Visible Systems Fall 2016

David Ackerman
Folklife Brochure An Ancient Tradition
Alive Today
A Language of Symbols The American Institute of
Folklife Logo/Branding
Contemporary
Traditional symbols are an essential part of the majority of
contemporary Aboriginal art. These symbols were
The oldest examples of Aboriginal Art date back

#1 #2 #3
originally used in body decoration and traditional
A-HA! over 30,000 years and even predate famous

Paleolithic art sites such as the caves at Lascaux and
Altamira. Although styles in Aboriginal art have
developed throughout history many of the ancient
Aboriginal Art
ceremonies to indicate religious significance and power.
Contemporary Aboriginal artists often cover these sacred
symbols with patterns of lines and dots in order to leave
them open to multiple interpretations

The main thing Ive learned from this project is the impor-
tance of having a solid concept and sufficient research on a
traditions and symbols are still in use today.
Contemporary Aboriginal Artists make use of I took cues from the symbolic language used
in Aboriginal artwork to create a brand with
modern techniques and materials such as acrylic on
The American Institute of The American Institute of The American Institute of
canvas in order to bring their ancient traditions to the

Contemporary Contemporary Contemporary

modern art world.

subject before worrying about creating a visual style. This Aboriginal artists use abstract imagery and bold
Person Stream/Smoke Rainbow/Cloud Rain
a modern look while still making reference to
Aboriginal culture and tradition. I wanted the
project required many components to be brought together Aboriginal Art Aboriginal Art Aboriginal Art
graphic patterns to create textures and atmospheric
effects that reflect the spiritual traditions and rituals

into a cohesive brochure so I needed to gather a consid-

that define Aboriginal culture. Symbols that are used
to create a narrative which is often left open to
logo to be simple, refined, and easily recog-
Animal Tracks Possum Human Footprint Emu

erable amount of information on my topic. I also learned

interpretation on many levels
nizeable, so I tried to stick with using geomet-
that it is important to consider how the visual aspects of a ric shapes and a restricted color pallette. My
project relate to the content that is being presented. I tried
Spear Digging Stick Boomerang
favorite design (#1) is based off of the aborig-
to use patterns of line in both the timeline and map that inal symbol for a campsite or meeting place.
mimicked the style of lines that are seen in aboriginal art. The concentric circles at the center of the
design symbolizes the meeting place and the
People sitting
Creating visual comparisons can help to engage the viewer
Campsite Meeting Place Star/Sun
around campfire

with the content and create a greater sense of continuity. surrounding U shaped symbols are known
Stream running
between two waterholes
in Aboriginal culture to represent a man or
Hmmm. woman. Overall this symbol is about togeth-
Timeline The Importance of Community 1 2
erness and unity which are ideas that reflects
I had a lot of trouble trying to incorporate a story-telling 3 4 5 the purpose of the folklife festival.
Arnhem 6
component into the project. I wanted the viewer to be
Land
Visual styles in Aboriginal

American Folk American Folk American Folk

Present 1971-Present NORTHERN
Acrylic dot painting, Artwork are defined largely 7
Kimberly TERRITORY
able to move through the brochure in a sequence that was Central and Western by the location and culture of
2000 the communities where it is 9 8
Deserts Celebrating the NEA National Heritage Fellows Celebrating the NEA National Heritage Fellows Celebrating the NEA National Heritage Fellows
created.
natural and compelling rather than just presenting the 1975 Art communities exist
GREAT SANDY DESERT
TANAMI DESERT

14 15
information without a clear order. I think the information western deserts 10 11 QUEENSLAND
throughout some of the most 16 central
12 17
1950
remote regions in Australia. deserts

that I am presenting is clear enough for the viewer, but Im This geographic isolation GIBSON DESERT
WESTERN 13
ca. 1878 - Present allows individual communi- SIMPSON DESERT
AUSTRALIA southwestern deserts
Bark painting tradition, ties to develop unique artistic
interested in finding a way to create more of a narrative in
1925
Arnhem Land styles that are independent of GREAT VICTORIA DESERT

societal influences and the art

order to guide the viewer through the project. 1900 ca. 1837 - Present
Wandjina rock art tradition,
world as a whole. SOUTH
AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH
WALES
Western Kimberly
1875

I Will. 1850
18
ca. 2000 BCE - Present
1825 Aboriginal Art Communities Population by km2
X-Ray style in Arnhem
Looking back I would definitely try to create a stronger Land Rock Art 1.
2.
Bathurst Island
Melville Island
10.
11.
Kiwirrkura
Kintore
>8000
5000 - 8000
VICTORIA
aprox. 30,000 years ago
sense of narrative and I also need to put more work into
1800 3. Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) 12. Patjarr TASMANIA
Earliest examples of 4. Maningrida 13. Warakurna 500 - 5000
Aboriginal artwork, rock 5. Yirrkala 14. Yuendumu <500
the branding/logo aspect of the project. Im pretty happy 2000 BCE paintings from Arnhem
Land and Kimberley
6.
7.
8.
Blue Mud Bay
Kununurra
Warmun (Turkey Creek)
15.
16.
17.
Utopia
Papunya
Haasts Bluff
with the diagrams I created for this project individual, I regions 9. Fitzroy Crossing 18. Coorong

think improvements could be made to the overall compo-

sition and relations between each of the components.
Map Making Wordless Diagram
A-HA: The main thing I learned from this project is that mapmaking

National Parks
is often more about emphasizing the most important/relevant infor-
What I Learned I decided to try to represent the steps of a
mation rather than creating a perfectly accurate representation from basic process (making coffee) by creating a series of minimal
a geographical standpoint. Maps can be used to express the attitude/ illustrations which would act as easily recognizable icons for the

USA
culture of a city or reflect the beauty of a natural landscape. I decided viewer. I learned that sometimes its best to keep things simple.
to create a map with the purpose of inspiring the viewer to take an in-
terest in the U.S. National parks. I wanted to give the viewer a sense of Hmmmm Im unsure about whether or not its more important
where all the parks were located across the country in a way that was North Cascades
to express ones personal style or to create a piece that is unified
Olympic
simple and intuitive while reflecting an adventurous, outdoorsy aes-
thetic. I chose to represent the number of annual visitors at each park Mount Rainier Glacier and visually coherent.
Voyagueurs Isle Royale Acadia
through the use of value, the dots with the lightest shades have the Theodore Roosevelt
least visitors and the darkest shades have the most. A key is provid- I Will Based on some of the feedback I received, I might con-
ed in order to specify the exact range that each park falls under. The Crater Lake
Yellowstone sider trying to incorporate more universally recognizable sym-
basic goal of the map is to express the character of the National Parks Redwood Gand Teton
Badlands
bols into the illustration. Some of my classmates were unable
Wind Cave
through the use of color, line, and type. Death to recognize certain elements of the diagram which leads me to
Lassen Volcanic Capitol Reef Cuyahoga Valley
Valley
Great Canyonlands think that making use of established icons might add clarity to
Hmmm: I was intrigued by the concept of creating an illustrative map
that still communicated useful information, but I found it challenging Yosemite
Kings
Basin
Rocky Mountain the composition.
Canyon Arches
to create a balance between the illustrative and informational ele- Pinnacle Black Canyon of the Gunnison Shenandoah
ments. At first I wanted to use highly detailed drawings of the major Sequoia Zion
Great Sand Dunes
Mammoth Cave
national parks, but I found it difficult to incorporate the drawings Mesa Verde
Channel Island Grand Canyon Great Smoky Mountains
into the map without distracting the viewer from the information Bryce Canyon
Joshua Tree Petried Forest
that I was trying to communicate. I found that using simple lines to Hot Springs
Congaree
highlight major mountains and rivers across the country was a better
Saguaro
way to add an illustrative element without creating too much clutter Carlsbad Caverns
or confusion for the viewer. I also created a hand drawn tree pattern Guadalupe Mountains

with similar line quality to use as a background and to create an ad- Big Bend
ditional sense of unity. I think the real challenge of map making is to
create a product that functions as a practical tool while also maintain-
Gates of the
ing an aesthetic quality and creating a visual expression of the subject Haleakala Arctic
Kobuk Valley Biscayne
the map is trying to represent. Hawaii Everglades
Volcanoes Visitors Per Year
Denali
I will: In order to improve this map I would commit time to doing
Lake Clark Glacier
further research about the National Parks so that I could provide the Most Fewest
Kenai Bay 10M+ 3M+ 1M+ 500K+ 250K+ 100K+ 10K+
viewer with more relevant information. I would have liked to have Fjords
represented levels of habitat destruction and endangered animals, but
I was unable to find helpful data on the subject that I could show in
the context of all 58 National Parks.
Small Multiples
A Ha! My goal for the small multiples project was to visualize each
of my objects in a way that was not only representational, but also
expressive of my personal style and the character of the objects that I
was trying to depict. I discovered that stepping away from the com-
puter allowed me to create illustrations that were more original and
less restrained by the inevitable limitations that exist when working
in a purely electronic environment. I found that the most effective
way to maintain originality was to observe the objects directly and
interpret them on my own terms rather than using an external refer-
ence or trying to conform to a pre-established style.
Hmmmm Although my illustrations are unique they are also some-
what unrefined. I felt like leaving the drawings with their imperfec-
tions was appropriate for the subject matter, which was fossils/objects
from nature. However I think a more refined style of illustration
might create an increased sense of unity between the objects and al-
low the objects to be more easily interpreted by the viewer.
I Will If I were to take this project another step further, I would
consider ways to simplify the illustrations while still maintaining a
degree of expressive style. My drawings are very detailed and for the
purpose of visual clarity it might be helpful to reduce some of the
detail and involve the element of color in a new way. I went straight
from drawing to finished product for this project and I think includ-
ing a stage of simplification/organization might be helpful in the
future to achieve a more polished result.
Landscape Study
A Ha! This project taught me that an image can be
reduced to a handful of colors and values while still
Winter Fall Spring retaining its original impact and realistic qualities.
When the visual elements of a photograph are reduced
to the essentials (foreground, mid-ground, background)
an opportunity arrises for the designer to create a new
sense of meaning in the image. I was able to set the
same landscape in colors that reflected each of the four
seasons simply by considering the types of colors and
tones that are typically associated with different times of
the year. The viewer is no longer looking at photograph
fixed in a point of time, instead each image is an inter-
pretation of its seasons mood through the manipulation
of color.
Summer Summer, Early Morning
Hmmmm I wonder if an outsider were to see my
Summer, Late Afternoon
project, without any knowledge of my intentions, would
they be able to guess each of the seasons and the times
of day correctly? The interpretation of color is a very
subjective processes and while the colors I chose make
sense to me they might be seen differently by an exter-
nal viewer. Many places in the world do not have four
seasons and different people associate different colors
with times of the year/day. It would be interesting to do
a study where people from different global regions were
asked to identify each of the seasons represented pri-
marily by color.
I Will To improve this project I might consider ways
of representing different seasonal patterns for different
locations around the globe. Maybe I would pick loca-
tions with extremely different seasons in order to dis-
play contrast such as Alaska vs. Ecuador.