OUGD406 - Secret 7 - Concept One Progression

Having produced a painting of a blue eye to provide the concept one resolution with greater depth and distinction following critique feedback, I exchanged the original simplistic, digitally rendered eye element with the newly painted visual information. The design before and after this exchange can be seen below:

Original/Initial Resolution

Updated Resolution

As can be seen above, the addition of the painted eye drastically impacts the perception of the design. Once flat and lacking distinction, the painted eye now holds the gaze as a result of its captivating realism, making for a more engaging design. As a result of the range of tones/shades present within the eye, both circular forms that surround the eye are cohesively made complimentary to the design as a whole, bringing the individual visual information together as one via consistent use of hue.

Though the resolution I believe has been significantly improved, the overall aesthetic remains visually unfinished. In an attempt to resolve this, I plan to explore alternative ground possibilities that further explore the design context to potentially enhance the resolution.

Initially I opted for a simple change in ground colour, from white to light grey. This softened the stark aesthetic of the design, whilst also creating a greater centre-focus on the eye due to the gaze's natural instinct to be drawn to the lightest element of visual information within a composition, this being the white ellipse around the eye and reflection of light crossing the pupil and iris. The change in ground makes for an ultimately more harmonious resolution. 

Next, I wanted to incorporate a visual representation of lyrics identified in the initial exploration of the song, these being 'just another time that I go down, but you were keeping up.' The Chvrches 

song features an abundance of visual imagery concerning movement and direction, something 

that could potentially be reflected through the design also. Considering this, I supplied the 

resolution with a repetitive pattern I created using columns of simple arrows alternating 

in direction between up and down. 

In order to maintain the tonal harmony of the design and in attempt for the ground pattern to not be overpowering or distracting from the primary visual information, I set the directional arrow pattern in a slightly darker shade of grey. This subtly communicates the directional lyric connotation that can be found in the 'clearest blue' track.

Here, I also explored the grey directional pattern on white ground for purely for motives of experimentation to be critiqued as a potential variation of the concept one resolution. 

Though I will put each variation of this resolution to critique to identify which is considered most effective by others, my thoughts after this episode of progression/experimentation are that whilst 

the change in ground colour from white to grey creates a more refined resolution, the directional pattern -whilst informed - complexifies the design and is a distraction from what is ultimately the most significant piece of visual information.