Logos

After researching logos, I’ve found that they can take the form of either a symbol/icon, a logotype (a company’s unique typeface), or the more common combination of the two. A logo’s purpose is primarily to gain recognition from consumers, which leads to the trust of the brand it is associated with. Logos play a big role in business and advertising, and their colors, fonts and images scarcely repeat between companies in the same industry. Logos can also be used outside of the businesses world; For example the red cross logo.
(information from www.wikipedia.com)

The image at the top is of The Hershey Company’s logo; It is a combination of logotype and a symbol, as the dark brown rectangle is a representation of their product (chocolate).

Sign-a thing whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence, occurrence, or advent of something else.
Symbol-a material object representing something, often something immaterial
Icon-a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it.
(definitions from www.dictionary.com)

Duchamp

(image from Wikipedia)

At first glance, Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” seemed like an image that anyone could create - randomly dispersed doodles, possibly representing something personal and therefor inscrutable (since the visuals alone do not convey the purpose). However, after visually examining the piece it became apparent that organization was present, as certain shape/tone clusters formed perceptible [yet abstract] objects. Even more noticeable, a horizontal line divided the piece into two sections. Because time was spent arranging the image’s content, Duchamp had some intention of making his work visually appealing. Still, the image’s aesthetics do not convey its meaning, and it was not until Duchamp’s notes were presented that I began to understand The Bride. It is a sequence, not a static image, that depicts female and male interaction (in all ways conceivable), and the luck associated with a woman accepting her suitors’ proposals ( not necessarily for marriage). However, to be able to “see” this perpetual chain of events, one must read the notes and relate them to the objects found in the image. In addition, many crucial “parts” exist only in the notes, primarily those that flow (belong to several sections of the event), such as the malic gas and the shots. Without the visuals, the notes themselves would be gibberish, since they would no longer be referencing something. Overall, there are no faults I can assign this piece, except that it is incomplete. Though Duchamp presents us with abstract forms, he provides insight as to what they actually are through his notes. By combining the two types of information presented to us, written and visual, we are able to appreciate Duchamp’s piece as a very unique and thought out collection of ideas.

Patterns in Repetition

I find it interesting that so many things rely on a repeated single unit for their aesthetic appeal: floor tiles, wall coverings, fabric prints, and Islamic architecture. Observing their designs, I noticed how they could be broken down into a single square (the single unit), being simple or complex, that contains every object of the overall design. Sometimes the single unit contains 1/2 or 1/4 of an object, and requires adjacent units to make that object identifiable. With Islamic architecture, it is the same principle, except adapted for spherical shapes (domes).

Above you can see that the single unit (outlined in blue) is more triangular than square, and when repeated 8 times, it completes the 360 degree design of the dome. Also, you can see that one of the objects of the design requires 2 single units to be seen (circled in green). To conclude, designs are not as intricate as they may appear, since they are really formed by a repeating single unit. These units can be arranged in a numerous amount of ways, therefor many designs show only one possible arrangement out of hundreds.

Gestalt

(picture from Google images)

"Gestalt is a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts"
-dictionary.com

Looking at the above image, you can either see a man playing the saxophone, or a woman's face. These to figures are not created by the positive space, but rather how our brains perceive the positive against the negative. Thus the meaning of the image is greater than its actually parts, because it requires more than the positive to define it.