+ Visual Rhetoric

+ Why must we learn to examine visual text? Images are universal means of communication in our contemporary society. We are confronted with visual input from our everyday encounters with social media to the more subtle persuasion of the websites we visit to the overtly persuasive commercials online, in our theaters, print media and televisions. The study of visual rhetorical can include analysis of advertising, iconic or contemporary photography, film, maps, and web design.

+ Think Pair Share w/ table partners: Are pictures more emotional than words? Are words more informative than pictures? Do photographs provide more trustworthy evidence than words or other types of pictures?

+ What is Visual Rhetoric? It is the practice of analyzing and/or describing how images communicate meaning or advance arguments. However, we must also analyze visuals by looking at: Color – the archetypical nature of the chosen colors impacts the reader Arrangement – the organization of visual elements so that readers can see their structure Emphasis – making certain parts more prominent than others by changing its size, shape and color. Font Choice – choosing lettering styles to impact pathos Tone – tone reveals the designer’s attitude towards the subject matter Context – the context of the image impacts the reader’s relationship to the

+ Visual Rhetoric: Focus Areas ethos, pathos, and logos fallacies color – the archetypical nature of the chosen colors impacts the reader Font choice – choosing lettering styles to impact pathos context – the context of the image impacts the reader’s relationship to the

+ Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. --Stephen Butler Leacock Advertising is legalized lying. --H.G. Wells WESTERN COLOR ARCHETYPES

+ RED Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red.

+ RED Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons on Internet banners and websites.

+ ORANGE Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity

+ ORANGE Orange stimulates mental activity Orange is the color of fall and harvest.

+ YELLOW  Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color.  When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms.  Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.

+ GREEN  Green is the color of nature.  It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.  Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

+ GREEN  Green is associated with healing power.  Green suggests stability and endurance.  Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products.

+ BLUE It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

+ BLUE Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.

+ PURPLE  Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red.  Purple is associated with royalty.  It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.  It conveys wealth and extravagance.  Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

+ PURPLE According to surveys, almost 75 percent of pre- adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Purple is very rare in nature; some people consider it to be artificial. You can use bright purple when promoting children’s products.

+ WHITE White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness.

+ WHITE In advertising, white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it’s the color of snow. You can use white to suggest simplicity in high-tech products. White is an appropriate color for charitable organizations; angels are usually imagined wearing white clothes.

+ BLACK Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black holes). It usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, ‘black death’).

+ BLACK Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but a black background diminishes readability. A black suit or dress can make you look thinner. When designing for a gallery of art or photography, you can use black or gray background to make the other colors stand out.

+ Font Choice

+ John Maeda: How art, technology and design inform creative leaders Start at 4:40 _and_design_inform_creative_leaders.html

+ In a study conducted by Cornell psychologist David Dunning and New York Times writer Errol Morris, readers were asked whether they found various pieces of text believable. The differences in the texts? Only the typeface.

+ Context: It shapes our understandings

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+ Table partner activity Step 3: With your partner, write 1 CEL paragraph ( 5 sentences minimum) answering the following prompt: How do advertisers of a given product stereotype consumers in order to appeal, and what if anything, should change?

Step 1: With your partner, go online and choose an appropriate advertisement to do a color & text analysis. Do NOT use advertisements that are sexually explicit or with Drugs or Alcohol. Step 2: Answer the following 7 questions on a Google Doc 1. What age is the target audience? 2. What gender is the target audience? 3. What are we literally seeing? 4. What actual product are we being sold? 5. What assumptions are being made about the target audience? 6. What colors are used in the advertisement, what do those colors symbolize? 7. Which images did the illustrators choose to add to the advertisement? How does this appeal to the consumer