VCD Methods,
Media & Materials.
How & with
What designs
are made?
Takeaways
Good to go
methods, media & materials
Methods refer to the techniques or procedures used to create a drawing or visual communication, ranging from simple sketches to complex technical drawings. Media refers to the materials or digital applications used to create designs, such as paint, ink, or computer software. Materials refer to the physical substrate or support surface on which a design is printed or made.
Examples of Methods- Sketching/visualisation drawing
- Watercolour painting
- Two-point perspective drawing
- Screen printing
- 3D printing
- Watercolor paints
- Adobe Illustrator (digital)
- Graphite pencils
- Adobe Photoshop (digital)
- Acrylic paints
- Watercolor paper
- Canvas
- Cardboard
- Glass
- Metal (aluminum, steel)
Model answer
Sample Question
With reference to aesthetics, discuss how designer Sheryl Cole used methods, media and materials in the illustration shown at the left.
Sample Answer
The designer Sheryl Cole used the method of watercolour painting and a digital collage, the media or watercolour and Adobe Photoshop ® and the materials of watercolour paper and screen. Each of these components of visual language was used to create soft and gentle aesthetic effects.
Cole used the methods of painting and digital collage to create a soft, lyrical, nature illustration. The background is a traditional watercolour painting where translucent layers are combined to create a gentle journey into the work. The transparent nature of the paint also allows the white of the paper to emerge behind the yellow and apple-green colours. Later, Sheryl may have scanned the background and several states of the butterfly and placed them onto separate layers of a raster-based application such as Adobe Photoshop®. The layers would then be animated using frame animation, and the file would be exported as an animated GIF. The scanned and animated files would have been placed together to form the digital collage.
Thick watercolour paper would have been chosen for the original illustration, and the size and resolution of the digital collage would have been adjusted appropriately to suit a screen, the final destination material.
This illustration is a wonderful combination of traditional and contemporary methods, media and materials. It shows what can be achieved using innovative processes.
Driving design decisions
Methods media & materials as visual language
Think of visual language like spoken language. Just as words, grammar, and tone work together to communicate ideas, design uses methods, media, and materials, along with elements, principles, and symbols, to convey ideas and information. When discussing the role of M, M, M in visual language, Target Learning recommends considering them in this order: methods, media, and materials.
Methods refer to the design techniques and approaches designers use. From hasty, hand-drawn sketches to complex and technical plans and elevations, using the correct method ensures that the design conveys ideas as intended.
Similarly, designers utilise media to evoke emotions and feelings in their audiences. From soft, transparent watercolour paints depicting a rainy winter’s day to the crisp vector graphic on an aeroplane’s tail logo, the choice of media not only reflects the mood of the subject matter but also creates the desired sense of aesthetics and professionalism.
Finally, materials function not only physically but also symbolically to express tone and convey ideas. Each material has unique qualities that influence a message. For example, glossy paper feels premium, while matte paper feels sophisticated; wood grain evokes warmth, whereas aluminium is cold yet professional.
These three elements work together. A minimalist poster design (method + media) using crisp white paper (materials) conveys professionalism and clarity. It is entirely different from a vibrant concert poster with bold colours and grunge textures, even though both address message design challenges.
Methods media & materials for function
Methods, media, and materials constantly underpin designers’ decisions when they consider the function of a design. Concepts such as durability, malleability (able to be physically manipulated) and legibility motivate their choices. When discussing the role of M, M, M concerning function, Target Learning recommends considering them in this order: materials, media and methods.
Materials are chosen for their physical qualities as substrates (the supporting surface for a design, such as paper or cardboard) or as the structural components of a model. Materials like metal are durable (strong, impact-resistant, and weatherproof), lightweight, and can be painted. Papers and cardboards are also strong, have a smooth surface, and can be printed on. Certain plastics are used for 3D printing as they can be melted down and extruded. Woods are ideal for model making because they are strong, lightweight, and easy to cut and join. Materials are selected based on their functionality.
Likewise, media are selected for their physical characteristics. Certain paints and inks are waterproof and are suitable for outdoor signs. Inks may also be opaque, creating a strong and legible design. Digital media such as Adobe Illustrator ® is ideal for creating legible icons, logos and typographic designs. These function well.
Finally, methods also perform a function in designs. For example, if a realistic representation is desired, one might use a two-point perspective. Conversely, if the communication of specifications is crucial, a third-angle orthogonal drawing is the best choice.
Designers make intentional decisions regarding the selection of methods, media and materials for aesthetic and functional reasons.
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Methods
Manual & digital processes
The VCE Visual Communication Design Study Design 2024 (p. 5) refers to the manual and digital processes used to evolve design ideas and concepts, and create design solutions.
The term manual refers to methods that are not practised on computer devices or digital platforms. Essentially manual means methods that are done by hand, but also includes processes that use non-digital tools and equipment such as an airbrush, old-school film and chemical photography, printmaking and electric tools for low-fi prototyping or high-fi model making. Manual image-making methods include drawing, painting and collage.
The term digital processes refers to the use of computers, tablets or other digital devices as the platform for two-dimensional image and three-dimensional model-making. Please note that in Visual Communication Design, the device or computer application or program is known as the media and should not be given as an example of a method.
Art-making techniques
Design is a visual art, and as such, it influences people in the same way. Designers use a range of techniques borrowed from art. Many of these are traditional artmaking processes. One must remember that before computers were introduced to design (around 1984), all design work was made using traditional manual methods. Manual methods continue to hold a special place in the visual language of design as they usually convey a warm, friendly tone.
Sketching
Sketching
Sketching, also referred to as 'visualisation drawing' in VCD is an intuitive way of recording objects and spaces from observation or conceptualising ideas visually.
There are many techniques for sketching including contour drawings and drawing for form and structure. Sketching is often done with line but may include tonal rendering to represent form, shade and surface materials.
Painting
Painting is applying liquid media to a material. There are many different kinds of painting, depending on the media used. Paint can be applied with a brush, roller or spray-gun or airbrush. There are also digital painting techniques.
There are many different artistic styles for painting including representational (realistic) and abstract. Painting is often used to represent people, objects and spaces. Painting styles can be expressive or non-emotional. The history of painting is covered in the history of Art.
Photography
Collage
printmaking methods
Relief printing
Intaglio printing
Monprinting
Screen-printing
task
Show I know ...
1.1 Try them out
1.2 Convergent thinking
Annotate your trials in different methods. Describe and evaluate;
- Which methods did you feel most comfortable with?
- Which methods might create the best effects for the purpose of your design and for the stakeholders involved?
- Which method might create the best effects for your target audience?
- Which method might create the best effects for the constraints in your brief?
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Technical & pictorial drawing
Each of the following technical and pictorial drawing methods can be executed using manual or digital media. Each of these methods may serve one of the following three intents.
Different intents for drawing
Development drawings
Development drawings are used to visualise design ideas and concepts, typically in the Develop and Deliver stages of the Design Process. However, drawings may also assist with the processing and synthesising of information in the Discovery and Define phases. Development drawings are an elemental use of visual language and are used to represent ideas in abstract, symbolic and realistic ways. They assist in conceptualising and communicating concepts so they can be analysed, explored, tested and evaluated. Drawing can be done using rapid and informal or expressive techniques or using formal technical or pictorial methods for the purposes of testing and presentation in critique. Development drawings typically begin as ideation sketches using line and shape. Depending on the purpose and field of design, drawings can be used to explore motifs, layouts and compositions for Messages, icons, wireframes and storyboards for Interactive Experiences, form, space and structure for Objects and Environments. Drawings can be made in two and three-dimensional space. Three-dimensional drawings and illustrations graduate to include rendering techniques to enhance form, represent the direction of light, shade and shadow and suggest surface textures and materials. Drawings are produced manually by hand, or using digital processes and media.
Documentation drawings
The purpose of documentation drawings is to define and record technical specifications required for the construction of three-dimensional forms in the fields of Objects and Environments. Forms may be represented in two dimensions using methods such as 3rd Angle Orthogonal drawings, plans and elevations, packaging nets and technical flats, or in three dimensions using methods such as paraline (isometric and planometric) and one and two-point perspective. Documentation drawings can be constructed manually using a single, desired method or output in a variety of available methods from a model using a digital process. Documentation drawings form an integral part of a design and production process, so clarity and accuracy are important considerations. As such, they use technical drawing conventions such as the placement of views, scales, labels, symbols and dimensions to communicate information in standardised, industry-specific ways.
Presentation drawings
Presentation drawing is the term used to describe the manner designers use to convey resolved design solutions to clients and stakeholders for consideration. Presentation drawings can be produced using manual methods but are typically made with either digital processes or hybrid processes combining manual and digital methods. They can be illustrations, documentation drawings, and storyboards or used as part of mock-ups, concept presentation boards and style guides.
The material in the drawing section of this page is adapted from the VCAA Study Design for Visual Communication Design, 2024, p5.
Development drawing
Documentation drawing
presentation drawing
Three kinds of technical drawings
Two-dimensional representations
These are drawings that show form in separate, flattened, two-dimensional views. These views do not include any information relating to depth or surface details. These drawing methods form parts of manufacturing and construction contracts and so as a consequence, are governed by an organisation called ‘Australian Standards’. They follow conventions known as technical drawing conventions. Methods of two-dimensional representations include;
- 3rd Angle Orthogonal
- Architectural Plans and Elevations
- Packaging Nets
- Technical Flats
Three-dimensional paraline representations
These drawing methods are constructed by projecting the sides of an object onto oblique planes at different angles. The feature of each of these methods is that each uses three sets of parallel lines to indicate height, width and depth. The lines remain parallel to each other as they progress further away from the viewer. These drawing methods are ideal for representing forms accurately as they allow the designer to use true measurements in any of the X, Y and Z axes. Methods of paraline representations include;
- Isometric
- Planometric
Three-dimensional perspective representations
These drawing methods are constructed on a picture plane perpendicular to the viewer’s line of sight and use one or two vanishing points situated on a Horizon Line that is equal in height to the viewer’s eye level. Vertical lines in perspective in Visual Communication Design always remain vertical and parallel with each other. Horizontal lines are horizontal and parallel with each other in a One-Point perspective, whilst horizontal lines in a Two-Point perspective converge at a vanishing point as they progress further away from the viewer. True measurements are possible in the X and Y axes in a One-point perspective drawing. However, they are only possible on the X-axis in a Two-Point perspective drawing. Methods of perspective representations include;
- One-point perspective
- Two-Point perspective
CAD (Computer Aided Design)
Digital technical and pictorial drawing methods using the media of CAD applications for environments and objects, model forms in a three-dimensional space and can output drawings using all two and three-dimensional technical and pictorial methods.
Two-dimensional technical drawing methods
3rd Angle Orthogonal
Plans and Elevations
Packaging Nets
Technical Flats
Three-dimensional pictorial drawing: paraline
Isometric
Planometric
Three-dimensional pictorial drawing: perspective
One-point perspective
Two-point perspective
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Prototyping & model making
Prototyping in Visual Communication Design embraces the conceptualisation, visualisation, development and presentation of design ideas, concepts and solutions in actual three-dimensional form. Whereas model-making was traditionally reserved for the purposes of producing actual objects that represent ideas developed using two-dimensional methods, contemporary Object designers are now using it to visualise and live-test product ideas and concepts at the beginning of the stage of visualisation of ideas instead of using drawing.
Model-making using inexpensive, readily available or easy-to-work-with materials to give form to, and test ideas is known as Low-Fidelity prototyping. Low-fi prototypes are not intended to be finished to represent colours and surfaces of resolved design solutions but exist to bring ideas into reality for consideration and analysis for feasibility. Examples of low-fi prototyping in Object design include cardboard models, clay or plasticine models, foam, laser cut or 3D printed models. Examples of low-fi prototypes in Interactive Experience design include wireframes and hyperlinked image sequences.
By contrast, models that are used to present resolved design solutions are often well constructed, well finished and may even function in some ways. These are known as High-Fidelity prototypes. Hi-fi prototypes may be finished to represent actual materials and surfaces and can be used for photography as part of other presentation formats.
Low-Fidelity Prototypes
3D Printing
Fabrication/ Assembly
Reductive sculpture (carving)
Laser cutting
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Print & Production
Commercial printing
Commercial printing uses two different modes for the delivery of colour. Process and spot colours. But first, let’s back it up a bit. There are three primary colours, right? Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK). Wait a minute, where’s red and blue? And that’s not three, it's four. Well, red, yellow and blue work in the art room but not in the design print studio. That’s why we use cyan (a kind of blue), magenta (a dark pink), yellow and black (for strength and depth). We can recreate every colour using just these four colours. However, there are two ways to deliver the colour to the material: Process and Spot. But beware: The process and spot colour modes are not the same as the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) colour mode used on screens.
Process Colours
Use four basic inks: Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and Black (the "K") on four separate rollers in the printing machine. By printing tiny dots of these four colours in different combinations, printers can create thousands of different colours with dots so small you can't see them individually. The colours mix ‘optically’ on the paper, after they are printed. For example, if we print tiny blue dots beside tiny yellow dots, the appear as green. Different strengths (cover) of dots are known as percentages. 100% is complete cover, 50% means the dots screen out half of the paper. This is called ‘four-color process printing’ and it's what most magazines, photos, and colourful documents use.
Spot Colours
Instead of printing colours with dots and mixing them optically, spot colours use pre-mixed inks for specific colours. The colours are blended together before they are run in the printing machine. Think of it like mixing a tube of ‘Barbie Pink’ ink instead of trying to blend it from magenta and yellow. Each spot colour is run as 100% and requires its own printing plate and ink run.
Process colours (CMYK) is cheaper for complex, colourful images with lots of different colours. Spot colours are used when you need exact colour matching (like a company logo that must be precisely the same red every time) or special effects like metallic or fluorescent inks that CMYK can't reproduce. Most everyday printing uses process colour, while corporate branding often relies on spot colours for consistency.
Letterpress printing.
Digital printing
Ink-jet
Liquid ink is sprayed onto paper. This is used for photographic quality prints.
Laser
Coloured powder (toner) is magnetically deposited onto paper. This is how photocopiers work. Laser prints are preferred for higher print runs than ink-jet prints.
Offset lithographic printing
Commercial manufacturing
Casting
Injection moulding
Stamping
task
Show I know ...
1.3 Investigate available technologies
1.4 Investigate printing techniques
1.5 Consider methods
Find and collect one design from each of the four fields of design practice. Identify one method that may have been used at any stage of the design process for the four design solutions you have collected. Explain why the method you have identified may have been used at that stage.
1-6 Investigate manufacturing techniques
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Media
The term media is used to describe the substance or application, a designer uses to create a design with. As distinct from the method, which is the technique or process a designer uses, and from a material, the substrate or support, media is the substance of the design itself. Examples of manual media are ink, paint and graphite. Examples of digital media are Adobe Illustrator ® and Photoshop ®.
What designs are made with
In VCE Visual Communication Design, the term media refers to the substances designers use in non-digital methods, for example, paint, ink and graphite and the applications or programs used in digital processes, such as vector-based, raster-based and CAD programs. Students are required to identify examples of media selected by designers and explain how they are used to create aesthetic qualities and support the purpose and function of visual communications.
We usually examine media that has been used to make an original image, for example, an illustration or infographic. Examples of media for image-making include paint, graphite and Adobe Illustrator. However, when it is relevant, a discussion may also involve media used in the reproduction of images or visual communications. Examples of media used in reproduction include ink and toner.
The VCD term media is not to be confused with the VCE subject 'Media' nor with the terms 'media' and 'mass-media' used to refer to the news and entertainment industries.
Manual media
Media for making original images are usually traditional art-making media. They include dry and wet media. Examples of dry media are pencils and pastels. Examples of wet media are inks and paints. Designers and illustrators use media expressively depending on the function of the visual communication being made.
Pigments: The heart of colour
Pigments are coloured powders used to make the colour found in pastels and paints. The history and science of pigments is interesting. Manual media are usually mixtures of a pigment and a binder. Traditionally, these different-coloured powders were made from animal parts, insects, stones, or chemical compounds. Often, they were rare or extremely dangerous. Before the invention of synthetic (human-made) pigments, artists faced a short and bleak future as lead poisoning from white pigments was common. Artists’ colours still carry the names of natural chemical pigments. For example, cadmium orange and dioxazine purple are two such colours. Different professional artists' pigments are also priced differently. Strong reds, for example, are more expensive than softer colours. Powdered pigments are mixed with a binder. Oils, acrylic medium (polymer), and wax are examples of binders added to pigments to create paints. They can also be compressed into sticks to form coloured pencils or pastels.
Dry media
Dry media in action
Wet media
Wet media in action
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Digital Applications
Kinds of applications
There are many applications for drawing pictures and designing objects using digital devices, such as computers, touch screens, smartphones, or tablets. Visual Communication Design identifies application software used in computers as digital media. Commonly used design applications fall into several different categories.
- Raster-based programs
- Vector-based programs
- Page layout programs
- Multi-media programs
- CAD (Computer-Aided Design) programs
- Web and App prototyping and development programs
Applications in action
RASTER-BASED PROGRAMS
Vector-BASED PROGRAMS
Page Layout PROGRAMS
CAD (Computer Aided Design)
Surface modelling CAD
BIM CAD
3D modelling and animation
Interactive Experiences
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task
Show I know ...
2.1 Identify and describe manual media
2.2 Locate manual media in design
2.3 Discuss digital applications
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Materials
What is design made on and out of?
Materials refer to the substrate for visual communications. This means the substance that a visual communication is drawn or printed on. There are a wide variety of surfaces designers draw, paint and print on. These are materials.
In addition, designers use materials to construct models and produce products. An example of a material used in Communication design is paper. Popular materials for three-dimensional processes in environmental and industrial design are wood and plastic.
In VCE Visual Communication Design students are required to identify materials used in examples of Object, Communication and Environmental Design and explain reasons why they were selected by designers. Reasons that influence designers' decisions in relation to materials are known as factors. These are outlined below.
design decisions: materials
Aesthetics
Truth to materials
During the Modern period (dating approximately between 1915 and 1970) artists and designers realised that surfaces of materials have intrinsic aesthetic value. For centuries prior, it had been desirable to paint or otherwise hide materials artisans used. The term ‘Truth to Materials’ emerged. It was used to describe a concept referred to as materiality in art and design. Sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, architects Mies van der Rohe and Tadao Ando and designers Marcel Breuer and Charles and Ray Eames are examples of creatives whose works placed an emphasis on the visual qualities of the materials they used. It was during this time that the phrase ‘Less is More’ was coined by Mies van der Rohe to describe the emerging trend for minimalism in architecture. With this modernist rejection of decoration, arose the potential to exploit the natural qualities of materials such as wood, stone, steel and concrete.
"The workman has not done his duty, and is not working on safe principles, unless he … honours the materials with which he is working … If he is working in marble, he should insist upon and exhibit its transparency and solidity; if in iron, its strength and tenacity; if in gold, its ductility …
(Victorian art critic John Ruskin, quoted in Khan Academy; <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/beginners-guide-20th-c-art/xdc974a79:key-concepts/a/formalism-ii-truth-to-materials> retrieved 15 June 2023).
meanings of MATERIALS
Materials convey ideas to audiences when they are used in products. Several key materials have developed meanings through history and within cultures. Students can analyse the use of materials in parallel with the analysis of design elements, colour, and texture. Examples of meanings within materials include; natural materials used to convey ideas of authenticity whereas manmade materials whilst having the potential to convey a contemporary feel and perhaps a sense of thrift.
In addition, responding to the growing expectations of audiences for value in the luxury sector, designers use plastics, cardboard, vinyl and laminates with surfaces that imitate natural materials in an attempt to fool the consumer into believing that a natural material has been used.
Let's explore some of the meanings conveyed by materials in some examples below:
EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS AND meanings they convey
Function
SOCIAL CULTURAL & ETHICAL
Environmental
Hand in hand with ethical production is environmental sustainability. The world’s increasing consumption of materials has produced catastrophic effects on the environment. For example, single-use plastic bottles, straws, etc have caused major pollution. In addition, CO2 emissions from the use of non-renewable energy sources used for manufacture, transportation and shipping of goods manufactured off-shore contribute to climate change and global warming. The constant manufacture of paper has had a detrimental effect on our environment. According to Record Nations, the world produces 300 million tons of paper every year. That means we use 822,000 tons a day! That’s too much. All this results in too many trees being chopped down. In addition, chemicals like chlorine are used to bleach paper to make it white. It’s industrial-scale destruction and pollution. Contemporary designers are motivated to design for social good and environmental sustainability. (That’s why students learn about this at school).
Can you guess what environmental concerns are depicted in the icons below? Discuss how environmental concerns can relate to choices of materials.
ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL
Materials in designs
The following section will explore the characteristics of materials used by designers in the fields of Messages, Objects and Environmental design. This examination will unpack materials used for original image and model making as well as some used for reproduction and production.
messages
Paper
Paper is one of the most amazing and important materials invented. The need to record stories, laws and information prompted humans to develop a flexible, portable and durable material that would replace stone tablets and water reed papyrus sheets. A way of breaking down wood into a thin paste that was spread out and dried in the sun was found almost two thousand years ago. Initially paper was handmade. Early papers were fairly thick, off-white in colour and lightly textured. Modern machine-made papers for printing books and magazines are thin, white and smooth. Paper can be made from the fibres of wood, bamboo and cloth. Paper can be hand and machine-made. Many different papers are made for different purposes from beautiful, soft hand-made papers for artists to smooth, hard-faced, coated papers for printed documents.
As designers, we need to know how to describe and discuss papers. We talk about the thickness, surface and colour. Take a look at the videos below on how paper is made then read about how paper is discussed.
Three key paper specification terms
Thickness (Weight)
The thickness of paper is known as its weight. In Australia, this is specified as gsm. This means the weight of a piece of paper in grams per square metre (gsm). Papers for different purposes are of different thicknesses so, consequently different weights. Paper for photocopying is 80gsm. Covers for magazines use a thicker, and heavier paper stock. Cover stock for the outside of magazines is typically at 250gsm. Hand-made art papers can be up to 500gsm in weight. To discuss a paper's thickness, refer to its weight in gsm.
Surface (Texture)
Paper can be smooth or rough. Hand-made watercolour paper has a very rough texture. The paper for printing is smooth. Paper can also be coated. Uncoated paper is more natural, coated paper is resistant to moisture and can be glossy. Magazine text paper stock is coated gloss paper. In addition, magazine covers are also often coated in plastic laminate. This is a thin plastic sheet bonded to the cover stock. It can be matte or gloss and is durable. Speciality papers may be embossed with patterns that resemble fabrics for purposes like wedding invitations.
Colour
White paper's colour is known as brightness. Commercial paper can be jet white or antique. Depending on the aesthetic expectations in a brief, designers will specify different paper brightness. Papers can also be coloured.
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objects & environments
objects
Environments
task