Visual Rhetoric. What is Visual Rhetoric? We use visual thinking as a major part of our cognition...

Visual Rhetoric

What is Visual Rhetoric?

• We use visual thinking as a major

part of our cognition (thinking

process)

• We live in a visually dominated world

• We must be able to read, dissect, and produce effective visuals

Today, when audiences encounter a mass communication, such as a

magazine advertisement or a public service announcement, the message often forms a subtle (or not-so subtle)

argument.

In other words, the message tries to convince the receiver (YOU) to agree with an idea or to do something (like

buy the latest iPhone or vote for George W. Bush).

Mass communications use many techniques to persuade their

audiences; these techniques (part of the art of rhetoric) generally use

images and sound to evoke ethos, pathos or logos in viewers.

Media literacy must teach us how to analyze (and critique!) these

techniques, allowing us to make more informed decisions about the arguments being presented.

What to consider:

• Text elements (font can influence the

author’s ethos)• Color

• Visuals and graphics (to convey specific information, to relate

content, or to accent)• Overall design (avoid clutter)

Analyzing Images

Focal Point: the spot where your eyes immediately go

when viewing an image (with light)

with light and/or with lines

Figure-Ground Contrast: what is in the forefront (often, the focal point) versus what is in the background

Grouping: Proximityobjects that are grouped close

together are perceived as having a connection or relationship

Grouping: Similarity putting similar objects in close

proximity to each other creates a sense of unity

ColorThe brighter the color, the more

powerful its effect will be.

ContinuationElements that suggest a contiguous visual

line will cause the viewer to draw connection and establish relationship (i.e.

constellations)

Lines

used to create a sense of motion or movement

Closure encourages viewers to move their eyes in

predictable and desirable ways to fill in missing information

The emotions of lineswavy = grace, softness, change

diagonal = stress

vertical = movement

horizontal = calm

Story how the elements combine to tell a story, and to tell a story of the creator’s values,

point-of-view, concerns, etc.

Affect TransferLinking two unlike entities – one that evokes powerful

emotion and one that does not – in such a

way that the emotion is applied to the less

powerful entity.

Affect Transfer #2:

The image is a great example of visual rhetoric. The people behind this photo are representing the earth with their hands, colored mostly blue, wrapped into a ball. This symbolization is likely

one for the environmental movements to highlight the damages that humans have caused to the Earth and putting forth the notion that some humans are actually in favor of preserving the

planet on which we live. The fact that the "earth" is formed by hands from two different people represents the fact that the Earth is inhabited by many different organisms, and that unity is needed to ensure that the planet remains inhabitable for the next generations and beyond.

Analyze this advertisement