DEADLINE: SUNDAY, MAY 13th, 6 P.M.
THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF IMAGES
Every image can be seen as a symbol, something that stands for something else. Images are subject to intellectual interpretation by viewers. And these interpretations will vary based on the viewers' education, nationality, age, gender and values.
But, then there's the emotional level...
Every image also communicates in the secret language of feelings — it makes you feel something. On this level, more people will react to an image similarly.
Every image communicates BOTH information and emotion.The difference is that in some images the balance tips toward information — like a simple shot of a product on a plain background — and others evoke emotion that dominates our viewing experience — like the 'art' shot. In between these two extremes are the majority of images that we see.
Excitement, calm, shock, astonishment, awe, happiness, love, gentleness, security, confidence and peace are some of the emotions that could be evoked.
Sometimes it may be a combination of two or three.
"Reading" an image, then, can be seen as the activity of identifying its position on the spectrum. Sometimes content, giving information, is most important for a design project. Sometimes the actual subject of a photo is less important than the style of the photo. The designer's task is to "read" the image — to understand its predominant visual language— in order to figure out whether the image is the right one to communicate or "sell" an idea/product o a particular audience.
In the broadest possible terms, newspapers and publishing will use images that lean towards the "information" end of the spectrum, while corporate advertising, graphic and new media design firms will work with images from the "emotional" end.
Of course, there are always exceptions to every generalization...
Try looking at images and "reading" the amount of information and emotion contained. This exercise is useful for multimedia designing. The goal is to learn how to select a series of images for a project design that will "speak" the desired message to the audience. Look at the 16 portrait images below. How would you rank these photos in terms of information? In terms of emotion?
Scale ratings:
INFORMATION HIGH + EMOTION LOW
INFORMATION HIGH + EMOTION HIGH
INFORMATION LOW + EMOTION HIGH
1. First try to classify images in these three broad categories. Then refine your ordering, trying to figure out which images fall between the extreme poles.
Click on and copy the images to your own desktop. Now create a VISUAL LANGUAGE page on your site. Upload the images to your own site page.
Look at each image. Pick a general category from the three above. Title each image "info high + emo low; info high + emo high; OR info low + emo high. Now rank the images in each category 1, 2, 3, etc.
For instance, for the photo you think has the highest information content and lowest emotion, rank it "1" IN THAT CATEGORY; for image with second highest amount of high information and low emotion, rank it "2".
Note: All categories are represented. There is at least one image for each category.
2. NOW GO ONLINE AND FIND ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH CATEGORY. Title each, and post on your page.
3. Comment: Please write a paragraph or two about your thoughts on this assignment. Was it difficult to categorize? What visual clues did you use to categorize? How could understanding the visual language of images help you when designing multimedia projects? What about your own site design?
NOTE: All categories are represented. There is at least one image for each category.
DEADLINE: SUNDAY, MAY 13th, 6 P.M.
But, then there's the emotional level...
Every image also communicates in the secret language of feelings — it makes you feel something. On this level, more people will react to an image similarly.
Every image communicates BOTH information and emotion.The difference is that in some images the balance tips toward information — like a simple shot of a product on a plain background — and others evoke emotion that dominates our viewing experience — like the 'art' shot. In between these two extremes are the majority of images that we see.
Excitement, calm, shock, astonishment, awe, happiness, love, gentleness, security, confidence and peace are some of the emotions that could be evoked.
Sometimes it may be a combination of two or three.
"Reading" an image, then, can be seen as the activity of identifying its position on the spectrum. Sometimes content, giving information, is most important for a design project. Sometimes the actual subject of a photo is less important than the style of the photo. The designer's task is to "read" the image — to understand its predominant visual language— in order to figure out whether the image is the right one to communicate or "sell" an idea/product o a particular audience.
In the broadest possible terms, newspapers and publishing will use images that lean towards the "information" end of the spectrum, while corporate advertising, graphic and new media design firms will work with images from the "emotional" end.
Of course, there are always exceptions to every generalization...
Try looking at images and "reading" the amount of information and emotion contained. This exercise is useful for multimedia designing. The goal is to learn how to select a series of images for a project design that will "speak" the desired message to the audience. Look at the 16 portrait images below. How would you rank these photos in terms of information? In terms of emotion?
Scale ratings:
INFORMATION HIGH + EMOTION LOW
INFORMATION HIGH + EMOTION HIGH
INFORMATION LOW + EMOTION HIGH
1. First try to classify images in these three broad categories. Then refine your ordering, trying to figure out which images fall between the extreme poles.
Click on and copy the images to your own desktop. Now create a VISUAL LANGUAGE page on your site. Upload the images to your own site page.
Look at each image. Pick a general category from the three above. Title each image "info high + emo low; info high + emo high; OR info low + emo high. Now rank the images in each category 1, 2, 3, etc.
For instance, for the photo you think has the highest information content and lowest emotion, rank it "1" IN THAT CATEGORY; for image with second highest amount of high information and low emotion, rank it "2".
Note: All categories are represented. There is at least one image for each category.
2. NOW GO ONLINE AND FIND ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH CATEGORY. Title each, and post on your page.
3. Comment: Please write a paragraph or two about your thoughts on this assignment. Was it difficult to categorize? What visual clues did you use to categorize? How could understanding the visual language of images help you when designing multimedia projects? What about your own site design?
NOTE: All categories are represented. There is at least one image for each category.
DEADLINE: SUNDAY, MAY 13th, 6 P.M.