Visual Literacy Lecture

Visual literacy:

• The ability to construct meaning from visual images and type.

• Interpreting images of the present, past and a range of cultures

• Producing images that effectively communicate a message to an audience

My first context of practice lecture was a basic introduction into visual communication and visual literacy. The concept behind it, as designers it is essential that people receive the message we send out there appropriately and the way we intend it, we need to consider the process of distribution and how the process could affect our work.

Visual literacy: based on the idea that pictures can be read

Before we can even read as children we can understand images and pictures, therefore we are developing our visual literacy at a very young age, associating pictures with emotion, feelings and actions. Images and pictures are often used universally for reasons such as they can be interpreted from any language. Examples of universal symbols and pictures are hazard signs and medical instructions, obviously for safety reasons it is essential that it’s a global language.

However take a symbol and change it slightly – the meaning can be completely changed and mean something new, even a change of colour. For example a simple + below see different understandings.

A simple addition sign.

An addition sign, turned on its side it now represents multiply.

Extend the end of the addition sign and it now reminds us of the cross- a sign for Catholicism.

When in fact the symbol on the right is actually the correct for Catholicism.

Turn the addition sign red and it now reminds us of a medical symbol - for a hospital or doctor.

Add a green background and still on the medical theme it represents first aid.

Extend the addition sign outwards and add a red background and you have yourself the flag of Denmark.

Extend the addition sign in all directions and the flag of England.

There is a relationship between visual syntax (1) and visual semantics (2).

1.     Structure, organization, tools and elements we use to create image. Using elements not to just create image but to effect and enhance the meaning.

2.     How it fits within its context, not to do with building blocks of how image/ symbol made. How we read it based on where it is.

Visual Synecdoche = Take a part of something to represent a whole – statue of liberty represents the whole of New York. That single image carries the meaning of the entire city. Only works when the image is universally recognised.

Visual Metonym = Yellow taxi cab is about association, not physically part of New York there are just a lot of them there, it is a reference to the city. All about connections we make.

Visual Metaphor = used to transfer the meaning from one image to another, there is no actual relationship it is just association, not like you just associate apples with New York. Creates an impression about something relatively unfamiliar. Created to attract people to New York – the healthy crisp apple a campaign to change the perception of New York because it was full of drugs and dirty no one wanted to visit.  All associations with an apple are transferred to New York.

My job as a designer is to ‘work the metaphor’, to take meanings and apply them to my own ideas, be clever about it and transfer meanings. Also creating new meanings and ideas for the world.