Visual messages, with their own rules of syntax, are being read, but this language means nothing to those who can only read words. - Paul Martin Lester
2 - Visual Communication
Many of you come to this program with a background in communication theory. For those who don't have that (and for the rest of us who may have forgotten it), there is a short summary of communication theory basics by Dick Lee.
To begin our study of visual communication, we will be considering 'visual thinking' - or literally 'thinking in pictures'.
By looking at people whose brains have been damaged by disease or degeneration, scientists have been able to observe a shift in communication powers and patterns from verbal to visual communication. Dr. Temple Grandin further elaborates on the visual thinking process. Dr. Grandin is a high function autistic with a PhD and a career in animal handling equipment. She credits her abilities to understand animals so well to her ability to 'think in pictures', rather than words.
To a greater or lesser extent, we all think in images, as well as verbally. A few people are extremely verbal in their thought patterns; a few are extremely visual. Our current society places a high value on the verbal organization and expression; early agricultural cultures probably were more visually oriented.
Visual knowledge
In studying learning differences between Western and indigenous cultures and learning styles, Robert N. St. Clair has proposed the following observations:
Visual metaphors are just another way in which knowledge can be shared. In the heritage of the Western world, this is done essentially by means of a print culture. What this entails is an analytical mode of cognition in which verbal information is processed sequentially, logically, and rationally (TenHouten & Kaplan, 1973). In this framework, there is a predilection for such disciplines as the natural sciences, mathematics, and other rationally oriented and logically based activities. By way of contrast, there are oral cultures in which the relational mode of cognition prevails (Ramírez & Castañeda, 1974). Under this approach to human information processing patterns are not analyzed sequentially as in verbal expression, but are seen as simultaneous structures, as visual patterns. In addition, these patterns are perceived in more emotional terms. Consequently, those who operate within this cognitive style have a predilection for music, dance, and other forms of artistic expression.
What is significant about oral cultures is that they make common use of visual metaphors. It is their way of symbolizing their beliefs about the world. It is their way of organizing knowledge. This way of knowing is legitimized by the culture and expressed in a tradition of rich visual imagery. This legitimization of knowledge is commonly referred to as the way of the people. It is what folklorist and anthropologists attempt to describe, understand, and know when dealing with oral cultures. Their research details a different model of information processing, a sanctioned cognitive style, and another perspective.
Information processing modes of print and oral cultures
| PRINT CULTURE | ORAL CULTURE | |
| Cognition | Analytical Mode: Look for the details and not the whole. | Synthesizing Mode: Look for the overall meaning and how the details fit together. |
| Processing | Sequential: Go from left to right. |
Simultaneous: view everything at once just as one would view a painting. |
| Thought | Relational, Logical: Reason logically and use syllogisms.Put people into categories.Do not rely on emotions. | Affective, Emotive: Feelings are important. Use emotions to understand others. |
| Predilections | Mathematics, Science |
Art, Music, Dance |
| Legitimization | Verbal Metaphor: Use metaphors based on language. |
Visual Metaphor: Use metaphors based on the reorganization of visual space. |
| Literacy | Print, Technology | Orality, the Arts |
reprinted from Visual Metaphor, Cultural Knowledge, and the New Rhetoric by Robert N. St. Clair
For this class, we want to cultivate the process of visual thinking by learning the language and syntax of visual communication. The divide between the written and the visual tradition in Western culture has occurred comparatively recently. The industrial revolution required and educated, literate society to operate and maintain the machinery. Prior to this time, much of the Western tradition was oral and visual. A quick trip to any medieval cathedral demonstrates this. The stories are painted on the walls, or carved into the doors and frames. The viewer can retell the bible story, just as the reader could reread the tale.
The images below are all retellings of Christ's temptation in the wilderness. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. (Mark 1:12-13)
The Temptation in the Wilderness |
Duccio Di Buoninesegna The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain c1308 |
Temptation in the Wilderness, engraving from 1557 |
Juan de Flandes The Temptation of Christ, c. 1500/1504 |
Sandro Botticelli, Temptation of Christ1481-1482. Fresco. Sistine Chapel, Rome |
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Panel from North Doors of Florence Baptistry c.1404-24 |
Many of the people and object shown conform to visual guidelines, whose meaning we have lost or forgotten. There were oral traditions, but there were also dictionaries of meaning that an artist could reference. One such set of guidelines was Ripa's Iconologia, a manual published in 1593, which was an alphabetically arranged catalogue of classical and baroque symbolism. We could very loosely compare Iconologia to Strunk and White Elements of Style, in that both provide guidelines for correct expression and syntax of the elements of the vocabulary.
"Today Ripa's Iconologia is an essential primary source for how baroque symbolism was understood. Although it is clear that artists used his interpretations liberally and sometimes not at all, other subsequent artistic compositions can be traced directly to Ripa. Giovan Francesco Guerrieri's paintings in the Palzzo Borghese in Rome and Francesco Pianta's carvings in the Scuola di San Rocco in Venice are peculiar representations that are taken directly from Ripa (Praz). Art historians and archaeologists use the Iconologia both as proof that specific symbols held specific meaning and as a paradigm for how personifications were transmitted." Dictionary of Art Historians
An example of the iconologia used by a major work of art is Vermeer's Allegory of Faith, c.1671- 1674
" This unusual Vermeer represents an allegory of Catholic faith. The figure of Faith is depicted in a theatrical pose, clutching her hand to her breast, her eyes gazing upwards and her right foot resting on a globe. She is loosely based on the symbolic representation from Ripa's Iconology in which Faith is described as 'a seated lady ...her feet resting on Earth'." Martin Bailey
As our culture has become increasingly visually sophisticated, our images have begun to tell longer and deeper stories. You must know the visual symbolism to understand the stories. How do our ads tells stories about our contemporary cultures and myths? Are our visual symbols universal or confined to our culture?
One of my favorite summaries of the success of visual communication (or visual storytelling) comes from an art review:
"Storytelling has historically served as a form of entertainment but also as a cultural necessity. Stories carry histories, map moral laws and religious beliefs, and teach lessons of survival. Whether bearing sorrow, humor, or wisdom, they are remembered rather than memorized, they are given as gifts and belong to all. A good story is told time and again over the centuries; it travels from country to country, in each place picking up something new as well as leaving something behind... While oral stories leave images up to the imagination, visual tales leave the actual narrative open to interpretation. ." absolutearts
Required Reading
Our readings this week follow two directions: one is the story of people who literally think in pictures. To them, words are a foreign communication.
- Developing Effective Communications by Dick Lee
- Thinking in Pictures by Dr. Temple Grandin
- Textbook: Universal Principles of Design
- pages 152-153; Picture Superiority Effect
- pages 204-205; Von Rostoff Effect
- pages 192-193; Threat Detection
Recommended Reading
- Visual Metaphor, Cultural Knowledge, and the New Rhetoric by Robert N. St. Clair
- Vermeer's Allegory of Faith; critical excerpts by Martin Bailey and John Michael Montias
image - Iconologia or Moral Emblems of Cesare Ripa
- Textbook: Universal Principles of Design
- pages 26-27; Attractiveness Bias
- pages 28-29; Baby-Face Bias
Discussion
Discussion Questions: (These are points to begin thinking and discussing these issues. Please do no answer each question verbatim.)
- From Bruce Mau's manifesto: "23. Stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better." How does this relate to our readings on communications?
- In Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication, Lester states: "Reading is losing to watching because viewing requires little mental processing." Do you agree or disagree, why?
- How are we creating our own visual communications? Hand gestures? School photos? Hallmark cards? Gang colors? How do the levels of understanding and nuance vary?
- What are some of our current mythologies that are being told in the Budweiser superbowl ad below? Would someone who had grown up on the Russian steppes understand these images? Would everyone in American be familiar with the all of the nuances of the story?
- How does the herding cats Superbowl ad (below) compare to Streaker? Would it stand on its own without the words? What else enhances the meaning of these messages? What mythologies do they share or not share?
Assignment
The assignment this week is to sign up as a team to create a report for the class about interaction designers. There is a list of suggested designers, who range from theorists to practioners.
For full assignment details, please refer to the assignments section in Blackboard.





