very popular communication media, to a great extent, credit the art form of comics. The white spaces in between the comic storyboards give readers great imagination space. Readers can easily be immersive while reading outstanding comic works. Moreover, the expression steps in each storyboard of the comics are full of the emotions that is put into them by the authors themselves. This is incomparable to animation. For example, watching comics is like being introduced into an imagined world in which you become the protagonist to experience everything by yourself. However, animation is a like a TV drama in which you are just looking at various experiences and scenes that are preset by others and the pace of the plot is not controllable to writers which makes it hard to generate a strong sense of substitution.

In the book of Cott McCloud, the jumping (the time and special flow between frames) between two comic frames is categorized into 6 types according to its consecutiveness. 1.moment to moment 2.action to action 3.subject to subject: from one subject to another in the same event or scene, but the subject of the camera changes 4.scene to scene 5.aspect to aspect: this is probably what is called montage where there is no necessary consecutiveness between two frames but only the connection in concept and atmosphere 6.non-sequitur

In Understanding Comics, McCloud continued the America comic godfather, Will Eisner’s opinion of “comics is an art of consecutiveness” and defined comics as “consciously juxtaposed consecutive graphics” in which the foundation of juxtaposition is of course “frames” while making frames to be able to establish a mental mechanism that plays a “complemental” role in human perception. In the movies and comics, because of the consecutiveness of the images, we can hardly perceive the complementary effect. All of it is automatic under the unconsciousness. But comics is different.

No matter the size and shape of the frames or the pace change brought by different frames, these are the characteristics that other electronic media does not possess but only belong to “juxtaposed consecutive graphics”.

People complement the incomplete part into a complete status according to their experience. This phenomenon of picturing the perceived part into a whole has a name. It is called the perceptual closure.

People’s perceptual closure is well used in the comic creation. Compared with animation’s way of completely one-sided instilling into the audience, apparently, comics is superior in the interactivity between readers and authors.

The frames of the comics separate time and space, which allows several frames to form a staccato song of inconsecutive moments. But the perceptual enclosure allows us to connect these individual moments and create an integrated and consecutive world in our mind. In video films, perceptual enclosure is consecutive and not controllable and hardly perceptible. But in the comics, perceptual enclosure is completely not consecutive. All is controlled by the readers themselves.

In addition, he also mentioned the white space’s function of “slicing time” when he discussed “how comics express time”. If the intention is to prolong reader’s time perception, it only needs to slice the questions and answers in one frame into two frames, and we will feel like the time is longer. Others include increase “frame spacing/width of white space” or “increase the width of the frame”, which can all achieve the effect of time extension.

References：

Cohn, N. (2012). Comics, linguistics, and visual language: The past and future of a field. In Linguistics and the Study of Comics. Palgrave Macmillan,London, pp.92-118.

Miodrag, H. 2013, Comics and language: reimagining critical discourse on the form, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson.

McCloud, S. & Lappan, B. 1994, Understanding comics, HarperPerennial, New York.pp.50-58.pp.65-69.

#understanding comics #comics #language #storyboard

[ning-qiao]

Blog·2：Composition of Illustration: guiding the audience to appreciate pictures in the most comfortable way

When I draw an illustration, my first consideration is the composition of this illustration. Composition is a significant part of illustration creation. The composition of a good illustration work usually makes people feel natural and comfortable and can be more attractive to the audience. Many artists in history studied how can composition achieve a comfortable visual effect. The basic theory of the golden section composition method comes from the golden ratio – 1:1.618. This ratio is very common in the nature we are living in.

The golden spiral uses the numbers of Fibonacci sequence as the length to compose squares one after another. A series of diagonal points on the squares will form a path, leading the audience to enjoy the pictures in the frame in a most natural way. The concept of golden ration has been spreading for thousands of years. It builds the foundation of many classic art and architecture works, from the Great Pyramid of Giza to artist Georges Seurat’s painting Parade de cirque. And it can often be seen in the encyclopedia and academic papers. But its significant status in history does not mean it has been out of date. In fact, golden ration is very valuable for illustrations.

Parade de cirque

To understand golden ration, it should start from how and where it originated. This can be dated back to the period of ancient Greek. Golden ration can also be presented as the Greek character φ(the pronunciation is phi). Its representative number is 1.61803398875. In terms of mathematical terms, this is an irrational number, which is also an infinite non-repeating decimal and cannot be expressed by a simple fraction (like the famous π whose pronunciation is pi). According to the EB (Encyclopedia Britannica), the mathematical idea of golden ration is mostly originated from 400 BC. It is said to be completed by Euclid and Pythagoras. However, to truly master this concept, we must look upon the golden ration in this way: (A+B)/A = A/B Please divide a line into two segments. The longer segment (A) divided by the shorter segment (B) equals to the total length divided by the longer segment. To create golden ration, the piecewise division of the original line must equal to 1.618.

When golden ration is first proposed, the Greek scholars knew it could be used to create very visually attractive rectangle, which is the golden rectangle. They start to think about this shape and the ratio of it in the design. At last, it is testified that as long as the ratio of photos, layout or composition is 1:1.61, the graphic will look very natural and balanced.

It is no wonder that human has been using golden ratio from then. It is the footstone of many ancient architectures and paintings that we regard as beautiful. Some people believe that we can find golden ration in the artist Salvador Dali’s painting, The Last Supper, Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, and even the Stonehenge. Nowadays, people can find its trace in websites, photography works and the logos of a part of most popular brands in the globe.

The golden spiral has close relation with golden ration. It is the continuous arc that is drawn through using each part of the golden rectangles to construct a streamlined spiral. Although Greek scholars thought out the mathematical explanation of why golden spiral exists, it had long existed before that. People can find full evidence in the nature, such as the shape of shells, pedals, pine cones, seed-head and spiral galaxy. The body of a part of animals also has this characteristic, such as dolphin, starfish and bee.

Websites, commercials, magazine covers, and illustrations all benefit from this ancient mathematical principle. Golden ratio can be used to guide the position of objects, the shape of logos, etc.

In consideration of the connection between mathematics and nature, there is no wander that human body also has the evidence of golden ratio. From the ration of the arm (the length ratio of finger, forearm and the upper arm) to the feature of Mona Lisa all meet the Divine Proportion proposed by Luca Pacioli in 1509, which also achieves the same result as Da Vinci’s Golden Section. Da Vinci used golden ration in Vitruvian Man. Rembrandt and other artists also used this concept.

Many scholars and statisticians all devote themselves to evaluate the influential level of golden ratio to beautiful faces. According to these theories, after the calculation the width and length of human face, if the number obtained from length divided by width is close to the golden ratio, the feature will be beautiful. The position of eyes, nose, mouth and the space in between will also be the influential factors of the attraction.

 Golden ration can also help designers to decide the width of spacing: to put another design element in which place compared with one of the elements, the best white spacing, etc.

Back to golden rectangle, think about how it can help assist the designer to decide in which part of the illustration should the smaller, less important content be put, or how to make the white space in a new logo. Designers might find that it can help the focal point of the work more prominent and reduce the time to think of a graphic that both the designer and the client are satisfied with.

Use golden rectangle and draw perfect circle in each independent region. In terms of size and proportion, these forms are called golden circles – maintaining the golden ration and can change position according to requirements.

No matter intersection or overlap, the golden circles can be applied to all designs, no matter if the designer wants to improve the current logo or redesign a new one. Overlapping golden circles in the processing works can allow the designer to adjust them and ensure the final result accords with the golden ratio.

The logo design of Twitter contains golden ratio and related golden circles. It is reasonable to find these circles are applied in the symbolic blue bird. This logo is very close to the golden ratio formula indeed, which explains why the result is so unforgettable.

The bird shape of Twitter is not the only logo that applies golden circles. The logos of Pepsi and Google also follow golden ration. It is not a very unusual technique for graphic designers who seek to draw the shape and patterns with perfect ratio and bring clear and tidy image to the audience.

Sometimes, the simple action of rearranging the golden circles until they are similar to more familiar objects can bring aspiration to the next logo design. All things are the same. Practice makes perfect. And testing the effect that the golden circles can achieve in various ways is the key to come up with feasible designs.

References：

McWhinnie, H.J. 1989, "A Biological Basis for the Golden Section in Art and Design", Leonardo, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 61-63.

 Staff, C. (2019). The Golden Ratio: A designer's guide. [online] Creative Bloq. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/design/designers-guide-golden-ratio-12121546 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 Rebecca, G. (2019). What is the golden ratio? What you need to know and how to use it – Learn. [online] Learn. Available at: https://www.canva.com/learn/what-is-the-golden-ratio/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

 C. Carlson, S. (2019). golden ratio | Examples, Definition, & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/golden-ratio [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

#golden ratio #composition #vitruvian man #mona lisa #logo design

[ning-qiao]

Blog·1：Illustrator：Kim Jung-Gi

This is my first blog. I will share my research results with you in the following few blogs. Whenever I find knowledge that I am unfamiliar with in appreciating some artists’ works, I would check some books, others’ websites or videos. I want to record my opinions about these matters or my knowledge learned from others.

In this blog, I want to introduce Kim Jung-Gi, my favorite illustrator that I have been favoring for five years. Famous in the sketch field, Kim Jung-Gi is credited as the “human flesh printer” as he never needs a draft. He can always conceive figure position, and composition layout in his mind before creation. He expresses in the interview that “picture is just an instant from a continuous moments in time. There must be a story that is happening either before or after that moment. And I use my imagination to interpret and create those stories. I quickly recognize and memorize the key elements of the subject matter. Whether it is a person or a thing, people will be able to recognize what I am drawing if I can recreate about 60% of its detail.”

His works which perfectly integrate unique art creation and diversification creation techniques demonstrate the composition layout with extraordinary multi-dimensional space and stereoscopic vision. The main idea of his works is mostly interpreted by realism, surrealism and critical realism.

When being praised as an uncommon talent, he just comments that “what I am good at is just persistence”. He adds that “I spent over 12 hours, from the first class to the sixth class, in painting in my junior high school at most. After school, I would go to the art academy to continue drawing till 10:00 pm at night”.

Due to considerable scenario and portrait exercises, and high-intensity training in characterization, he eventually succeeds in the transition from quantity to quality.

References

Gi, K. (2019). Kim Jung Gi / SuperAni. [online] Kim Jung Gi / SuperAni. Available at: https://www.kimjunggi.net/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].

Jung-Gi, K. 2016, Kim Jung-Gi 2016 sketch collection, Superani.

#illustrator #kim jung-gi #portfolio