Visuals
My complete symbol set
Project Overview
The first project is to develop a family of symbols with each representing one of the five human senses. It will be divided into several assignments to design 5 root symbols and then expand the symbol system’s ability to be versatile.
- For the first assignment, two versions of the human senses will exist, as a verb and as a noun. Half of the class will work with nouns, while the other half the verbs. Students develop a successful family of symbols that are interrelated stylistically, systematically, and semantically (meaning) effective. The final symbol set must be capable of being versatile, adaptable, and for further expansion.
- Then students will elect one symbol from their completed senses symbol set. They will then develop from this one symbol three new ones and apply the root/determinant strategy.
I was assigned to work with the human senses as nouns.
Process
Research
Sketches + Iterations
Refinements + Color Studies
Root + Determinate Strategy
In the final phase of this project, I needed to select one of my symbols from my completed set to designate as a root. And based on this selection, I then needed to create three new symbols (and meanings) that would be considered still part of the system. I chose to use my hand symbol because I not only felt like it was my strongest one but also because I felt like it was my most versatile symbol as well.
Reflection
This project taught me a lot about symbol sets. Before this project, I never really noticed symbol sets but turns out that they're all around us in our everyday life. I learned the importance of small iterations and changes. Some of the changes I made during this project were very minimal but made a huge impact visually (like where I placed the dots and how many). I also learn the importance of color theory, before this project I never really had the chance to experiment and learn about color so I tested a lot of different color pairings in order to find something that felt right. I was also introduced to wayfinding during this project. I had some sense of wayfinding before this project but this project allowed me to actually practice creating a good wayfinding system.
