Instructions:
Take some time to peruse the vast library of tutorial videos available to you. For this week, focus
specifically on finding an interesting resource on visual design. Once you've found a good video,
post it in this discussion board along with a response (around 250 words) that summarizes the main
ideas of the video, articulates how these principles could be best applied to visual rhetoric, and
describes the role that visual design plays in writing/composition.
After everyone has posted a video, you should have a nice class collection of resources that should
help you better understand some of the elements of visual rhetoric you'll be engaging with for project
2. Use these videos to enrich your writing and understanding of how writers are responsible for more
than just words on a page.
Sample:
1-
The video that I found is titled ‘’identify the purpose and audience for images’’ explains
how to create a successful project. It highlights three main factors on which we should
focus: the purpose of the project, audience, and the client needs for preparing the
images. The Instructor talks about the meaning of each of these patterns claiming that
one of the purposes of an image is to ‘’convey information and data to help viewers
learn facts and understand ideas’’ (Rankin). However, for projects that are commercial
in nature, the images are used in order to grab the audience’s attention and to persuade
them to take action or to buy the advertised product. Mike Ranking then talks about the
connection between the purpose of an image and its target audience. He states that we
should consider viewer’s needs ‘’ based on their age, location, gender, education
level, occupation, ethnicity, and other factors’’ (Rankin). Knowing these patterns will
help us understand our audience and eventually determine our design choices.
The same principle works in writing/composition because the first aspect we should
consider when choosing an image for our project is to determine what message the
image sends and what is its purpose. The image should not only strengthen our
arguments about the stakeholder but also to say something by itself. In other words,
that image should have a voice and a powerful meaning that would persuade the
audience. The process of choosing images for our project is significant because those
images will guide our way of writing and they will be critical in convincing our audience.
That is why we should first understand the important role of the visual rhetoric in our
project and then to spend a decent amount of time for implementing that knowledge.
2-
The video, "How the visual weight of an image affects the interpretation" by Steve
Simon, is all about analyzing an image's focal points. The main topic of this video is to
express the importance of an image’s visual weight. Visual weight is a photographic
term that can be explained as what the viewer’s eye is drawn towards. These eyeattracting features could be certain colors being used, what part of the image is in focus,
how scale is involved, etc. (Simon 2016).
Steve accentuates the importance of light and color in many of the images he
presents. He mentions that the “light tones attract the viewer's attention more than dark
tones” (Simon 2016). An image’s contrast is important when trying to bring attention to
one specific aspect, like the man in white who was at the other side of a dark alley
(Simon 2016). There are also colors that express a specific feeling within an image, like
how blue hues can evoke a sense of a gloom or calmness.
There are a few roles that visuals pertain in writing. These roles are the rhetoric
appeals: ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos. For example, visuals can be used to
strengthen the pathos of the words that are being read. If the topic was convincing the
reader to apply for scholarships, then visuals of people holding large wads of money
may be used. In this instance, the visual of money is used to show what you could look
like if you were to apply for scholarships. Professional use of visuals can help to give
the reader an appealing perspective alongside written words.
3-
The video, "Good, Better and Best Image Critique" was about how the focus and
emotion of a photo determine what makes a good photo, a better photo, and the best
photo. The main ideas of the video, by Steve Simon, were going through series of
photos and determining which photo was the best based on focus, emotion, physicality,
and subtly. The best photos have the ability to draw the viewers eye, evoke emotion
and make them ask questions. For example, in the first series of photos, Simon shows
three images of a man working on his car. Each image is different, the first being from
far away, the second being closer and from a different angle and the last being the
closest to the man’s face. The last image was considered the best because it let the
viewers see the emotion on the man’s face and leave them with questions about why he
must have been sad.
The principles considered in visual rhetoric like ethos, pathos, logos and kairos are
the same that can be used in writing and composition and they can be used
interchangeably or alongside the other. For example, if an author was writing a paper on
poor school districts, they could include a photo of a teacher using a Star Wars book to
help a student improve their reading skills. This would evoke the readers emotion
because it shows the way schools have to make do with what they have available to
them, and it explains the lower quality education given to students attending low-income
schools. The use of visual rhetoric alongside written rhetoric helps the author provide
another way of persuading the reader.
4-
The video that I found to be very interesting was called, "Visual Design for Excess
Content" and explained how someone would go about organizing their visual picture
without losing critical information. This video showed a map which contained a topic
idea with branching subcategories describing the different kinds of dog breeds. As the
third row of branches began to form, there were roughly fifty dog breeds that still
needed to make it onto the map. In order to fit all fifty and still make it look organized,
the speaker wrote them all down and then pressed "align" and "overlap". This showed
all fifty dog breeds in an organized manner without having to explicitly write out all
breeds.
This kind of mapping is an efficient and visual way to get all the information needed
onto a page without appearing messy and unorganized. These principles are applied to
visual rhetoric because someone making an advertisement in an attempt to persuade
someone should have all of the necessary content within although it should not
overwhelm the reader. Clutter can sometimes be distracting and take away from the
overall message, therefore it is essential to maintain a visual that is appealing to the
eye. Visual Design is essential in writing and composition because the subject matter
should be easy to locate and understand. They strengthen the overall goal of an
advertisement and create a better understanding of their perspective.
Video transcript :
title of the vedio is Cropping and how it affects the meaning in an image
FromLearning to Critique Photos
- You know, we crop all the time when shooting, even during the original exposure, by
what we choose to include or exclude from the frame. But we have even more
control over what is being communicated by cropping the image after it has been
taken. You can actually save or improve a photo by cropping out parts of it that might be
distracting or interfere with the composition. But you can also change meaning in a
photo by cropping out key elements.Sometimes, this is the one thing you can do after
the image has been taken to most improve it.
As a street photographer, it's most important for me to capture the moment and the
elements within the frame, keeping the important elements sharp. And for me, that's
more importantthan having the final composition. And here are a few examples of
this. And, you know, in a way, this is the way I shoot. I like to keep it loose, and then
once in post, I will tighten it up and crop it the way it was meant to be shot in the first
place. It's just that I want to make sure that I get the entire scene that I want.
I'm more concerned with the moment and the sharpness of what I want in the frame. So
I leave it a little bit loose, and I finish up my composition in post. I keep the same aspect
ratio, so the shape stays the same. And a lot of the cropping I'm doing is kind of
subtle. I'm cropping to see if I can make the image a little bit stronger. Sometimes, I'm
really bringing things in a lot, like in this image, where I went from this sort of wide
scene. But I felt, by cropping out this whole front area here, it captured more about what
I saw with this woman on a street near Chinatown in New York City.
So again, I'm keeping the same aspect ratio, so nobody knows that I didn't shoot it like
this in the first place. Often, it's just little, subtle changes that I'm making. And I'm
always looking at the edges of the frame. And for instance, here, and I can sort of
see that I'm cropping out this area here. If I can make the picture 2% better with a
crop, then I'll do it. And it really is just the pictures that you're planning on sharing with
the world. I basically captured what I wanted here, but in post, I was able to make it
even stronger.
And it's amazing to me how sometimes, just a very subtle crop can have a significant
impacton the power of the photograph. Again, capturing this scene of these young
people looking inand then cleaning it up, making it stronger. It's not always the getting
closer means it's going to be stronger. It's more about the entire image. It's more about
the visual weight of things,where your eye is going. And if I could make the eye go to a
place that is not up here in the ceiling, by cropping, then I will do that.
Again, you know, there is a little bit of a drag. You know, you're eye goes to light areas
of the scene. So by minimizing that, I think you can make the image stronger. The
edges of the frame, I'm making a decision to crop out some people there, so I can
highlight this gentleman here and the action that's going on. So, I mean, everything I do
is absolutely a conscious decision, and these are the decisions that you're going to have
to make. And I think it's also good, when you're showing your work, to maybe have
versions that are uncropped to see how other people would treat your images, and see
if they would do what you're thinking of doing.
Because I often find that, without getting that second opinion, you might be doing
something that you can be convinced to not do anymore. So I think that the cropping is
an important partof the discussion you have when you're showing your work for a
critique. So in this one, I felt that this entrance sign was a little bit distracting, so I
cropped it out. Now here is an example where cropping can really change the meaning
of the image.
Now, in this image of this beautiful grandmother and her grandchildren, taken in South
Africa,for a project I was doing, it really was those amazing hands holding these two
grandchildrenthat I wanted to highlight. So again, in context of the other pictures, and no
disrespect to her, I cropped her out because I felt that the image was stronger by having
these powerful hands.You got a sense, or I got a sense, that, you know, nothing is
going to happen to these kids, as long as she is protecting them.
And it really wasn't about the individual. It was about the icon of the grandmother who
was dealing with the situation in South Africa. So for me, it was the aesthetic, and it just
made the image more iconic and more powerful. And these are some of the decisions
that you're going to you know, have to make. But they should be made in discussion
because again, I think that someone might point something out to you that you hadn't
realized before.
And that is the power of the critique, is to realize things in the images that you've
taken.Sometimes, we're just too close to them, and we can't see them. We need the
outside, educated eye to tell us what we're missing in our own photography. So again,
you're not spending the time with every image 'cause we're shooting a lot. But with the
images that we're putting out there, it's definitely worth, before you send it out into the
world, to squeeze every bit of story-telling power out of the visual.
And if cropping is a powerful way to do it, which it is, then it needs to be considered.
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