Movement/Motion: Navigation

In this example of people navigating a building, visitors first confront the large hall immediately following the entrance doors.  This space seems to be mainly for meandering and meeting other people.  Then visitors can proceed to the inner rooms where there are exhibits that might catch their interest.  The design of the space was meant to direct people in a one-way motion- to the inner interior of the building at the far back.  However the problem I find with this is that there is no directed flow of movement- and so the resulting movement pattern would be sporadic. Also with flows of traffic coming from opposing directions, it could make for a stop-and-go kind of walking pattern.  I think the architects built the building so large to compensate for this (judging by the size of the fake people).  This type of design could also possibly work in favor for the visitors as well- the intention being that you'd have to back through the entire gallery to exit, and along the way you could see things you missed.  Or perhaps they intended the crowd to trail the edge of one wall first, and en route coming back to the entrance, would follow the other wall. The one part of the design I really agree with here is the circular-looking exhibit in the middle; this kind of layout provides a sort of "capsule" of an exhibit, cut off physically from other ones.

http://www.frbatlanta.org/about/visitcntrstours/storyofmoney.cfm

This other example of a walk-through layout is a little awkward.  The blue section has been highlighted to show the area which makes up the museum; the grey area is designated for staff members.  Like the previous one, this one also has a walk-towards-the-end centered design plan. This is the lower level of the museum- people enter on the floor above this one, and come down the stairs, pictured right above where it says, "a time to remember."  However this one incorporates twisty turns and odd corners and passages, which if it really is as small as I imagine it to be, would be a hassle to try to walk and maneuver around other visitors into the same space to see the same exhibit. Particularly the corridor in the middle of this layout- that small hallway funnels down to open up into the big room to the right of the picture.  It's a walk-there, then retrace-my-steps kind of design.  I do agree with the spacious presentation of the exhibit hall, say the least tho that it is slightly deceptive because one does not realize there is such a big area after the hallway.  However, having the bathrooms almost immediately at the bottom of the stairs is a good idea.  They are downstairs so they are not in direct reach of the immediate public that walk through the front entrance, but they close enough to access fairly easily.  If I were to have designed this better, I would have tried to direct the flow of visitors by connecting each separate exhibit to the other in a circle or maze fashion (like how in IKEA there is a designated way to walk, and you never re-trace the same area twice). 

http://www.brucemuseum.ca/plan-a-visit/museum-layout/

Dimension/Depth/Space/Scale

In this picture, the first and most noticeable aspect is the establishment of the viewing eye level in dimension.  Dimension depends partially on the angle at which the viewer observes whatever he is viewing.  In this case the viewer is looking down onto the cushions and, further back, onto the sofa in the background.  Photography in particular makes distinctive use of perspective as a tool in portraying the flavor of a picture to an audience.  Shooting a picture from an angle makes up for the narrower range of vision (versus the wide range of peripheral vision that eye encompasses).  In this particular picture, the camera is angled to highlight the sunflower-looking cushions on the floor.  In the picture, these cushions are like the main course, and the sofa is the desert afterward.  The more obvious aspect of dimension here is that the cushions are in front and the sofa is in back, so it appears smaller in comparison.  However the viewer would probably determine that relatively, the sofa is probably not as small as it appears here.  This is part of how the actual space of the room was manipulated through the lens of a camera when it became this 2-dimensional picture: the representation of 3D in a 2D visual format is a manipulation of space; it is an illusion. 

A second element in play is the element of scale.  "All visual elements have the capacity to modify and define each other.  The process, itself, is the element of scale" (Dondis, 56).  In scale, everything is relative to each other because the elements that make up scale can change and warp depending on the complete picture, surrounding elements, and the juxtaposition of these elements to each other.  Therefore, scale is not absolute, and it changes.  In this particular picture, color is juxtaposed against other colors to create a clash and a 'wow' effect from the seeming brightness of the colors (when in fact they may not be so bright-looking by themselves). Although scale does not depend on measurement, it is aided by it--and in this picture, the mean measurement tool seemed to be the human being.  Everything is sized to the proportions of an average-sized adult person.  

http://www.dezeen.com/2008/12/05/takashi-murakami-at-design-miami/

Tone and Color

This motorbike is an example of tone and color functioning in design.


Tone-wise, the differences in the intensity of light and darkness playing off the contours of the bike give it a sense of motion, although it is obviously stationary.  One of the things motorbike consumers look for in a good bike is the sense of sleekness- if the bike visually *looks* like it would move fast, no matter if it actually will or not.  What tone does for this concept is it defines the sleek shape of the bike, highlighting the sloping angles of the material the bike was crafted from.  In this way, tone works together with shape to give dimension to the bike.  Also, the tone creates a linear break in the parts of the body- from more rounded areas to area of depression, to places where pieces were welded together, etc.  


Color-wise, the bike is visually separated into parts, or sections, depending on the color given to that area.  For example the tires are black, the body of the bike is a yellow gold, and the seat is a brownish red color.  But there are also highlighter colors- the black from the front tire continues to the handlebars, as if when it were in motion, the bike was moving so fast that the black color streaked back that way.  Also the silver lining on the inside of the front tire and along the sides of the engine give the impression that the manufacturer paid careful attention to the very last details.  However notice how the back tire is covered by the yellow-gold colored shell of the body: it gives the feeling like the back tire is more grounded whereas the front on is ready to grind up the highway.  Also, color works with texture here because in general, the different materials on this bike are segregated by color (the rubber tires are black, the metal (?) casing is yellow gold, the leather (?) seat is brownish-red, etc).  Lastly the choice of yellow for the body gives the sense that the body is expanding; yellow and red colors tend to expand whereas blue tends to contract.  The yellow makes the body seem more "muscular" in this sense.