Five Principles for Visual Communicators

Principle 1 – Legibility

I understand legibility to be how ‘clear’ a piece of work is, or how well it does its job. This can be determined by several aspects: text, colour, size, content, vocabulary and more. What makes a visual communication legible? Depending on the form of visual communication (photography/illustration/graphic), how well it works depends on the ease of reading the text, and understanding the photograph/drawing/concept. Legibility is an important term to think about when producing a piece of work, questioning how well it will works in relation to the audience. Understanding your audience is a helpful way to determine the legibility of your work. I have chosen to evaluate particular adverts from two companies: NHS and Cadbury.

These NHS adverts are targeting male smokers. The text colour and type makes for easy reading on both adverts, as black is an obvious/opposite contrast to white, standing out from the background. I have shown one online advertisement and one poster. On the online ad the main statement is put in bold for biggest importance, and the text following in a smaller font size. The text is aligned and in small paragraphs for quick reading. A rhetorical question is used at the bottom of the advertisement as a link to further information. In terms of colour and ease of reading, both advertisements are definitely legible. The concept is almost a form of blackmail, threatening the audience of possible harm if they continue to smoke. The photography used is a very clever idea of using the cigarette as a phallic symbol. The photo draws your attention as it is unusual/unexpected yet clear to understand what it is showing. The concept is clear, but is it right?

This advertisement has a strong contrast of bold white text over a fairly dark purple background. It is simple and easy to read, with clear indication of the product through the photography and logo. The mixture from the chocolate egg is shown coming out of what’s recognised as a soap dispenser. The dispenser is related to hygiene and health, which avoids any indication of the food being unhealthy.

Principle 5 – Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is something I have rarely thought about, but something which could be useful to understand when taking photographs. In terms of photography, understanding visual hierarchy could help me in the ‘creation’ of a photograph, and its narrative. Where people will look first in any visual communication will depend on several aspects: The contrast in colour or brightness: what stands out the most? Where certain information or subjects are placed: centre/top/bottom etc? What’s in the foreground and background: looking at perspective. Visual hierarchy is mostly thought about in shops, when deciding where certain products should be placed on large and small scales. For example what part of the shop will it go, and what shelf will it be placed on. In supermarkets for example the prime place for your product to be is at eye level on middle shelf, as this is where people will be looking first. The same applies to any shop, if products are shelved in different heights the first place people look is straight ahead (eye level). Shops can be designed to enforce customers to look at certain products in priority by placing them nearer to the entrance or using lights and colour to make a certain area or product stand out.

In terms of photography there are several techniques which can be used to focus the eye straight to a certain part of the image. Take this Nike advert for example. The first place we look is at the red shoes, because they stand out from the otherwise black and white subject. The poster is advertising the sports trainers, and has been edited to make the product stand out by being the only subject in colour. We then relate the shoes to sport after seeing the badminton racquet and shuttle second. Finally we look at the text in the bottom left corner, which is positioned ‘out of the way’ on purpose. The combined use of photography, editing and text creates a narrative in the way we view this advert. I am inspired by such works, and will be thinking more about visual hierarchy in the future.

Research and Inspiration

Principle 1 - Through the ‘visual practice’ of observation, collecting, studying and exploring a subject, topic or theme, this will contribute to a deeper understanding of the subject.

I understand that research is an essential part of any work, or brief, and will help me to find inspiration and knowledge around a subject. As a photographer it is important for me to carry out a lot of ‘visual practice’, experimenting with camera techniques and different media and printing. Observation is my first method of research, finding out what already exists and gaining inspiration from contemporary work. I start by finding and collecting a variety of current magazines, and analyzing their layouts, content, typography, photography etc. Collecting material provides a physical understanding of what the product should, or could look like. In this case collecting magazines gives me a firm idea of the size, feel, layout order, and design aspects of a particular magazine. It is always useful to collect pieces of work, as well as just reading or viewing online. When exploring a topic or theme, such as Birmingham, it is important to collect both primary and secondary research. Secondary research could include reading books, and searching the Internet for information and history about the city. Primary research would involve going into the city, and exploring it in person, taking photographs and gaining personal opinion.

I have shown examples of my own visual practice from pages of my RVJ above. These

show the collections of parts of magazines, looking into the content, aiming to gain ideas for our own content. I have also shown a page displaying several photos that I have taken whilst exploring the city. Before having any idea of the content of the magazine, I wanted to explore parts of the city and take photographs of places/buildings/scenarios that could be of interest.

Principle 5 - An understanding and knowledge of ‘an audience’ should enhance and focus the communication.

Understanding our audience will help give an understanding of their interests and preferences, and therefore provide us with ideas for content. Knowing your target audience can be a difficult task, and will always need some research. It is important for us to understand who our magazine is aimed at before deciding on content and layout. A way of finding or defining our audience would be to interview a vast majority of people, of whom we believe to be our target audience. We would ask questions such as what they’re favourite contemporary magazine is, and what would be of interest to read about in our magazine. The answers would help us find our ‘competitors’, being the most popular with the same target audience, and therefore provide us with a basis of what attracts that audience.

Our magazine is aimed at younger to middle aged people (18 – 30), and centred more towards the male sex. We aim to provide a very exciting magazine, not too simple, but still being very aware of structure and legibility. Having this knowledge of who our magazine is aimed at allows a more direct thinking process into the theme of the magazine. It becomes more obvious on the colours to use, the photography, the illustrations etc. Without knowing the target audience the possibilities are too broad, leading to indirect research and development, possibly ending with no audience.