Visual literacy week 1 slides

© 2010, Craig DeLarge1

Visual LiteracyMarketing 320 – Week 1

Philadelphia UniversitySpring II 2010

Craig A. DeLarge, MBA


Week 1 Agenda• Self Introductions

• Syllabus Review

• Defining Visual Literacy

• Why We Should Care

• Elements & Vocabulary


Self Introductions


• PhilaU Alumni, BS Marketing,1988

• University of Westminster, MBA Design Mgmt., 2003

• Marketing Professor – PhilaU, Chestnut Hill College, St. Joe’s, Drexel University

• Career Coach – WiseWorking.com

• Marketer - Novo Nordisk, GSK, J&J

• Mental Health Advocate – NAMI

• 21 years married with 2 (grown) children. ☺

About Me


Introduce Yourself• Name

• Major, Year of Study

• Occupation

• Why Taking Course (other than need for credit)?

• What You Need to Gain From Course?


Syllabus Review


What It Will Take To Do Well• Attention to detail in spelling & grammar

• Clear & orderly expression of ideas & opinions

• Research! And referencing of research

• Participation in & between class

• Demonstration of your learning

• Courage – Action in Face of Fear (development)


VizLit Questions

• Who is intended audience?

• What is intended message?

• How is communications successful?

• Why is communication successful?


Visual Literacy: An Introduction


Visual Literacy is…

• The ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations.

• Form of meaning making complementary to linguistic literacy

Source: http://www.visual-literacy.org/index.html


Why Should We Care About VizLit?

• Aliteracy

• The Democratization of Visuals

• Communications: A Critical Success Factor

• Critique your/other’s interpretations


Aliteracy• The state of being able to read but being

uninterested in doing so

• Increasing the importance of transliteracy

• Has some fearing a post-literate society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliteracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transliteracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postliterate_society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliteracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transliteracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postliterate_society



• Aliteracy




© 2010, Craig DeLarge 14

Democratization of Visuals• In the pre-camera days, visual production

was largely an artistic craft

• Cameras (photo & video) has empowered us ALL to produce visual content

• But do we know how & what we are producing



• Aliteracy





• membership in a culture

• leadership in a group

• credibility with those we need influence

• a general critical success skill & factor

• judged successful by the audience thus you must understand how the audience perceives

Communication is…



• Aliteracy





VizLit Applications & Examples


ApplicationsMarketing: corporate communications, newsletters, business cards, websites, video, etc.

Stakeholder communications: presentation of data using charts, graphs, symbols

Training: one learns better through multiple modes


Searching for Visual Literacy



Do you know these people?

http://funwithstuff.com/dswmedia/airport.html





• Lucas Teaching Communications

• Iain Anderson: Symbols on a Trip

• AT&T Across The Nation

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c_nrA_BUz4•George Lucas: Teaching "Communication"

http://www.edutopia.org/george-lucas-teaching-communication

http://funwithstuff.com/dswmedia/airport.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c_nrA_BUz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c_nrA_BUz4

http://www.edutopia.org/forward/emailref?path=node/2945


VizLit Vocab:Elements & Levels of Expression


Basic Communications Model

http://records.viu.ca/~soules/media301/message.gif

Intended Meaning created

here

Perceived Meaning created

hereIntended & Perceived Meaning (hopefully) reconciled here.

Misunderstanding aided by noise.

Verbal/Visual

http://records.viu.ca/~soules/media301/message.gif


A goal of literacy studies is to close the gap between intended

& perceived meaning.


VizLit Basic Elements

• Dot• Line• Shape• Tone

• Color• Texture• Scale/Proportion• Dimension• Motion

• These are like the letters, words, & sentences in linguistic literacy.

• Literacy requires the ability to use these elements to create meaning


VizLit Levels of Expression

• Symbols

• Representations

• Abstractions


The better you understand Visual Elements, the better you communicate & comprehend

Visual input involves a myriad of symbol systems that we use to MAKE MEANING.

Representational visual material can be recognized in the environment & can be replicated in drawing, painting, sculpture, and film

Abstract understructure is the form of we see in representations which have an intended effect.


Symbolic

Elements with encoded, arbitrary meaning

Meaning specific to target audience


Representational

What we see & recognize from environment & experience

Realistic (photograph)Subjective (personal view)

Form follows function


Abstraction

Symbolic, yet assumes its own meaning

Simplistic, evokes more intense meaning‘How can this be called art? My child could have done this.’

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?ref=business

Nike Swoosh logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike

© 2010, Craig DeLarge 33

VizLit Continuum of ExpressionHarmony • Balance • Symmetry • Regularity • Simplicity • Unity • Economy • Understatement • Predictability • Stasis • Subtlety • Neutrality • Opacity • Consistency • Accuracy • Flatness • Singularity • Sequentiality• Diffusion • Repetition

Contrast • Instability • Asymmetry • Irregularity • Complexity • Fragmentation • Intricacy • Exaggeration • Spontaneity • Activeness • Boldness • Accent • Transparency • Variation • Distortion • Depth • Juxtaposition • Randomness • Sharpness • Episodicity

All visual communication works on a continuum somewhere between contrast & harmony.

Contrast gets our interest & stimulates us.

Harmony give us rest & security.





• Dot• Line• Shape• Tone

• Color• Texture• Scale/Proportion• Dimension• Motion

• These are like the letters, words, & sentences in linguistic literacy.

• Literacy requires the ability to use these elements to create meaning


Dot■ When placed in

carefully designed patterns known as "halftones," dots suggest continuous and solid values and hues

■ Can add shading and texture in drawings, particularly line drawings

Wall Street Journal Hedcuts


The power of a Dot


Lines are dots, end to end and in motion


Lines can express abstractly or concretely


Shape

■ The union of different lines

■ There are basically 3 shapes■ squares■ triangles■ circles

■ Each has an inherent meaning


Tone■ Variance in the lightness

or darkness of objects

■ Allows is to distinguish between this and that, even without color

■ Most critical for survival


Color■Shapes

perception

■Affects emotion


TextureTactile texture is what we can feel with our sense of touch.

Optical texture is what we make of visual texture in the images we see.


Scale• How elements define one

another

• Communicates:– importance– relationship

• Gives greater meaning to a basic image, lending it new life.

• Creates the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional plane. – objects diminish in apparent

size as they approach the horizon


VizLit Questions

• Who is intended audience?

• What is intended message?

• How is communications successful?

• Why is communication successful?


This Week’s Focus

• Read Chapters 1-2

• Read Chapters 3-4, if ambitious

• Complete Chapter 1 & 2 exercises

• Contemplate your final project choices

Documents

Visual literacy week 1 slides