The term Stylized vs Cartoon

nDelphi

stylized it means it's represented in a non-naturalistic conventional form

I see this term more and more. It appears to me that old words are being displaced by newer hip words. Am I imagining this? Or is there really a difference when it comes to the context of 3D art? Or is my naivete spewing out of control here?

ThatGuy

Maybe not just specific to cartoon, but in other forms as well. Take topaz labs in which they have filters that will make your image look pencil sketched, water colored, grunged up, glowing/electrfying outlines, etc. I hope I made sense.

ALLIEKATBLUE

I don't know nDelphi, but look at those Little Ones for Genesis 3. The descriptions says stylized but they look like cartoons to me.

 

 

 

nDelphi

ALLIEKATBLUE said:

I don't know nDelphi, but look at those Little Ones for Genesis 3. The descriptions says stylized but they look like cartoons to me.

This is why I brought up the issue. Wouldn't it make more sense to use the words Cartoon or Toon? You would actually reach a far bigger audience that way.

This reminds me of when authors of news paper articles started using words that only an English professor understood. They forgot about the laymen, which is the majority of the readership.

I don't know, just food for thought.

nDelphi

ThatGuy said:

Maybe not just specific to cartoon, but in other forms as well. Take topaz labs in which they have filters that will make your image look pencil sketched, water colored, grunged up, glowing/electrfying outlines, etc. I hope I made sense.

Sure, in that context it makes sense.

Serene Night

There is lots of stylized content in the store. Females with impossibly big eyes and odd spines for example. The difference to me is the way they are shaded and just how exaggerated they are. That line is probably different for each person. I think it is also possible for a toon to be considered both.

BlueIrene

ALLIEKATBLUE said:

I don't know nDelphi, but look at those Little Ones for Genesis 3. The descriptions says stylized but they look like cartoons to me.

 

 

 

Perhaps then, 'stylized' refers to the way it's shaped, rather than the way it looks to have been drawn. I always think of 'cartoon' images as being made up of flat areas of colour. each surrounded by a black line. Beyond this, I have no idea either :)

LeatherGryphon

nDelphi said:

ALLIEKATBLUE said:

I don't know nDelphi, but look at those Little Ones for Genesis 3. The descriptions says stylized but they look like cartoons to me.

This is why I brought up the issue. Wouldn't it make more sense to use the words Cartoon or Toon? You would actually reach a far bigger audience that way.

This reminds me of when authors of news paper articles started using words that only an English professor understood. They forgot about the laymen, which is the majority of the readership.

I don't know, just food for thought.

Marketing people seem to like to change words now and then to keep things from getting stale. 

But regarding the pandering to laymen, just think how that ends.  Take a look at American TV.  If people never see or hear a word used meaningfully then the bar keeps lowering and the vocabulary of a culture shrinks.  Personally I'd like to hear/see a new word now and then.  But then I tend to believe I'm of a different species that most of the creatures wandering around out there on two legs.

 

Valandar

Cartoon tends to bring up very specific ideas in the mind of the AVERAGE person (not neccessarily average Forumgoer) - and that usually means comic strips and Saturday morning cartoons, and the idea that it's just for kids. In fact, "cartooney" is often used as an insult to art. By saying "Stylized", we get the same concept of "Not realistic", while dropping the baggage "cartoon" has.

nicstt

nDelphi said:

stylized it means it's represented in a non-naturalistic conventional form

I see this term more and more. It appears to me that old words are being displaced by newer hip words. Am I imagining this? Or is there really a difference when it comes to the context of 3D art? Or is my naivete spewing out of control here?

Either term could be applied, and both are relevant; personally, they are more cartoon-like than stylised, but there is something of both. Teen Josie, however, and especially version seven is either stylised or alien.

cdemerit

Valandar said:

Cartoon tends to bring up very specific ideas in the mind of the AVERAGE person (not neccessarily average Forumgoer) - and that usually means comic strips and Saturday morning cartoons, and the idea that it's just for kids. In fact, "cartooney" is often used as an insult to art. By saying "Stylized", we get the same concept of "Not realistic", while dropping the baggage "cartoon" has.

Yeah, I think you have a point here... Sadly too many people hear a word/label and once that word is heard, they hear nothing else... I had a friend who was an avid World of Warcraft player, I couldn't even get him to try the free Dungeons and Dragons Online, becasue it was D&D, and I fully believe that Bernie Sanders stands 0 chance of becomming President simply because he calls himself a socialist. Too often people are keyed to a specific words, yet don't even realize what these words really mean... 

Oso3D

Thing is, 'cartoon' is a subset of 'stylized.'

 

I mean, this is stylized:

 

As for an example of more relevance, look at all the anime/manga style characters. Yes, anime is a form of cartoon, but when you use the word 'cartoon character' you are imagining a distinctly western style vs. anime.

mjc1016

timmins.william said:

Thing is, 'cartoon' is a subset of 'stylized.'

 

And there you have it...because basically if it isn't photorealistic (in a way that's just another 'style', anyway) then it is some sort of 'stylized'...but is it 'Toon', Manga, the melted clocks of Picasso, Impressionism...or even hyper-realism?  What 'kind' of stylized is it?

3D Universe

We see both cartoon and stylized as different points on the same scale. Stylized is just closer to realistic than cartoon.

The Little Ones are stylized compared to (for example) our Toon Crab just as the Disney's Frozen characters are stylized compared to Tom and Jerry. 

nDelphi

Thanks, all. I am definitely more educated on the subject.

Eustace Scrubb

The clocks were Salvador Dahli (Persistence of Memory, he called it).  But yeah:  stylized doesn't always mean "cartoon," but "cartoon" is a subset of stylization.  I think it comes down to an "artist's preference" when there's a distinction, or whether it's the mesh shape ("stylized") or the render type (cel shaded, outlined, dot-printed all lumped as "cartoon") that is affected.
 

SlimerJSpud

I would say something is stylized if the image immediately conveys something specific about the scene or character, and that style is used consistently. One thing that is often pointed out about Anime/Manga is that each character has a very different specific hair style. That's because in that style of art, many of the characters look alike, so the hair style is a quick method of character identification to the viewer. To me, the term cartoon implies something simpler that is less stylized.

pwiecek

THe first place I saw "Stylized" used in reference to Daz was Aiko 3 and it seemed to be the opposite of "Realistic".

mjc1016

Eustace Scrubb said:

The clocks were Salvador Dahli (Persistence of Memory, he called it).  But yeah:  stylized doesn't always mean "cartoon," but "cartoon" is a subset of stylization.  I think it comes down to an "artist's preference" when there's a distinction, or whether it's the mesh shape ("stylized") or the render type (cel shaded, outlined, dot-printed all lumped as "cartoon") that is affected.
 

Dali...right...what was I thinking?

LeatherGryphon

Eustace Scrubb said:

The clocks were Salvador Dahli (Persistence of Memory, he called it).  ...

Also another one entitled "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" showing the same scene as the original but breaking up into pieces as if being quantized.  I love Dali'.