Digital Tools in visual Designs

By: Stewart Mafeni

Visual designs are ‘nonverbal arts that reach us via the eyes.’ Visual designs are divided according to the kinds of materials that are used and the way the designs are produced. In this way, three dimensional objects are distinguished from photographs, prints and paintings.

Digital tools have now become integral parts of the process of making art. In this focus is put on computer assisted art or visual designs. This modernistic trend in pursuing art or visual designs is referred to as Digital art.

Digital art can be purely computer-generated, such as fractals, or taken from another source, such as a scanned photograph, or an image drawn using vector graphics software using a mouse or graphics tablet.

Although technically the term may be applied to art done using other media or processes and merely scanned in, it is usually reserved for art that has been non-trivially modified by a computing process (such as a computer program, microcontroller or any electronic system capable of interpreting an input to create an output); digitized text data and raw audio and video recordings are not usually considered digital art in themselves, but can be part of a larger project.

Digital art is produced by using electronic versions of brushes, filters and enlargers, these "Neographers" produce images unattainable through conventional photographic tools. In addition, digital artists may manipulate scanned drawings, paintings, collages or lithographs, as well as using any of the above-mentioned techniques in combination. Artists also use many other sources of information and programs to create their work.

By the concept digital tools in visual designs emphasis is on computer aided visual designs as opposed to conventionally drawn or panted visual designs. The objective is to produce images of high quality surpassing that attainable by conventional drawings or paintings. Furthermore, reproducibility and mass production are both attainable with computer assisted visual designs.

The concept of digital tools in visual designs was propounded way back in the 1920s. Bauhaus, a school for art and architecture in the 1920s, promoted the idea that ‘artful objects should be partnered with technology to create livable solutions to living spaces.’ Simply put, Bauhaus design offers practical, durable, inexpensive, yet aesthetically pleasing designs. To most, Bauhaus may mean a modernistic approach to architecture, visual designs or art, but artists, architects or designers can use the concepts of Bauhaus to provide easy solutions for making their respective tasks in their professions fully functional while retaining the unique aspects of their artful skills.

The visual designs that are produced using digital tools stand out in several aspects. For those individuals who have the ability to visualize and see the world in pictures. Such designs depict a unique touch which is not attainable conventionally.

The design abilities of artists, architects or designers are affected positively with digital tools. This is so because of greater possibilities that digital tools are able to offer to an artist or a designer.

Digital artists create in their minds video-like images from either actual daily experiences or translations of written information into pictures. These pictures are later digitally encoded unto the graphic software in a computer.

Visual Artists think in photographically specific images. Children who are visual thinkers will often be good at drawing, other arts, and building things with building toys such as Lego's. Many children who are visual thinkers like maps, flags, and photographs. And these children can be introduced to digital tools in their early developmental stages so that they should sharpen their skills in visual designs.

In the long run skilled visual thinkers will be produced who will be well suited to jobs in drafting, graphic design, training animals, auto mechanics, jewelry making, construction, and factory automation. This will be the case because these people think in pictures or images. These images are first created in their minds and are later drawn on suitable surfaces. These surfaces may be a paper, wall, plank, pulpwood etc.

Besides the suitable surface, artists draw with chalk, charcoal, crayon, or pencil. They may use a liquid, such as ink, applied with a brush or pen for painting or drawing purposes. Sometimes it becomes very expensive to acquire all these items. As a result, most visual thinkers get discouraged and the talents in them are not nurtured or sharpened. In the end, most visual thinkers retract from investing more of their skills in visual designs thereby denying the field of the attention it deserves.

If I have no picture, I have no thought. Unfortunately I never had an opportunity to try trigonometry or geometry. Teachers and parents need to develop the child's talents into skills that can eventually turn into satisfying jobs or hobbies thereby assisting in community development through visual designs that have to be appreciated aesthetically.

Visual Thinking

Visual thinking refers to a group of generative skills that, when practiced with rigorous discipline, results in the production of novel and original graphic ideas. By seeking to discover visual forms that fit his/her underlying human experience, the student of visual thinking comes to know the world. This practice of thinking with images alone is stressed in University Entrance Examinations in order to balance the over-emphasis on verbal reasoning in other areas of education. Visual thinking is high order critical thinking conducted by imaginative means alone.

Unfortunately, the Malawi or Africa education system do appreciate that the field of visual designs affect our opinions about policy issues and social values, or our preferences on fashions and every day life. This is the case because it is looked at as old fashioned because it is still pursued the conventional way.

For example, in colleges or schools where art related courses are offered, there are a few or no students patronizing it. In some cases, students register for art courses simply to make up for their course combinations during their early years of college or school education. Evidently, at Chancellor College, a constituent College of the University of Malawi, more students enroll for fine arts in their first year of study simply to satisfy the course combination requirement. When they happen to get to their second year of study most of them drop out of fine arts leaving a few students who may proceed to their third year and drop out thereafter. At the end of the programme one or two may graduate having specialized in fine arts.

However, this trend can be reversed with the idea of digital tools in visual designs. A computer in the visual designs will act as a driving force. Instead of using computers only when visual artists happen to visit an internet café, they will use computers in their day to day work. By digital tools in visual designs, it means that without a computer, art, visual designs cannot be produced by a digital artist.

Digital tools refer to the media used to produce Visual designs.

Advantages of using digital tools as opposed to conventional means are many as such it stands out. Digital tools have enabled interactivity in the art field. The Singapore Arts Magazine, 2001, stipulates that ‘artists interact with machines to create further interaction with viewers who either summon up the art on their own machines or manipulate it through pre-programmed routines, which can vary according to the commands or movements of a viewer.’

Secondly, artists working with digital media are just utilizing another medium for expression while observing the contemporary context and the ramifications that the increasing digitization of day-to-day life has on the society.

Thirdly, art works produced digitally are easy to store for a long period of time. As a result digital prints are reproducible any time they are needed.

Fourthly, digitized designs are exhibited electronically on the internet or world wide web thereby reaching out to a wider audience without any geographical barriers.

With conventional designs, there is a limitation in terms of exhibition. A gallery is physically placed in a specific geographical location as such there’s geographical barrier. For a patron to view the visual designs he/she is expected to travel to where the gallery is situated.

Another advantage is longevity; Wilhelm states that ‘today’s digital printing technology, fading of colours does not occur for 60 to 100 years.’ Printer tones are long lasting.

These count more in digital art as opposed to contemporary arts. On a different note, the concept of a computer in visual designs will be a motivating factor to art students in different schools and colleges thereby allowing for more patrons in the field.

Appropriate Digital tools

The appropriate computers for this form of art are iMac Computers G3, G4 or G5 with Mac OS operating systems, Flatbed scanners, Laser Printers that can print multicolour documents. The OS X system has several versions ranging from version 9 through 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, to 10.5.

Macs are good and stable for art. Bowler argues that the very obvious advantage over PCs is that nobody is writing viruses to attack Macs. The OS X system is very powerful and stable.

In a final analysis, using digital tools in visual designs is very feasible. This will help artists to avoid some overhead expenditure.

All artistic tools are compacted in the digital tools that an artist uses. As such no requirement to buy extras e.g. chalk, pencil, paint etc. This is so because these neographers are contained in the art software that digital artists use.