Visual communication uses visual language to communicate through images made up of basic visual elements like dots, lines, shapes, textures and colors. Visual language is one of the most important communication systems because images can convey information to everyone regardless of language or culture. The degree to which an image resembles or represents reality is called its iconicity, which can be high, medium, or low. Highly iconic images are realistic copies, while abstract images have no recognizable connection to reality.

1. Visual Communication

2. 1.- DEFINITION

3. VISUAL COMMUNICATION
IS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION
THAT USES VISUAL LANGUAGE TO
COMMUNICATE

4. VISUAL LANGUAGE IS MADE UP OF
ITS BASIC COMPONENTS WHICH ARE
DOTS, LINES, SHAPES, TEXTURES
AND COLORS

5. WITH ALL THESE ELEMENTS WE
CREATE IMAGES.
SO, WE CAN SAY THAT VISUAL
LANGUAGE USES IMAGES TO
COMMUNICATE.

6. VISUAL LENGUAGE is one of the most
important communication systems in our
world because everybody can understand
it, no matter what country they are from
or the language they speak.
IMAGES are everywhere to communicate
us some information: publicity, movies,
magazines, games…

8. 2.- IMAGE AND ICONICITY

9. Visual language is expressed by images.
Images represent reality, but they aren’t reality.
What is it?
This isn’ t an apple
This is an image that
represent an apple

10. The similarity between an image and the reality
is called ICONICITY.
There are different degrees of iconicity,
depending on this similarity.
High degree of iconicity
Medium degree of iconicity
Low degree of iconicity

11. HIGH DEGREE OF ICONICITY
The image is nearly an exact copy of reality.
Antonio López – Gran via

12. We call this image REALISTIC because we can
recognize it as something real. It is a copy of the
reality.
Ron Mueck – Big
head

13. The image has something in common with
reality. We can recognize it.
Paul Klee – Cat and bird
MEDIUM DEGREE OF ICONICITY

14. We call this image FIGURATIVE because we can
recognize it as something real (a human figure,
an animal, a landscape), but it isn’t a copy of
reality. It’s an interpretation of reality.
Pablo R. Picasso – Dora Maar’s portrait

15. The image is completely different from reality.
We aren’t able to recognize it as something real.
Mark Rothko – Number 8
LOW DEGREE OF ICONICITY

16. We call this image ABSTRACT BECAUSE the
image has nothing in common with reality. It is
impossible to recognize it.
Joan Miró – Seated woman

17. The abstraction is a process of simplificacion

18. Here we can see some images of human figure
with different levels of iconicity. From more
realistic to abstract shape

19. And an image of an apple with different levels of
iconicity