Tag Archives: grammar of ornament
Bg_img tombstone
There are several different kinds of Tombstone background. Some are literal, some inventive and some so abstract as to be barely recognisable. Any attempt to classify and catalogue them will always be a quite subjective affair. But by my reckoning there are nine distinct types. That is to say there are nine different and unique ways of defining the monolith within a field of colour. The problem when making these categorisations though is that a tombstone can, and often does, combine elements from several different types of monolith in one. There are however, distinct and commonly recurring motifs to be seen and noted amongst them. These are they.
Halo
The classic: the Halo employs a subtle monochromatic tonal shift (possibly) inspired by the drop-shadow around the application windows of OS X. The top of the content area is highlighted by an ethereal baroque flourish from a source emanating somewhere below the central monolith. The extent of the flourish often depends on the eagerness of the designer is to investigate the Difference Clouds setting in Photoshop. This effect is quite likely to be used on a site that makes heavy sci-fi references. The Halo is being used as a metaphor and as a visual fanfare for an alien presence. Imagine when looking at it you hear the alien sounds from Close Encounters, or the noise when booting up Windows 7. The less eager, more minimal designer will prefer to introduce a high level of noise to a lighter coloured drop-shadow when making a Halo. In this instance it looks as though the monolith has been created by spraying paint over a stencil. This is the street halo.
Inverse Halo
Similar to the Halo, though with fewer associative readings, the central monolith is bleached with an inner glow that fades into the main body colour of the site as you scroll down. The monolith is more ephemeral than in most other Tombstones and resembles a searchlight bouncing against darkened clouds. The page headline is often encircled by the highlight, drawing attention to content above the cut. Alternatively, the monolith is slightly transparent, revealing traces of pattern from the body background. In these instances, it is common for each post to be laid out like a series of cards with a gap between each with the background pattern acting as a boundary between one section and the next.
Frame
Whereas the Halo only gives definition to the top of the content, the frame gives boundary to it all. The Halo offers the flexibility of being able to support any length of content by sitting on top of it like a hat, the Frame by contrast is more restrictive and assumes a height value as well as a width. The Frame tombstone tends to only be suitable for static, hard coded HTML pages rather than anything blog-like and dynamically generated simply because it assumes that the content and everything within it has been specifically and uniquely crafted. The alternative is to use scrollbars in the content area; however this is a poorly designed compromise. As a result of the inelegance of this, the Frame background tends to now only be found on older websites. One of the appealing features of the Frame tombstone though is that it assumes a symbiotic relationship between the background and the content not found elsewhere. Both have been designed with the other in mind and tend to dovetail rather than be inoffensively complimentary to one another.
Sprite
Found in the header and footer <div> rather than the body, the Sprite tombstone is a contemporary variant of the Frame. A blank content area flanked with a solid colour is usually decorated at the top with branding and other ornamental flourishes and at the bottom with a drop shadow or a dog-eared corner. The image is positioned centrally at the top and bottom of the page as a background in both the header and footer tags. The main or content area is HTML generated and can stretch dynamically in accordance with the length of the article. Only the necessary part of the sprite is shown in either the header or footer: the top or bottom half depending on whether you are at the beginning or end of the page. The middle section, being HTML generated, is infinitely flexible and offers a nicer, much more elegant solution to a problem previously solved by the scrollbars of the Frame tombstone.
Header
A tombstone favoured by academic and research sites. Notable for a small monolithic area at the top of the page, the Header accents little more than the site and article title, usually fading into the colour of the page background by the start of the article itself. Often a simple, tasteful gradient, the Header tombstone can also be used as a way of subtlety integrating a corporate branding at the top of the page. It is commonly used as a lightweight decoration within a text heavy, minimal theme.
Tablet
Superficially, the Tablet tombstone is only slightly different from the Frame. Both assume a viewing area with a height value as well as a width. The main difference though is that the Tablet purposefully employs scrollbars as a feature rather than inelegant by-product. This means is that the Tablet, rather than a means of enclosure, behaves as a small window for viewing the content; one with a knowing and recursive nod in the direction of the browser window rendering it. The Tablet background was employed more commonly when monitor resolution was lower than it is today and screen estate was at an ill or undefined premium. This resulted in the content area – the window – often being quite small. Think iPhone rather than iPad. The Tablet’s popularity during the early to mid-2000’s was as a result of it ensuring that the important parts of the page would always fit on the screen, whatever the setting the monitor.
Grave
The Grave is an inverse tombstone. The background image is positioned at the bottom of the page, or in some instances, the footer. It only becomes visible when you have scrolled down and finished reading. It is different from other tombstones in that it cups the final words of the content rather than embellishing the first. Like all graves, it gives definition to the end.
Outline
Part of the Halo family of tombstones, the Outline borrows elements from both, but is much less baroque in its ornament than either. Rather than emissions of radiant aurora encircling the tombstone, the content area is delineated with a line, one or two pixels wide. On occasion and with nod to the Halo, the outline is decorated with a drop shadow, although only with a very small distance and spread. This is to give the impression that the content area is raised or angled forward slightly. In common with most tombstones, the outline fades into the body colour as the page is scrolled down. While this can be used with a simple gradient to lock down a no-frills minimal vibe, the outline works best when incorporated with a graphic. This is because a dominant image indicates that the design has been heavily themed around the sites principal subject rather than a generic aesthetic ambiance. The result is a crafted coming together of the content and the background.
Altar
The Altar[1] is an abstract or fragmented tombstone. Two ornamental objects, distinct or mirrored, float either side of a subtle or loosely defined central monolith. The ornaments embellish the otherwise dormant space in the guttering at the edge of the screen and are the sole active element of the background. In combination, and read horizontally, the three elements come together in triptych. The ornaments of the Altar operate as a form of branding; they allow the logo and site identity to spill over beyond the edges of the monolith and onto the page background, like a stain. As a result, it is common for the background image to have a fixed position so that the ornament remains on screen at all times and independent of the downward scroll of the content.
Bg_img tombstone is available to download here.
[1] The term Altar is borrowed and then taken unabashedly from the meme developed on Dump.fm. The Altar, as Lalblog describes is “Basically a triptych (or more-tych) which combines a central image propped up by peripheral pillars [all usually animated gifs] that will act to emphasise the central image as an object of worship (usually ironic) or will play with the central image to create a visual pun or joke (or at least, that’s how I interpret it)”.
Grand illusion
This is the background image from David Copperfield’s website. It is one of the best and most interesting I have seen since I started collecting them for the Bg_img project. What sets it apart is the combination of different types of background in one glitzy show tune of an image. It has everything: a subtle repeating floral pattern that fades into a solid grey body; a halo effect above the cut illuminating the headline and featured content; subtle use of drop shadow and Gaussian blur; fixed width middle column and a second halo in the footer mirroring the one at the top.
The other thing of note is how the image serves as the content of the site, rather than the decoration behind it. The three stacked images on the right for example – about; pop culture and charitable work – aren’t just place holders, they lay underneath three absolutely positioned anchor links and smudge the line at the edge of ornament and function. Other than the critic quotations, all the visible content is contained in a single .jpg held in the body tag.
Famously, David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear; isolating the background image from his site, it looks as though he has waved his hand, distracted his audience with smoke and mirrors and made all the content disappear too. While the same can be said for most background images seen in isolation, this one is more than just a decorative pattern, it is a negative space. You can see where the content was and exactly where it should be. Not only is there a void half way down on the left where there was once text, the hyperlinks have been magiced away too. The invitation to play the biographical “About the Man” video is just an illusion, as is the temptation lower down the page to enter paradise. Mouse over either and the cursor no longer turns from arrow to white glove.
Bg_img Nature
Websites styled as a sheet of paper on a long scrolling desktop make for an uncomfortable ride. Inverting the desk by 90 degrees to have it display on a screen invokes an odd, gravity defying, sensation of queasiness. Making a site that resembles a virtual work area by wrapping every part of it in heavy physical metaphor dulls the mind as it repeatedly bangs its head against the outer extremities of literalness.
The desk is usually styled in one of two ways. First is the tidy workspace, second is the untidy one. The first has hard, heavily grained wood between the <body> tags. Paper is laid square in the centre with a hint of drop shadow, the font is most likely Courier to replicate a type writer. Second is a lighter wood and has a separate <header> image probably with mugs, pens, keys and coffee stains. The paper may have a rough edge to indicate a tear and mostly likely one of the corners is dog-eared. Again, there is a hint of drop shadow. Items in the sidebar tend to be represented by post-it notes. There will also be liberal use of a file called paperclip.png and the font should be Comic Sans, but isn’t.
Both desk types are intended to be representative of a singular and private space. A space where the author is shooting from the hip while simultaneously being the place they slave over their masterpiece – a space where the magic happens. Occasionally there will be a polished gem, but your semiotic spider sense should be warning you that this is a site by someone who likes to show their working. You will have a long wait.
My suggestion is that you leave your desk, that you stretch your legs and that you go outside, metaphorically off course. The great expanses of nature, the sky; the sea and the sweeping meadow don’t replicate so well on the internet. Even when tiled to infinity they are flattened and not remotely romantic. The wild unpredictable patterns of nature are contained within a repeated .jpg Photoshopped with a 50% offset. That said, they have their own kind of kaleidoscopic beauty that abstracts and orders in equal measure. Take a deep breath, loose yourself in nature, download it here.
Bg_img tumblr
The PDF edition of Bg_img is taking a 1 month sabbatical. In its place, bg_img tumblr. The site will be a dumping ground for some of the more interesting and noteworthy background images I come across during future surfing sessions and perhaps a better way of organising some of the several thousand I have collected already. Thematically it will probably be quite chaotic and added to as and when; I’ll leave attempts at organisation for the PDF’s and then ultimately when the planets are aligned correctly, the book.
One of the benefits of doing things this way is that the backgrounds are presented on screen; so you see them in their original context and you read them as empty spaces as well as formal compositions. The other cool thing is that I can showcase some of the animated backgrounds. Nothing beats looking at animated stars tiled across the screen, trust me. Thirdly, clicking on the link at the bottom of the page (usually) takes you to the background in its original context. A white box with text in it can spoil anything, content is noise.
Bg_img gradient
Bg_img gradient is now available to download. Each gradient was chosen randomly from a much larger collection based on various criteria, but mainly because they were different and distinctive from the one previous and a good example of the different types of gradient filling the body tags of websites the world over. Assuming that the images in it represent an accurate cross-section of the background gradients out there, the above chart illustrates the percentage breakdown of the different file types they have been saved to. Half the world’s gradients are in jpg format.
Excerpt from the Grammar of Ornament, p.40, Pompeian Ornament
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/ /:/~/::\ / /:/~/:/ / /:/~/:/ /__/\ / /\ /__/::\ / /:/ /:/_
/__/:/ /:/\:\ /__/:/ /:/ /__/:/ /:/ \ \:\ / /:/ \__\/\:\__ /__/:/ /:/ /\
\ \:\/:/__\/ \ \:\/:/ \ \:\/:/ \ \:\ /:/ \ \:\/\ \ \:\/:/ /:/
\ \::/ \ \::/ \ \::/ \ \:\/:/ \__\::/ \ \::/ /:/
\ \:\ \ \:\ \ \:\ \ \::/ /__/:/ \ \:\/:/
\ \:\ \ \:\ \ \:\ \__\/ \__\/ \ \::/
\__\/ \__\/ \__\/ \__\/
_____ ___
/ /::\ ___ / /\
/ /:/\:\ / /\ / /::\
/ /:/ \:\ / /:/ / /:/\:\
/__/:/ \__\:| / /:/ / /:/ \:\
\ \:\ / /:/ / /::\ /__/:/ \__\:\
\ \:\ /:/ /__/:/\:\ \ \:\ / /:/
\ \:\/:/ \__\/ \:\ \ \:\ /:/
\ \::/ \ \:\ \ \:\/:/
\__\/ \__\/ \ \::/
\__\/
___ ___
/ /\ / /\
/ /:/ / /:/
/__/::\ / /:/
\__\/\:\__ / /::\
\ \:\/\ /__/:/\:\
\__\::/ \__\/ \:\
/__/:/ \ \:\
\__\/ \__\/
Selected propositions of Owen Jones
Proposition 4. True beauty results from that repose which the mind feels when the eye, the intellect, and the affections, are satisfied from the absence of any want.
Proposition 5. Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed. That which is beautiful is true; that which is true must be beautiful.
Proposition 7. The general forms being first cared for, these should be subdivided and ornamented by general lines; the interstices may then be filled in with ornament, which may again be subdivided and enriched for closer inspection.
Proposition 13. Flowers or other natural objects should not be used as ornaments, but conventional representations founded upon them sufficiently suggestive to convey the intended image to the mind, without destroying the unity of the object they are employed to decorate. Universally obeyed in the best periods of Art, equally violated when Art declines.
Proposition 14. Colour is used to assist in the development of form, and to distinguish objects or parts of objects one from another.
Proposition 15. Colour is used to assist light and shade, helping the undulations of form by the proper distribution of the several colours.
Proposition 16. These objects are best attained by the use of the primary colours on small surfaces and in small quantities, balanced and supported by the secondary and tertiary colours on the larger masses.
Proposition 17. The primary colours should be used on the upper portions of objects, the secondary and tertiary on the lower.
Background image as a form of self censorship