Year 10 - Art and design
Portraits and figures in Graphic Communication
Themes within Graphic Communication
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Pupils can select or rotate through these units that feature diverse and inclusive artist references, consider application of their skill strengths and encourage critical thinking and personal connections.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explore and analyse how designers use portraits and figures, and begin creating your own design that communicates personal meaning through stylisation.
Key Notes
- Portraits and figures can be powerful tools in graphic design to express messages, emotion, or identity.
- Graphic designers often stylise figures to enhance meaning and create a signature visual style.
- Deconstructing design helps us understand how the elements of art contribute to visual impact.
- Personal identity can inform meaningful visual design choices.
Vocabulary To Learn
- portraiture: artwork that represents a person's likeness, often focusing on the face and expression
- identity: the qualities, beliefs, personality, or expressions that make a person or group unique, often reflected in art
- stylisation: the deliberate simplification or exaggeration of visual elements in an artwork to create a distinctive or expressive effect
- visual language: the combination of design elements (line, shape, colour, etc.) used to communicate ideas visually
- deconstruction: the process of breaking down an artwork into its basic components for analysis
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Portraits in graphic design must look realistic to be effective.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Portraits and figures can be powerful tools in graphic design to express messages, emotion, or identity. Graphic designers often stylise figures to enhance meaning and create a signature visual style.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'portraiture'
artwork that represents a person's likeness, often focusing on the face and expression.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Portraits in graphic design must look realistic to be effective. Correction: Graphic design often relies on abstraction and stylisation to communicate more clearly and powerfully than realism - effective portraits use design choices to enhance meaning, not replicate reality.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 10 Art and design guide library.