Final Thoughts

I always find it difficult when asked to reflect on somethings as long and involved as an entire semester. More than any other semester, I believe most of my learning involved small things, things that one can only learn through experience.

First, I have realized many of the subtleties in the creative process. The creative process does not occur within a vacuum. Creativity, especially in regards to advertising, tends to occur out in the world that we live in. I mean, that is how people are going to receive our message, whether it be at a point-of-purchase display, billboard, etc. Also, ideas can come at anytime and any place. Ideas tend to come to you when you are not thinking about the project. I had dreams about my ideas. So I consider myself a "creative dreamer." Last, most of the time a first draft will be unrecognizable compared to a final draft. The theme and idea will remain, but the way it is communicated may have a completely different look.

I thought both of the books we read were good reads with lots of information. While I did struggle at times with the books, that did not take away from the information that was presented. The most important thing I have taken away from the class is the idea that all of our views are socially constructed. Even when viewing an image, one views that image and interprets the meaning through their view of the world. I would venture to say there is not one image that is universally understood.

I would have to agree with Janet on this point. I think many of the things we have discussed in this class I once thought to be intuitive. All of the theories of visual design talked about seemed to me to be things that occur naturally in images, but I have come to the realization that these are things that I have actually learned. I can now apply these theories to my own visuals as well as identify visuals that follow these principles.

Moving toward the exits...

After reading the section on "The Moving Image" I began to contemplate how High Definition cameras has changed the way television and film is produced. While there can still be shots in a disconnected syntagm, can actors still be shot in different locations and then cut together to restore the connection? It would seem like the technology used would make this more difficult and would require much more planning. Maybe HD actually makes it easier to achieve naturalism or realism, I am not sure. There is also the issue of modality, and how HD can affect visual detail, background depth, light and shade, color, etc. Does this change how a moving image is viewed or has there become a new standard for the moving image and how its elements are viewed by the receiver.

I know I do not offer any solutions, mainly because I do not have any, but I imagine this would be a discussion in newer textbooks.

The End is Near

Modality: the truth value or credibility of statements about the world

Visuals can represent people, places and things as though they are real, as they actually exists in this way, or as though do not - as though they are imaginings, fantasies, caricatures, etc. (156) Since modes modality judgments are socially constructed, how are we to make visuals that are universally comprehended? We have discussed this topic at length in regards to the written language in our other MAPC classes. Kenneth Burke's terministic screens come to mind. Reality is in the eye of the beholder, or is defined by a particular group, which makes this task very difficult. I cannot say we have come to any particular solution to this persistent problem in professional communication.

Coca-Cola Open Happiness Ad

The Shape of Things to Come

Some ways that you might use shapes in your design are to:
-Organize, connect, separate
-Symbolize an idea
-Create movement
-Provide texture or depth
-Convey a mood or emotion
-Provide emphasis
-Provide a framework
-Geometric Shapes

In addition to the basic square, circle, and triangle, other geometric shapes have specific meanings, some culturally-based. An octagon, especially a red one, usually means stop. A starburst is commonly used to grab attention and identify something that is new, improved, or 'on sale.'

Natural Shapes
Natural shapes can add interest and reinforce a theme. Rather than a plain box, frame text with a coiling rope or a spray of leaves or flowers. Use a freeform, non-symmetrical shape to convey a feeling of spontaneity.

Abstract Shapes
Some abstract shapes are almost universally recognized and easily 'read' even when the text is in an unfamiliar language. The stylized wheelchair, the male and female symbols for restrooms, and the jagged steps for stairs or an escalator are some examples. Icons are often abstract or stylized shapes. For example, a rectangle with a 'folded corner' often indicates a page in a document or a word processing program. A hollow circle or oval with smaller circles on the 'path' may be a literal representation of a planetary system or symbolic of a network, such as a computer network.

A Mere Formality

I got the title for our next series of readings from a quote on page 1. Kress and Leeuwen assert "grammar has been, and remains, 'formal'" (1). So naturally I ask, what does it mean to be formal? Does that mean there are a set of rules that should be followed or does this mean something entirely different? I imagine over the next few weeks this questions will be answered, and from that answer, more questions will certainly arise. They always do, right?

As children, we are encouraged to produce images and illustrate our written work, and "teachers comment on these illustrations as much as they do on the written part of the text..." (16). The benefit of this medium is there is not correct illustration, and images are seen as self-expression rather than communication.

I remember growing up in Elementary school where the pictures I drew where more important to what I was writing. Of course, we are still learning to write and producing images is presented to children as something they can do with any further instruction. But before we can learn how images can help us communicate a message, they are gone from our education. Around 2nd grade, images are no longer seen as important and written communication becomes the most important. Why is this?

The importance put on the visual comes and goes as we move through our education. More often than not, images are seen as a distraction from the written words, and if nothing else are seen as simply a supplement to our writing. Now, in the 17th year of my education, I am finally taking a class in visual rhetoric and learning how visual images have a language all of their own. What I am calling for is a shift in how we teach the importance of the visual in our lives. Maybe then we will understand what we are looking at when we view advertisements, paintings, photographs, etc. Maybe this type of education would help to produce a more literate, conscious public.

Through the Looking Glass *Finale*

Sources estimate that there are 1.5 billion unique users of the Internet. While that is a lot of users, there are almost 5.5 billion that do not have access to the Internet at all. Not quite the global village we believe it is. Nor can we claim that the Internet is fundamentally democratic. I agree with the idea of the Internet becoming more of corporate marketplace than a global public forum. There are brands/products/services everywhere you look. I do not know what else to say about this. I will add more later if I think of anything worth saying.