Hopefully with less new Office file mayhem this time.

2. In today’s class…
1) Icebreaker
2) Checking in– questions about the syllabus, about class,
from the long break since last we met, etc.
3) A little visual fun
4) The readings– some discussion and an activity
5) Report back/break
6) Introduction to Print Project
7) What people talk about when they talk about talking to a
community partner
8) Missy: she’s missing
9) Homework

3. Breaking the ice.
For today…
Share your name, obviously, and tell us what the oldest
thing you own is (excluding antiques… the thing you’ve
had the longest, presumably acquiring new or newish).

4. Mine…
It’s a talking Alf doll (it took cassettes, like Teddy Ruxpin).
I got it for my 9th birthday. Interesting– perhaps—fact. I
used it as a guest speaker as part of my senior capstone
presentation.
It’s from 1986. Which means it’s older than most Miami
students. *cringe*

5. Random digression: does my dog look like
Alf?

6. So, to start us off…
As I mentioned last class, each time I want to start us off
with a sort of interesting visual document. I’m going to
cheat and do two this week because I have a better
example of after-image.
So that’s coming first. Then, following it, there are a few
slides with something else. I’m going to show them on
the projector, but for maximum effect, you should open
these on your own screen. The light pollution that makes
the projector sort of dim also diminishes the visual
impact here.

8. Nifty, right?
The reason we get after-image is that when we stare at
an image for a certain period of time, the rods in our eyes
(and the cones, sometimes) start to adapt to the color
(the same way our eyes adapt to a dark room). But their
goal is to sort of blunt the intensity of the color, so when
you look at a blank—white– surface, the opposing colors
appear faintly, coming more completely into view if you
blink, as it is the motions of your eyes that aid in the
color being dispersed.
Now check THIS out.

12. So, the readings…
I want us to engage the theory readings (the two Wysocki
pieces, the Benjamin, the Barthes and the Kress) and
really sort of grapple with them, but as you might guess,
if we tried to grapple with every part of all five of those
readings we’d end up sitting here a long, long time
grappling with a big ol’ bunch of ideas.
So I’m going to suggest a strategy– pull key ideas and
illustrate how they work/see if we can convert them to a
sort of tool, or a roadmap, if you will, to understanding
visual rhetoric.

13. Walter Benjamin wrote:
“The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its
being imbedded in the fabric of tradition. This tradition
itself is thoroughly alive and extremely changeable. An
ancient statue of Venus, for example, stood in a different
traditional context with the Greeks, who made it an
object of veneration, than with the clerics of the Middle
Ages, who viewed it as an ominous idol. Both of them,
however, were equally confronted with its uniqueness,
that is, its aura.”

14. Key idea: “Aura”
“The uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its
being imbedded in the fabric of tradition…”
Aura, then, is what, precisely? Let’s look at two images
and talk about their aura and what that means to our
understanding of visual rhetoric.

17. We talked a bit about movie
posters when last we met. This is
one of the less common ones for
Inception.
What I want you to think about
here is the aura difference from
the painting on the previous
slide to this one.
How’s this whole “aura” concept
work?

18. Roland Barthes
Barthes challenges us thusly:
“Now even– and above all if– the image is in
a certain manner the limit of meaning, it
permits the consideration of a veritable
ontology of the process of signification. How
does meaning get into the image? Where
does it end? And if it ends, what is there
beyond?”

19. What?

20. This is a famous logo/icon in
Western culture.
Anyone know what it is?
Anyone know WHY it is what it
is?
Paging Barthes, Dr. Roland
Barthes…

21. …According to Charles Baldwin,
an environmental-health
engineer who contributed to its
development: "We wanted
something that was memorable
but meaningless, so we could
educate people as to what it
means.“
From: Ye Olde Wikipedia

22. To quote Cobb from Inception…
We have to go deeper.
Help me, Gunther Kress, you’re my only
hope!

23. Gunther Kress
Kress tells us:
“The approach from Social Semiotics not
only draws attention to the many kinds of
meanings which are at issue in design, but
the “social” in “Social Semiotics” draws
attention to the fact that meanings always
relate to specific societies and their cultures,
and to the meanings of the members of
those cultures.”

24. So if Kress is right, everyone in
the room knows what this image
means.
But… why?

25. And we know this dude.

26. And this one.

27. And her.

28. And probably this fella, too.

29. So combine the ideas…
And we’re saying images hold meanings
embedded in them by cultures.
Let’s look at a few.

30. Here’s an iconic image from our
culture.
Fun fact: the torch was once
meant to be a functioning
lighthouse (awesome, right?)
Other fun fact: if you never
looked closely, the tablet she’s
holding is meant to represent
the declaration of independence.
Third fun fact: like the
Coneheads, she came from
France!

31. What happens to the same iconic
image in a different treatment
here?

33. Oh, that nutty John Cena!
What’s he doing here?

34. This U of Michigan gymnast
seems to be following suit.

35. Hey, that guy from the TV is
doing it, too!

36. Wait a minute… didn’t Desmond
Howard get a trophy that looked
sort of like…

37. This, for those not into sports, is
the Heisman Trophy, awarded to
the best college football player in
the nation.
Striking his pose when
succeeding– not just in football,
but most predominantly in
football– has become the new
version of the baseball called
shot.
Let me throw it back to the
BAMF-in-Chief for a final
illustration…

39. Soooo…
Images carry meaning. That meaning is
rhetorically constructed and often richly
cultural.
Here’s one more thing to consider…

40. Anne Wysocki reminds us…
“Because we have all grown up in densely
visually constructed environments, usually with
little overt instruction or awareness of how the
construction takes place, it is easy to think of
the visual elements of texts as simply happening
or appearing…as though… television sitcoms
were the result of a camera crew following a
typical family through their day.”

41. Here’s a movie teacher.

42. And a TV teacher.

43. And a movie Profes…
Wait a minute!

44. An actual teacher.

45. TV young folk hanging out, as
you would on the quad with your
classmates.

46. College student on TV.

47. College student on TV.

48. Wysocki challenges us…
… to ask why. Think about why those images are
chosen.
And maybe more importantly… why don’t
people think about it/why isn’t it sort of a big
deal to most Americans?

49. Your turn
Break into five groups. That should mean 4 or 5 per group.
Once you’re grouped, from my podium going clockwise around the room:
Group 1: Kress
Group 2: Barthes
Group 3: Wysocki, Eyes
Group 4: Benjamin
Group 5: Wysocki, Meaning of Texts
Pick no less than 1 and no more than 3 main ideas, support them with source
quotes, and find examples for discussion. As you finish, email me your
materials: alexanp3@miamioh.edu

51. The Print Project
To switch gears, let’s talk just a bit about our print based project, which we
will begin in earnest next week when Dr. Jim Porter visits class to discuss the
needs of the American Culture and English (ACE) program.
Instead of me repeating what’s already on the web, let’s look there, then
talk about what questions you might have.
The TL;DR take away for the print project assignment is this: ACE needs
materials for publicity and recruitment (I want us to be aware of what they
specifically ask for but also to cast a wide net– think about needs) and
we’re going to provide that, as a class.

52. One key…
…to this whole process is to know how to speak to community partners. Dr.
Porter will be with us for the start of next class. Some key things we’ll need
to do, then:
1.Be on time (duh!). You don’t want to walk into a client meeting late.
2.Read over whatever you can find about ACE (I’ll place some stuff on my
blog for you to take a look at) and try to become familiar with what they
do/provide.
3.Think about what you would want to know, for example, to make a poster
for them. To make a data sheet. To make, say, varied versions of a one-sheet
recruitment flier to mail to potential students in various nations. Come with
questions, but make sure they’re specific and thoughtful.

53. Another key factor…
…is respect.
Whenever we deal with a community partner, remember that you, as a
student and participant in this course, represent:
1)Our university
2)Your respective programs (particularly PW and IMS folks)
3)The class
4)Yourselves
5)Me
Behave as you would expect a professional designer to behave with his
clients, and be courteous. Listen carefully, take good notes. Call him Dr.
Porter, for example, not “Jim” (unless he tells you Jim is okay).

54. This is also a moment where…
…we will transition much more into talking about the readings from the
books and will move away, at least to a small degree, from the more
theoretical underpinnings of the early part of class.
That theory will persist; it’s not leaving us. We’re just about to take the step
over the threshold into practice.
To that end, I want to look at what I think might be one of the most
informative, if not horrifyingly snarky (and okay, hilarious) design lessons
you’ll ever get.

56. So, reminders…
1) Every week you have a writing response and design prompt due on your
Tumblr at the time we meet for class. Since we got a little mixed up with
the huge break, I’ll give you a few days to get everything done, but make
sure you have the first set of things up by mid-week (let’s say noon on
Thursday).
2) That means you should, for next week, complete design task 3 and a
response to what you are reading for that class.
3) Read for class: Kimball & Hawkins Chapters 3 and 4, Golombisky &
Hagen chapters 4-6, and Norman “Why Designers Go Astray” from The
Design of Everyday Things (on Niihka)
4) Remember that our first hour (roughly) will be spent talking to Dr. Porter
about the ACE element of our print project.