A picture tells more than 1000 words

By Heidi Trautmann

I still remember the time I saw the first logos in public places, it was on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Munich I believe, that was in 1972, street logos for Entry, Exit, for all kind of sports, because many different nationalities were being expected and since that time logos for public information and communication were being used everywhere. A visual language that everybody understands; that meets our feelings and requirements.

Yes, that is what graphic design is about in the wide sense; it is also for manifesting our identity, a company’s identity, a direct arrow in the viewer’s eye and anchoring in the brain while the message is immediately sent on to other centres of our brain giving the impulses to react, i.e. what the graphic designer has set his/her mind to. The graphic designer will also learn in his/her faculty how to tell stories without words, the images that are created reach the viewer faster and more direct, a picture tells more than 1000 words.

And this is what the CIU Students’ Exhibition was about at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in the Upstairs Salon; I could not make it for the opening on March 03,  but went the next day to see what the students had to offer. However, I am using some photos by Devrim Yücel Besim to show the reader the students and their teachers and the atmosphere at the opening.  It is not the first time that I saw the efforts of the Graphic Department of the Cyprus International University, there was a very interesting exhibition some time ago, which had impressed me. It is important to watch what the young generation is thinking, how they approach today’s situations in society and with what means.

Posters.  All is set on posters: films about love, about the feelings ‘After the Party’, educational warnings Don’t drink and drive, don’t throw your life away, and many more, using symbols, playing with visual illusions; well done. Creating the identity of a company, for example a car company, matching the model in style and colour and play with the logo of the company to obtain a convincing corporate identity always considering the target costumer.

Symbols and the play with the alphabet;  the philosophy of colours, how does a colour influence the target consumer, what is the weight of one colour against the other; proper composition of the message in pictures so the tension always remains active and does not tire the eye of the viewer.

And not to forget the wide range of today’s possibilities of working and creating, it amazes me endlessly. Only for that reason I would love to be again at the entrance gate to life, to study and work under such conditions.

The exhibition is still open until Friday 07 March; viewing times at government office hours.

The article will be published in Cyprus Observer on Mar 08.