VISUAL INFORMATION AND MEDIA (Lecture)

Visual Design Principles are:

Consistency - Consistency of margins, typeface, typestyle, and colors is necessary, especially in slide presentations or documents that are more
than one page.
Center of interest – an area that first attracts attention in a composition. This area is more important when compared to the other objects or
elements in a composition. This can be by contrast of values, more colors, and placement in the format.
Balance – a feeling of visual equality in shape, form, value, color, etc. Balance can be symmetrical and evenly balanced, or asymmetrical and
unevenly balanced. Objects, values, colors, textures, shapes, forms, etc. can be used in creating balance in a composition.
Harmony – brings together a composition with similar units. If for example your composition was using wavy lines and organic shapes, you would
stay with those types of lines and not put in just one geometric shape. (Notice how similar Harmony is to Unity - some sources list both terms).
Contrast – offers some change in value creating a visual discord in a composition. Contrast shows the difference between shapes and can be used
as a background to bring objects out and forward in a design. It can also be used to create an area of emphasis.
Directional Movement – a visual flow through the composition. It can be the suggestion of motion in a design as you move from object to object by
way of placement and position. Directional movement can be created with a value pattern. It is with the placement of dark and light areas that you
can move your attention through the format.
Rhythm – a movement in which some elements recur regularly. Like a dance, it will have a flow of objects that will seem to be like the beat of
music.
Perspective – created through the arrangement of objects in two dimensional space to look like they appear in real life. Perspective is a
learned meaning of the relationship between different objects seen in space.
Audio Information and Media (Lecture)
Types and Categories of Audio Information
a. Radio broadcast - live or recorded audio sent through radio waves to reach a wide audience.
b. Music - vocal and/or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form,
harmony, and expression of emotion. It is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from
aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product.
c. Sound recording - recording of an interview, meeting, or any sound from the environment.
d. Sound clips/effects - any sound, other than music or speech, artificially reproduced to create an effect
in a dramatic presentation, as the sound of a storm or a creaking door.
e. Audio Podcast - a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be
downloaded from a website to a media player or computer.

The Different Ways of Storing Audio Media:

a. Tape - magnetic tape on which sound can be recorded.
b. CD - a plastic-fabricated, circular medium for recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, and
computer data.
c. USB drive - an external flash drive, small enough to carry on a key ring, that can be used with any
computer that has a USB port.
d. Memory Card - (aka flash memory card or storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data
such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable, or remote computing devices.
e. Computer hard drive - secondary storage devices for storing audio files.
f. Internet/Cloud - websites or file repositories for retrieving audio files, and more precisely the files are
stored in some datacenter full of servers that is connected to the Internet.

The Different Audio File Formats:

a. MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) - a common format for consumer audio, as well as a standard of digital
audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on most digital audio players.
b. M4A/AAC (MPEG-4 Audio/Advanced Audio Coding) - an audio coding standard for lossy digital
audio compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better
sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates.
c. WAV - is a Microsoft audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It has become
a standard file format for game sounds, among others.
d. WMA (Windows Media Audio) - is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft
and used with Windows Media Player.
• Mixing - the combination, balance and control of multiple sound elements.
• Pace - Time control. Editing. Order of events: linear, non-linear, or multi-linear.
• Transitions - How you get from one segment or element to
another.

Types of transitions:
- Segue - one element stops, the next begins ("cut" in film).
- Cross-fade - one element fades out, the next fades in, and
they overlap on the way.
- V-Fade - First element fades to inaudible before the second
element begins.
- Fade to Black - V-Fade with some silence between elements.
- Waterfall - As first element fades out, the second element
begins at full volume. Better for voice transitions, than for
effects.
• Stereo Imaging - Using left and right channel for depth.