Lecture 4: Assignment 2 - Making Images Talk

For the classroom activity for this lecture, we were told to choose an object and distil it using at least five levels of abstraction until the simplest but still recognizable form of the original object is left. We can choose either the iconic or indexic form of the object.

After looking around the room for some inspiration, I decided on the clock, an object that is not too complicated and rather straightforward to distil. Below is my sketch of the levels of abstraction in my sketchbook:

I decided to use the iconic form of this object because the indexic form (which I believe is the hands of the clock) is way too simple too distil any further. Stage 0 shows the complete clock with a frame, all three hands, all the numbers, ticks and type (quartz). Stage 1 has the ticks and the shading of the frame removed, while Stage 2 is missing 8 numbers and the second hand. The image in Stage 3 is left with just a circle and the hour and minute hand, while Stage 4 has just both hands. Finally, I have reduced the hands to mere lines in Stage 5 which also is the indexic form of the clock (in my opinion). I have decided to use Stage 3 to further develop into a symbol (for the A4) because it is simple, yet the basic components (the clock face and two hands) are still there to indicate that it is still a clock.

I will continue working on this piece using Freehand and I believe the final images will be very similar.