Visual Rhetoric
Communication not only occurs through text and spoken words but also visual images. Sonja Foss describes the discipline of visual rhetoric as "the use of symbols to communicate" (Foss 141). These visuals can take the form of everything from logos to paintings to the visual design of a website.
During our class discussion on visual rhetoric, we focused on the CRAP principles: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. Integrating these principles in a visual will allow for effective communication and will promote clarity. The CRAP principles can be found in visuals such as websites, handouts, book covers, and much more. For example, the Today Show website uses these principles to create a cohesive website that is easily navigated. They repeat the orange color scheme in their logo (shown below) and the font color to reiterate their identity, while also giving the site some contrast. The news stories are strategically aligned and exhibit proximity to provide an easy way for viewers to navigate the site.
When creating the Today Show website, the designers had to keep the audience in mind and what characteristics would increase traffic to the site. Using the CRAP principles creates a website that is visually pleasing while also easy to navigate. Viewers will recognize the orange logo and know that it represents the Today Show.
Visual rhetoric allows us to consider our own perspectives and what we believe. According to Foss, an image can only be visual rhetoric if it is symbolic and communicates messages through its design, involves human interaction so that humans can interpret the meaning, and there must be an audience to receive the message.
The paintings below clearly represent specific scenes but individuals may interpret each piece differently. For example, when I look at the well-known painting "Starry Night," I think of warm, peaceful summer nights whereas others might find the painting rather gloomy and mysterious. They are both considered visual rhetoric because there is a message being communicated, they are open to interpretation, and there is an audience present.
The paintings below clearly represent specific scenes but individuals may interpret each piece differently. For example, when I look at the well-known painting "Starry Night," I think of warm, peaceful summer nights whereas others might find the painting rather gloomy and mysterious. They are both considered visual rhetoric because there is a message being communicated, they are open to interpretation, and there is an audience present.
What does this tell us about rhetoric?
Visual rhetoric allows us to understand that rhetoric can be applied to any context or situation by anyone. There are no appropriate subject matters; anything that visually represents a meaning, is open to interpretation, and has an audience can be rhetoric. We can visually interpret anything from paintings to scientific diagrams to websites. Visual rhetoric also allows rhetoric to become a form of art in which the rhetor is able to express themselves visually and the audience is allowed to interpret the visual as they see fit.
Visual rhetoric allows us to understand that rhetoric can be applied to any context or situation by anyone. There are no appropriate subject matters; anything that visually represents a meaning, is open to interpretation, and has an audience can be rhetoric. We can visually interpret anything from paintings to scientific diagrams to websites. Visual rhetoric also allows rhetoric to become a form of art in which the rhetor is able to express themselves visually and the audience is allowed to interpret the visual as they see fit.
Source:
Foss, Sonja K. "Theory of Visual Rhetoric." Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory, Methods, and Media. 141-152. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Publishers, 2005. PsychINFO. Web. 1 May 2014.
Foss, Sonja K. "Theory of Visual Rhetoric." Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory, Methods, and Media. 141-152. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Publishers, 2005. PsychINFO. Web. 1 May 2014.