Design and Decoration

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The Village	Location	•	Layout	•	Security	•	Organization	•	Involved Persons	•	Summakor	•	Design and Decoration

This page gathers information about the visual identity, design and decoration apparent in The Village

Contents 1 Architectural Designs 2 Symbols 2.1 'Five Segment Circle' Symbol 2.1.1 Description 2.1.2 Source 2.1.3 Variations 2.1.4 Analysis 3 Color Schemes

[edit] Architectural Designs

[Pending]

[edit] Symbols

[edit] 'Five Segment Circle' Symbol

[edit] Description

The recurring 'Five Segment Circle' symbol (logo or picture mark) contains five vertical segments of differing lengths, lined up side-by-side so that the highest segment is in the middle with two segments being progressively and evenly shorter on each side, generally forming an upwards pointing shape similar to an arrow. The collection of five segments is circumscribed by a circle.

The two colors in the symbol are a desaturated red and a light color. The colors seen in the reconstruction on the right are based on the "Pig" poster, and may not represent the colors when used elsewhere, such as on the Bus.

[edit] Source

This symbol appears in a number of places in The Village and in Village related media. It appears on the side of the bus in the bus video and in the related screenshot, and in the "Pig" poster retrieved from summakor.com.

[edit] Variations

A possible inverted version within a white circle appears in Photo #3 of a Village street.

A seemingly related symbol appears on one of the cards used in the S.W.A.T. (Surveillance Watcher Aptitude Test) found at http://www.summakor.com/swat.html. The card, described as the Hand card by the test proctor, appears in the "Test 1/3 Intro" portion. A screenshot of the card and an artist's rendition appear below. This variation contains the same five segments as the 'Five Segment Circle', but a lower portion of the surrounding shape has been included below the segments, making the shape appear more like an entire hand. The segment on the far right has also been lowered to place it in a more proper thumb position.

Screenshot of test procotor holding Hand card from the Test 1/3 Intro portion of Summakor's S.W.A.T. (Surveillance Watcher Aptitude Test)

Artist's rendition of Hand card from Summakor's S.W.A.T.

Another variation seems to be used in the yellow sign with a red shape in the street photo. The red hand points to the right with the index finger most elongated, thumb on top, and the other fingers consistently shorter as they go down. The fingers are similarly shown as outlines, except possibly the thumb which could be folded. The palm of the hand is red. This sign looks like it is to direct traffic to the right of the island in the street.

[edit] Analysis

It is unknown if the 'Five Segment Circle' is purely abstract, intended to evoke an emotion, or intended to be metaphoric. It appears to be a stylized symbol, rather than a descriptive image.

Symbolically, since all five segments have rounded tops, one might find these reminiscent of digits (fingers) of a hand held up, with the digits brought together (but with the palm omitted from the picture). The Hand card variation of the symbol that appears in Summakor's S.W.A.T reinforces this interpretation.

Another possibility is that the five segments visually reference a segment of a city skyline, having towers or buildings in a well-planned complex. The overall shape of these segments pointing up as an arrow could represent moving up or moving forward, and thus a metaphor of advancement. A circle around marks is common, and may not imply anything; but it can convey a feeling of unity, and thus could refer to unity of the group.

Perhaps multiple elements of symbolism mentioned above are cleverly woven into the symbol, such that it has a metaphor something like the following (references to above ideas are in parentheses):

  Individual members (digits) that are consolidated (brought side-to-side) 
  to form a community (buildings on a skyline) for the advancement (generally pointed shape)
  of the whole (perhaps the circle).

If this is the meaning, then the symbol could refer to The Village itself as an organization! Then The Village would not be just the name of a place, it would be the name of an organization.

Rho4: The idea that individual members are symbolized as digits seems eerily similar to the idea that people are referenced by numbers in The Village.

[edit] Color Schemes

[Pending]