The Pictogram & An Iconic Lion

Reading respond to "The Pictogram" and "An Iconic Lion":

"The Pictogram":

When noticing a pictogram, Otto Neurath came up with a thesis of how the pictograph is viewed.

First glance: The most important qualities of an object are perceived.

Second glance: The less important qualities of an object are perceived.

Third glance: Additional details are perceived.

This made me think about the importance of getting the viewer's first glance. All other details will be lost in the first glance is not interesting or provoking to view. Now knowing that Neurath encouraged people to look from primitive drawings and children's drawings is quite the direction to take when getting these people to understand these pictographs immediately.

"An Iconic Lion":

Before I started reading this selection, I scrolled up and down the page and found myself wanting to read from the bottom up. The bottom [images] start with the beginning of the process and the top of the article ends with some final products displaying the company logo.

Blaustein shared, “dozens of concepts, hundreds of drawings” and surely handfuls of meetings.

Reading how many iterations had to come before the final product is important. Knowing your first idea isn't always your best gives better ending results. "Pigeon-holing" one idea can lead to nothing in most instances, I believe. Also, making sure the icon would look presentable and legible from small scale to large scale was and is an important factor.

In our current icon project for Visual Communication II, keeping in mind the simplicity is important. From reading the following two articles it has reminded me to keep my icons simple but distinct from other designers icons. Also, I was reminded to keep scale change in mind with my icons and how they can stand alone (big or small). No matter how often I have said it in the past, iterations are super important to the design process. Expanding on an idea or concept in more than one way and learning what is successful versus what is not, betters the end result. Making lists, doing a bunch of sketches, and keeping in mind what is working and elaborating on that aspect with further any development of mind. And with all of these things in mind, I will keep growing in the current project.