-- Press button to see 80Kb dot animation.
In mathematics, we use the term "point" to define an exact coordinate on a plane. Like most mathematical terms, however, "point" is merely an idea. In order to visualize any concept, a physical representation, in this case, the dot, can be created. Though termed as the simplest unit of visual communication, the dot carries a great deal of significance in the world of visual literacy. The words you are now reading, for instance, are merely patterns of dots; the graphic images you see surrounding these words are also dots; pretty much the entire computer screen you see before you contains no more than just a bunch of well-organized, attractively colored, dubiously detailed dots. Computer screens like this one, along with other media through which we communicate visual information, use dots as the building blocks for image making.
Paintings, sculptures and other art forms may not necessarily be comprised of dots themselves, but contemporary visual media such as television, video, and computer animation replicate their images through dots. In a process called visual fusion, our minds combine dots by blending and organizing the patterns into coherent images. When placed in carefully designed patterns known as "halftones," dots suggest continuous and solid values and hues, as the following image from Paramount's 1984 Spielberg blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom demonstrates. Notice how the image of the famed archeologist, when magnified, becomes an indiscernible pattern of dots.
-- Press button to see 80Kb dot animation.
A dot, when standing alone, can direct our attention to a specific point. It can also provide instant harmony or stress to a given visual composition. By placing a dot on a defined axis, a sense of visual harmony is created. This subconscious process, called leveling, gives a stable feeling to a composition. In contrast, placing a dot far off of a frame's natural axis gives the composition an energetic visual stress that also attracts the eye. This visual attraction is called sharpening.
A series of dots not only can form images like the one of Indiana Jones, but can be used in a variety of other ways in visual compositions as well. A group of dots can suggest motion and direction. More importantly, when spaced closely together in a chain, dots form another element of visual communication: line
Introduction