Visual Literacy - The Language of Visual Culture Lecture

Today we had our first Context of Practice lecture, which was based on the concept of visual literacy.

As visual communicators, we need to:

> Solve problems of communication through type, image or motion

> Have an interest in words, language, message and meaning

> Communicate ideas or concepts to different audiences in a range of contexts.

For messages, ideas and concepts to be communicated successfully, we must have a shared understanding of signs, symbols and gestures. This is affected by the audience, context, media and method of distribution. Visual literacy is the idea that pictures can be read, but for this to be successful we need to have a basic understanding of visual syntax and visual semantics.

Visual Syntax

The syntax of an image refers to its pictorial structure and visual organisation. For example, its framing, format, line, texture etc; basically all of the formal elements that make up the image.

Visual Semantics

Semantics of an image refers to the way the image fits into a cultural process of communication. This includes the relationship between form and meaning, and the way that this meaning is created through cultural references, social ideals, religious beliefs, political ideas, historical structures etc.

Semiotics

Toward the end of the lecture we were introduced to the topic of semiotics. This covers non-linguistic sign systems, visual language and visual literacy. It is the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, metaphor, symbolism, signification and communication. Visual elements of semiotics include symbol, sign, signifier, metaphor, metonym and synecdoche.

Symbol: (e.g. logo - image)

Sign: (e.g. identity - what the image represents)

Signifier: (e.g. brand - the connotations of the brand and its message or meaning)

Metaphor: Transfers the meaning from one image to another. Used to convey a message about something unfamiliar by associating it with something familiar.

Metonym: Symbolic image used to make reference to a subject. Related, but not intrinsically linked. 

Synecdoche: A universally recognised image, inherently connected to the subject.