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Why study this subject?

To become a thoughtful, effective communicator.

Every job has some aspect in which communication skills are used.

Many formats, many methods are used to present information to a targeted audience,and in an effort to get that audience to respond.

Effective use of visuals makes a difference.

http://www.metgroup.com/projects/

DESIGN STRATEGIES in a visual culture Visual Comm unica t ion: Images wi th Messages



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http://discovery.wcgmf.org/category_211.html



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Mayberry LaneOrganic Produce

Come pick your own!

Open 9-6 weekdays

Mayberry Lane RoadPlainfield, VT802-999-5555

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Mayberry Lane • Organic Produce •

Come pick your own!

Open 9-6 weekdaysMayberry Lane Road

Plainfield, VT

802-999-5555

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Come pick your own!Open 9-6 weekdays

Mayberry Lane Road Plainfield, VT802-999-5555





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Which ad holds your interest?

DESIGN STRATEGIES in a visual culture Visua l Comm unica t ion: Images wi th Messages

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A survey showed the one on the left had more lasting impact.

We may pay more attention to imagery that is:

easy to read, is relevant to us in some way or has some emotional impact.


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Visual Informationand Culture

Complexity

Competition

Engaging thesenses

Dependency on thevisual sense


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Visual literacy

- a set of skills used to interpret the content, socialimpact, purpose and audience.

- judging the accuracy, validity and worth of images.

- influenced by the experiences of each individual.


Visual Communication is a process ofsending and receiving messages usingimages.

Visual literacy can be defined as the ―ability toconstruct meaning from visual images .

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Aldous Huxley was an author keenlyaware of how one sees andunderstands the world.

Perhaps you have read his bookBrave New World – a philosophicalnovel about the future.

He had a retinal disease from hisearly years on. He was interested inwhat seeing involved, especially inrelation to thinking and processinginformation.

He felt the the visual process was acycle of sensing, selecting andperceiving - in order to better know

the world and increase knowledge.


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sensing, selecting and perceiving

An effective designer studies these areas in order tomake messages that an audience reads, comprehendsand responds to consistently.


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The first stage is sensing – using thesenses to detect signals from theimmediate environment.

Selecting is the next stage – a conscious,intellectual act where one chooses to payattention to something .

Perceiving is making sense of what isselected – that is, make meaning.This is an active process – not mere

observation, but intentional.

As Henry David Thoreau said ―Thequestion is not what you look at, but whatyou see .

If one learns how to ‗read‘ visuals orbecomes visually literate, one can

continually build on the knowledge thatprovides – it is a cycle.

DESIGN STRATEGIES in a visual culture Visual Comm unica t ion: Images wi th Messages

Consider the baseball enthusiast - who sees, orexperiences, more of the game than one who has no ideawhat the game involves.

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When we see new images, we make new associations and comparisons with previously stored mental pictures.

We engage or pay attention to communication that is accessible, entertaining or threatening.

We are wired to respond to signals because it is part of our survival strategy as human beings.

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Many of us depend onthe information we getfrom sight.

But sight is dependenton light. Without it, wecannot see.

We refer to light asthat which providesinformation as well asillumination …

―let me shed some lighton the matter

―don‘t keep us in the

dark - tell us your news!

In experiencing ourworld via light, we alsoassign meaning orsignificance to the typeof light during thatexperience.


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Light in an image can addinformation that influences how weread the image.

This film noir image is intended tocreate a dramatic effect that adds tothe experience of the story.


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Think of all the visualmessages you haveexperienced – and what isyour repertoire ofmemories… what do youremember and why?

You attachedmeaningfulness to them -your brain processed theinformation and retained itas being important to you.

You process informationdirectly via sensoryexperiences, via your ownmental activity (imagination,etc…) and via mediatedimagery (print or screen – tv,

computer, movies).

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Non verbal communication is learned early on and becomes part of the visual language we use everyday.Some body languages, such as signing, are specialized systems used for particular audiences.

Facial expression and hands are used to signal a range of meanings.

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We can best perceive a design that is well organized. A design that is composed well has a structurethat is easily understood and experienced.

Designers call good form ―Gestalt . This is a term that came from German psychology in the 1900s. Itis our innate tendencies that see as "belonging together" elements that look alike (called "similaritygrouping"), are close together ("proximity grouping") or have structural economy ("good continuation").

This symbol is easily read dueto the organization of thefigure.

We ‗fill in‘ the missinginformation or do what iscalled ‗closure‘.

The faces are implied, not fullydescribed. The relationship ofparts makes the facesrecognizable.


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Because it has organized parts, we see and re-cognize the bike as a whole versus a series of parts.


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The earliest attempts to record andsend messages depended on makingpictures.

Oral culture also came before writtenculture.Storytellers passed on the lore of theculture.

Speech itself is a kind of code, a way ofexpressing perceived experience insounds that have conventional

meanings .

All the forerunners of writing werebased on pictures--what is called"pictographic," or writing that is pictorialin character.

Eventually, words came to beexpressed in conventional signs.


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As humans, we have developed languages to represent information.

Images have always helped carry information, and continue to be a major form of communication that is easily andquickly understood by a wide range of people.

Images are used to persuade, inform and entertain.

It is important to understand the intention behind the use of images in communication.

We learn to read different types of imagery.


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There are many types of imagery to use, each with its own potential to carry information.

Lettering/wording Photographs Drawings/illustrations Symbols Charts, maps or graphs Cartoons


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The Scream by Edvard Munch

The bleak, agonizing figure depicted in Munch‘s1893 canvas resonates with meaning in the wiredworld of the 1990s.

In recent years, The Scream has joined The Mona

Lisa as one of art history‘s most reproduced icons.

A new ad campaign launched by the owner of theM&M's brand aims to make eating dark chocolate ascream. M&M's is offering 2 million dark chocolate

M&M's for the return of "The Scream," a painting byEdvard Munch that was stolen from the Munch Museumin Oslo, Norway, in 2004.

The campaign accompanies the permanent addition ofdark chocolate candies to the M&M's product line, whichwas announced earlier this month.

The campaign aims to bring some fun into the darkchocolate category, which is perceived to be moreserious, Masterfoods said.

Some images becomewell known due to thetype of image orsubject matter.

They are used in arange ofcommunication toenhance the responseto the message.


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DESIGN STRATEGIES i i l lt Vi lC i i I i hM

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The best-known early use of photography in war wasby Mathew Brady and others in the American CivilWar.

Before the invention of photography, war could bethought of as a romantic adventure .

But photographs of the brutality of war made peopleaware of its reality, so much so that photographs andnewsreels were mostly banned from World War Ibecause the political and military leaders knew thatallowing the war to be seen might lead to loss ofsupport for their war efforts.

Photographs are used a great deal in visual communication due to their potential.

After thousands of years of seeing the world around them depicted only through paintings, drawings, and sculptures,humans were amazed by the ability of the first photographs to represent objects or people with the most intricatedetail and realism.


DESIGN STRATEGIES in a is al c lt re Vi lC i t i I g i thM g

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Different types of media are used to communicate - print, radio, TV, film and more.

Television has been a huge influence on technological and cultural innovations leading toward a visual culture.

TV uses moving photographic and drawn images along with sound, like talking motion pictures.

TV can bring the outer world -- news, entertainment, sports, travelogues, movies-- into our immediate space.


DESIGN STRATEGIES in a visual culture VisualComm unica t ion:Imageswi thMessages

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The importance of TV as a source of visual information became evident in the presidential election of 1960, with thetelevised debates between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Most people who heard these debates on the radio (verbal culture) thought Nixon had won.But Kennedy looked better than Nixon on TV, and looking better meant that, by the standards of visualcommunication, he had won the TV interchange with Nixon.

Now TV coverage or exposure began to be the criterion of existence and value.Visual presence in this media carries great significance, so it is a primary form of communication for politicians.



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But all use of imagery, especially photographs, leads to questions of ethics and responsibility,as well as copyright issues - particularly on computers.



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Computers were invented as early asthe mid 1940s, but came to fullprominence with the development ofthe digital personal computer in the1970s and '80s.

The computer uses a screen, and inthat it is like television. However, it isinteractive as well.

Imagery can be highly manipulatedand shared globally.

The Internet is highly visualenvironment that requires literacy andword skill for productive use.



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Take a look at this newspaper image.

What sort of picture is this?

Why do you think it was chosen?

What is the photographer trying to convey about the subject?

Words and images work together to create a message.



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The caption reads: Lake Delgado today: the plane crashed, killing all the occupants

Now, how do you read the image?

The text influences how you read it and the content you derive from this combination.



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This is a two page ad from a popular, general magazine. Look at the visual characteristics and imagery.


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Let‘s consider one visual ‗symbol‘: An apple

Some content/cultural associations:

HealthyEducation - teacherEvil - the witchs gift

Adam and EveComputers

Write a response to the following (to hand in).Please make sure your full name is written clearly.

How is the imagery used in this book cover?Consider: type of applesizecolorpositiondetailslettering style

What is the theme or message carried by thecombination of imagery (words and image)?

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