Lecture 2: Visual Literacy

Visual Literacy - The Language of Design

Fred put an image of an apple on screen and said 'this is not an apple' - he meant  it is merely the image of an apple.

This reminded me of 'The Treachery of Images' by the Belgian Rene Magritte in which he writes in french below 'this is not a pipe.' it is just a representation of one. 

This is also like Korzybski's 'the map is not the territory' which stated that an abstraction derived from something, or a reaction to it, is not the thing itself. Korzybski held that many people do confuse maps with territories, that is, confuse models of reality with reality itself. 

In the lecture visual communication was described as a process of sending and receiving messages using type and images. It is based on a level of shared understanding of signs, symbols, gestures and objects, and it is affected by audience, context, media and method of distribution.

Visual Literacy was described as...

• The ability to construct meaning from visual images and type. 
• To interpret images from the present, the past and a range of cultures and provide images that effectively deliver a message to an audience. 
• To interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from an image. 
• The idea that pictures can be read.

All that is necessary for any language to exist is agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another. 

Visual language can change, for example the symbol for hospitals/aid has changed from red to green however the red is still understood just not used practically.

Visual Communication is made up of presentation symbols whose meaning results from their existence in particular contexts. 
The conversions of viscom = universal and cultural symbols.

The Nazi party adapted the Buddhist symbol of peace and reversed it to become their logo for their fascist and racist party; this shows how important visual semantics are. They are a cultural reference point.
Visual syntax
Semantics 

Semiotics- study of signs and symbols - for example; sign process, indication , likeness and analogy metaphor.

Symbol (logo)
Sign (identity)
Signifier (brand)

New York re-branded itself the 'Big Apple' to appear fresh, crisp and good for you.  

Visual Synecdoche - part is used to represent the whole and vice versa. The main subject is simply substituted for something that is inherently connected to it and universally recognised.

Visual Metonym - symbolic image that is used to make refece to something with a more literal meaning.

Visual Metaphor - used to transfer the meaning from one image to another. Conveys a close relationship. 

'Work the metaphor. Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.'
- Bruce Mau