How Tone is Operating
In the
example above, tone is operating in four ways that I see. The first is the
light and dark rectangles above and below the illustration (1). These bars have
at least two functions. The first is simply to create top and bottom borders
for the content area. More relevantly to this assignment, the second function
they service is to create a sense of orientation through the use of tone. The
bottom box has a darker tone and feels heavier because of this, therefore serves
as a foundation for the page. By contrast, the box above is lighter in tone and
serves as a ceiling or sky.
How Tone is Interacting
The
interaction of tone in the main content is kind of fun. We can see that tone lends
the image a measure of depth two reasons (2). The first reason is that a sense
of distance or dimensionality is conveyed by the tone becoming lighter as you
move up the frame. This works in conjunction with color, as I will discuss
momentarily. The second way in which tone is interacting with the page is with
the hills. If you look closely, the bottom of the hills have a lighter tone
than the tops. This again affects the viewer’s perceptions by giving the viewer
a sense of distance or depth as well as separation from one hill to the next.
How Color is Operating
In my mind
color is being used to focus attention. For example, look at the pile of stuff
(3). This pile is much more colorful and saturated than the background (2) or
even the two guys walking away (who are monochromatic silhouettes). It is
because of this color, which breaks up the near monochromatic color theme, that
the viewer is attracted initially to the items in the foreground.
How Color is Interacting
As mentioned
above in “How Tone is Interacting,” the image become more desaturated as you
move toward the background. I believe Da Vinci is widely recognized as the
first artist to experiment with this effect. For example, if you look at the
color of the pile of stuff in the foreground (3), it’s very saturated. But if
you look, at the first row of hills, they become less saturated, and the second
row of hills are even less saturated. This contributes to the sense of depth in
this website. It is also working in conjunction with tone because the tones
become lighter as if atmospheric haze has been introduced.
