1. Visual Literacy
Marketing 320 - Week 2
Philadelphia University
Spring II 2010
Craig A. DeLarge, MBA
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

2. Week 2 Agenda
Take Roll
Review Key Week 1 Concepts
•1) Visual Literacy; 2) Elements; 3) Contrast v.
Harmony; 4) Markets & VizLit's effect on them
Review Exercises (as workshop)
Comment on Final Project Delivery, et al.
Report out on Final Project Selections
Week 2 Concepts to Cover
• Fine v Applied Art from chapter 1
• Compositional Concepts from Chapter 1
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

3. Take Roll
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

4. Week 1 Concept Review
1) Visual Literacy
2) Elements
3) Contrast v. Harmony
4) Markets & VizLit's effect on them
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

5. Marketing & Its Effect
Marketing has 2 Chief Goals
1) to create markets where buys and sellers come
together to execute transactions and hopefully develop
relationships
2) effect changes in thinking (belief), feeling (emotion), &
action (behavior) that leads to transactions, and
hopefully, relationship & community (tribes)
Visuals are a key tool of the marketer!
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

6. Exercise Workshops
Chapter 1 – Question #1
• Choose object with fine & applied art value
• Evaluate its function, aesthetics, communications &
decorative & entertainment value
Chapter 2 – Question #3
• Choose an example of bad graphic design defined as
difficult to read & understand
• Analyze how ambiguity contributes to failure of
communication
• Resketch design to level of sharpen the effect
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

7. Final Project Delivery
Prepare final project in PowerPoint (even the research
report)
There is a 10 minute presentation limit
Make generous use of course concepts & reference
them.
Make generous use of visuals
Be sure to reference work
You may use speaker notes to further annotate
You may hold notes to speak from but do not read word
for word when presenting
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

8. So, What Is Your Final
Project Going To Be?
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

9. Week 2 Concept Discussion
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

10. Fine v. Applied Art
Fine art related to decoration & entertainment
Applied art related to use, purpose &
functionality, and is often distinguished as
design (vs. art)
Most objects serve both purposes
There is an argument that this is a false
dichotomy
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

11. Is fine v. applied art
a false dichotomy?
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy 11
© 2010, Craig DeLarge

12. Are these functional art only?
http://theboombox.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/mini-cooper-mosaic01.jpg
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/07/0717_idea_winners/image/g_iphone.jpg
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

13. Chapter 2: Composition
Composition is most crucial step in visual problem
solving
Syntax is important to composition in that is is the
orderly arrangement of parts to produce an intended
whole
Compositional decisions set the purpose & meaning of
the visual statement
Compositional rules are subjective & not absolute
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy 13
© 2010, Craig DeLarge

14. Basic Communications Model
Misunderstanding
aided by noise.
Verbal/Visual
Intended Perceived
Meaning Meaning
created Intended & Perceived Meaning created
here (hopefully) reconciled here. here
http://records.viu.ca/~soules/media301/message.gif 14
© 2010, Craig DeLarge

15. Perception & VizComm
Perception is the application of meaning to composition
Perception occurs via our 5 senses
Seeing is the result of our visual sense
Seeing is a response to light; i.e. tonality
The VizLit Elements are the tools we use to create
compositions which create perception (meaning) via
light & seeing
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy 15
© 2010, Craig DeLarge

16. VizLit Basic Elements
• Dot • Color
• Line • Texture
• Shape • Scale/Proportion
• Tone • Dimension
• Motion
• These are like the letters, words, & sentences in linguistic literacy.
• Literacy requires the ability to use these elements to create meaning
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy 16
© 2010, Craig DeLarge

17. What meaning lies in these compositions,
representationally, symbolically & abstractly?
http://theboombox.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/mini-cooper-mosaic01.jpg
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/07/0717_idea_winners/image/g_iphone.jpg
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge

18. Comp. Decision: Balance v. Stress
• This continuum is like harmony & contrast
• The eye seeks balance along a horizontal &
vertical axis for security……while craving
stress to create interest & surprise
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Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy © 2010, Craig DeLarge

19. Comp. Decision: Level v. Sharpen
• Another dichotomy like harmony & contrast
• Leveling is balanced
• Sharpening is “intentionally” unbalanced
• Both contribute to clear communication
• Ambiguity is the absence of either & confuses
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Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy © 2010, Craig DeLarge

20. Comp. Decision: Level v. Sharpen
• How information is grouped in a composition
impacts leveling & sharpening
• Elements in areas of stress have more weight,
or ability to attract the eye.
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Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy © 2010, Craig DeLarge

21. What is Gestalt?
• positing that the operational principle of the
brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-
organizing tendencies
• Gestalt effect: form-forming capability of our
senses & involves recognition of figures & whole
forms instead of just collections of simple lines
and curves.
• Pertains to comp. decision of attraction &
grouping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology © 2010, Craig DeLarge

22. Comp. Decision: Attraction & Grouping
• Based on Gestalt Theory
• The eye tends to group similar elements as well
as to order elements for expected meaning
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy © 2010, Craig DeLarge

23. Comp. Decision: Positive & Negative
• The positive is active & attracts the eye most
• The negative is passive and in the background
Dondis, A Primer of Visual Literacy © 2010, Craig DeLarge

24. This Week’s HW Focus
• Read Chapters 3-4
• Read Chapters 5-6, if ambitious
• Complete Chapter 3 & 4 exercises
• Finalize and outline your final project
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© 2010, Craig DeLarge