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July 7, 2010 9:50 PM Subscribe
How can I create hidden visual elements that can only be viewed under specific conditions?
What graphic design methods can be used to create print visual pieces that have elements that can only appear conditionally (if the viewer is wearing 3D glasses, if he views the piece from a certain angle, etc.)?
For example, if there is a printed white page with only the word "Work," what can I do to allow the viewer to see the word "Play" appear on top of it (or completely replace it) if the viewer performs a specific action (again, like wearing a 3D glasses or changing his position)?
Moreover, how can these methods be implemented (e.g. Do X in Adobe Illustrator, etc.)?
I am aware of computer-based Steganography/cryptography/etc., but since I am interested in having the element appear by having the viewer do a specific, single-step physical action to see the element, I don't think they apply.
What graphic design methods can be used to create print visual pieces that have elements that can only appear conditionally (if the viewer is wearing 3D glasses, if he views the piece from a certain angle, etc.)?
For example, if there is a printed white page with only the word "Work," what can I do to allow the viewer to see the word "Play" appear on top of it (or completely replace it) if the viewer performs a specific action (again, like wearing a 3D glasses or changing his position)?
Moreover, how can these methods be implemented (e.g. Do X in Adobe Illustrator, etc.)?
I am aware of computer-based Steganography/cryptography/etc., but since I am interested in having the element appear by having the viewer do a specific, single-step physical action to see the element, I don't think they apply.
There's the "high-frequency/low-frequency" mix thing, where a picture of a face looks different when you're close up than it does when you're a ways away from it. (Sorry, I don't know the name of this and can't find a link. Maybe someone else can?)
You can make a picture that will look a lot different when viewed under monochromatic lighting (e.g. only red) than under white light.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:33 PM on July 7, 2010
You can make a picture that will look a lot different when viewed under monochromatic lighting (e.g. only red) than under white light.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:33 PM on July 7, 2010
Best answer: Here are some suggestions of various levels of feasibility based on your resources:
- UV sensitive ink. Invisible under a regular light, glows under a blacklight. (You can buy or make UV ink and use it in a regular inkjet cartridge.)
- Glow-in-the-dark pigment. Is generally not visible until the lights are turned off. This can be screen printed.
- Secret message decoder with colored cellophane like this.
- Heavy perspective. From in front (or some angle) it appears to be a bunch of vague shapes. Looking nearly edge on the perspective makes it take shape.
- Lenticular printing.
- Similar to the above, fan fold a piece of paper. On every other column of the paper print one image, alternate with the other image. Mount the paper so the folds are vertical and at about 90 degrees to each other. Looking at it from the left you'll see one image. From the right another image.
posted by Ookseer at 10:34 PM on July 7, 2010
- UV sensitive ink. Invisible under a regular light, glows under a blacklight. (You can buy or make UV ink and use it in a regular inkjet cartridge.)
- Glow-in-the-dark pigment. Is generally not visible until the lights are turned off. This can be screen printed.
- Secret message decoder with colored cellophane like this.
- Heavy perspective. From in front (or some angle) it appears to be a bunch of vague shapes. Looking nearly edge on the perspective makes it take shape.
- Lenticular printing.
- Similar to the above, fan fold a piece of paper. On every other column of the paper print one image, alternate with the other image. Mount the paper so the folds are vertical and at about 90 degrees to each other. Looking at it from the left you'll see one image. From the right another image.
posted by Ookseer at 10:34 PM on July 7, 2010
Best answer: Ambigrams, autostereograms, anamorphosis, Mad fold-ins, thaumatropes, lenticular printing, pixelization (more easily viewed from a distance), afterimage, figure-ground illusions (and other optical illusions), connect the dots, invisible ink / magic markers, data matrices (can be decoded with a cellphone).
Most of these are more complicated to create than "do X in Illustrator", though.
posted by oulipian at 10:36 PM on July 7, 2010
Most of these are more complicated to create than "do X in Illustrator", though.
posted by oulipian at 10:36 PM on July 7, 2010
The method you're looking for is called Steganography, used by the recently nailed Russian deep-cover spies (cut n paste - see the end of the following two paragraphs for actual tools to do this):
What is Steganography?
Steganography is really nothing new, as it has been around since the times of ancient Rome. For example, in ancient Rome and Greece, text was traditionally written on wax that was poured on top of stone tablets. If the sender of the information wanted to obscure the message - for purposes of military intelligence, for instance - they would use steganography: the wax would be scraped off and the message would be inscribed or written directly on the tablet, wax would then be poured on top of the message, thereby obscuring not just its meaning but its very existence[1].
According to Dictionary.com, steganography (also known as "steg" or "stego") is "the art of writing in cipher, or in characters, which are not intelligible except to persons who have the key; cryptography" [2]. In computer terms, steganography has evolved into the practice of hiding a message within a larger one in such a way that others cannot discern the presence or contents of the hidden message[3]. In contemporary terms, steganography has evolved into a digital strategy of hiding a file in some form of multimedia, such as an image, an audio file (like a .wav or mp3) or even a video file.
Tools to actually encode messages into images: http://www.jjtc.com/Steganography/toolmatrix.htm
posted by jfstanley at 11:51 PM on July 7, 2010
What is Steganography?
Steganography is really nothing new, as it has been around since the times of ancient Rome. For example, in ancient Rome and Greece, text was traditionally written on wax that was poured on top of stone tablets. If the sender of the information wanted to obscure the message - for purposes of military intelligence, for instance - they would use steganography: the wax would be scraped off and the message would be inscribed or written directly on the tablet, wax would then be poured on top of the message, thereby obscuring not just its meaning but its very existence[1].
According to Dictionary.com, steganography (also known as "steg" or "stego") is "the art of writing in cipher, or in characters, which are not intelligible except to persons who have the key; cryptography" [2]. In computer terms, steganography has evolved into the practice of hiding a message within a larger one in such a way that others cannot discern the presence or contents of the hidden message[3]. In contemporary terms, steganography has evolved into a digital strategy of hiding a file in some form of multimedia, such as an image, an audio file (like a .wav or mp3) or even a video file.
Tools to actually encode messages into images: http://www.jjtc.com/Steganography/toolmatrix.htm
posted by jfstanley at 11:51 PM on July 7, 2010
Yeah, do a fold-in a la MAD Magazine combined with a vocabulary list or other learning tool. On one side of the paper, you ask them to fold something in a certain way to create a handy learning tool (hiding and showing the answers to a vocabulary list, for example). On the other side, picture A reveals picture B.
posted by pracowity at 11:51 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by pracowity at 11:51 PM on July 7, 2010
Best answer: Human vision relies on three colour pigments to interperate a wide spectrum of colours.
We hack this system to simulate a wide spectrum of colours by mixing pigments from a small number of primary colours.
so you can make violet from a pigment which is a pure unmixed violet, a single wavelength of light, or you can simulate a simmilar colour by mixing some red and some blue.
In white light your eyes couldn't tell them apart (assuming you are not colourblind)
but if you could control the exact frequency of the lighting you could make them appear very different, possibly even make one appear and the other disappear moving from pure violet light of a single wavelength to simulating violet with very pure red and blue.
If this isn't making sense i can recommend a book from the library:
http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Art-Biology-Margaret-Livingstone/dp/0810904063
actually you should check out that book anyway, it might give you a lot of ideas.
posted by compound eye at 12:10 AM on July 8, 2010
We hack this system to simulate a wide spectrum of colours by mixing pigments from a small number of primary colours.
so you can make violet from a pigment which is a pure unmixed violet, a single wavelength of light, or you can simulate a simmilar colour by mixing some red and some blue.
In white light your eyes couldn't tell them apart (assuming you are not colourblind)
but if you could control the exact frequency of the lighting you could make them appear very different, possibly even make one appear and the other disappear moving from pure violet light of a single wavelength to simulating violet with very pure red and blue.
If this isn't making sense i can recommend a book from the library:
http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Art-Biology-Margaret-Livingstone/dp/0810904063
actually you should check out that book anyway, it might give you a lot of ideas.
posted by compound eye at 12:10 AM on July 8, 2010
Spot gloss (also called spot varnish) - you can choose which parts of your printed matter are shiny and which are matte. If the colored image is distracting enough, the viewer won't even notice the glossy areas until they hold the piece at an angle so that light reflects off the gloss. You can hide images or text that way.
I made some business cards with an online printing company that offered free spot gloss (on business cards; i don't know about other paper sizes). I drew the gloss pattern as an extra layer in Photoshop and then submitted it to the printer as a black and white TIF bitmap-- black for shiny, white for matte. Memail me if you'd like to see it or want the name of the printer.
posted by moonmilk at 10:21 AM on July 8, 2010
I made some business cards with an online printing company that offered free spot gloss (on business cards; i don't know about other paper sizes). I drew the gloss pattern as an extra layer in Photoshop and then submitted it to the printer as a black and white TIF bitmap-- black for shiny, white for matte. Memail me if you'd like to see it or want the name of the printer.
posted by moonmilk at 10:21 AM on July 8, 2010
Response by poster: Really great answers; I am grateful.
posted by howiamdifferent at 2:35 AM on July 9, 2010
posted by howiamdifferent at 2:35 AM on July 9, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sanko at 10:16 PM on July 7, 2010