Reflective Practice - Symbol Analysis

To make it easier to know which examples to talk about in the reflective practice part of my essay, I did a quick analysis of each of the symbols I created. 

Schadenfreude: 

• Very reductive - achieved through use of shape
• Happy/ evil face = 'pleasure from someone's misfortune'
• Upside down sad face = 'pain'/'misfortune' 
• Organised to fit the space better and allow for a simpler aesthetic - not overly complicated 
• Angle of 'eyes'/'mouths' creates the effect of a single line that runs across both sections of the face- reduction 
• Metaphor - two faces in one
• Metaphor - line as facial features 
• Colours - blue = sadness/ red = pleasure + danger

Hygge:

• Everything reduced down to just circles of varying sizes and colours 
• Colour - pink = love
• Metaphor - circles and dots for people - pink strip linking the dots creates the illusion of arms and people hugging or holding hands.
• Colour for small dots helps - peachy colour - learnt associations, associate this colour with skin even if not the colour of own own 
• Plate = metonym - represents all food 

Saudade:

• Extremely reduced - picked out necessary things 
• Use of negative space communicates 'longing'/ 'incompleteness' - something missing 
• Metaphor - rectangle with rounded end creates fingers 
• Colour - subdued, slightly green = renewal - new life without something
• Muted = sadness

Kaapshljmurslis:

• Reduction to just shapes
• Similar and repeated- fit together closely - organisation 
• Highly unmotivated visual metaphor - shapes represent people - assisted by the addition of text 
• Seems complex as there are lots of shapes but this is used purposefully to mimic idea of lots of people being cramped - claustrophobia - complexity and simplicity need each other  
• Colour - grey for most - not individuals in this context, everyone is in the same position- unable to do anything
• Selected one to be the focus and illustrate the individual feeling of uncomfortableness and warmth - red-orange = warmth and intensity  

Pochemuchka:

• Commonly known symbol of question mark used - learnt conventions - familiar to lots of people
• Organised differently - dot not where it usually is, but mind still processes as a question mark 
• Metaphor - face also visible to clearly represent that the word is about a person, not just about questions - just enough information, not too little
• Colour - green = youth/ inexperience 

Litost:

• Simple shapes that fit into each other - reduction and organisation 
• Visual metaphor - tear shape also makes up shape of an eye (= sudden sight) eyelashes pointed to look aggressive = torment 
• Colours - blue = sadness/ depression/ dark grey = serious, self-denial + self-discipline/ white = emptiness

Gigil:

• Reduction - not too many different elements - two different types 
• Metaphor - rectangles with one rounded side to create the appearance of fingers- due to placement around shape inside and flesh colour 
• Shape inside essentially just a squashed square- metonym for all cute things 
• Colour - pale purple - commonly used in children's product advertising- cute 

Gokotta: 

• Reduction - use of simple shapes- basic circle, rectangles and triangles 
• Also seems more reduced due to use of cropping - how much information is necessary
• Contains 3 visual metaphors - all in one - the sun rise, birds (open beak = singing) and a clock = early in the morning 
• Colours - yellow = sun, uplifting, enthusiasm for life/ orange = beak, energy, vitality.