visual summary - does graphic design belong to the realm of translation? so what if it does?

8/2/2019 Visual Summary - Does graphic design belong to the realm of translation? So what if it does?

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VISUAL RESEARCH

SUMMARY

DOES GRAPHIC DESIGN BELONG TO THE REALM OF TRANSLATION?

SO WHAT IF IT DOES?


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SUMMARY

Essay summary

Literary translation into visual form

In this essay I will explore the importance

and impact of translation in literature

and how these principles are applicable

to design. For this the first step will be

defining the meanings of translation and

remediation in the context of the essay.

As F. R. Amos states in Early Theories

of Translation, there has never been

uniformity of opinion with regard to the

aims and methods of translation. I will

explore if this is really so, or if there are

differences of opinion and definition and

whether this applies to remediation in the

same way.

The focus of the essay will be in

understanding the importance and

role of the translator and/or designer

as the communicator of the message.

The message is transformed by the

understanding of every individual reader

and is different to each one. This is why

the translator and/or designer can never

be neutral and it is their interpretation

that we see. I will also explore different

ways of expression in one language,

looking at literary movements such as

Oulipo.

Further along in the essay I can start

exploring the role of the designer as an

interpreter. Graphic designers use similar

tools as translators in interpreting andfinding the most important aspects of

a message that they need to visually

represent. As well as looking into the

likeness of these tools, I will also explore

the differences. When looking at the

designer as a translator I will look at

publishers such as Visual Editions, and

hopefully conduct an interview with Anna

Gerber about her views on the designer as

interpreter.

As the founders of Visual Editions, I

feel that the visual aspect of books and

the role of the designer as an interpreter

of the message, can add to the way

books are experienced and read.

it adds to the way we experience what

we read and the way we absorb and

understand the way stories are told:

through words and pictures. I hope to

conduct a few informal interviews with

writers to find out how they feel about

such visual interference and if they think

that it adds to the message or distracts the

reader from the message. Is this the same

question as having a goblet that makes

the wine taste even better, or does it just

distract from the true taste?

In the conclusion I will revise the

main aspects of what I have discovered,

and make a statement on whether the

interference of a designer as an interpreter

of the message adds or distracts from

content and why.

Alexandre Liziard

dition srigraphie.

Travail autour du songe.

Another piece by Alexandre Liziard whose

work I really admire

If this is a reflection of the dream does

that make this a work of translation /

interpretation / remediation?

Isnt translation in a sense the everyday act

of speaking as a way of translating oneself

to oneself (and then oneself to others)?


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I went to my friend Elanor Dymotts debut

book launch last night, and it was great.

Firstly I am very happy about all the

reviews her book is receiving, but also, i

had a chance to chat to some people from

the book publishing industry. It was a bit

too busy a party for proper conversation,

but I feel i got some insight.

On another note, I like the feel of

the paper of this book and the lovely

red edges. I lok forward to reading it,

and hopefully meeting up with Elanor

sometime to talk about visual writing and

get insight into how a writer might feel

about it.

BOOKLA

UNCH


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On Translation

Language is one yet languages are many.

In this very distinction lies the primordial

need for translation. What all languages

share in common is a capacity to mediate

between a human speaker and a world

of meanings (actual and possible)

(Kearney 2006, p xiii)

Now is this not talking about design?

There is no perfect form of expression

I have been putting a lot of thought into

the coice of text for me to work with and I

noticed that quite often i think no, I cant

mess with that! I will just ruin the beauty

of it. But then I realised that surely that

is something every interpreter might

encounter. Whether when remediating

a novel into a form of visual writing, a

screenplay or into another language. So

I looked into some of the problems and

truths about language.

To express oneself in any way is a

language. Whether it is speaking, writing,

improvising or visualising your thoughts.

The plurality of language, makes the

encounter with the other a condition

that requiers us to give up the dream

of a perfect language and of a global

translation without residue. The partiality

and the finitude of individual languages

is then viewed not as an insurmountable

obstacle but as the very precondition

of communication among individuals.

(Jermolino)

These thoughts made me feel better.

R. L. Stevensons Strange Case of Dr Jekyll

and Mr Hyde By Alberto Hernandez

QUOT

ES


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Hybrid Novel

Hybrid novels can be seen as image-text

hybrids where written text and a number

of graphic devices work together in order

to hold the readers interest, enhancing

the books interactivity and giving the

printed page a multidimensional visual

surface. This kind of books require the

readers actions, they demand to be

handled and experienced.

-Alberto Hernndez

Briana Garelli

My Unborn daughter

HYBRIDNOVEL


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27 March 2012

Catherine Tonge

The Tigers Bride

Volume 8


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Hybrid novel accorning to Hernandez

A hybrid novel, according to Alberto

Hernndez, can be seen as a hybrid

image-text novel, not a childrens book,

graphic novel/comic or gift book, but

a book where written text and graphic

devices such as illustration, photography,

information graphics or typographic

treatments may interject in order to hold

a readers interest. This combination adds

interactiveness to the book and also gives

the printed page a multidimensional visual

surface. A hybrid novel is a kind of book

that requires the readers actions and

also to be handled and experienced.

(Apostolos Mitsios)

HYBRIDNOVEL


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Jung+Wenigs version of Robert Louis

Stevensons novel The Strange Case of Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


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Breach John Ecko 2008

This is what I would not like to do when

exploring visual writing. Very literal. But

then again, he must have been trying to

achieve something very different from me..

Ten Poems from Hafez: Jila Peacock

This poem is of course called deer

Again not really what I am looking for

when i talk about visual translation. But

this publication looks quite nice. The

library copy I have at home is not even

nicely printed.

WORD&IMAGE


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From Calligraphie arabe vivante by Hassan

MASSOUDY

It is easier for me to see everything as

one thing than to see one thing as one

thing - Antonio PorchiaThese calligraphic texts are looking a lot

more appealing to me even though the

idea is the same (especially in the first

image). This is still not what I am looking

for, but aspects of it are playing nicely.


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This Is a Photograph by Paul Thompson

The Chase has created an unusual

promotional campaign for photographer

Paul Thompson. The twist is that his

posters and postcards contain no images

whatsoever

I wanted to make a genuine attempt to

convey an image in words, so that youd

have a good chance of picturing it when

youre done and so you would feel

drawn to Pauls website to see how close

you were, says Asbury. At the same

time, I wanted to highlight the comical

impossibility of conveying a picture

through language, because we all respond

to them so differently. A picture is never

just abou t ho w i t lo oks, but w hat it m akes

you think and feel.

All mediums and languages such as the

language of images have their strong and

weak sides.

WORD&

IMAGE


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Words Fail Me


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Thoughts on the essay

Importance of translation: Bible

culture! . Latin Greek. Visual

communication, is translation. Why?

Because translation is communicating the

same message in a different language or

form. In this case the visual language.

Sometimes an image can tell a thousand

words. Visual communication though

depletes some of the original meanings,

can say some of them much quicker,

more efficiently. Like in branding it is very

important to get the whole ideology of the

company across in one logo. Most people

will not go further than that to find out

more about the company. We live in a

world whichs pace is rapidly quickening.

Information needs to be grasped on to as

quickly as possible. How is this done in the

print media magazines and newspapers

are using means of visual communication

to organize the information so the readerwould have to read as little as possible.

Find bit in Wards book about it. The right

not to read?

Theories of literary interpretation are

invaluable in design discourse, to explain

the construction of meaning in visual

texts. I believe it is essential for designers

to examine literary theory and analyze its

creative process in order to then in turn

be able to control the similar / overlapping

aspects in design. To understand the

theory behind what we often might do

intuitively. Through this understanding,

the designer can gain more control over

the intended viewer / reader experience.

Through gaining a better understanding

of the design function, its practice can

become more informed and thus more

effective, diverse and eventually more

sustainable. (p.10) There is an infinite

amount of ways to tell the same story.

Exercises in style by Quineau is a great

example of this example, explanation

here. It is the translators role to figure out

the most appropriate way to do so.

Ricoeur, a French philosopher who

combined phenomenological description,

an approach concentrating on the study

of consciousness and the objects of

direct experience (Oxford Dictionary) with

hermeneutic interpretation, wrote that

there are two paradigms of translation:

the linguistic paradigm and the ontological

paradigm. The first refers to the words

that relate to meanings within one

language or between languages and the

latter to the occurrences of translation

within oneself and that between people in

everyday life situations.

Flux Bible - mix three different religions

in any way you want

THOUGHTS


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TED: Ideas worth spreading

Chip Kidd doesnt judge books by their

cover, he creates covers that embody

the book and he does it with a wicked

sense of humor!

The book cover tells the story of the

content while being pulled off the shelf.

WHATDOSTORIESLOOKLIKE?


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New plan

Does graphic design belong to the

realm of translation? If it does so what?

Questions: Is graphic design translation

and are the theories of translation

applicable o design? If the theories are

applicable, are they needed? If it is better

with theories, what to do?

1. Graphic design follows the basic

rules of translation. Give references! Meta

language. On the level of metalanguage,

graphic design transforms meaning

without the necessary use of words.

Typography, as part of graphic design

is in between, in an interesting place.

It binds word and image together. By

that it differs. Boundaries between word

and image are loosened and blurred in

typography and typographic design.

Graphic design is not word whereastypography can keep the verbal part. It

is on the border of the two. Intermingle.

Additive power, boost each other. Word

+ image.

2. It is preferable for a graphic designer

to also know the theory. Why, because.

Tacit knowledge. Knowledge passed from

person to person, from teacher, from

peers. Only intuition is not enough. 1 out

of 10 will do great things on intuition

alone, but most need theory to be able to

control the quality. Quality is achieved by

stability. Not on inspiration.

Tacit knowledge & intuition may

result in repetition of the same mistakes.

Might not explore things wider. In visual

communication, we can learn from other

fields. Knowing the theories. From music

and even medicine. Clinical experience.

Light bulb as a symbol for ideas.

Word , visual, typography is one

more step in this, with which to make

continuum. More visual less verbal or

opposite whenever. With such Complex

systems are hard to work with without

knowledge of theories.

Translate to the language of the focus

group.

3. Examples. Laws of translation

theories and what they look like in design.

Images, examples.

4. Future: Pedagogical theories. Why

intuition and tacit knowledge are not

enough. How to raise the general level

of graphic design? It can be improved by

adding it to the curriculum.

5. Education today doesnt include

these theoretical aspects. Need to note,

pay attention to this and fix it so that the

future designer can score the goal at any

time. If you get a commission but have noinspiration, foot hurts. If you know the

theory you will still do a good job. Talent

+ technique (skill, practice, procedure)

= best work. Literacy, a pinned down

technique, mastery, repetition.

LIght Reading.

Old Bricks Into Classic Books

Daryl Fitzgerald has given the citys old

bricks a new lease of life by transforming

them into antique books.

PLAN

visual summary - does graphic design belong to the realm of translation? so what if it does?

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