Higher 'R key'

Instead of approaching hierarchy in the contextual manner, I had thought of looking at the literal break down of the word. The higher 'R key', as in the letter on the computer/laptop keyboard.

First I examined the positioning and interpreted 'higher' as in the positioning on the page and accentuated the higher key by making that larger than the other 'R key'. But I thought that the monochrome and the lack of a background made the foreground rather uninteresting and 2D.

Developing from the first composition I had then stacked the R keys, treating them like blocks, to build a tower where the R keys at the top were more defined. However the block shapes did not associate with the keys on a keyboard so the thickness and perspective had to be altered. In order to ensure that the keys at the top were accentuated I had to create a gradient, whether that be the depth of three-dimension within the lettering or the intensity of the pixilation so that the key at the top of the tower had the highest quality of clarity. Then I thought that the arrangement of the keys looked slightly artificial and the form looked too similar to Great Britain, as it appears on the map.

Hence instead of the R key stack, I considered where the R key is positioned on the keyboard. To amplify the appearance of the R key I could increase the height and darken the tone so it is heavier and draws more attention. By putting the surrounding keys in the composition it puts more emphasis on the height contrast. Using the 'perspective tool' on Illustrator this helped orientating the vanishing point so that the letters sit comfortably on the 3D keys. Not only this is a play on words but that the 'high R key' is at a higher level than the rest, which signifies a higher ranking.

 By pixelating the background, the visual becomes more aligned with the digital, technology and computers/laptops.

 By pixelating everything apart from the R key, the R key is then more dominant.

The fragmented visual expresses a desire to break the norms of hierarchy and how a class system shouldn't exist.

 By converting the image to monochrome and revealing nothing but the letter R, the viewer becomes fully focussed on the R key without the distraction of other colours. Monochrome also stylises the image to something that is considered as old fashioned, which devotes the value of hierarchy and social class to as old as the 19th century more than modern day society.

The addition of digital-serif typography enhances the action and movement within the image, creating more levels and encouraging the viewer to read the image as opposed to just look at it. Different thicknesses of each word improves its accessibility and legibility as each different thickness is an indicator as to where the word stops and starts.

Words and typographic mediums were introduced in the coloured version however I preferred the lettering to be superimposed so that it seems softer and natural against the speckled background. The diagonal 'line of best fit' neatly groups all the visuals together but also uses the graph as an emblem for hierarchy and the gradient of power relationships.

Hierarchy is personal, in that I don't think that nowadays it is a completely rigid system. The subject that is in power is up to you, and what people find more important depends on that person. So it varies due to choice. The thing that is more important, in your opinion, tends to have more power as it is viewed as something with the higher value.

It is as simple as picking something up, before anything everything is of equal status until you notice the subject you desire. The subject you desire would metaphorically have an orb around it because it has more importance to you it is more powerful as it has possessed you to select it and that subject has the privilege of being chosen. As you are picking it up you are drawing that subject away from the others you haven't chosen, creating a proximity. That distance is that gradient from high to low power as the important item is dragged away from the least important. The hierarchy is only restored until that item has been returned to its original position where the items are then of the same value again.

Likewise when typing, for a short period of time, the letter you wish to type has a few seconds of power. Metaphorically that letter is raised higher than all the other letters, where the other letters are out of your line of vision and become insignificant. Once typed, that specific key no longer has importance and the power is restored until the next letter is typed 'raised'.