Graphics (from Ancient Greekγραφικός (graphikós)'pertaining to drawing, painting, writing, etc.') arevisualimages ordesigns on some surface, such as a wall,canvas, screen,paper, or stone, to inform,illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, in typesetting and the graphic arts, and in educational and recreationalsoftware. Images that are generated by a computer are calledcomputer graphics.
Graphics can be functional or artistic. The latter can be a recorded version, such as aphotograph, or an interpretation by a scientist to highlight essential features, or an artist, in which case the distinction with imaginary graphics may become blurred. It can also be used for architecture.
The earliest graphics known toanthropologists studying prehistoric periods arecave paintings and markings on boulders, bone, ivory, and antlers, which were created during theUpper Palaeolithic period from 40,000 to 10,000B.C. or earlier. Many of these were found to record astronomical, seasonal, and chronological details. Some of the earliest graphics and drawings are known to themodern world, from almost 6,000 years ago, are that of engravedstone tablets and ceramiccylinder seals, marking the beginning of the historical periods and the keeping of records for accounting and inventory purposes. Records from Egypt predate these andpapyrus was used by theEgyptians as a material on which to plan the building ofpyramids; they also used slabs oflimestone andwood. From 600 to 250 BC, the Greeks played a major role ingeometry. They used graphics to represent their mathematical theories such as the Circle Theorem and thePythagorean theorem.
In art, "graphics" is often used to distinguish work in a monotone and made up of lines, as opposed topainting.
Example of a drawing.This portrait was drawn byLeonardo da Vinci around 1510, and it might depict the artist himself. It is executed inSanguine (a kind of red chalk) on paper.
Drawing generally involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool or moving a tool across a surface. In which a tool is always used as if there were no tools it would be art. Graphical drawing is an instrumental guided drawing.
Etching is anintaglio method ofprintmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. The acid eats the metal, leaving behind roughened areas, or, if the surface exposed to the acid is very thin, burning a line into the plate. The use of the process in printmaking is believed to have been invented byDaniel Hopfer (c. 1470–1536) ofAugsburg,Germany, who decorated armour in this way.
Etching is also used in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards and semiconductor devices.
Line art is a rather non-specific term sometimes used for any image that consists of distinct straight and curved lines placed against a (usually plain) background, without gradations inshade (darkness) orhue (color) to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects. Line art is usually monochromatic, although lines may be of different colors.
Anillustration of a character from a story; also, an illustration of illustrations
An illustration is avisualrepresentation such as adrawing,painting,photograph or other work ofart that stresses the subject more than form. The aim of anillustration is to elucidate or decorate a story, poem or piece of textual information (such as anewspaper article), traditionally by providing a visual representation of something described in the text. Theeditorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a political or social message.
Illustrations can be used to display a wide range of subject matter and serve a variety of functions, such as:
giving faces to characters in a story
displaying a number of examples of an item described in an academic textbook (e.g. ATypology)
visualizing step-wise sets of instructions in a technical manual
communicating subtle thematic tone in a narrative
linking brands to the ideas of human expression, individuality, and creativity
Agraph orchart is a graphic that representstabular ornumeric data. Charts are often used to make it easier to understand large quantities of data and the relationships between different parts of the data.
A diagram is a simplified and structured visual representation of concepts, ideas, constructions, relations, statistical data, etc., used to visualize and clarify the topic.
A symbol, in its basic sense, is a representation of aconcept or quantity; i.e., anidea,object, concept,quality, etc. In more psychological and philosophical terms, all concepts are symbolic in nature, and representations for these concepts are simply token artifacts that areallegorical to (but do not directly codify) a symbolicmeaning, orsymbolism.
One difference between photography and other forms of graphics is that a photographer, in principle, just records a single moment in reality, with seemingly no interpretation. However, a photographer can choose thefield of view and angle, and may also use other techniques, such as variouslenses to choose the view orfilters to change the colors. In recent times,digital photography has opened the way to an infinite number of fast, but strong, manipulations. Even in the early days of photography, there was controversy over photographs of enacted scenes that were presented as 'real life' (especially inwar photography, where it can be very difficult to record the original events). Shifting the viewer's eyes ever so slightly with simple pinpricks in the negative could have a dramatic effect.
The choice of the field of view can have a strong effect, effectively 'censoring out' other parts of the scene, accomplished by cropping them out or simply not including them in the photograph. This even touches on the philosophical question of what reality is. The human brain processes information based on previous experience, making us see what we want to see or what we were taught to see. Photography does the same, although the photographer interprets the scene for their viewer.
An engineering drawing is a type ofdrawing and is technical in nature, used to fully and clearly define requirements forengineered items. It is usually created in accordance with standardized conventions for layout, nomenclature, interpretation, appearance (such astypefaces and line styles), size, etc.
There are two types of computer graphics:raster graphics, where each pixel is separately defined (as in a digital photograph), andvector graphics, where mathematical formulas are used to draw lines and shapes, which are then interpreted at the viewer's end to produce the graphic. Using vectors results in infinitely sharp graphics and often smallerfiles, but, when complex, like vectors take time to render and may have larger file sizes than a raster equivalent.
In 1950, the first computer-driven display was attached to MIT'sWhirlwind I computer to generate simple pictures. This was followed byMIT'sTX-0 andTX-2,interactive computing which increased interest incomputer graphics during the late 1950s. In 1962,Ivan Sutherland inventedSketchpad, an innovative program that influenced alternative forms of interaction with computers.
In the mid-1960s, large computer graphics research projects were begun atMIT,General Motors,Bell Labs, andLockheed Corporation.Douglas T. Ross ofMIT developed an advanced compiler language for graphics programming.S.A.Coons, also at MIT, and J. C. Ferguson atBoeing, began work in sculptured surfaces.GM developed theirDAC-1 system, and other companies, such asDouglas,Lockheed, andMcDonnell, also made significant developments. In 1968,ray tracing was first described by Arthur Appel of the IBM Research Center, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.[1]
During the late 1970s,home computers became more powerful, capable of drawing both basic and complex shapes and designs. In the 1980s, artists and graphic designers began to see the personal computer as a serious design tool, one that could save time and draw more accurately than other methods.
Computer systems dating from the 1980s and onwards often use agraphical user interface (GUI) to present data and information with symbols, icons, and pictures, rather than text.3D computer graphics and creation tools became more accessible to video game and film developers in the late 1980s withSGI computers, which were later used to create some of the first fully computer-generatedshort films atPixar.
3D graphics became more popular in the 1990s in video games,multimedia, andanimation. In 1995,Toy Story, the first full-length computer-generated animation film, was released in cinemas. Since then, computer graphics have become more accurate and detailed, due to more advanced computers and better3D modeling software applications, such asMaya,3D Studio Max, andCinema 4D. Consumer-level 3D graphics acceleration hardware became common inIBM PC compatibles near the end of the decade.
Another use of computer graphics isscreensavers, originally intended to prevent the layout of much-usedGUIs from 'burning into' the computer screen. They have since evolved into true pieces of art, their practical purpose obsolete; modern screens are not susceptible to such artifacts.
In the 1990s, Internet speeds increased, and web browsers capable of viewing images were released, the first beingMosaic. Websites began to use theGIF format to display small graphics, such as banners, advertisements, and navigation buttons, on web pages. Modernweb browsers can now displayJPEG,PNG and increasingly,SVG images in addition toGIFs on web pages.SVG, and to some extentVML, support in some modern web browsers have made it possible to displayvector graphics that are clear at any size.Plugins expand the web browser functions to display animated, interactive and3-D graphics contained within file formats such asSWF andX3D.
Signature art used on web forums
Modern web graphics can be made with software such asAdobe Photoshop, theGIMP, orCorel Paint Shop Pro. Users ofMicrosoft Windows haveMS Paint, which many find to be lacking in features. This is because MS Paint is a drawing package andnot a graphics package.
Numerous platforms and websites have been created to cater to web graphics artists and to host their communities. A growing number of people use create internet forum signatures—generally, appearing after a user's post—and other digital artwork, such as photo manipulations and large graphics. With computer games' developers creating their own communities around their products, many more websites are being developed to offer graphics for the fans and to enable them to show their appreciation of such games in their own gaming profiles.
Graphics arevisual elements often used to point readers and viewers to particular information. They are also used to supplement text in an effort to aid readers in their understanding of a particular concept or make the concept more clear or interesting.Popularmagazines, such asTime,Wired andNewsweek, usually contain graphic material in abundance to attract readers, unlike the majority ofscholarly journals. In computing, they are used to create a graphicalinterface for the user; and graphics are one of the five key elements ofmultimedia technology. Graphics are among the primary ways of advertising the sale of goods or services.
Graphics are commonly used inbusiness andeconomics to createfinancial charts and tables. The termbusiness graphics came into use in the late 1970s, when personal computers became capable of drawing graphs and charts instead of using a tabular format. Business graphics can be used to highlight changes over time.
Advertising is one of the most profitable uses of graphics; artists often do advertising work or take advertising potential into account when creating art, to increase the chances of selling the artwork.
The use of graphics for overtly political purposes—cartoons, graffiti, poster art, flag design, etc.—is a centuries-old practice which thrives today in every part of the world. TheNorthern Irish murals are one such example. A more recent example isShepard Fairey's 2008 U.S. presidential electionBarack Obama "Hope" poster. It was first published on the web, but soon found its way onto streets throughout the United States.[2]
Graphics are heavily used intextbooks, especially those concerning subjects such asgeography,science, andmathematics, in order to illustrate theories and concepts, such as thehuman anatomy. Diagrams are also used to label photographs and pictures.
Educational animation is an important emerging field of graphics. Animated graphics have obvious advantages over static graphics when explaining subject matter that changes over time.
TheOxford Illustrated Dictionary uses graphics and technical illustrations to make reading material more interesting and easier to understand. In anencyclopedia, graphics are used to illustrate concepts and show examples of the particular topic being discussed.
In order for a graphic to function effectively as an educational aid, the learner must be able to interpret it successfully. This interpretative capacity is one aspect ofgraphicacy.
The majority of schools, colleges, and universities around the world educate students on the subject of graphic design and art.
The subject is taught in a broad variety of ways, each course teaching its own distinctive balance of craft skills and intellectual response to the client's needs.
Some graphics courses prioritize traditional craft skills—drawing, printmaking, and typography—over modern craft skills. Other courses may place an emphasis on teaching digital craft skills. Still, other courses may downplay the crafts entirely, concentrating on training students to generate novel intellectual responses that engage with the brief. Despite these apparent differences in training and curriculum, the staff and students on any of these courses will generally consider themselves to be graphic designers.
The typicalpedagogy of a graphic design (or graphic communication, visual communication, graphic arts or any number ofsynonymous course titles) will be broadly based on the teaching models developed in theBauhaus school in Germany orVkhutemas in Russia. The teaching model will tend to expose students to a variety of craft skills (currently everything from drawing to motion capture), combined with an effort to engage the student with the world ofvisual culture.
Aldus Manutius designed the firstitalic type style which is often used indesktop publishing andgraphic design.April Greiman is known for her influentialposter design.Paul Rand is well known as a design pioneer for designing many popular corporate logos, including the logo forIBM,NeXT andUPS.William Caslon, during the mid-18th century, designed many typefaces, includingITC Founder's Caslon,ITC Founder's Caslon Ornaments,Caslon Graphique,ITC Caslon No. 224,Caslon Old Face andBig Caslon.
^Appel, Arthur (1968). "Some techniques for shading machine renderings of solids".Proceedings of the April 30--May 2, 1968, spring joint computer conference on - AFIPS '68 (Spring). p. 37.doi:10.1145/1468075.1468082.S2CID207171023.
^Heller, Steven and Chwast, Seymour (2011).Graphic Style: From Victorian to New Century. Abrams.
