Lesson video

Hello, everyone, how are you today?

I hope you're feeling really, really good.

My name is Ms. Afsal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very pleased about that.

Today, we're gonna be looking at graphic communication.

The lesson is called Landscapes in Graphic Communication, and it comes from the unit of work Foundation Workshops.

So if you are ready with some curiosity, some energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin a lesson.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can review the range of ways graphic designers have been inspired by landscapes.

" We have some keywords in our lesson.

They are landscape, layering, and perspective.

So what do these words mean?

Landscapes, all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their visual appeal.

Layering, placing images, textures, or text on top of each other to create depth and interest.

Perspective, creating depth and distance in a composition.

These are our keywords: landscape; layering; and perspective.

Let's look out for them, listen out for them.

They will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Landscapes in Graphic Communication, and it has three learning cycles: designer spotlight: landscapes; designer deconstruction: landscapes; and personal connection in design: landscapes.

Let's begin with designer spotlight: landscapes.

Why do you think landscapes have always been such a powerful subject in art and design?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Artists across history and cultures have been inspired to create artworks featuring landscapes.

Designers take different approaches when depicting landscapes in their work, exploring a range of techniques and themes.

Some themes and techniques graphic designers might use when creating a landscape design are achieving accurate perspective, exploring scale, viewpoints and perspectives, celebrating nature's beauty.

Oh, I love that one.

Using landscapes symbolically to explore other topics, and commenting on important issues.

Some graphic designers focus on accuracy of their work, aiming to depict precise perspective and likeness of the location using realistic details and colours.

This kind of representation is common in Western approaches to landscapes.

In some cultures, precise proportions are less important than elements like multiple or aerial viewpoints, which can carry symbolic, spiritual, or narrative meaning.

In his famous painting, "Early Spring," 1072, Guo Xi used a technique called the angle of totality, where he showed the landscape from different viewpoints all at once.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye uses aerial views in works like "Big Yam Dreaming," 1995, continuing the traditions of Dreamtime art.

In this tradition, landscapes are not just maps of land, they hold spiritual and cultural meaning, showing stories and connections to ancestors.

Check for understanding.

True or false?

Designers are always interested in recording precise perspective in their landscape designs?

Pause here and decide, is this true or false?

Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

"While some artists and designers use precise perspective to show realistic depth, others choose different approaches.

Not all landscapes aim to look realistic.

Some focus on meaning, feeling, or tradition instead.

" Landscapes let graphic designers explore scale, perspective, and composition from vast vistas to intimate details.

How can these differences create alternative meanings?

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Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear some responses.

Here's Andeep.

"A broad vista can make me think about how big or magnificent the world is.

" Oh, I love that.

Laura, "A design showing intimate details of the landscape might focus attention on one place or issue.

" Great point.

And Lucas, "Designers might use unrealistic scale or perspective to challenge reality.

" Love these responses, and thanks for sharing yours.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following best explains the benefits of using landscapes in graphic design?

Is it A, it only depicts realistic colours and textures, B, it focuses on people in nature, C, it lets designers explore different scales and views, D, it only shows wide, open spaces?

Pause here it while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C.

indeed, it lets designers explore different scales and views.

Designers experimenting with perspective, scale, and composition in their landscapes include Tom Purvis, transform simplified shapes and bold colours into iconic graphic landscapes, Tatsuo Horiuchi, who uses digital spreadsheets as a vast canvas, colouring landscapes one cell at a time,.

Shantell Martin, creates monochrome, improvisational line drawings, which become abstracted landscapes.

Designers can use landscapes to celebrate nature's beauty and foster appreciation for ecological diversity.

Can you think of any local artists who do this in response to your area?

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Designers with an interest in capturing beauty in nature include Brian Cook Batsford, created stylized countryside scenes with vibrant, flat colours for print and publication, Jason Anderson, reduces complex forms and scenes into abstract, evocative landscape scenes.

Graphic designers can use landscapes symbolically to express other topics.

Can you think of any topics that designers might comment on through using the subject of landscapes?

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Let's hear from Izzy.

"I think this design would be about renewable energy, as wind turbines and the colour green is used.

" And Alex, "This work would be great for a sustainable energy company for posters, graphics, or logos.

" Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false?

Landscapes can only tell us about the visual characteristics of a location.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false?

Well done if you selected false, and now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

"Designers can use landscapes symbolically to express other topics.

" Designers using landscapes to communicate about other topics include Ed Harrison, creates graphic designs that feature landscapes to highlight the beauty and fragility of the natural world, Natasha Chomko, combines surreal imagery with landscapes to uncover dream-like, imagined places.

Designers can use landscapes and the themes they symbolise to comment on important issues in society.

This can be part of a social action project.

What important issues do you think designers might discuss using landscapes?

Thanks for sharing.

Designers can use landscapes and the themes they symbolise to address important issues in the world.

Zaria Foreman creates hyperreal and expressive drawings of melting polar landscapes to draw attention to the impact of human activity on the global climate.

Lois Mailou Jones creates graphic landscapes influenced by her African heritage, highlighting the cultural influences in landscape images.

And Christine's Sun Kim challenges ideas of landscapes and communication, showing how place and perception can be translated through visual codes.

Designers may also use landscapes as a subject in graphic design to document and report on natural disasters, raise awareness of place or culture, explore dystopia or utopia, develop connection to a specific place, reflect culture or history through locations.

And now, it's time for your first task.

I would like you to select two or three graphic designers or specific designs and compare them.

Consider these questions: in what ways are a designs visually similar or different?

Subject, colour, tone, shape, style, composition, and materials.

What themes, symbols, or ideas did the artworks explore?

Are there any connections between them?

Pause here while you have a go at this task.

It's good to be back with you.

So how did you get on with that task of selecting two or three graphic designers or specific designs and comparing them?

You may have said something like this.

Here's Sophia.

"Tatsuo Horiuchi creates vast works which are made from many small coloured cells on a spreadsheet.

His work show us how beautiful landscapes are constructed from small parts, and our perspective changes what we see.

" And Jacob, "James Anderson simplifies landscapes into blocks of colour and light to evoke the feelings of seeing them.

Natasha Chomko uses surreal collage abstractions of landscapes to connect us to semi-fictional places.

" Or we may have compared them in this way.

Shantell Martin uses improvised line drawings, imagined landscapes, and a monochromatic colour palette.

Tom Purvis, bold shapes and textures, more traditional composition and perspective, warm, rich colours.

And what they have in common is they create connection to places by altering scale and composition.

Now, we're onto our next learning cycle, design deconstruction: landscapes.

What do you notice first about this design?

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Graphic designers use various techniques to develop a distinct visual language and communicate in their work: the principles of design, balance, contrast, hierarchy, alignment, proximity, unity, and colour; the elements of art, line tone, colour, pattern, shape, form, and texture; text, imagery, and subject.

We can deconstruct these techniques to understand the work more deeply.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How does analysing a designer's use of elements, like line, colour, materials, and composition, help us understand their work better?

Is it A, it allows us to notice details that create mood, meaning, and focus, B, it helps us see the techniques the designer used to express ideas and emotions, C, it only matters if the designer explains their work, or D, it tells us exactly what the designer wanted us to think without any personal interpretation?

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answers A and B.

How are the principles of design used in this work?

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The limited colour palette in the work is warm and hazy.

Straight lines are in perspective, creating alignment and depth.

Shapes and lines are geometric and angular.

Negative space in sky is contrasted with the forms beneath.

The shapes create rhythm, movement, and direction.

Many designers making landscapes have been interested in depicting depth and distance.

Compositions can be built up through layering.

Using detail for the foreground and simplifying the background features helps to achieve this.

Check for understanding.

How might a graphic designer create depth and distance in their designs?

A, only using one colour in the foreground and background, B, simplifying the image entirely, C, layering compositions with detailed foregrounds and simple backgrounds, D, only working with digital tools and techniques.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, layering compositions with detailed foregrounds and simple backgrounds.

How has this design achieved a sense of depth?

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Thanks for sharing.

Using lighter tones and colours in the background creates distance and atmosphere.

Objects and forms in the foreground are larger and more detailed.

Distinct layers are used to separate foreground, middle ground, and background.

The layers closer to the viewer are darker and more detailed than layers in the background.

Designers can use perspective or viewpoint in their landscapes in a range of ways: from above, aerial; eye level; from below.

Check for understanding.

True or false?

Designers must use viewpoints from a standing position or eye level in their landscape works.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false?

Well done if you selected false, and now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: "Designers can use a range of viewpoints.

Some choose to include more than one viewpoint in a single work.

" Now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to select one design and describe it.

Describe what you can see in the design, the principles of design, balance, contrast, hierarchy, alignment, proximity, unity, and colour, the elements of art, line tone, colour, pattern, shape, form, and texture, text, imagery and subject, how the graphic designer has used these techniques to communicate with the audience.

You might record this as an idea shower around an image of a design, write it as a paragraph, or create an audio or film recording of your ideas.

Pause here while you have a go at this task.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

You may have said something like this: "The landscape shows a building, mountains, and clouds with a reflection in a river.

Different shapes and textures are used to depict a range of surfaces.

The work uses contrasting blue and orange colours.

The composition is busy, with most of the space filled with details and information.

The use of natural and architectural forms creates balance.

Distance is created through layering.

" Or you may have said something like this: "This work is shown from an eye level viewpoint perspective.

Flowing, curvy shapes gradually become more angular.

The work uses deep, rich red hues, contrasted against pale colours.

The composition increases the proximity from bottom to top to create a hierarchy.

All elements come together to create unity.

The radial lines of the sun contrast with the horizontal forms.

" And now, we're onto our final learning cycle, personal connection in design: landscapes.

How can looking at a designer's work help us develop our own work?

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Aisha, "Designs with a similar theme can help develop ideas rather than just a design that uses the same technique.

" Jun, "I'll look at techniques and perspective and try to apply them to my theme.

" And Sam, "Work that has similar imagery or landscapes can inspire, even if the idea is different.

" Check for understanding.

Fill the gap.

We can look at other designer's work to gain inspiration through their use of.

Imagery, and themes, helping to develop and enrich their own creative ideas.

" Pause here while you fill the gap.

Well done if you filled the gap with the word techniques.

There are a number of things which can cause us to have a personal connection with the design.

Connecting to the use of techniques, connecting to the expression of themes, interpreting how landscapes can signify deeper meanings, interpreting a theme within a landscape, connecting to symbolism used.

We can often find links to our own work through deconstructing both the themes and techniques used in a graphic design.

What themes or deeper meanings might this landscape represent?

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Thanks for sharing.

Aisha says, "I'd be interested in the use of light and colour to respond to my theme of reflections.

" Jacob, "My theme is religion.

It makes me think about the breaking of dawn, which is an important time in many faiths for praying.

" And Sofia, "This cityscape reflects my theme of home and travel by showing places we see while moving.

" Can you think of other theme interpretations?

Pause here while you do this.

Thanks for sharing.

Check for understanding.

True or false?

We can only establish a personal connection with the landscape design if we're planning to make landscape designs.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false?

Well done if you selected false, and now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Perhaps you said something like this: "We can connect to a design by finding links to our own ideas and developing work.

We can interpret different themes from the imagery and techniques used in the landscape.

" Now, it's time for your final task.

Select one design and use the questions below to consider your personal connection.

What themes, symbols, or ideas does this work explore?

Are there any symbols, imagery, or connections between them that help create a narrative or show meaning?

Which techniques, processes, or creative decisions in this design inspire you, and how might you use them in your own work?

You might record this as an idea shower around an image of a design, write it as a paragraph, or create an audio or film recording of your ideas.

Pause here while you have a go at this task.

Good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that?

Perhaps something like this.

Here's the theme: time, cycles, and seasons.

"In this work, the central red sun creates a focal point around which everything else changes.

This highlights how much landscapes and scenes can change depending on the time of day or night.

It makes me think of how everything is connected.

" Absolutely.

"I plan to use the sun and moon as anchor points that connect landscapes, places, and times around the world.

" You may have said something like this.

The theme: journeys.

"This eye-level view suggests how we see landscapes as we move through them, sometimes unable to see over the horizon.

I'm drawn to the bold shapes and limited colour palette, which evoke depth and distance, as there is more atmosphere in the background.

I'll create a stylized landscape by layering distinct shapes to create movement through the scene, suggesting a journey.

" In our lesson Landscapes in Graphic Communication, we've covered the following: landscapes offer a rich tapestry of colours, textures, and forms that designers can take inspiration from; graphic designers can explore scale, perspective, and composition through landscapes; artists can use landscapes to celebrate nature's beauty and foster appreciation for ecological diversity; artists can use landscapes symbolically to discuss other topics.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

I loved exploring landscapes in graphic communication with you.

I love the perspectives that landscapes can give us on life.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I've really enjoyed teaching you.

I hope you can take time to enjoy the landscapes all around you.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.