Visual Communication In-Class Assignment (groups)

Text in an ad is secondary, and the image or appearance of the ad is primary. Advertisements make meaning through the interaction between the images and the text. The design elements of an advertisement are incredibly detailed: nothing is by accident nor is it out of place.
Therefore, critically analyze how visual elements contribute toan ad’s meaning and the creation of brand image. We need to analyze the various visual aspects of the ad, the text being one element, in order to see how these work together to create the message of an ad.
This is going to be a comparison assignment. We will examine two ads. In critically analyzing the ads, tofocus on the six elements of visual design that Charles Kostlenick outlines in his textbook Designing Visual Language. These are:
• Arrangement
• Emphasis
• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Tone
• Ethos
The central question that answer in your response is the following: what are the messages of the ads, or more appropriately what are the brand images that the advertisementsare trying to create, and how do these six elements contribute to or help to build those messages? Furthermore, which advertisement is more successful at building its message? Provide evidence for your thoughts.
Work with a partner on this in-class assignment. Discuss your ideas with one another.
This assignment will be marked out of five. What I’m looking for is how well you can link your interpretation to specific elements of the ads themselves; always justify your thoughts by providing evidence for them. Remember, critical analysis isn’t just simply being critical, but rather linking your analysis and evaluation to elements of analyzed object. Therefore, make sure you are referencing specific detail elements of the ads.
Visual Lesson Supplement
In Charles Kostlenick’s textbook called Designing Visual Language (1998), he suggests that there are six things you should pay attention to in terms of the visual design of a document:
• Arrangement
• Emphasis
• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Tone
• Ethos
The following are Kostelnick’s definitions for these various elements.
Arrangement: “means order, the organization of visual elements so that readers can see their structure – how they cohere in groups, how they differ from one another, how they create layers and hierarchies” [1, p. 14].
Emphasis: “In any communication […] some parts are more important than others and should therefore receive more attention. This prominence or intensity of expression is what we mean by emphasis.Whether on a page or a computer screen, some elements in a visual field will invariably stand out – because the type is bigger or bolder, the image is darker, and so on. Emphasis strategies are about controlling what stands out”[1, p. 16].
Clarity: “Clarity strategies help the receiver to decode the message, to understand it quickly and completely, and, when necessary, to react without ambivalence. Within the verbal domain, clarity issues occur at every level – from word to phrase, from sentence to paragraph, from section to whole communication. In the visual domain, clarity strategies span the whole gamut of visual language, everything from typefaces to charts to illustrations”[1, p. 17].
Conciseness: “Conciseness refers to the visual bulk and intricacy of the design – for example, the number of headings and lists, lines and boxes, colors and gray scales; the detail of the drawings and data displays; the variation in the size, ornateness, and spacing of the text. While associated with economy, visual conciseness doesn’t mean designing every visual element as minimally as possible. Rather, it means generating designs that are appropriately succinct within a particular situation. You can test visual conciseness by asking yourself: Does a given design element do some rhetorical work? If it doesn’t, that element lacks conciseness” [1, p. 19].
Tone: “You know well that your word choices reveal your attitude toward your readers and your subject. Through your tone of voice, you can sound serious, humorous, excited, sincere, flippant, formal, glum, concerned, technical, and so on. You can also reveal the same range of voices through visual language –by your selection of typefaces, by your use of bold and italics, by your use of space, and by countless other design elements. Just as important, tone plays a crucial role in building ethos because the tone of voice you use to communicate with someone – verbally or visually – tells that person a lot about your character”[1, p. 20].
Ethos: “In any communication the speaker or writer tries to establish a trusting relationship with the listener or reader. To do that, the sender of the message needs to cultivate a sense of character or credibility that will appeal to the audience. Visual language also needs to build trust if it’s going to respond adequately to the rhetorical situation”[1, p. 21].Kostlenick here suggests that instances of visual communication gain your trust by building a personality or character through the use of various design elements.
Bibliography