Anatomy of an unsig

To the casual viewer, unsigned_algorithms may appear deceptively simple. Some lines and some colors, it’s beautiful, the end. Beneath the surface, however, there is enough complexity to have resulted in hundreds of hours of analysis, and multiple efforts to categorize and articulate the various characteristics of the collection.

This complexity is, in some ways, what makes the collection so compelling; there is always something to learn. Even those who’ve spent a great deal of time with the collection are surprised again and again.

If you’d like a more detailed understanding of this complexity, in this section we’ll take apart unsigs (at a high level) to see how they are built.

#22624 invo view by 007

Core Concepts
Parameters
Properties
Output Colors
Forms
Geometries
Collections

Core Concepts
Parameter:	Each unsig is made up of four basic parameters: Color, Distribution, Rotation, Multiplier
Property:	A set of the four basic parameters; each unsig has between 0-6
Output Colors:	Colors that are present in the unsig; between 1-64
Form:	A visual shape created by certain combinations of properties
Geometry:	A visual representation created by certain combinations of forms
Collection:	Named geometries or color combinations

Parameters

Parameters are at the core of an unsig, and they were generated randomly in sets of four: Color, Distribution, Rotation, and Multiplier.

Color

Color parameters can be red, green, or blue.

Distribution

An easy way to think about distribution is that it is the way color is distributed across the unsig. If the color is coming from one of the sides, it is CDF. If it is concentrated in the center, it is Normal. There are some excellent technical definitions for Distribution available, but for the purposes of understanding how an unsig is constructed, this is sufficient.

Rotation

Rotation indicates the direction from which the color originates.

Multiplier

The multiplier parameter describes the intensity of the color, and can cause the color to “fold over” on itself. Each multiplier is 2x the previous one, starting at 0.5. You can see below that a multiplier of 0.5 or 1 won’t result in any lines, but a multiplier of 2 or 4 creates lines in the unsig.

If 0.5 means that color is distributed only to the center of an unsig, then 1 means that it is distributed all the way across. A multiplier of 2 would then mean that you would have to distribute color across the whole unsig twice, so a “fold” is created and a line appears. A multiplier of 4 does that same thing twice.

Again, there are some excellent technical explanations for understanding multipliers that aren’t included here, but could enhance your understanding of unsigs when you’re ready!

Properties

A property is one layer of an unsig, and it contains one set of the 4 parameters above. Each unsig has between 1-6 properties, except for #00000, which has no properties at all.

The magic of properties is that this is how all of the parameters are brought together in ways that create the different forms and colors that give unsigs their characteristic appearance. It is by analyzing the properties in an unsig that we can better understand how it’s put together, but just having a general idea of what they do is enough to develop a better understanding of how pieces compare to each other.

Property	Color	Distribution	Rotation	Multiplier
1	Red	CDF		1
2	Red	CDF	270	1
3	Blue	CDF		1
4	Green	CDF	90	2
5	Green	CDF	180	2

Property	Color	Distribution	Rotation	Multiplier
1	Red	CDF		1
2	Red	CDF	90	1
3	Blue	CDF		1
4	Green	CDF	180	2
5	Green	CDF	270	2

So what’s going on here? Let’s break it down.

• There is more info in the section below about forms, but one thing to know is that to make most forms you need 2 properties with the same color. Both of these unsigs have 2 red properties and 2 green properties. The kind of form that gets created depends on the combination of multipliers. The red properties both have multipliers of 1, and the green properties both have multipliers of 2. Here is where something interesting happens.

• Properties of the same color that both have multipliers of 2 make a Single Bulbs form, which has two bulb shapes in opposing corners, separated by a diagonal line between them. Properties of the same color that both have multipliers of 1 make a Diffuser (diagonal) form, which is just a line running from one corner to the other. If there is already a diagonal line in the Single Bulbs form, where did the other one go?

• The diagonal line created in both of these unsigs is invisible because it is overlapped by the diagonal line in the Single Bulbs. This is called a congruent form. Visually, all we see is the Single Bulbs even though a Diffuser is also present.

• Now that we know both unsigs have the same forms, all that’s left is the rotations. Both green properties in #23875 are rotated 90 degrees from those in #24591. Also, one of the red properties in #23875 is rotated 180 degrees from the one in #24591.

• Overall we’re left with the impression that these unsigs are mostly the same, which is true. A more unusual thing about these two though is that they are a perfectly mirrored pair. If one is flipped, both will look exactly the same:

There is one more thing that can be said about these two unsigs, and that is that they can be matched on one or more sides to create a larger composition, without rotating or flipping them. In this case, a vertical 1 x 2 composition can be created by matching the unsigs on their top or bottom sides.

unsigs #24591 (Grancho) & #23875 (Redegg)

Output Colors

Color is the most defining characteristic of unsigned_algorithms, but it is also the quality of an unsig most difficult to define. We know that each property in an unsig has a color parameter that is red, green, or blue, but what we see visually is far more brilliant than those three colors. How does that work?

In any resolution, there are far more than 64 colors in an unsig. In order to describe the visual colors in a way that can be analyzed and appreciated, the thousands of color pixels in each unsig has been grouped together into 64 color bins. For this reason each unsig is said to have between 1 and 64 output colors.

The output colors in an unsig are the result of how the parameters and properties come together. The forms in an unsig depend on its color parameters, and the forms then have an impact on the final output colors.

Color research is ongoing, and results will be included on unsig.info as they become available. For now, we do know how many output colors are in each unsig, and they can be explored here.

Forms

The combination of properties is what gives an unsig its forms and colors.

There are eight basic forms in the collection, plus a special class called “no liners,” which are significant for their absence of forms. You can learn about form orientations in this blog post.

No Liner

If a form is defined by its lines, technically a No Liner wouldn’t be a form. It’s included here though because it is the lack of form that distinguishes it from the others.

Can have between 1-3 properties
Color = one of any color
Distribution = CDF or Normal
Rotation = any rotation
Multiplier = 0.5 or 1

Single Beam

This single form was previously known by two names, depending on its orientation. When vertical it was called a Single Post, and when horizontal it was called a Single Beam. Because it is actually the same form, unsig.info has adopted a single name convention.

Requires only one property
Color = any color
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = 0 for vertical / 90 for horizontal
Multiplier = 2

Triple Beam

Like the Single Beam, this form was also known by two names, depending on its orientation. When vertical it was called a Triple Post, and when horizontal it was called a Triple Beam. Going forward, unsig.info will always refer to these as Triple Beams.

Requires only one property
Color = any color
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = 0 for vertical / 90 for horizontal
Multiplier = 4

Diffuser (or Diagonal)

This form was named a Diffuser because of its diffusing effect on colors; the line itself is diagonal.

Requires two properties
Contains 1 line
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 1
- Property 2 = 1
Possible orientations: ascending or descending

Hourglass

Requires two properties
Contains 2 lines
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 1
- Property 2 = 2
Possible orientations: ascending, descending, upward, or downward

River

Requires two properties
Contains 4 lines
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 1
- Property 2 = 4
Possible orientations: ascending, descending, upward, or downward

Single Bulbs

Requires two properties
Contains 3 lines
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 2
- Property 2 = 2
Possible orientations: ascending or descending

Veins

Requires two properties
Contains 5 lines
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 2
- Property 2 = 4
Possible orientations: ascending, descending, upward, or downward

Triple Bulbs

Requires two properties
Contains 7 lines
Color = same in both properties
Distribution = CDF
Rotation = properties are rotated 90 degrees from one another
Multipliers:
- Property 1 = 4
- Property 2 = 4
Possible orientations: ascending or descending

Geometries

While forms are individual shapes, geometries are combinations of forms relative to one another. Each unsig can have between 0-3 forms, ranging from no lines at all to very complex combinations. These geometries can be flipped, mirrored, or rotated and they will still be the same geometry.

There are 171 distinct geometries in the collection that contain lines; 173 if we include #00000 and all of those without lines.

Collections

Collections, or more accurately sub-collections, are unsigs that have been grouped together and given a name based on common characteristics. There are geometry collections and color collections, but only 31% of unsigs actually belong to a collection. Currently only geometry collections are available on unsig.info.