“When god created the horse, he said to the magnificent creature: I have made thee as no other. All the treasures of the earth lie between thy eyes. Thy shalt carry my friends upon thy back. Thy saddle shall be the seat of prayers to me. And thou shalt fly without wings, and conquer without sword; oh horse.” Anonymous This piece is in honor of the horse. After all, it is 2014 . It is the Year of the Horse! In doing my research, I was astounded to find the unfading nature of this symbol that spanned across centuries and influenced cultures across the globe. Ancient wisdom traditions have used symbols to communicate between the two worlds: the seen and the unseen. The horse has been used as the super highway between them. Why? perhaps, they are a projection of our dreams about our higher selves – free-spirited, strong and beautiful. They remind us to nurture our spirit the dwells the flesh, to emancipate ourselves from our mental slavery and possibly to inspire us into thinking that we are not prisoners of this three dimensional world but "voyagers through it." In the Hindu scriptures our 5 sense perception has been compared to the horse. "Know the self as a rider in a chariot, and the body, as simply the chariot. Know the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind, as simply the reins. The senses, they say, are the horses, and sense objects are the paths around them.... When a man lacks understanding, and his mind is never controlled; His senses do not obey him, as bad horses, a charioteer." ... Katha Upanishad {translated by Patrick Olivelle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 To know the self that dwells the flesh, curb your sense perception. Journey inwards, explore the richness that is you. It is beyond time, space and all material consumerism. "The internal universe, the real, is infinitely greater than the external, which is only a shadowy projection of the true one. This world is neither true nor untrue; it is the shadow of truth. It is imagination – the gilded shadow of truth." Swami Vivekanada This eternal truth is reflected in the sentiments of Harvard neurosurgeon: “Our eternal spiritual self is more real than anything we perceive in this physical realm, and has a divine connection to the infinite love of the Creator.” ― Eben Alexander, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife In buddhism the horse is a conduit of the mind. It symbolizes the energy or "prana" that runs through the channels of the human body. In the mountain hermitage which is my body, In temple of my breast At the summit of the triangle of my heart, The horse which is my mind flies like the wind He gallops on the plains of great bliss. If he persists, he will attain the rank of a victorious Buddha. Going backward, he cuts the root of samsara. Going forward he reaches the high land of buddhahood. Astride such a horse, one attains the highest illumination [Milarepa's "Song of the galloping horse of a yogi." Translated by Losang P. Lhalungpa] "Pegasus the winged horse will appear and gallop aloft in the heavens. It will bring forth people endowed with swiftness of movement and limbs alert to perform every task." [Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century AD, book 5, p.350-353.] In Greek mythology, Pegasus carries the divine thunderbolts of Zeus. It unites the heavens and the earth. It carries the treasure of the mind. It was his hoof pawing the ground that the Hippocrene (horse-springs), the inspiring fountain of the Muses sprang forth. "Everywhere the winged horse struck hoof to earth, an inspiring spring burst forth" The 'ancient midddle-men' of culture - the Phoenicians were also known as the 'horse people' by the Greeks. These astute sea seafarers adorned their mighty ships with horses’ heads in honor of their god of the sea, Yamm. These horse heads were purposeful tributes to the might of Yamm and were used on the ships to reign in the chaotic force of the sea. The great Pharoah Ramses II glorifies his horses for the victorious battle against the Hittites. In utter devotion he proclaimed, “Henceforth their food shall be given them before me each day when I am in my palace ....” The horses were loved and adored for their unshakable spirit. It is said that the warriors of the desert when "mounted on their finest Arabian steed, proved to be invincible as Islam's power spread throughout the civilized world.".... “They spurned the sand from behind them – they seemed to devour the desert before them -- miles flew away with minutes, yet their strength seemed unabated . . . Over the ages the horse has been cherished for its loyalty, speed and unyielding valor. Because of their sensitivity, consistency, and patience, the various creation myths have endowed them with elegance, poise and mysticism. They inject us with unshakable strength and assures us that “we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The Labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. And where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces With your "beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other"– it is up to you to decide as to how you will ride the horse. Illustration inspired by Andy Scott. Articles you might like
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“The human mind is a wanderer by nature. The daydream is the mind’s default state.”― Author Jonathan Gottschall I often daydream. Because, daydreaming gets a bad wrap in our culture as it is deemed unproductive, my ego likes to call it visualization: daydreaming with a purpose. The creation happens in my mind before it gets down in paper. It is an arduous process of engaging the sub-conscious with the varied research and ideas both of the possibilities and that what is impossible and somewhere in between. It is a constant communication of "what ifs" and "maybe(s)". At the end, somehow, some way the sub-conscious takes the myriad transmission of thoughts and comes up with a solution. It works like a charm without fail. Perhaps writers appreciate its importance better than most of us because a "fair amount of what they call work consists of little more than daydreaming edited." Always fascinated by the workings of the brain, today I get to explore the necessity of daydreaming in all our creative pursuits. This is how it goes. We all had our personal "Aha" moments. Suddenly you have an answer to a problem that you were long working on. It creeps onto you, apparently appearing from nowhere and creates a shift in your mental perspective that instantly transforms the way you perceive a problem. "It could be the solution to a problem; it could be getting a joke; or suddenly recognizing a face. It could be realizing that a friend of yours is not really a friend." says psychologist John Kounios at Drexel University in Philadelphia. These sudden insights as proclaimed by neuroscience requires some complex neural connectivity. By monitoring brain waves, psychologist Joydeep Bhattacharya at the University of London's Goldsmith College, saw a pattern of high frequency neural activity in the right frontal cortex that identified in advance who would solve a puzzle through insight and who would not. "It's unsettling," says Dr. Bhattacharya. "The brain knows but we don't." Neuroscientists has come long ways but they cannot determine as to what makes us more inclined to the Eureka experience only at some moments. However, they all agree that these Insights does favor a prepared mind. You are more likely to have more insightful moments if you are in a relaxed and contemplative mood. While in the public baths, Archimedes observed that the level of water rose in the tub when he entered the bath. This observation is known as the Archimedes Principle: "An object partially or wholly immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object." Based, on this principle big sea faring vessels are built. He was not the first person in history to get a sudden flash of inspiration, but Archimedes is the man who made eureka famous. "Eureka! I have found it!" The moral of the story: when you are stuck while working on a problem, walk away and do something completely different and that will help your mind wander away from the problem at hand. Perhaps, that is why Einstein played the violin and spent a huge chunk of contemplative time in nature.“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” "People assumed that when your mind wandered it was empty," says cognitive neuroscientist Kalina Christoff at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. As measured by brain activity, however, "mind wandering is a much more active state than we ever imagined, much more active than during reasoning with a complex problem." Daydreaming or mind wandering as some researchers call it is an essential part the creative process. It drives Insight. When you are driven by insight you create transformational changes. Here are some examples that have changed course of civilization because the masters involved in it were guided by insight. When you are driven by insight you do not make transitional change. You are the harbinger of transformational changes. Special Relativity "For years Einstein had been trying to reconcile - or prove one of - two seemingly contradictory theories about space and time. One day while riding a street car home one day, he was struck by the sight of Bern's famous clock tower. The answer was simple and elegant: time can beat at different rates throughout the universe, depending on how fast you moved." Alternating Current Nikola Tesla knew in his guts there had to be a better way than the direct current that was designed by Thomas Edison. It somehow eluded him. "One day he was out for a walk (quoting Faust, according to legend) when it just came to him. He used his walking stick to draw a picture explaining how alternating current would work to his walking partner." Chemical Composition of Neurotransmitters In the 1900's scientist hypothesized that nerve impulses were transmitted chemically. It was the dream of Otto Loewi that gave the direction to conduct an experiment to prove so. The story goes that just before Easter Sunday in 1920 "Loewi dreamed of an experiment he could do that would prove once and for all how nerve impulses were transmitted. He woke up in the middle of the night, excited and happy, scribbled the experiment down and went back to sleep. When he woke up, he couldn't read his notes. Luckily, he had the same dream the next night. The experiment and his later work earned him the title, the "Father of Neuroscience." Television Legend has it that the back-and-forth motion of the till, while plowing the potato field inspired Philo Farnsworth to lay down the ground work of electrical television. "Farnsworth realized that an electron beam could scan images line by line - simply put, that was the basis for almost all TVs until LCD and plasma screens came along. He went on to demonstrate the first operational, all-electronic television system in 1927." Polymerase Chain Reaction Process The 3 hour drive from his office at Berkley to Mendocino helped Kary Mullis was an important factor in formulating PCR, a process by which tiny bit of DNA can be exponentially amplified. "That amplification allows for all kinds of applications - everything from the diagnosis of hereditary diseases to catching criminals and paternity testing." Coordinate Geometry René Descartes, the father of modern philosophy - "I think there for I am." ( I would love to counter that: I am there for I think) was in the habit of staying in bed till noon. "One day, while watching a fly flit around above his head, Descartes realized he could describe the fly's position by saying how far it was from the walls and ceiling." The Cartesian coordinate system — allowing reference to a point in space as a set of numbers, and allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system (and conversely, shapes to be described as equations) — was named after him. Microwave Oven Legend has it that Percy Spencer had his dose of inspiration when a candy bar he had in his pocket melted near the radar set that he was working on. A quick flash of insight revealed microwaves being emitted by his "magnetron could penetrate the exterior of a food and cook it from the inside - unlike using plain old heat from an oven, or fire which cooks food from the outside in." Velcro One day George de Mestral took his dog for a walk in the woods. When he and Fido got back, Mestral noticed burrs all over his pants. The tricky little devils would not come off. "Chance favors the prepared mind," and boy was Mestral prepared. Looking at the burrs under a microscope, he saw that they had tiny hooks that had attached themselves to the loops of thread in his pants. Rest is history. The triumph of human civilization rests on many such stories. Try this. Spend a portion of your day in silence. “Letting silence into your day gives the daemon [muse] a chance to be heard from.” Contemplate silly far fetched ideas. Wear the cloak of contemplation as your daily companion. It will serve you very well. "Pay attention the next time you’re not paying attention. A well-timed daydream may be the most productive thing you do today." Brian Clark Articles you might like:
It is language that creates the idea of who we are. Ancient sages and now cutting edge science have now come to the same conclusion: Life is just an idea. Life as we know it does not exist. Only thousand and thousand living processes exist. There is nothing like life. Life is not a noun. Life is a verb. Life means living. Be aware of this moment and you will realize: everything is becoming, nothing is stagnant. Even when you are at rest, there is a process going on, something is happening. You are breathing. Your heart is beating. Everything is in a constant state of happening. Human energy needs to be in constant flow to remain alive. You are like the river and more. A river needs to be flowing, changing course in different plains and mountains until it reaches the ocean. But the destination of your life energy is not the ocean. It is a river that is always seeking and searching – and that is finding but there is always more to explore, to experience, to express. It is this urge for more that makes us aware of the dual aspect of our human nature. It makes us restless and strikes us with conflict. Often we find ourselves at the crossroads of selfishness and generosity, love and hate, frailty and strength, hope and despair. We are in a constant state of embracing and accepting these apparent contradictions as the "key to transforming each twist and turn of life's journey into a new discovery of who we are meant to be." In doing so we throttle the wonder that dwells within us...that so desperately wants to find its unique expression through us. It is said, that before he died, Einstein was asked "If you are born again and God asks you, I am certain you would like to become a great physicist and mathematician again." He said, "No, never! If another opportunity is given to me, rather than being a physicist I would like to become a plumber. I would like to live a very very ordinary kind of life, anonymous, so that I could enjoy life more easily with nobody coming in my way. My fame, prestige, research -- nothing coming in my way, so that I could have a deeper communion with existence." You are born brilliant. You are an universe unto yourself. But very soon, you start compromising. And, when you do so, your talents disappear, your intelligence disappears. The world is not enriched by your unique expression. "It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable it is nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open." Martha Graham Live life slow. Treasure three magic moments every day. Tune in to what’s good in your world. Control the controllables. Load up on compassion, kindness, forgiveness and empathy. Keep on keeping on. Dare to daydream! Articles you might like:
This self-portrait was based on a drawing made by Arneson’s son Kregg when the artist and his first wife was in the midst of a marital crisis. Although the representation echoes Renaissance bust of mortally wounded martyred saints, the wildly exaggerated grotesque details—such as the exploding gun, bloody knife and arrow, and globs of blood and snot—recall the style of cartoon and comic strips. The sculpture is one of Arneson’s most emotionally expressive self-portrait. He was prolific in creating self-portraits using photographs, mirrors, and drawings. Each expression seemed to reveal a different emotion. These self-referential portraits iconic and humorous are vehicles to render universal concepts of feeling, sentiments, reaction and response. That what is true for sculpting is also true when crafting concepts for your trade show booth graphics. The emotion of the sculptor is set in motion as he uses his tools to carve out forms out of formless. In a similar fashion, the visual that you are composing should be emotionally captivating. Instead of addressing raw data of features and benefits (that addresses the verbal brain), it should highlight one aspect of the pain point that your audience can associate with. By evoking emotion, your message becomes engrained in their long-term memory. Every time they encounter the pain-point they will sub-consciously visualize your brand, your message. Because, emotion happens, it is not something that we do or don't do. When creating graphic that embellishes your trade show booth, here is another path that you may want to explore. Start with the intangible aspect of your product and that happens to be your brand. Think about what emotion your brand triggers. After all, your brand does not dwell inside the four walls of your company. It resides in the hearts and minds of the people in your market. For example when you think of Nike, what comes to your mind? It is superior athleticism and the thrill of victory (of course leaving aside the negative press). Now imagine all the visuals that Nike as generated over the years. They all actualize the intangible concept of the brand. Classical mythology is a great avenue to derive inspiration for your visuals. Stories of passion, tragedy, war, and heroism (all trigger points for making emotions happen). Again, did you know Nike is the goddess of victory in the Greek Mythology. "Frequently she is seen hovering with outspread wings over the victor in a competition." That is how the powerful Nike swoosh has been brought into existence. Obviously Nike corporation knows very well what they are doing. Reading poetry, visiting museums, attending lectures on the odd, the improbable, or merely interesting are some of the things that I indulge in quite often. These are the silent seeds that gets sprinkled in my subconscious only to find its outlet in some sort of creative endeavors. Assassination of a Famous Nut Artist was my find in one of my visits to one of the many museums that I frequent. It is this sculpture that inspired me to write this article. Articles you might like:
Brand Loyalty is Vanishing or Is It? Today's web-savvy consumers are savvy deal finders. They are quick to seize on the brand or the store that offers the best deal. Hence, in an effort to increase the essence of brands; companies are on a massive crusade to bombard clients and prospects with constant messages and tooling techniques. The hope here is to reign in the distracted and disloyal customer. Unfortunately, the blitz of this downpour of marketing messages isn't empowering. It is overwhelming. "Rather than pulling customers into the fold, marketers are pushing them away with relentless and ill-conceived efforts to engage." So what are the attributes of a sticky brand? In other words what makes consumers stick to your brand? You guessed it right. Keep it simple stupid. Simplicity is the DNA of your Brand Longevity. (Apple had it right all this time.) In a research conducted by CEB Global, over 7000 consumers vouched that single biggest driver of stickiness, by far, was “decision simplicity”—the ease with which they can gather trustworthy information about a product and confidently and efficiently weigh their purchase options. Help your customers by helping them to streamline their decision making. What does it take to acquire sticky consumers? CEB study found that the best tool for measuring consumer-engagement efforts is the “decision simplicity index,” a gauge of how easy it is for consumers to gather and understand (or navigate) information about a brand, how much they can trust the information they find, and how readily they can weigh their options. The easier a brand makes the purchase-decision journey, the higher its decision-simplicity score. Marketers from all mediums (including trade shows) have to orient themselves in helping consumers to simplify their decisions. It requires new strategies. It requires crafting cooler communications. Levi’s® Curve ID comes to my mind as a revolutionary way to shop for jeans. They have narrowed down four distinct fits that addresses a range of body shapes. Read their customer reviews. Not all of them is going ga-ga over the quality of the jeans but they are euphoric about the fit. After all, jeans are about the perfect fit, isn't it. Does quality matter? Yes it does. Does price matter? Yes it does. All the stuff they teach you at "B" schools does matter. But what matters most to your customers is that you are helping them help themselves. You are simplifying their decision making process and contributing to the memorability aspect of their purchase journey. Articles you might like
“Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” This intense observation made by Henry Adams emphasizes the complex process that underlines the phenomena of creativity. The world around us is studded with examples of order disintegrating into chaos and chaos giving birth to order. Until recently, such occurences as the oscillation of the stock market, or the random firing of neurons in the brain were considered too "noisy" and complex to be explored by science. But now, with the aid of high-speed processors, scientists have been able to penetrate a reality that is changing the way we perceive our universe. Their findings - the basis for Chaos Theory is one of the most exciting scientific search of our time. The now-famous chaos aphorism that the flutter of a butterfly's wing in Istanbul can change the weather in Santa Monica is a dramatic illustration of what Briggs and Peat describe as an "emerging science of wholeness," a growing scientific appreciation of how everything in the universe is intertwined. From the beating of our hearts to the formation of clouds, from the composition of a poem to the spread of a forest fire are all directed by the Law of Chaos. "Chaos suggests that instead of resisting life's uncertainties, we should embrace them. . . Painters, poets, and musicians have long known that creativity blossoms when they are participating in chaos." A car accident CREATES quadriplegic, cartoonist, painter, musician, John Callahan at the age of 21. "I've learned that circumstances are not happening to me so much as they are happening for me." He knew how to liberate his spirit and to be in the flow. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) CREATES the brilliant astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Hawking. Again at the age of 21, just before his wedding he was given 2 years to live. He acknowledges that time travel is a scientific possibility. Perhaps, this explains how he lived to be 69 now....... A creative mind is a highly "dynamic system". Irrespective of its surroundings a creative mind will have the audacity to dream, decode and devise. The creative process moves from this primal urge to create, through a period of seemingly utter disarray and disorder before it converges into harmonious unity. Johannes Vermeer, the 18th century Dutch painter created 35 paintings using "two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women". Yet, the limitation of his resources did not hinder him from having a tryst with glittering optics that he is so famously known for. He had a singular way of creating a mood with light and shadow. The concept of Chaos is evolving from a scientific theory into a cultural metaphor. As a metaphor it allows us to question some of our most admired assumptions and emboldens us to ask fresh questions about reality. Engage in the Seven Life Lessons of Chaos and find organizing intelligence in chaos. Articles you might like
After an unsuccessful siege of 9 years the The Trojan War was over. Odysseus had successfully deceived the enemy into bringing the colossal wooden horse into the city of Troy. Captivated by the size of this magnanimous horse the Trojans pulled the horse into their city walls as a victory trophy. That night Troy was sacked and the Trojans were massacred. The object of their intrigue turned out to be their inevitable destiny in violence and captivation. It was in the design of this massive scaled horse that the Trojan War was won. It is a phenomenal example of how opposites (big and small, muscle and mind, life and lifeless) come into play to achieve the necessary outcome. It is also an interesting lesson in the duality of our existence.Interestingly enough, it was love and beauty that launched this decade of hate and war. As Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan poet, says of Helen of Troy: "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." It is in the "opposites" that creativity sprouts, that an idea gains momentum and manifests itself in form. My favourite poet and mystic, Jalauddin Rumi writes: "God created suffering and heartache so that joyful-heartedness might appear through its opposite. Hence hidden things become manifest through opposites. But since God has no opposite, He remains hidden. For the sight falls first upon light, then upon color: Opposites are made manifest through opposites, like white and black. ......... Know that form springs from meaning as the lion from the thicket, or as voice and speech from thought. Form was born from speech and then died. It took its wave back to the sea. Form comes out from Formlessness: Then it returns, for "unto Him we are returning" Make "opposites" an integral part of your art and design. It commands captivity and creates unity. It is what draws the viewer's eye into the canvas and helps movement in the space. Just the right amount of "opposites" engages the viewers' participation in comparing various elements of the work. The viewer sees the light and shadows of a painting, wide lines and thin lines, light-weight forms and heavy forms, filled spaces and unfilled spaces and so forth. Use size, value, color, type, texture, shape, alignment, direction, movement to take charge of the "opposites". Mastering "opposites" is a lifelong pilgrimage that involves interpretation of functions, both tangible and intangible, physical, and psychological. "For is and is-not come together; Hard and easy are complementary; Long and short are relative; High and low are comparative; Pitch and sound make harmony; Before and after are a sequence."....... Lao Tzu, translated by Raymond R. Blakney. Articles you might like
"Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls"... Jelaluddin Rumi {13th century Sufi mystic, scholar, poet and a 21st century inspirational genesis.} Convention teaches us to be cautious of Ambiguity. The art of communication preaches about the dubious nature of Ambiguity. Dictionary defines Ambiguity as an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context, unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning. For example, "Lucy doesn't like dressing with her turkey, however she likes stuffing". Ambiguity is an enigma. Ambiguity is incertitude. Ambiguity is inconclusiveness, indefiniteness, indeterminateness. Ambiguity is obscurity. Ambiguity is vagueness. Given this baggage that Ambiguity is burdened with, I am of the unconventional opinion that Ambiguity lends plurality of meanings to an object or design; the possibility of being read or used in different ways. Smart phones are the tangible products of Ambiguity at its finest. Ambiguity enriches design and adds layers of probabilities in the viewer's mind. Ambiguity is the mistress of our complex minds. How then, does Ambiguity heighten experiential marketing like trade shows? Here is where contradiction comes into play. The age old trade show marketing precept that you have 3 seconds to demonstrate who you are and what you do is being radically tested. In an age of hyper-competition the only way to distinguish from the masses is to build your own tribe. Once, that has been established Ambiguity becomes your ally. Use this spice to enhance the expression of your designs and you will treasure the results. I started with Rumi. I end with Rumi. He calls this ambiguous space "Zero Circle". I see this as a space of pure potential. Miracles happen in this space. Be helpless, dumbfounded, Unable to say yes or no. Then a stretcher will come from grace to gather us up. We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty. If we say we can, we're lying. If we say No, we don't see it, That No will behead us And shut tight our window onto spirit. So let us rather not be sure of anything, Beside ourselves, and only that, so Miraculous beings come running to help. Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute, We shall be saying finally, With tremendous eloquence, Lead us. When we have totally surrendered to that beauty, We shall be a mighty kindness. Articles you might like
With search engines, media portals and social networking sites cluttered with dozens of links and banners ads and magazines scattered with inserts and advertorials, how do we break through the clutter to grab the attention of consumers? Increasingly, the long lost science of tracking eye movements is coming back in vogue as markets figure out how to make eye contact with their target customers. Eye tracking first appeared more than 100 years ago. It measures a person’s gaze toward a screen, a page or 3D space [trade shows, events and exhibitions] to record what they look at (and don’t look at) and for how long, providing valuable data on customer behavior. For many years the most consistent way users viewed pages according to eye tracking tests, was in an “F” pattern (also known as the “golden triangle”). This means that viewers first looked at the upper left corner, then scanned down and over in a consistent pattern. But recent evidence shows that the "F" pattern has made the transition to an "E". Gord Hotchkiss, president of Enquiro and a columnist for MediaPost.com’s Search Insider, conducted some research only to find out some unexpected discoveries that run counter to the classic “F” conclusion. Hotchkiss’ research revealed that more people are viewing online content in an “E” pattern. They start by looking at graphics in the middle of the page first and then follow the copy up and down from there. And though bigger images were better at grabbing attention, this rule was still true even when small thumbprint images were used. If this is true for online page viewing imagine the effect of "E" in a 3D space design. Simple, large, mural is the key to holding viewer gaze. Below are tips on how to make the most of this field of study. Keep it simple. Keep it real. Viewers are instinctively drawn to human faces and there’s growing evidence that “real people” rather than professional models are more likely to keep their attention. And Not too colorful. Eye tracking research has shown that black, white, red, yellow, blue and green (primary colors) are the most likely to get noticed [online]. Eye tracking is a subtle science yet the minor movements it follows can have a major impact on how your content is received. By incorporating these ideas into your creatives you may be able to influence where a viewer’s gaze not only begins, but where it holds, and that could make all the difference. Articles you might like
If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. ~ Gautama Buddha, circa 563 B.C.E No one understands this miracle in one, more so than trade show designers and exhibit visual designers. The perennial philosolphy "Pick the best and use it everywhere" is usually the foolproof rule of exhibition and gallery graphics. However, it would be impossible for an institution with rich heritage and artifacts ranging from hundreds of years to focus on ONE. For exmple, British Galleries at the V&A contained 400 years of the finest British furniture, art, and interior design ever collected. Picking one was going to be tough. So Michael Johnson picked few instead and let the visitor imagine what wearing, leaning on, or snogging in front of all these treasures might feel like. Every artist have slightly different list of principles. Usually, the four below works for me. Emphasis - "Center of Interest." It is about dominance and influence. Most artists put it a bit off center and balance it with some minor themes to maintain our interest. Some artists avoid emphasis on purpose. They want all parts of the work to be equally interesting. Harmony - As in music, complementary layers and/or effects can be merged to produce a more attractive whole. The composition is complex, but everything appears to fit with everything else. The whole is better than the sum of its parts. Unity - "When nothing distracts from the whole, you have unity." Unity without variation can be monotonous. Unity with diversity generally has more to offer in both art and in life. Of course, some very minimal art can be very calming and at times even very evocative. A simple landscape can have a powerful effect. Opposition - This is my favourite. Usage of contrasting visual concepts. That plains of Dakota with "big sky" landscape becomes very dramatic and expressive when a storm builds in the southwest. Articles you might like
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Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. Franz Kafka |