The Periodic Table

Transcript from the ‘Periodic Table’ movie
TPFM. This is Tony Zabalione. Sweet for the ladies, something stronger for the gents. Tonight we’re going live to the London’s O2 Arena for a rare performance by the Periodic Table. Devised by Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev, the Periodic Table was formed in 1869, sweet summer of ’69. 1-8-6-9 UK Sterling Greenwich Mean Time years. 1869 was the year. Currently there are 118 members of the Periodic table. The classic formation of the table is of 18 vertical groups and 7 horizontal rows (known as periods). The Lanthanoids and Actinoids are usually separated out. I guess those guys just need their own space. We’re ready to handover to TPTV for tonight’s performance. And it’s over to you Tony Zirconium. Hellooooooo London!

Atomic number
Ladies and gentlemen – the Periodic Table! Here they come in order of their atomic number. Hydrogen is first out followed by Helium. Hello Helium. Number 8 Oxygen we sure need you. Fluorine at 9, remember kids keep brushing your teeth. At 13 unlucky for some it’s Aluminium. Clean in at 17 – Chlorine. Holy Kryptonite at 36. Hi ho Silver! Number 47. At 50 it’s Herge’s adventures of Tin Tin! You are Gold! In at 79. Hey lighten up Lead, you’re 82.

Vertical groups and horizontal rows (periods)
The horizontal rows are known as periods – hence the Periodic Table. These rows are organised by the chemical properties of the elements. We have metals to the left and non metals to the right. The elements are listed by their atomic number (which is the number of protons in the atomic nucleus). From top left Hydrogen with an atomic number of 1 to Ununoctium bottom right with an atomic number of 118. Ladies and Gentlemen – I give you the Periodic Table in classic formation. Now guys on the count of three I want you to disappear behind your colour blocks. 1, 2, 3! Ain’t that purty?

Quotes about the Periodic Table
Author Bill Bryson describes the periodic table as a ‘thing of beauty in the abstract, but for chemists it established an immediate clarity’. Writer Robert E Krebs suggests it’s ‘the most elegant organisational chart ever devised’. Tony Pritchard of the LCC considers the Periodic Table as a classic of Information design. Praise indeed.

Alkali metals
I want us to get to know the different groups within the table. Here are the metals. First up the Alkali metals, six in total including Lithium, Potassium and at 11, this guy is the salt of the earth, literally! It’s sodium. Give it up for the Alkalis – our kinda guys.

Alkaline earth metals
Next up it’s the Alkaline earth metals. Including at 12 that bright light, Magnesium. Transition elements make yourselves known! We got some beautiful metals here: Titanium, Copper, Platinum and Mercury. Up next the Lanthanoids and Actinoids. The Actinoids doesn’t include my anium, no it’s Uranium. Finishing off the metals – it’s the ‘other metals’. Aw – you’re not just any other metals to me guys, you’re the special metals. Hey what are you guys doing on stage? Oh oh – it’s the metalloids! Can you guys make your minds up are you metals or not? [They are also known as semi-metals]. Give it up for the metals. Metalloids what are you doing?

Non-metals
Time for the non-metals. Can we restore some calm and dignity. Introducing the other non-metals. Up next the Halogens. Add bulbs to shopping list and save the planet. Now these next guys get a bad press. Some call them inert, I think they’re rather noble. I like these guys, I know you’re gonna love them – the inert gases! There you have it – the non-metals. Oh no! It’s the metalloids again!

Unknown chemical properties
Have we left anyone out? Hey you guys don’t know who you are – you’re the unknown chemical properties!

Solids, liquids, gases, unknown and synthetic categories
I don’t want to over categorise you guys but who are the solids? Let’s get wet with the liquids! A right couple of show offs – Mercury and Bromine getting it together there. Hissss – here come the gases! Now did I turn the gas off? They should really know who they are, we certainly do by now – it’s the unknowns! And finally the synthetics – are you guys for real?

Conclusion
There you have it, the periodic table. In devising this method of vertical and horizontal cross referencing Mr Mendeleyev is said to have been inspired by the game of patience. Where the cards are arranged in suits horizontally and by descending number vertically. However you did it sir, we salute you – you sure dealt the world a good hand!

References
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Wikipedia/Periodic_table
Tony Pritchard’s YouTube Channel

Typographic Hierarchy Parts 1&2

Transcript from the ‘Typographic Hierarchy’ movie
Welcome to this tutorial on typographic hierarchy. We will be looking at word shape, copy analysis, syntax and semantics. Typographic hierarchy is about analysing text-based information and creating levels of importance based on the meaning of the words. The designer can determine the order in which the reader sees the information through basic typographic techniques such as changing the size, weight or position of the type. This activity is fundamental to typographic communication irrespective of choice of typeface. The work of Emil Ruder, Wolfgang Weingart, Armin Hofmann, Josef Müller-Brockmann and Helmut Schmid is worth investigating. Their typographic compositions not only exhibit the notion of hierarchy determined through analysis but the power of visual form inherent in letters and words. The beauty in their work isn’t necessarily imposed through personal whim but rather in discovering typographic ideas within the given information and drawing this out. The skill is in this intense form of seeing.

Format
For the exercises within this tutorial I’ll be using the widescreen format of 16:9. I have divided the screen size into 16 horizontal units and 9 vertical units. These I have subdivided into half again. Although designing for the screen (such as in web design or moving image) or for three-dimensions (such as exhibition design) or print-based design has conventions related to the medium, the principles I’ll be introducing can be applied across media.

Word shape
We recognise words through their shape. In our exercises we will be using a typeface called Helvetica Neue. It has a simplicity in its designed form. We don’t read individual letters and then work out what the word is, rather our eye scans the text and recognises distinctive word shapes. Compositions that use a lot of words set in capitals or uppercase only can look blocky and reduce the immediacy of word recognition. Capitals are important in recognising the start of single words as you might find in airport or road signage. For most designs using typography (such as posters) upper and lowercase is advisable.

Copy analysis
We’re going to consider copy analysis. Copy is another name for words or text. You may have heard the term copy writing. The copy writer or copy editor is someone who writes words for advertisments or articles in magazines. In our exercises we will imagine that we are designing an invitation to a private view of an exhibition. Typically publicity will be comprised of certain types of information. To be able to act upon information we need to know what the event is, when it is taking place, who it involves and where it will be. It aids our understanding if we read information in a meaningful sequence. This is the task of the person commissioning the publicity and the designer who will use typography and layout to present the information in a visual form. Typography has to attract attention and then inform. Our information is currently a grey block of type. If we analyse the copy we see it is comprised of four pieces of information. What is the event? It is an invitation to attend a private view called Typescapes. When will it be? It is on Friday 4 December. Who will it involve? There are four well known people in the field giving gallery presentations. And where will it be? It’s at the Design Museum.

Position
We can clarify the groups of information by introducing line spaces between the groups. We can also consider the location or position of the information. Drawing some out to the left gains emphasis for that information. We see it first and therefore read it first. In this composition we have placed the information in 5 horizontal groups, giving each piece of information a separate location. We read the information sequentially from left to right. This helps the reader build up a picture of meaning, each piece of information adding to the previous. In information design this is known as progressive disclosure. When driving along a motorway you appreciate information being broken down into digestible chunks. Being given all the information in one go can be confusing. If we want to raise the level of importance of individual pieces of information we can literally raise them up. Here’s the what – Typescapes exhibition. The when – Friday 4 December. The who – the four people speaking. And finally the where – the Design Museum. In this layout I’ve decided that it’s the what and when that will be seen first. I could equally have fronted up on the personalities involved. These are the types of decisions designers and their clients make. The red lines show the key construction or alignment points. The composition is divided into thirds vertically. The top third is pure space. I tend to prefer layouts that use space to the left and top of the composition. The yellow lines demonstrate that I have used vertical increments based on the lines of type.

Weight
So far we have only used one typeface, one size of type and one weight. In this next sequence we will consider the impact of weight, but again keeping to one type size. I will move the weight sequentially through the block of information. When selecting a change of weight of type remember that contrast is a key tool for designers. Choose a significant weight change where you can see the difference. In this version I am using weight to emphasise the event title and layout to group information in key locations. These techniques not only articulate the information but through considered use of position and space create visually intriguing layouts. This is known as typographic syntax. I’ve used key words in the main horizontal statement to structure the other information. The date aligns with the word Typescapes. The gallery presentations align with the word Typography (all the people are known for their typography). And the location (the Design Museum) aligns with the word Environments. Considering the meaning of words when aligning typography is known as semantic typography.

Size
Now we consider the impact of changing the size of type. Again think contrast. Setting type twice the size makes it more noticeable than say just going to the next point size up. In these exercises I have been setting the type bigger and bolder than I would due to the screen resolution on YouTube. If I was designing for print, I might choose 9pt regular for the text, maybe 9pt bold for sub-headings. If I wanted to gain additional emphasis say for section headings I might go to 12pt or 18pt headings. You will notice there is a mathematically proportional relationship between the sizes. On screen we have a layout based on changing the size of the event title (the what). The type is twice the size of the smaller type. The other information is structured in relation to this first main statement. Next it is the turn of the date to take dominance. Again the information is structured to this typographic statement. Then the people’s names are emphasised. And finally the location is emphasised. Notice in each case the overall design is driven by the the first large statement. This way of working through analysis and determining hierarchy often yields the creative solution to the layout. You don’t always have to impose another conceptual idea on top. You can let the idea grow organically from the information. If I grey out the information then bring each part back in order of the sequence in which the decision was made you will see how the design is constructed. First the large title. Then the line above it is added. The You of You are invited is aligned with the T of Typescapes. The date is then added – it aligns with the type to the left but also with the S of Spatial. Again I am considering significant words to align with. The gallery presentations align left with the date and the S of Spatial. Then the location, Design Museum, with the E of Environments. The red lines show you those key construction points. Here the date takes prominence. First the date is set. Then the type underneath is structured in three columns aligning with Friday, December and 2009. Then the title aligns above December. With the private view finally aligning with the Friday. You will notice that I often choose not to space the components out evenly. This is an attempt to create visual tension and dynamism within the information. The type at the top clings to the top edge and the type under the date clings to the date. The edges and the white space are considered as equally important in their contribution to the composition. The redlines show the key alignment points. In this composition I have emphasised the speakers’ surnames. Sometimes a design comes together in parts. The first idea sees the information at the top stepping down. The alignment points are again on significant words. It’s as if the words are clinging to milestones as it steps its way through the information. The steps create 4 potential alignment points for the names. Before arriving at this location I will have tried the others. I felt this position afforded the best sense of balance for this asymmetrical design. I wanted the feeling of pulling off the centre to a more right sided balance. The red lines allow you to see those key decision points. I often think all I am doing is making decisions as to where to line things up. Finally we are using the location of the event, the Design Museum, as the driver for this composition. I let the rest of the address flow on to the right. A simple typographic observation – Design Museum is made of two words. Both have strong vertical initial letters – ideal for left aligning other information. The gallery presentations list gives me the most number of lines which creates a strong left edge. The date is broken into 3 lines to align with the word Design. Don’t be afraid to experiment with splitting the lines. Look for visual splits but also keep in mind splitting for sense. Maybe read out aloud the words as you have split them to see if it makes reading sense. The title hooks onto the word Friday and extends out to the left. Finally I am isolating the words private view from the main group to create emphasis for it.

Conclusion
This has been Typographic Hierarchy with me Tony Pritchard. We’ve considered copy analysis and how you can create emphasis for different parts of the information through size, weight and position of type and how doing this can produce many different types of layouts.

The Colour Wheel Tutorial

Voice-over
This is the transcript of the voice-over from the movie. This is a version of the colour wheel. It was introduced to me by Geoff White who was taught it by Victor Pasmore whilst at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.

The equilateral triangle
The design constructed from equilateral triangles. An equilateral triangle is one which has all sides measuring the same. The internal angles are all 60 degrees. One could equally construct the design using other shapes such as circles or diamonds or squares.

The construction
There are five rings to the design. I began by constructing the triangle. This can be done at any size. I copied the painting lent to me by Geoff White. The triangle was 70mm.
1 I set a 70mm square and deleted the top and two sides, resulting in a single line.
2 I rotated this 60 degrees and joined the two lines. I then joined the other two points to create the third side.
3 I then set a circle with a radius of 210mm. I placed the triangle centrally on the vertical. And placed it so that the two base points of the triangle touched the circle.
4 I then rotated the triangle by 20 degrees around the centre of the circle. This results in 18 triangles.
5 The four rings inside this are created by progressively scaling the rings by a 70% reduction from the centre of the circle. The outer ring is scaled by 70% to create the fourth ring. Then the fourth ring is reduced by 70% to create the third ring and so on.
6 A black circle is placed at the centre, this measures 6mm in diameter. And a 50% grey circle measuring 18mm in diameter is placed outside this.
7 The third ring from the centre is comprised of pure colours.
8 The first and second ring from the centre have had black added to them making them darker. The first ring has 50% black added and the second ring has 25% black added.
9 The fourth and fifth rings from the centre have had white added to them. I have done this by altering the opacity of the colour. This allows the white background to show through the colour and thereby lightening the colour. The fourth ring has 75% opacity and the fifth ring has 50% opacity.

Complementary colours
Colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel are known as complementary colours. Orange and blue are complementary colours, as are red and green, and purple and yellow.

CMYK
I have used Cyan (which is a blue colour); Magenta (which is a pinky red colour); Yellow and Black (K=Key) to mix the colours. This is the CMYK colour system which is commonly used in printing.

Colour rotation
As the orange colour moves to red I have added more magenta. As the red moves to blue, cyan has been added. As the blue moves to green, yellow is added. And as green moves to yellow blue is extracted.

Colour against a white background
When viewing the colours against a white background, some stand out better than others. The purple contrasts well with the white background. Whereas the yellow is quite faint. The eye finds it quite difficult to detect subtle contrasts where a colour tone is close to the background colour.

Colour against a black background
Changing the background to black increases the contrast of the yellow to the background but decreases the contrast of the purple. These types of effects are also influenced by the media used. Colour will appear differently on a computer screen than when printed on paper.

Conclusion
Although colour is basic to visual communication. It is important to understand its properties and how these change through different situations such as lighting conditions. A little time studying this will benefit the designer and give a more informed basis for choosing colour.

Identity

I wear black on the outside
Because black is how I feel on the inside
Morrisey 1985

Identity and popular culture
Author John Simmons has stated that ‘identity has continuing resonance because it suggests that what we are on the inside is inextricably linked to the way we appear on the outside. The fashions and brands we wear make a statement about our choices, allegiances, likes and dislikes’. The externalisation of an internal identity is a theme that popular composers of various generations have eulogised about.

He wears the finest clothes
The best designers, heaven knows
Ooo…from his head down to his toes
Holsten, Gucci…Fiorucci
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards 1979

Macro to microcosmic identity
Identity is a set of characteristics that defines a person or a thing. Each planet is defined by its physical characteristics. Saturn with its rings, Mars the red planet and Earth the blue planet. Earth has distinctly different landmasses shaped by the oceans. Those landmasses have been carved up into countries divided by borders and identified through flags, national anthems and language. Countries have their regions – North, South, East, and West. Regional accents or dialects identify where someone comes from (local identity) and forms part of an individual’s character. People transmit something about what they are to the outside world via the language they use.

Visual identity
In the book ‘Graphic Design: A Concise History’ Richard Hollis states that ‘the primary role of graphic design is that of identification: to say what something is, and where it came from’. Identity is a broad term that encompasses our own individual character as well as identifying an organisation’s products and services. Eminent US designer and author Rob Carter has written, ‘just as primitive man carved and painted images on rock walls as a way to secure a place in the world, modern individuals and business enterprises rely on identifying marks’.

Who is it for?
An organisation has many points of contact with various groups of people. It has premises, works, products, packaging, stationery, forms, vehicles, uniforms, websites and publications. Customers, suppliers, financiers, shareholders, competitors, the press, the general public and employees all see these things. The people in these groups build up their idea of the organisation from what they see and experience of it.

A brand is a system of meaning that your customers and your organization form together. As designers, we give brands structure and expression.
MetaDesign San Francisco, 2010

Why is it necessary?
A visual identity is developed to provide a unity to the visible manifestations of an organisation as well as presenting an accurate reflection of that organisation and its area of activity. The job of the designer is to evaluate and rationalise all existing material pertaining to the organisation and systematically apply the organisation’s name and image to it in such a way as to present a consistent and co-ordinated picture.

Components of a visual identity
A visual identity usually consists of an identificant, colour scheme and typographic style. An ‘identificant’ can be a symbol (image based), logotype (word based) or monogram (letter based). Some organisations adopt a more flexible approach to its identity through an identikit. This is a kit of parts that can be configured and reconfigured yet still retain the essential visual strategy of the organisation. (see below).

Applications
A fundamental stationery range comprises a letterhead, invoice, compliment slip, envelope and business card, but may also include a delivery note, labels, credit note, order form, statement and estimate. The company identity will have to withstand reproduction in one colour (black), to a variety of sizes (small to large), endure photocopying and faxing, and appear in low-resolution online. Guidance for use with typing and overprinting should include information regarding: editorial style; typographic style; position of information; interlinear spacing; paragraph style; width for typing; and tabulation.

Presentation
When presenting an identity it normally inspires confidence in the scheme if a thorough application is shown. This could include: identificant in black and colour variations; identificant in positive and negative form, scaled from small to large (with any adjustments necessary); identificant shown as a constructional drawing; and applied to building fascia, vehicles and website. A brief illustrated report outlining an analysis of the problem and detailing the approach and development towards a solution helps to further explain the scheme (particularly if you as the designer are not ever present).

Legal checklist
When designing stationery for a limited or public limited company (plc) there are certain legal requirements.

Letterhead
A letterhead requires a name, address, telephone, fax, extension, mobile, direct line, email, website address. If the company is a limited company or plc it will require a registered office, registered number and a list of company directors.

Compliment slip
A compliment slip will have all the above except the registered office, registered number and directors. The words ‘with compliments’ are included as a quiet gesture, they do not need to shout or announce themselves unduly. Space to write a note is normally appreciated.

Business card
A business card includes the same information as the letterhead minus the registered office, registered number and directors. A name and job designation is included.

Invoice
The invoice includes the same information as the letterhead excluding the registered office, registered number and directors. The words: invoice, invoice number, account number, order number, VAT rate, description, price (or fee if it is a service being provided), VAT, total and VAT registration number are all commonly included.

The design of business stationary
The process a letter undergoes will influence its design. A letter is typed, folded and put into an envelope, posted, received, opened and read, and then filed.

Relating the pre-printed to the over-printed
Stationery will eventually be overprinted. It will be clearer for the user if there is a relationship between the pre-printed elements and the overprinted ones. An initial visual audit will identify the range of complexities to be encountered. One can often derive the solution for all items in the stationery range by tackling complicated forms such as the invoice first. Guidelines for use will need to be supplied by the designer.

Why A4?
Most stationery is designed using the ISO (A, B & C) range of paper and envelope sizes which are related by their proportion of 1:1.414 (root 2). This rectangle has the unusual property that when divided in half along its long edge it retains its original proportion. From one sheet a whole range of sizes related by their proportion can be economically derived.

Envelope sizes
An A4 sheet can be inserted into a number of different size envelopes by folding it accordingly: A4 will fit into a C4 envelope unfolded; A4 will fit into a C5 envelope by folding it once in half along its long edge; A4 will fit into a C6 envelope by folding it twice, once along its long edge and then again along the resultant long edge; A4 will fit into a DL envelope by folding it into thirds along its long edge. The DL envelope is the most commonly used envelope size.

The influence of folding
Letters are folded to fit envelopes. The top 99mm of a letter is the first thing to be seen on opening the DL business envelope and as such should contain certain vital information such as the date, name and address of the recipient, references as well as the company’s own identity and address. If a window envelope is used then the position of the window will determine the position of the typed address.  It is customary to include a discreet mark to indicate the first fold.

Filing
A left hand margin of preferably 25mm or more should be allowed so that information is not obliterated when filed.

Identikit and flexible identities
During the 1980s and 1990s there was a move away from the monolithic logo/symbol approach where identities were applied in a highly limited and controlled fashion by corporate identity specialists and their corporate identity manuals. A new generation of designers were rediscovering a more flexible attitude to identity. The identikit method was more organic in application. It allowed for some life and playfulness and could grow over time. It relied on the identity being composed of a kit of parts. Different components of the identity could be highlighted depending on the different requirements. This is typified by the Studio Dumbar identity for the Holland Festival, which worked across posters, publications, stationary and festival signage. This visual strategy was nothing new and had been employed very successfully by an Italian steel producing company Italsider in the 1960s. The identity is documented in, ‘the grand-father of modern corporate identity’, FHK Henrion’s book Design Co-ordination and Corporate Image.

Brands create cultures, enable conversations, inform, entertain and generate value. Our Brand team works with you to get to the heart of your brand, its stories and how to tell them across channels. We have planners, strategists, bloggers, Tweeters, writers, researchers and trend trackers throughout our 11 offices. We understand quickly, create fast and measure swiftly to ensure your brand hits the zeitgeist and stays there.
Imagination, 2010

Future brands
As the channels of communication proliferate and in some cases challenge traditional media and those that control it, large corporations are becoming concerned to keep ahead. Ford used the marketing agency, Wunderman, to create a mobile phone augmented reality application for their Ford Ka promotion. It was aimed at young people who weren’t necessarily Ford’s immediate customers. The application acknowledged that You Tube and blogs were challenging traditional media outlets such as TV and newspapers for advertising. Young people are ‘not watching TV and posters pass them by as they are out socialising’. The new social networking sites accessed through mobile phones are more likely to be on their radar. But just appearing on these new communication channels is not enough; 20-year-olds are questioning the values of traditional brands and aren’t necessarily interested in the mainstream. Our worlds are both global and local and our sense of identity increasingly complex, intertwining the personal with the plethora of competing and perpetually changing brand cultures.

Life’s not worth a damn
Till you can shout out
I am what I am
Gloria Gaynor 1984

References
Marks of Excellence, Per Mollerup
Design Co-ordination and Corporate Image, FHK Henrion
Graphic Design, Richard Hollis
We, Me, Them and It, John Simmons
MetaDesign
Imagination
Root 2 Design

Narrative and sequence

Introduction
These set of notes were written whilst I was researching for a book on information design. I think of the audience as being first year undergraduate graphic designers.

Narrative
A narrative is a written, spoken or visual account of connected events. A narrative can best be understood in terms of the tradition of storytelling. A story can be factual or fictional. It can be conveyed through books, magazines, newspapers, comics, film, television, exhibition and the web. Designers have adopted the form of the story or narrative as an engaging and efficient method of sequencing information.

Sequence
A sequence is the specific order in which a series of related events proceed. Designers consider the story that is to be told and make decisions regarding the order in which key information is to be seen or heard. A sequence of information may flow continuously or be punctuated with silence, noise, space or time. Clear segmentation of information that can be reconnected back to an overall concept allows an appreciation of the individual parts as well as the whole. The division of a book into pages, sections and chapters allows for natural breaks to occur within information. Progressive disclosure is a term to describe the sequencing of information for example on motorway signage.

Comics
Comics demonstrate the concepts of narrative and sequence well. In the book ‘Understanding Comics’, Scott McCloud describes comics as ‘juxtaposed…images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information’. A comic uses space to unfold its story whereas film or television sequences images and sound in time.

Once upon a time – a brief history of comic art narrative
Information has been conveyed in sequence as a narrative form from early civilisations onwards: Egyptian hieroglyphics; the Trajan column, ancient Greek paintings; Japanese scrolls; pre-Columbian picture manuscripts; the Bayeux tapestry; stain glass windows; Hogarth’s satirical commentaries; Rodolphe Töpffer’s introduction of panel borders; Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel’s woodcuts; and Japanese manga comics.

Audience involvement
For a story to be successfully conveyed, an audience needs to be able to relate to the key characters. Characters in comics are often drawn in an iconic fashion so as to broaden the potential viewer identification. Books and dramas use archetypal characters to identify with.

Words and pictures
Words are described as perceived information in that it takes time to decode the abstract symbols of language. Pictures are received information in that the message is received immediately. We more readily understand pictures of things rather than textual descriptions of things – early words were stylised pictures. See also World Without Words by Michael Evamy.

Transitions between sequential events
Scott McCloud identifies six categories of transition within the comic art. Moment-to-moment transitions are like the individually drawn stages of an animation with little differences between frames. Action-to-action transitions show a distinctive re-action to a previous action involving a single subject. Subject-to-subject is a transition from one subject to another but within the same idea for example a winner crosses the line and the camera pans to the stopwatch. Scene-to-scene transitions require a level of deductive reasoning making connections across time and space for example if we were wondering where to go on holiday we might envision three separate shots of different locations. Aspect-to-aspect transitions are where a series of images convey various aspects of a scene. The non-sequiter transition is a series of unrelated events. Karen O’Neil has produced an interpretation of these six narrative transitions which can be viewed at her website.

Literary theory and the function of stories
A ‘Story’ can be defined in terms of a news broadcast, a written article, a sequence in an exhibition or a series of navigated links on a website.

Narratology is the theory of narrative structure and describes: notions of plot; types of narrators; and narrative techniques. The basic structure of a story has a start, middle and end. The phrase ‘to have lost the plot’ indicates that the sequence of a story has been disturbed.

The literary theorist Jonathan Culler has stated that stories are the way in which we primarily ‘make sense of things, whether in thinking of our lives as a progression leading somewhere or in telling ourselves what is happening in the world’. Everyone loves stories, both telling them and hearing them. Unexpected twists, turnarounds in fortune, good triumphing against evil are all satisfying resolutions in plot. Stories operate as educational devices and we are often driven by the desire to discover and acquire knowledge. We can see ‘experience’ through the various vantage points literature provides us. Novels are representations of social reality and allow us to act out scenarios through vicarious experiences. Culler suggests that ‘we become who we are through a series of identifications, novels are a powerful device for the internalisation of social norms’. See also Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

Representations of narrative
A narrative is influenced by who the narrator is. The events of a story may be described in the first or third person. The narrator could be a central character who conveys their perspective or an observer of events. Audience and tone of voice are key narrative concerns. Many radio and television broadcasters imagine addressing an individual. Narration can occur live as the events unfold or after the event in retrospection.

The type of language used may change depending on the perspective of the character conveying the story or the audience being addressed. The language of a particular age group, gender, culture or class may be adopted to convey certain narrative sequences.

Stories or events may be seen through the eyes of a key protagonist. This is called focalisation. The focaliser may envisage events at the time or reflect through hindsight.

The authority of the narrator and credibility of their message is vital to an audience’s belief in what they are being told. When information is tainted with bias the receiver of the information may question the particular interpretation.