Interest In Visual Literacy

A March 2009 article entitled “Visual Literacy and Message Design" by Rune Pettersson points out that Visual literacy may be applied in almost all areas such as advertising, anatomy, art, biology, business, presentations, communication, education, and engineering. In spite of this according to the article visual literacy has struggled to attract a strong level of interest from society and those responsible for school curricula. Pettersson believes that the concept of visual literacy has not been widely accepted because of a lack of focus. In the authors view combined visual and verbal messages need to be considered and not just text and not only visuals.

Do you agree or disagree with Pettersson? What thoughts do you have on the subject of why visual literacy has yet to attract interest in society and those responsible for school curricula?

Instructional Design for An Integrated Society

When creating instructional images, there are multiple factors that have to be kept into consideration. Some of those considerations include the finding out the purpose of the graphic, researching, and discovering the best way to showcase the final product. In addition to these considerations, one very important factor to consider is the audience that the design will appeal too. Essentially, the images has to appeal the vast majority of the population that will encounter it.

In a 2006 census, the Census Bureau discovered that 1 in 5 American residents spoke a language other than English at home. The census is revealing that if instructional images are directed specifically at an English speaking audience, then it is a possibility that many will be excluded comprehending the purpose of graphic and instructional design.

In a sense, graphic design has to be come universal. Universal design is the broad-spectrum solution for instruction that can be understood by everyone. In the case of our culture today, the audience that graphic designers are appealing to is very diverse. This is then causing graphic designers to evaluate what they produce to ensure that a majority of the audience that encounters their design is included in understanding what message is trying to be conveyed.

In the first 2 pictures above, the signs were created to appeal to 2 different audiences: Spanish and Englishing groups, but these signs are just one way to make instruction universal. In the 3rd picture the customer spits in the box, because the person who has dyslexia misinterpreted the sign. All audiences that have to be considered when creating design for instruction. Therefore, designing graphics for instruction has to strive to become more inclusive rather then exclusive so that all can understand the message that is intended.

The Art in Instructional Images

I've been looking for examples of graphics to share with you, and am struck by paucity of decent instructional images for adults. For some reason, most educators and textbook publishers simply do not use pictures when teaching adults. Weird...

To get you thinking about the use of color, shape, movement, and line in images, I would like to share with you some pictures by my father's college art instructor. Charley Harper taught graphic design and illustration at the University of Cincinnati Art Academy for many years. During his very long career, he created posters, illustrations, books, and original artwork for a variety of clients. As a young child, I spent many hours pouring over a Biology book he illustrated.

Now for the interesting part of this story... In the summer of 1980, I went to the National Park Service's Visitor's Center at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. I really liked the history of Harper's Ferry and had been there several times before to walk around the streets of the town. Much to my surprise and delight, there was a display of Charley Harper's work on the walls of the Visitor's Center!

As I walked around the room examining the different pictures, I was approached by an older gentleman. He asked me what I thought of the artist's work. I told him that I loved the artist's work and knew it well. Imagine my surprise when the man introduced himself as Charley Harper! Imagine his surprise when he learned I was the daughter of his former student, Herb Beard!

After learning the identify of my father, Charley made me an offer. He said that when my father was my age, he had offered him the opportunity to come work with him in his studio for one year, but that my father had turned him down. (That was no surprise as my father had 3 young children at that time... He needed a real job.) When he asked me if I would be interested, I told him that as tempting as it sounded, I had just accepted a new job and that I felt obligated to stick with it. I just couldn't fathom interrupting my life to move to Cincinnati for a year. He said that it was ironic that he made the same offer to two people in the same family and received the same reply.

Imagine, if I had accepted Charley Harper's offer all those years ago... I probably wouldn't be here now at JMU teaching you about Visual Literacy! Here are some links to Charley Harper's work. Enjoy!


Charley Harper Website
Cardinal
Warbler
Raccoons
Ladybugs
Egret
Charley Harper Blog