A Visual Language is a practical introduction to the language of the visual arts, with a strong, innovative methodology. This expanded second edition begins with the basics of shape, composition and drawing, and gradually moves on to explore more complex arrangements, including abstract and representational analysis and composition. Building on the principles of visual language established in their last book, the authors now explore three-dimensional forms of increasing complexity. The final chapter of the book is devoted to a selection of sketchbook studies on ten international artists from various different visual disciplines, from architects and animators to painters and performance artists. This section demonstrates practically the methods presented earlier in the book, and helps visual artists to develop skills and confidence in their artistic work. Featuring a large number of new images, this book is essential reading for any artist in any field, regardless of their level, and is the only introduction to the visual arts that a beginner should require.
"... the details of Saint-Martin's argument contain a wealth of penetrating observations from which anyone with a serious interest in visual communication will profit." -- Journal of Communication Saint-Martin elucidates a syntax of visual language that sheds new light on nonverbal language as a form of representation and communication. She describes the evolution of this language in the visual arts as well as its multiple uses in contemporary media. The result is a completely new approach for scholars and practitioners of the visual arts eager to decode the many forms of visual communication.
Traditionally, research on human language has taken speech and written language as the only domains of investigation. However, there is now a wealth of empirical studies documenting visual aspects of language, ranging from rich studies of sign languages, which are self-contained visual language systems, to the field of gesture studies, which examines speech-associated gestures, facial expressions, and other bodily movements related to communicative expressions. But despite this large body of work, sign language and gestures are rarely treated together in theoretical discussions. This volume aims to remedy that by considering both types of visual language jointly in order to transcend (artificial) theoretical divides, and to arrive at a comprehensive account of the human language faculty. This collection seeks to pave the way for an inherently multimodal view of language, in which visible actions of the body play a crucial role. The 19 papers in this volume address four broad and overlapping topics: (1) the multimodal nature of language; (2) multimodal representation of meaning; (3) multimodal and multichannel prosody; and (4) acquisition and development of visual language in children and adults.
The book is inspired by the first seminar in a cycle connected to the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Politecnico di Milano. "Dealing with the Image Ivory Towers and Virtual Bridges" was the motto of this meeting, aiming to stimulate a discussion among engineers, designers and architects, all of whom are traditionally involved in the use of the Image as a specialized language supporting their work, their research activities and their educational tasks. The book will also include the essays of invited or interviewed authors from other disciplines, namely Philosophy, Mathematics and Semiotics. According to Regis Debray, in the present "Visual Age", which he has significantly defined as a "Video-Sphere", all the information tends to be processed and controlled by means of visual devices. This occurs especially in the various branches of many technical studies and activities, one of the most sensitive areas to the use of Visual Language in the past and even more in the present.
Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Sequential Images.
Author: Neil Cohn
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN:
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 256
View: 812
Drawings and sequential images are an integral part of human expression dating back at least as far as cave paintings, and in contemporary society appear most prominently in comics. Despite this fundamental part of human identity, little work has explored the comprehension and cognitive underpinnings of visual narratives-until now. This work presents a provocative theory: that drawings and sequential images are structured the same as language. Building on contemporary theories from linguistics and cognitive psychology, it argues that comics are written in a visual language of sequential images that combines with text. Like spoken and signed languages, visual narratives use a lexicon of systematic patterns stored in memory, strategies for combining these patterns into meaningful units, and a hierarchic grammar governing the combination of sequential images into coherent expressions. Filled with examples and illustrations, this book details each of these levels of structure, explains how cross-cultural differences arise in diverse visual languages of the world, and describes what the newest neuroscience research reveals about the brain's comprehension of visual narratives. From this emerges the foundation for a new line of research within the linguistic and cognitive sciences, raising intriguing questions about the connections between language and the diversity of humans' expressive behaviours in the mind and brain.
A broad-ranging survey of our current understanding of visual languages and their theoretical foundations. Its main focus is the definition, specification, and structural analysis of visual languages by grammars, logic, and algebraic methods and the use of these techniques in visual language implementation. Researchers in formal language theory, HCI, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics will all find this an invaluable guide to the current state of research in the field.
Principles for Creating Graphics that People Understand
Author: Connie Malamed
Publisher: Rockport Pub
ISBN:
Category: Design
Page: 240
View: 458
Within every picture is a hidden language that conveys a message, whether it is intended or not. This language is based on the ways people perceive and process visual information. By understanding visual language as the interface between a graphic and a viewer, designers and illustrators can learn to inform with accuracy and power. In a time of unprecedented competition for audience attention and with an increasing demand for complex graphics, Visual Language for Designers explains how to achieve quick and effective communications. New in paperback, this book presents ways to design for the strengths of our innate mental capacities and to compensate for our cognitive limitations. Visual Language for Designers includes: —How to organize graphics for quick perception —How to direct the eyes to essential information —How to use visual shorthand for efficient communication —How to make abstract ideas concrete —How to best express visual complexity —How to charge a graphic with energy and emotion
Alexis R. Culotta explores how the Renaissance master’s recombination of visual sources ultimately served as a springboard for artistic innovation for his close associates as they collaborated in the years following Raphael’s death.
The Visual Language is a System of Communication Using Visual Elements
Author: Stress
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category:
Page: 110
View: 893
The visual language is a system of communication using visual elements. Speech as a means of communication cannot strictly be separated from the whole of human communicative activity which includes the visual and the term 'language' in relation to vision is an extension of its use to describe the perception, comprehension and production of visible signs.
The power of a visual image is determined by a complex array of elements. Anyone who creates a page for a magazine, makes a PowerPoint presentation, designs a brochure, prepares a poster, or dreams up an idea for an infographic is faced with some important questions: Why is it better to position this photograph here rather than there? What background color should be used for a presentation? What is necessary to bear in mind when creating an internet page? Is it better to use a table, a graph, or an infographic as a visual aid? Should permission be sought to use an image for a weblog? These are the kinds of questions that Visual Language will answer. Following an introduction to the subject, the book explains three important theories relating to visual images: Gestalt, semiotics, and visual rhetoric. Using these theories, the book then explores the fundamental elements of visual language: composition, typography, perspective, and color. Additionally, it presents applications from everyday practice: photos, graphs and tables, infographics, web pages, and magazine pages. The combination of theory and practice makes this guide an excellent reference work for both academic programs and vocational studies. *** "Recommended". - Choice, Vol. 50, No. 08, April 2013.
An Aesthetic Analysis of Representational Technique
Author: Robert Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category: Aesthetic
Page: 198
View: 330
Painting is a language that communicates visually. But how can we speak of it, when its intelligence is embedded in sensory mysteries? Using his own evocative language, Robert Nelson analyses what the language of painting is made of, revealing how verbal language not only unlocks the unspoken but how it keeps painting alive.
Deafness, Language Choice, and Political Socialization
Author: James Roots
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN:
Category: Social Science
Page: 106
View: 694
The Politics of Visual Language is a fascinating and unique perspective on the whole process of political socialization; unique because previous studies in this field have assumed that all participants in the process can hear. This work studies those who cannot hear and, while it attempts an impartial assessment of all educational methodologies, will undoubtedly raise new questions within the Deaf community and beyond. Sociologists, educators, medical professionals, linguists, psychologists and political scientists will have to reconsider the emotional and political effects of current assumptions about the socialization process.
The new phenomenon of jazz music took the world by storm in the 1920s and 1930s. Yet from the outset jazz was much more than just a musical genre: it has always drawn upon and interacted with visual media. This book provides a timely analysis and history of jazz onscreen, by examining works in which the artistry and intelligence of great musicians is expressed through experimental and innovative image-making.
Designed to be tested and experimented with, this book reveals the common ground between creative designer and company director, visual language and corporate values. Revealing what lies beneath a printed message, it's an essential item for the business o