As designers we solve problems of communication through type, image or motion. These are made through means of words, language and messages/meaning. Designers also need these skills to communicate to an audience an idea or a concept in a range of contexts.
Visual communication is a process of sending and receiving messages by using type and image. It is based on a shared understanding of signs symbols/ gestures and objects which are all affected by the audience, context and media/method.
Visual literacy is the ability to construct meaning out of images and type. It is the interpretation of images from the past, present and from a range of cultures. Visual literacy also includes creating imagery that effectively communicated a message to an audience.
"It is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image"
Example:
This image can be read and interpreted as "toilet" without seeing the text. This is due to learnt symbols that one is male and one is female which is enhanced by the use of stereotypical colour linked to genders (male- blue, female- pink). These signs can also be read because they are recognised as being male and female due to the male being stood up and the female sat down.
"Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be read"
Example:
This image shows how tablets should be taken as a form of instruction in another country for those who do not understand french. The image at the top shows clearly that two tablets should be swallowed by taking water/liquid. The second row shows that these tablets should be taken at dawn, midday and also at night, the signs at the bottom also represent a sign which has negative connotations therefore meaning not for children or infants. All these images can be read without understanding french and therefore represent well designed instructions showing visual literacy.
"Visual literacy: all that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another"
A slide was shown stating "what does this stand for?" showing an image of a "+"
Many people answered giving a varied amount due to the simplicity of the imagery. These included answers such as; plus, add, hospital, first aid, christianity.
Another slide was then shown with "+ x" and then:
By adding more information it gives the audience information in context and allows for further understanding to know that these signs together represent maths.
Another slide was shown of a cross with a longer stem which was interpreted to represent "christianity" from a popular/western culture, more images were then shown of several symbols together enhancing the idea that the cross shows religion, the final slide based on religion was shown to have the cross and also an image of a fish which is what Christianity is shown as in other cultures worldwide. Colour was then added to the original + (red) connotations of red with this symbol in the UK usually mean either hospital or first aid, however in europe this sign for hospital is usually in green. By switching the colour of the cross to the background this can also change how the symbol/image is viewed, such as the cross being white and the background being red, this is the flag of Switzerland. The composition of the cross and the shape can also affect this, as the flag of Denmark was shown, as well as the English flag (St George).
"Visual communication is made up of presentational symbols whose meaning results from their existence in particular contexts.. the conventions of visual communication are a combination of universal and cultural symbols"
These symbols were on a particular slide within the lecture explaining how gender can be shown, not only through simplistic vectors of a male and female but also through colour. The male symbol is actually on the right and the female on the left, however due to the colours used it confuses the audience due to their understanding of male being blue and female being pink.
Visual syntax: the syntax of an image refers to the pictorial structure and visual organisation of elements. It represents the basic building blocks of an image that affect the way we read it.
These can include: framing
- format - scale - colour - font - stroke - weight - shape - composition -
layout - motion - light - rhythm - space
- depth - texture - text - words - tone - shade - line - mark - direction -
editing - manipulation - simplification - emphasis layering - hierarchy
Visual semantics: the semantics of an image refers to the way an image fits into a cultural process of communication. It includes the relationship between form and meaning and the way meaning is created through.
Elements can include: cultural
references - social ideals - religious beliefs - political ideas - historical
structures - iconic forms - social interaction - individual experience -
recognised symbols - established signs
Semiotics: is the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification and communication.
Semiotics is closely relation to the field of linguistics which studies the structure and meaning of language. Semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems, visual language and visual literacy.
Theorist: Ferdinand de Saussure (Swiss linguist)
Semiotics
In the same way we can unravel meaning in language by understanding the written and spoken material, we can also unravel meaning in cultural practises. If we take culture as operating like a language.
"A code is a system of symbols and signs"
everything can be considered as a sign and within a singular image there can be many "signs".
For example: A tie
A tie traditionally shown in offices can be seen as professional, linked to city life, businesses, power and formality. A tie can also have the meaning changed such as the "punk" teenager shown on the slide who had ripped his tie and challenged typical conventions, signs can often be changed to create different connotations.
Codes are found in all forms of cultural practises, in order to make sense of cultural artefacts we need to learn and understand their codes. We need to acknowledge that codes rely on a shared knowledge.
Signifier: sound or image (initial sign)
Signified: mental concept, what does it represent/ show?
Signifier + Signified = Sign
There is no logical relationship between the signifier and the signified within language these are arbitrary and are culturally subscribed to create meaning.
Roland Barthes: Denotation (image or thing), Connotation (associated meaning)
Denote.. Connote
A "myth" plays with the idea of connotations and contains many layers of signs.
"The myths which suffuse our lives are insidious precisely because they appear so natural" Barthes.R
The meanings of signs don't come from objects but from people, they are assigned and can shift. By analysing the connotational content of cultural artefacts we can access ideological meaning which can help us understand how culture operates.
SYMBOL
- SIGN - SIGNIFIER - METAPHOR - METONYM - SYNECDOCHE
Visual literacy and communication
"why is this not an apple" was the overall question of the lecture and the simple answer was that it is not an apple, in fact it is a photograph of an apple. Which has probably been visually enhanced through (curves) photoshop to influence the colour for example.
This slide shows how a company can be represented/branded: "Apple"
The symbol is the "logo" (imagery). The sign is that the logo represents the apple products (Identity) and the signifier is the brand which represents the quality of products, innovation creativity, design and a certain lifestyle.
The idea of a "big apple" to represent New York was through a rebranding to attract people to visit. The "big apple" creates imagery in peoples minds through watching films and the media of a set idea of New York.
The synecdoche is something which is physically connected to, for example the statue of liberty is built in New York and is physically there.
The metonym of the yellow cab is something which is considered linked to or referenced to New York through films and media for example. However many cities across the world have yellow cabs and it is not something which is closely connected or physically located only in New York.
Work the metaphor.
"Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what is stands for"- Incomplete Manifesto of growth. Bruce Mau
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