Study Task 2 - Visual Metaphors

Angie Wang 

 

Illustration for the Article "is depression inherited?" in the New York Times 

I was instantly drawn to this illustration by Angie Wang by:

• The colours
• The composition
• The use of media
• Instant narrative

There's a clear use of a visual metaphor in the sense of the article focusing on the idea of depression. The foggy dark cloud surrounding the mothers head suggests a sense of low tone and mood indicating  a darker mood for the illustration. The rough scribbled marks used for the head of the mother shows an almost 'confusion and gives the idea of being lost, almost like the messed up route on a map.

Blue is often associated with being low and depressed, this colour scheme follows on through to the dress of the daughter, which is yet another hint towards the article being about depression being inherited.

Colour plays a large part in this illustration, the way they're placed in diagonal to eahcother each time, with the high key tones and the low key tones shows a strong bond between the mother and daughter but also a link with the article.

All of these features play a strong part in making this illustration a successful visual metaphor to accompany a text within a newspaper, I would like to try and take some features of this creation of visual metaphors in order to have a strong and successful set of illustrations.

MARION FAYOLLE

 

Illustration for the article - Infidelity Lurks in your Genes

I'm really intruged by the narrative in Marion Fayolle's work, the illustration, although one piece, is positioned in the format of a series of sequential images. This is an interesting concept, demonstating the idea of story telling within editorial illustrations. 

This use of sequential images gives the impression of a strong narrative which is inforced by the use of colour.

Red is often seen as a colour of seduction, the woman wears a red dress which enforces this idea within the illustration.