GAZE

Where is the character or figure looking?

Eye contact = DEMAND

No eye contact = OFFER

What relationships, attitudes and emotions are

suggested by the use of gaze?

SCALE AND SIZE

How big or small are the characters or objects?

Relative sizes can indicate relationships.

Size:

Small = weak or insignificant

Large = powerful or significant

Scale:

Comparative size

What relationships are suggested by the size and

scale of characters and objects?

COLOUR

How is colour or lack of colour used?

Use of colour can convey mood, emotions and

ideas. Colours can be symbolic of ideas or

feelings.

Red = blood, passion, emotion, danger Orange/Yellow = warmth, joy, happiness

Blue = sadness, calmness, tranquillity Pink = feminine, romance

Green = nature, hope Black = evil, mystery, fear White = purity, innocence

Purple = courage, royalty, loyalty Grey = neutral, coldness, emptiness

Sepia (brown/aged) = the past, lifelessness

TONE

Are colours and shading lighter or darker?

Tone ranges from light/pale shading to

heavy/dense shading.

How can the tone impact the mood, emotion or

ideas of text?

SALIENCE

What object in the image draws our attention?

The salient feature is the most important object or

figure in the image. It focuses our attention.

Salience can be created by the size, colour and

tone of an object or figure.

What is salient in an image? Why is this object or

image important?

ANGLES

What angle do we view the character, object or

scene from?

Frontal = involvement

Side-on = detachment

High angle (looking down) =

weakness/submission

Low angle (looking up) = power/dominance

How are angles used to create relationships

between characters and with the reader, or

establish power structures?

VECTORS

What lines can we see in an image?

Horizontals, verticals, diagonals, curved lines.

May be created by objects or landscapes, or may

be created by a reading path from one element to

another.

For example, the gaze of a character to an object

can create a vector.

What vectors can you see and what is their

effect?

SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS

A symbol is an object or other visual element

(like a colour) used to represent a bigger idea.

A motif is a recurring symbol.

Gold = wealth, power, value

Sunshine = happiness

Gun = violence, destruction

What symbols or motifs can you observe?

POSITIONING

Where are the characters or objects positioned on

the page?

Foreground = to the front

Middleground = in the centre

Background = in the back

Left or right, top or bottom

The positioning of visual elements on a page

indicates relationships and significance.

What elements are placed where on the page?

SHAPES AND CONTOURS

What sort of shapes are used?

Shapes with straight lines and angles = rigidity and

harshness

Shapes with curves = flow and softness

What shapes are used and what is the effect?

FRAMING AND BORDERS

Are frames and borders used?

Borders or frames around images can suggest

control.

A lack of borders or frames can suggest freedom

or lack of constraint.

How are frames used and what is the impact?