Visual Literacy: the language of design

Visual communication; the process of sending and receiving is based upon the level of shared understanding of the signs, symbols, gestures and objects which are being used.

How successful the communication is depends on factors such as the audience and the context.

Visual literacy; the ability to construct meaning from visual images and type and produce images that effectively communicate a message to an audience. Also relates to the interpretation of images of the present, past and from a range of cultures.

INTERPRET– NEGOTIATE – MAKE MEANING

Utilising the shared understanding of signs, symbols, gestures and objects allows us to control, manipulate and play with the recognised communication.

The shared understanding of these signs, symbols, gestures and objects comes from the combinations of universal recognitions; all that is necessary for any language to exist is the agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another.

Being visually literate requires an awareness of the relationship between visual syntax and visual semantics: 

Visual Syntax: pictorial structure and visual organisation of elements

Visual Semantics: how an image fits in to a cultural context; social ideas, religious & political beliefs etc…

VISUAL SYNECDOCHE: taking part of something to create a whole e.g. the statue of liberty is sometimes used to represent New York as a whole; even though it is just one landmark within the city.

VISUAL METONYM: symbolic image, makes reference to something with a more literal meaning e.g. a yellow taxi cab is closely associated to New York however not entirely representative of the city.

VISUAL METAPHORE: used to transfer meaning from one image to another e.g. a picture of a green apple given the right context, can be used to communicate New York due to it being known as the ‘Big Apple’.

“Every object has the capacity to stand for somethingother than what is apparent, work on what it stands for.Work the Metaphor.”– Bruce Mau