Prasad Bokil

Reaching Out in the Mind's Space

Studies on blindfolded designers/architects have thrown light on their amazing abilities of creating a virtual model in their mind’s eye and physically interacting and manipulating it. However, these studies suffer from the limitations that the interactions were highly restricted by the experimental settings. This paper explores the potentials of blindfolded architects using their body to interact with the virtual architectural spaces that they create in their mind’s eye while designing. The results reveal two major strategies used by architects, moving the visualizations in sync with the bodies and moving within the fixed visualizations. The paper also details the nuances of how architects interacted with these visualizations.

Anatomy of Bengali Letterforms: A Semiotic Study

The anatomy of letterforms defines the structural formation of letters. The study is based on semiotic approach. The methods used here are Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic analysis. The anatomy is developed through analysis based on the work on Latin letterforms from three different aspect which are structural grid lines, anatomical features and parameters. This syntagmatic analysis is yielded in identification of various structural features of letterforms like terminal, bowl, blob, stem, dot or nukta, ascender and descender. The analysis has been carried out using two techniques, repeated forms and unique forms of letters. The paradigmatic analysis discusses the comparative study of structure and feature of letterforms across different typefaces such as Lohit Bengali, Vrinda, Solaimanlipi and etc. The analysis offers distinct anatomical nomenclatures after analyzing paradigmatic transformations. Further the study categorizes the letterforms according to the appearance of common features.

Function−Behavior−Structure Representation of the Grids in Graphic Design

Grid in graphic design is a well-known tool. It is used for planning and creating graphical layouts. Though lot of empirical literature on grids is available through various case studies and visual samples, there is hardly any articulation of the design process involving grids. This paper tries to present the formalism for design knowledge in application of grids in graphic design. The function-behaviour-structure framework is applied to grids for the understanding of design process. This framework is used to create a conceptual model for a grid in action and to define its variables. To demonstrate its significance, the potential advantages of this new approach are discussed.

Legibility: Same for All Scripts!

This paper aims to identify the appropriateness of various parameters identified previously to define legibility in the context of Latin script done for the context of Indic typefaces like Bengali and Devanagari. The analysis is based on anatomical features, gridlines, letter binding, letter support, direction of stroke, stroke density, and variance. The paper also discusses various challenges of Indic scripts in terms of letter identification with respect to visibility and familiarity. Finally, various design parameters for identification are proposed for measurement of legibility of Bengali and Devanagari. The insight of the paper is to make type designers and researchers aware of effective design parameters that are necessary to understand during the design of Indic typeface.

Look at that Sound! —Visual Representation of Sound in Indian Comics

Sound is an invisible and intangible effect found in nature which is conveyed in different techniques in different media (films, novels etc.). Sound Symbolic Words or SSW are known as comprising of word categories that resemble or convey sound (audible as well as inaudible). As printed comic books have to rely on visual perception to create the sound inside the reader’s mind, thus along with perception ability of the reader, her cultural exposure is also necessary in order to decode the meaning of the SSW. This poses a challenge to the designer to create words that signify the nature of the sound being represented. To create a visual representation of the sound it is essential to understand the syntactical structure of the words. Already the syntax of the SSW has been defined in earlier study [1], this paper aims to establish its relation with the meaning of the word. The SSW were categorized based on the semantic variables studied from a corpus of 40 titles and 1401 SSW. The results can be utilized by any designer to create SSW based on a given context.

Application of Function-Behaviour-Structure Variables for Layout Design

The field of graphic design, to a large extent, lacks an objective articulation and proper knowledge representation. This paper articulates the process of layout design. It represents the knowledge of layout designing with the function-behaviour-structure path. The variables of layout design process are identified within the same framework. These variables are then implemented to analyse the use of grids in graphic design with various degrees of innovation and creativity. The paper demonstrates how the knowledge of these variables empowers the designer to create a variety of interesting layouts. The work presented here aims to understand and articulate the layout design process with better objectivity. It contributes to bridge the gap between design practice and design as a knowledge domain.

Title Design in Bollywood Film Posters: A Semiotic Analysis

Indian cinema comprises films produced across India in different languages. Bollywood, a Hindi cinema industry based in Mumbai, is the biggest entertainment industry in India. It shows a diverse and dynamic pattern of visual culture. One can experience this fluid panorama of visual culture through film posters. Over the decades, film posters have been one of the major medium for film publicity. It features images and text to create firsthand visual experience to its audience. As a key element of film poster, title design plays an important role in connoting the theme of the film. It has evolved under influence of various factors like, socio-cultural context, technology and usages. The impact of this development can be seen in terms of technique, composition, color and expressive typography. This paper aims to study and analyze the title design in Bollywood film posters using semiotics framework. Analysis is done based on its structural parameter, relationship with the theme of film, context of use and production technique.

Redefining the Grid in Visual Design

Grid is a well-known structural tool used for space organisation. Though there is a common consensus about the concept of grid it doesn’t have a unique definition accepted by the design community. Creating a definition of grid will help to understand the scope of this concept, to define the research premise and ultimately to locate it in the design research domain. This paper tries to construct a definition of the grid in design. It demonstrates a methodology to construct a definition from collected consensus. The methodology used by Sarkar and Chakrabarti to develop a definition of creativity is taken for reference. The outcome is a theoretical definition of grid and its version as a working definition for graphic designers. After discussing the shortcomings of the definition created out of consensus a logical framework of knowledge representation is implemented to generate a definition. The FBS framework developed during last couple of decades is used to create this definition.

Sound Symbolism in India Comic Books

Comics are cultural artifacts that narrate stories through sequential images. With the turn of the century, these artifacts are being understood as a form of visual language. To understand the visual language of comics, it is imperative to study its core components: image and text. In this paper, the status of sound symbolic words used in Indian comic books is reviewed, which may lead to the analysis and creation of further sound symbolic words. It is found that the onomatopoeic words, created based on the typographic attributes like, alignment, weight, color, texture and size are more effective in conveying the meaning of a sound. Identification of these factors provides insights about the relationship of a sound to its textual representation. This study will prove helpful to the comic book designers by being an additional tool for communicating their story more efficiently.