8 scale

“If you don’t scale the mountain, you can’t view the plain.”

CHINESE PROVERB

scale \'skāl\ n

5 b: a distinctive relative size, extent, or degree

The visual principle of scale is defined as a relative, progressive classification of proportion or a degree of size, amount, importance, and rank in a composition.

Proportion and scale are related design principles in visual communications. Proportion refers to the size relationships of design elements relative to the space they occupy in an overall composition. Scale refers to the size comparisons of the design elements in a composition, or a size relationship when comparing one design element to another.

The inaugural issue of the McGill School of Architecture alumni newsletter uses extreme typographic scale as an eye-catching, attention-getting device. Small-scale, narrative-based typography is printed on newsprint in a single color—blue (evoking architectural blueprints)—with a vibrant, fluorescent orange overprint highlighting important information on select pages. To emphasize the school’s many alumni, the names of all living alumni (approximately 3,000 names) were listed on the front cover with “I was here” overprinted in orange. The visual impact of this oversized typographic message juxtaposed with the diminuitive columnar text of the newsletter creates a bold, engaging invitation for the reader, as well as making it extremely personal for the reader to engage with and ultimately explore.

ATELIER PASTILLE ROSE

Montreal, QUE, CA

The primary communication element of this branding program for Evolutiva, a firm specializing in leadership coaching, is a typographic poster composed of narrative content in varying scales and sizes that reflects the firm’s values and explains key concepts of the firm’s metaphor-based training programs. Words and statements are cropped, flipped, and fragmented in a variety of different configurations to further engage and provoke the viewer. Business cards were also cut from this same poster to emphasize both the element of surprise and the strategic thinking that highlights the firm’s different leadership concepts.

BLOK DESIGN

Mexico City, MX

On a day-to-day basis, we all make scale comparisons relating to size, distance, and weight.

These types of visual comparisons are usually based on known and familiar experiences that constantly provide us with a visual reference or orientation. For example, a skyscraper or snow-capped mountain on the horizon may be difficult to judge in terms of size. However, when we juxtapose either of these with a familiar scale reference such as a person, car, or even a book, it is easier for us to immediately quantify and understand.

This type of scale is also used in maps, architectural plans, and models. It is a scale ratio defined numerically as two quantities separated by a colon (:). For example, a scale noted as 1:50 is one unit of measurement, such as inches or meters, and represents fifty of the same units at full size.

1935

Normandie Poster

ADOLPHE JEAN-MARIE MOURON (A. M. CASSANDRE)

Paris, FR

A. M. Cassandre and the Art of the Modern Poster

ADOLPHE JEAN-MARIE MOURON, also known as A. M. Cassandre (1901–1968), was one of the most influential poster designers of the twentieth century. Born in Khrakov, Ukraine, in 1901, Cassandre spent most of his life in Paris following his family’s emigration to France during the Russian Revolution of 1917. As a young man, he studied drawing and painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and at the Academie Julian.

Cassandre was a man of many talents and, like most creative individuals, he experimented throughout his life and career with a wide variety of techniques and styles. From 1922 to 1940, he devoted himself to the art of the poster. In the latter part of his life, he returned to his first love, painting, as well as teaching graphic design at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs and then at the Ecole d’Art Graphique.

In 1936 his work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which led to numerous cover commissions from Harper’s Bazaar.

At the age of 24, he furthered his growing reputation with works such as Bucheron (Woodcutter), a poster created for a French cabinetmaker that won first prize at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Additionally, his innovative approach for the Dubonnet wine company was among the first posters and advertisements designed to be seen and read by passengers in moving vehicles.

His love of fine art, combined with his typographic sensitivity and natural ability to combine these two distinct disciplines into coherent and visually dynamic design solutions, enabled Cassandre to become one of the earliest and most successful commercial artists and poster designers in the world. Inspired by surrealism and cubism, his posters are memorable for their innovative graphic solutions and their frequent references to twentieth-century avant-garde painters such as Max Ernst (German, 1891–1976) and Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973).

Normandie, an iconic poster that afforded him international fame and recognition, is a primary example of how Cassandre used scale as a dynamic compositional element in all of his work.

The poster’s frontal view is completely symmetrical with an extreme upward angle that emphasizes the ship’s monumental scale and art deco lines. It is composed in a manner that draws our eyes irresistibly upward to the sky. The immense scale of the ship’s prow is further emphasized by the French flag at the prow’s apex as well as a group of tiny gulls and sea foam close to the horizon line where ship meets sea. This reductive, erect composition towers over the monolithic text NORMANDIE that also functions as a stable, typographic pedestal for the image of the ship.

The majority of Cassandre’s posters were based on a true sense of proportion and scale, which governed their overall structure, rhythm, and final composition. His primary objective was always to make the object the center of a poster’s attention. Through exaggerated scale, he was able to celebrate the geometry of form as well as use this fundamental principle as a memorable, storytelling device.

Large-scale letterforms and numbers such as W for whole wheat, 2 for 2% fat content, L for large eggs, and 4 for four sticks of butter are primary communication elements in Archer Farms food packaging. This unorthodox typographic treatment creates an impactful and informative visual hierarchy of scale that clearly identifies product, type, and amounts for the shopper.

WERNER DESIGN WERKS

St. Paul, MN, USA

This identity and packaging for a new product line of disposable and biodegradable wooden cutlery made by Aspenware, named WUN (wooden utensils naturally), elevates the product above the “natural food” niche. Sans serif typography in large-scale caps contrasted with small-scale numbers and lowercase identifiers on the front of the packaging further reflects the restraint and eco-conscious nature of the brand.

BLOK DESIGN

Mexico City, MX

One Degree, an employee-based awareness program at News Corporation, was developed from a simple premise: If everyone were to change their behavior by just one degree, it would change the planet’s future. The logotype relies upon scale as a primary compositional principle that is evident in all applications throughout the program.

LANDOR

Paris, FR

An element within a composition can appear larger or smaller depending on the size, placement, color, texture, and visual weight of the elements around it. Additionally, contrast in size can create visual emphasis, hierarchy, depth, movement, and tension within any composition.

When compositional elements are all the same size and equal in visual scale, the composition will appear flat and one-dimensional. It will lack contrast, tension, rhythm, and movment. It’s as if we were listening to a musical composition and heard only one, continuous, monotonous note—always the same, never fluctuating in tone or resonance. All of the previous design elements referenced, when used in an effective, appropriate, and meaningful manner, can create a sense of depth and movement in any visual composition. Scale is also an essential design element and critical consideration in achieving this end result.

Scale can be used to direct a viewer’s attention through a singular design element, such as an image or typography, as well as a composition of multiple visual elements.

A graphic designer also needs to consider scale in practical and functional ways. Professional work today requires graphic designers to consider a variety of different media and vehicles for conveying their work. From the traditional realms of printed matter, to the small-scale requirements of the digital world of websites and electronic interfaces, and the large-scale requirements of environmental graphics and exhibitions, scale is an important and constant consideration.

We all have experienced the jarring visual phenomenon of first printing out a sheet of paper with work we have been designing on screen, and to our surprise, something is amiss. We have methodically evaluated and resolved a visual composition in one scale (on screen) and now expect the same spatial and visual relationships to be achieved and maintained at a completely different scale when they are printed out on an 8 1/2 X 11-inch (21.6 X 28 cm) sheet of paper. This happens often among most designers today.

We automatically make comparisons every time we receive sensory information. Objects are “too hot” or “safe to touch” because we immediately compare them to our previous experiences. Additionally, we tend to make size comparisons based on our own relationships to human scale. For example, our perception of scale in the adult world is completely different from our perception as small children.

This information-based poster, titled World’s Proven Oil Reserves, uses various scales and sizes of transparent color circles to create a visually dynamic composition that communicates which major countries around the world have the largest oil reserves. Overlapping circles create distinct color combinations that convey another layer of information on the relationship of oil dependency from one country to another. The poster’s asymmetrical composition expands beyond its edges, which further reinforces the extreme scale changes from one country to another.

BRYAN FAREVAAG, Student

GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS, Instructor

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

New York, NY, USA

Restraint in typographic scale and an effective use of a monochromatic color palette provide a unique visual identity for this brand of hair care products—Frizz. The unusual shape and small scale of the packaging reinforce the distinct qualities of this product line.

WOLFF OLINS

New York, NY, USA

A system of varied-scale dots is used as a primary communication device in this atlas, and accompanies the reader through the analysis and comparison of 101 capital cities around the world. These functional dots, sized according to comparative data on each city, communicate specific statistical information and data such as population, area, and crime. A strict page grid develops into a three-dimensional chart, as successive pages of circles are stacked, allowing a quick flip through the book to reveal changes in pollution, density, public transport, and other city statistics.

STUDIO JOOST GROOTENS

Amsterdam, NL

The following compositonal treatments can be used to achieve optical and spatial illusions in a visual composition:

Similarly, the position of elements relative to the overall picture plane helps the viewer organize them in a composition. The area at the bottom of the picture plane is often seen as foreground—the portion of a visual composition that is closest to the viewer. The area at the center of the picture plane is often interpreted as middle ground—the portion of a visual composition of varying depth that is at midpoint distance to the viewer. The upper area of a visual composition is often seen as background (with the exception of landscapes in which the sky seems to project forward from the background over the head of the viewer). In Western culture, we tend to interpret the lower portion of a composition as closer than the upper portion because representational paintings in art history have been composed in this manner.

In the third edition of this annual, ongoing project, the designer investigates ways to analyze, capture, depict, and ultimately encapsulate a year of personal activity graphically. Bar charts, area charts, maps, and pie charts illustrate the textures and experiences of a complex and diverse life in New York City over a period of 365 days. In this context, scale plays a critical role in helping the reader engage with a variety of dense and detailed statistical data and narrative information in an accessible and intuitive manner.

NICHOLAS FELTON

New York, NY, USA

When compositional elements are extremely close to the viewer, they may be seen in reverse atmospheric perspective: The closest elements are blurred or brought out of focus, with the sharpest edges and strongest value contrast in the elements that are a bit farther away.

No matter what size a designer’s work will be when finally realized, it must have its own true sense of scale.

This promotional poster announcing exhibitions, performances, workshops, and lectures at the Pump House Gallery in London uses extreme scale changes in typography and imagery to further capture the viewer’s attention as well as create a visually dynamic and memorable composition.

FRASER MUGGERIDGE

London, UK

Scale is used as an effective communication tool in the permanent exhibition areas of the California Academy of Sciences. Here, scale provides an immediate visual hierarchy to exhibition content, whether object or artifact. Large photographic imagery, or small narrative and interpretive information-based panels allow the visitor to get an immediate overview of the exhibition’s themes or an in-depth presentation of detailed information on a specific theme.

VOLUME INC.

San Francisco, CA, USA