Chapter 7: Graphics

Visual Language: Using graphics without prose or as full partner with prose

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vfSFXKlnO0 (Pharmaceutical commercial)

· How does the graphic enhance your understanding of how the medicine works?

· How would not having graphics impact the way you understood the commercial?

Conceptual graphics on microbrewed beer packaging: The graphic characterizes the taste of beer on two scales: light versus dark and malty versus hoppy (sweet versus bitter)

Example: http://www.garnierusa.com/_en/_us/our_products/product-struct.aspx?tpcode=OUR_PRODUCTS^PRD_STYLING^FRUCTIS_STYLE^STYLE_DISCOVER^STYLE_CURLS (Label on back of Garnier Fructis Curl Mousse)

· What does the graphic on the side of the bottle characterize?

· Is there really a scale of low-hold to high-hold

· What “essential information” is delivered?

· Where is the visual rhetoric here?

Geon Theory

· We perceive all objects as made up of abstractions and 3 dimensional objects. Mostly geometrical, such as cylinders, cones, blocks, and wedges that we assemble to become a tree (being a collection of branching cylinders) or long, narrow cones

Three Perspectives of Graphics

· Perception: how we respond to what we see

· Culture: Culture values and expectations play a role in our interpretations of what we see. Without visual culture, users would have a difficult time creating meaning from images.

· Rhetoric: How graphics are used to convey information and to present a visually coherent view of the multifaceted institutions.

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccxqZYltYsI (M &M Commercial)

· What did the use of graphics do to your perceptional of this commercial?

· What obstacles would they have had to overcome if they had not used graphics?

· What would your perspective have been?

Graphics & Ethics

Distortion
Example 1: http://www.examiner.com/health-and-beauty-in-los-angeles/photoshop-disasters-bring-fakery-to-light-part-1-of-3 (Ralph Lauren)

Viewpoint: Cropping
Example 2: http://www.sojournposse.com/?tag=the-economist (The Examiner)

Copyright

Clip Art: existing graphics we find and borrow rather than create our own

All graphics are protected under copyright: a legal status in which the creator or owner of the graphic has the right to say whether and how the graphic can be reproduced by others.

· Granted as soon as the graphic is created and simply creating to graphic (or text) gives you the copyright for your lifetime (and your heirs to come).

· Fair use: using borrowed material within the boundaries of copyright

· Gaining permission is not usually difficult – sometimes its free, sometimes it’s not

· Always give credit

Information graphics vs. Promotion

Examples of Information Graphics (showing how something looks)

· Photographs

· Line art: diagrams & Drawings

· Screenshots

· Maps

· Statistical Charts

Examples of Promotion Graphics

· Logos

· Decorative Graphics

Creating & Modifying Graphics: Bitmap Graphics versus Vector Graphics

Bitmaps: Most digital photographs and scans are originally created as bitmaps. It describes each individual pixel of information in the graphic (i.e. so that we can specify things such as color and brightness with precision)

Bitmap Graphic Programs

· Adobe Photoshop

· JASC PaintShop Pro

· Graphic Image Processor (GIMP)

Vector Graphics Programs

· Adobe Illustrator

· Macromedia Freehand

· Corel Draw

· Adobe Imageready

**Refer to the chart on p.226