Aha! Visual Literacy-Visual Symbols Update

After completing the visual literacy course this semester I have realized how important visuals are in every aspect of my life. Through the presentations I have done, especially on Gamification and Symbols around the world, I was able to understand how important visuals are. For example, when I travel to a new location I rely heavily on the symbols and signs in the area because I do not know the language. In my first post I wrote how everywhere we look there are symbols, pictures and ads affecting our everyday life and now I know how much they are affecting me. By understanding different visuals I can understand a distinct set of rules and communication through images. 

I also mentioned how excited I was to learn about the different parts of visual literacy so I can know more about how things are affecting me as well become more educated and aware of them. After this course I know it is not just ads that are affecting me but much more. The movies I watch, the magazines I read, the symbols I pay attention to, the websites I visit, the application of gamification in the classroom and much more all have a direct impact on my life.  

One thing that has stuck with me throughout this class is the first video we watched, Killing us Softly. This was a movie that showed the negative and sexist connotation that our ads portray. The ads are constantly turning women into sex symbols, and I have see the ads be used to sell magazines, products and ideas. I never realized how much of an effect this could have on an individual until I really started paying attention and being aware of the message being sent with certain images. One of the messages heavily portrayed is the "perfect woman."  One of the things talked about in the video is how men are not subjected to the same type of sexual scrutiny as women are. For this reason, when I saw the People magazine with the theme of the sexiest men, I instantly snatched it up because I wanted to look at the way the men were going to portrayed throughout the articles.  It was a common theme to see men being objectified throughout this magazine with their shirts off, being rated only for how they look.

 

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

 

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

 

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

 

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

Below were the ads I found used the men's sexuality is used to help sell the product, even if it was Mr. Clean.

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

Source: People Magazine,  December 1, 2014

I felt as though these photos really stood out to me so I wanted to use them for my last post of the semester. Throughout this semester I have learned to view visuals differently and I have Visual Literacy to thank for it!

Aha! Visual Literacy-Value Billboards

In class one week we discussed the different ways visuals affect our lives, and we pulled in how billboards have definitely impacted us. We then went to a website where we could create our own Value Billboard. It was a really cool experience to see the different visuals people choose and the words they paired it up with. 

Traveling, exploring and adventure are all very important to me. I wanted to create a billboard that encouraged others to get there out and exploring! I then had a picture of myself scuba diving, so I decided to make it about the ocean. 

If you would like to give it a try go here!

I would love to see what you create. If you create a billboard, please post a link in the comments below!

Aha! Visual Literacy-Emoticon Reflection

Ever since talking about emoticons in class I have noticed how much I use emoticon to help support the meaning I want to come across, especially when texting people.

Source: Screen shot taken from iPhone.

My friends and I have developed a special language with the emoticons and an outsider would not understand the exact meaning we wanted portray with the emoji. I like to think of emojis not as a substitute for words, but more as a substitute for people to convey their feelings and emotions. Below is an example of an emoticon that has special meaning for my friends and I. If you were to say something, such as who would like to go to Cherry Berry, more than likely one of us would respond with this emoji. To us it means, we are definitely down to go and get some Cherry Berry!

Source: Screen shot taken from my iPhone.

One place I do not use emoticons is in the workplace. I send a lot of emails, but within those emails I use only text, I do not support what I want to come across with emojis. I wanted to do a little research to see how emoticons were being used in the workplace. I found an article which was The communicative Functions of Emotions in the Workplace Emails, and it states emoticons serve three communicative functions when used in the workplace email. The first function is when they are used following signatures, they are a way to portray a positive attitude. The second function is when they are used to show the text is suppose to communicate as humorous. The third function is when they are used as hedges, when used with expressive speech they work as strengtheners and when following directions they are used as softeners (Skovholt et al., 2014).

Source: Screen shot of signature for email taken from computer.

My signature at the end of an email from my Camp Adventure work email. Creating a happy feeling with the text Catch the Magic! and the smiley face emoticon. This is an example of the second function of using emoticons to communicate.

I am interested to see how emoticons continue to integrate into our lives in the future! 

Works Cited

Skovholt, K., Grønning, A., & Kankaanranta, A. (2014). The Communicative Functions of
Emoticons in Workplace E-Mails: :-). Journal Of Computer-Mediate Communication, 19(4), 780-797. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12063

Visual Literacy- A Single Man Movie Reflection

The movie A Single Man was interesting, I was enticed the entire time I was watching it, and ended up really liking it although I do not know why. I believe the message throughout this movie is that although life is tough, there is more to push through for. George Falconer is the main character and is a professor. He recently lost his boyfriend of 16 years to a car crash, and does not want to continue going and is going to commit suicide. Throughout the course of the events of his life and the people he coincides with end up changing his mind, and he decided to burn the suicide notes and lock up the gun by the end of the movie. Unfortunately passing away at the end of the movie due to a heart attack.

The director for this movie was Tom ford, who is known for being an American fashion designer. I believe his life experiences molded this movie into what it because. I also think the characters were very well dressed because of his profession!

This movie really added to my visual literacy. I do not know if it is because I am getting good at picking out the significance of the visuals or if the visuals were very obvious throughout the film. There were many times, where it was with the next door family or his flashbacks where only visuals and music are present. During this time we are left wondering the significance of the moment and what exactly what is happening. We are able to use our knowledge of the film and our personal life experiences to help mold the story. There is also a point in the movie where you are staring at a mural with eyes staring right back at you. The visual of the watching eyes, when he pulls up to the liquor store is also very important and could be interpreted in many different ways. I like to think it means that people are there to look after him and that people care very much and he matters. One of the most powerful visuals I saw was when he first put the loaded gun into his mouth. I cannot begin to image what was going through his head, but it was very powerful. I imagine people going through a hard time can relate and make a connection with this visual, when thinking about the battle of giving up and pushing through. The visuals were definitely used to help support the story line and the message being portrayed.

 

This is a picture of the mural I was talking about in the above paragraph. I decided to take a screen capture because I wanted to show how powerful the image is.
Source: A Single Man 

Visual Literacy- Thank you for Smoking Movie Reflection

I really liked the movie Thank you for Smoking. I thought it did a very good job at showing this industry during this time and the different ways it impacted individuals within the United States. I would rate this an 8/10. My favorite part was watching Nick Naylor as a lobbyist. I thought the way he worked was very interesting and he was a very talented lobbyist. There was nothing that stood out to me as annoying.

Source: http://pixabay.com/p-78001/?no_redirect CC Public Domain 

In the movie everyone is "working their own angles". They do this by knowing what their intended audience wants. They also appeal to what they know the people are going to want, and twist their words to promise they are going to be able to deliver on that promise. Nick Naylor had a great line that stated, “If you argue correctly, you are never wrong.” I thought this did a great job at stating that you must choose your words and the way you represent something wisely.

The truth can be a difficult subject. There is going to be the absolute truth, but then there are going to be truths that are subjective. How can we expose the weakness and appeal to the people to make it seem like something is more important than the truth. For example, not talking about the individual who now has lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. Morals are definitely subjective. In class we did an exercise where we had to talk about different morals, and even though we all used the same photo, we had different beliefs on if it was moral or not by the exact definitely of morals we were looking at. In the United States we are free, but we will never totally be free. We are influenced by many people and have to follow a set of rules produced by the government, social rules created by our culture and communities, and the moral rules we choose to follow.

I think one spin that I often hear is the need for new products and technology in my life. I often see a commercial that will put a spin on a new technology (camera, tablet, and phone) that will impact the way we live and the reason I will need to have it. I am easily convinced these are important tools that will help me better my life and productivity.

Source: This photo was taken in the Rod Library by Robyn Bredvick

I really try to give the facts and the logic of the situation. I do not want to “spin” people to choosing the same as me, but I want them to feel educated in the decisions they are making and I want them to understand how something will affect their lives.

This movie was able to add to my visual literacy. Throughout this video it is evident that people of United States are being manipulated by the use of visuals by big corporations. A great example of this is when Nick Naylor knew if they were able to get the cigarettes back into the movies they would see a rise in tobacco products. I was able to see how visuals and speech can manipulate the way people look at a product.

Aha! Visual Literacy- Magazine Articles-Women in Advertising

I am a person who does not typically purchase a lot of magazines, I am more of an Internet user. I get my news, gossip, and information from the World Wide Web, more than I do from anything else. If I ever were to flip through a magazine, I just glance at the photos and look for anything that peaks my interest, but this is normally done for 30 seconds as my groceries are being checked out.

I decided to go to the library, to see if they had any magazines I could flip through and use for my blog and to show my classmates. While I was a students at Iowa State I distinctly remember where all the top magazines were located, but when I went to Rod Library, it was not as easy. I was told I could find magazines downstairs, so I headed down and walked around and flipped through the different magazines they had. These were magazines such as Forbes, Money, The Economist, Time and Advertising Age. I could not find where US, Cosmopolitan, People, and Vogue were located, so I decided to look at the visuals of the magazines I typically would not pick up. I thought they would not have many of the degrading ads or depicting visuals throughout, but who knew. I think after watching the movie Killing Us Softly I was expecting to see proactive and degrading images throughout every magazine I picked up, but for the most part I didn't find any. I searched at least 10 different magazines and did not find the examples I was looking for. If I did find one I would possibly use in my blog, it was more centered towards gender stereotyping.

Although I did not find the exact images I was looking for, while I was flipping through the September 1st, 2014 addition of the Advertising Age I found something very useful for my visual literacy course. They had clips that talked about women in advertising, which showed the different timelines of the way women have been portrayed in advertising over the years. 

Source: Advertising Age, September 1, 2014

Source: Advertising Age, September 1, 2014

Source: Advertising Age, September 1, 2014

Source: Advertising Age, September 1, 2014

I thought it was very interesting to look through and see how it has transitioned and moved through the media. I thought this last visual summed up what should be happening in the advertising world!

Source: Advertising Age, September 1, 2014

Aha! Visual Literacy-Whiteboards

Throughout our class time we often utilize our white board to make connections with the material learned and we use the visuals to help make different concepts concrete in our minds. Now we are by no means artists, but I thought we did a good job at depicting what was asked of us. 

First we were supposed to use images and text to support individuality. We wanted to show a picture of a person who wasn't afraid to stand away from the group and be their own person. The line that everyone else is already taken was important because it is such a true fact. If you are yourself, then you shouldn't worry about what others think because they should only be worrying about themselves. 

Source: Taken during Visual Literacy Class, Schindler Education Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

The second image reflects what we have learned in the visual literacy class thus far. The way I would describe this visual is the fact that we are now more self-aware of the visuals that affect us. We can look at an ad in a magazine, which was our specific example, and know they are trying to hit a target audience by using strategies they know will attract people’s attention.



Now that we are becoming more self-aware we are able to be educated about how visuals are affecting us. We can also use the visuals to help support and bring awareness to the topics that we believe are important. Before taking this class I did not understand the value a visual could bring into my work. I find myself using visuals more this semester than ever before in supporting my argument.

Source: Taken during Visual Literacy Class, Schindler Education Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Aha! Visual Literacy-Word as Image

Being in a visual literacy class will change your life. You will start to look at the world differently. Every visual I look at, every commercial I see, every time I see an ad run in a magazine I analyze it and think about how it was designed and what purpose it was meant to serve and how it is affecting people. I often like to read through Buzz Feed articles, search through StumbleUpon, and read CNN articles to make sure I am keeping current with the world around me. The other day I was “stumbling” and I found the perfect video for my visual literacy class. It has such a unique take on the way that words and images can be use concurrently. It was mesmerizing to watch how the two related and described the feeling the word portrays. Throughout this video I tried to pick out my favorites, but I found each one reflected the word so well I liked them all. If I had to pick though, I really like the o rising in the word horizon, the letters falling to the ground on gravity, the extra zeros in the word inflation and the tunnel created with the n’s on the word tunnel. This was an advertisement for a book that was written by Ji Lee and I definitely plan on looking into it. Please click on the link below to view this video! 

Word as ImageWord as Image (The Book) by Ji Lee

Aha! Visual Literacy- Visuals are everywhere and I cannot stop analyzing them!

Since taking this Visual Literacy course I have started to look at the visuals in my life differently. There are literally visual all around me, so it has had a huge impact on my life. One of the main examples is the critical eye I now have on the world around me, especially when I see advertisers and companies using sex to help sell a product. It is degrading to both men and women to use their bodies and the idea of sex to help sell products and in my opinion it is time for it to go.

While I was watching TV one day, I could not believe the commercial I was watching. They were implying this woman was asking different men to "join the mile high club" with her. In the end it ended up being about a burger, but even after this was announced, she ate the burger as sexually as possible. Before this class I would not have thought anything about this commercial, as I have seen it time and time again, but now my eyes are always on the hunt. I also feel more educated about the topic and find myself speaking up about it. When I saw this commercial I brought up to roommate how inappropriate I thought the commercial was and thought they could have done it with a new and exciting approach. I think it is time ad developers lose the old way of using "sex to sell" and become innovative and set a new and higher standard in the field of advertising.

Check out the commercial here:

Mile High Bacon Thickburger

Visual Literacy-Helvetica Movie Reflection

Watching the movie Helvetica was a very eye-opening and informative process. Before watching this video I had never really thought about the different fonts that were available for me to use. I just drop down the font menu and pick one I think will work best. I know I like using Times New Roman when I am writing a paper, but if I were to design anything, I have never put much thought into which fonts to use. 

I feel as though now I am more aware about typography, and the work and time that will go into designing a font. But I still have no idea how to choose a text to match the message I want to portray. 

I have never realized the typeface was important in helping convey a certain feeling or send a certain message, but it definitely makes sense. Typography can have its own personality, its own pallet. As with most things, there is a time and place for different structures and formulas with typeface. For example, there is a prescribed way to make a business card but when making an album cover you will follow a whole different set of rules. One line that really stood out to me during this movie was, just because it is legible, does not me it can communicate what you want it to. I also learned spacing is just as important as design of the typeface is. A person must have an eye for design, just because they are using a fancy design program doesn't mean the design is going to look great. I do not have the eye for design, but I am definitely interested in learning more about how to improve my designs by using better text. 

Helvetica is used for a lot of things, and was often called the default font for a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. The more people see Helvetica, the more predictable and dull it becomes when people use it. Although Helvetica is used all the time, this is not necessarily a good thing. Some designers do not like Helvetica, while others think it is unique and can speak to different people in different ways. Although, some designers think when Helvetica is used heavily on one page, it as if it is saying, "Don't read me-I am going to be boring". Although many people have tried to make improvements to Helvetica, it never seems to be a better typeface. Helvetica just has an inherent rightness that makes it a favorable typeface to use. 

Although I do not know much about typeface, I have learned that you do not want to overwhelm people with a million different typefaces on the same document. Although you should only use a limited amount of typefaces on one document, you should not limit yourself to those fonts time you create a something. 

After watching this video, I started to become more aware of the fonts around me. I walked around my office building, and in no time I saw it over and over again. 

Here are some of the times I found it: 

Source: Photo Taken at the Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Source: Photo Taken at the Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa



Source: Photo Taken at the Camp Adventure Office,  Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Source: Photo Taken at the Camp Adventure Office, Human Performance Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Aha! Visual Literacy- Gender Roles

Source: Money, September 2014

When thinking about gender roles in the visual sense, I feel as though they are portrayed with pretty heavy stereotypes. As I was flipping through the magazine Money, this pocket guide with visuals caught me eye. I noticed there were very typical gender stereotypes that were represented here. I noticed right away there was a picture of a male doctor, and a female receptionist. There is also a picture of a female fashion designer and a male business man. The only one that stood out to me as a stereotype that was not typical was the female scientist. Here is a graph that represents jobs in the modern world, but they are being represented with the normal stereotype of male and female jobs. I would have really liked to see a picture of a female doctor, or a male fashion designed. One other thing I noticed is the use of white females and males in all of these roles. Although I know these are drawings representing individuals, I would have really liked if there were other races represented on the guide.

Aha! Visual Literacy-Visual Symbols in my Life Reflection

Everywhere we look there are symbols, pictures and ads affecting our everyday life. I have never really thought about how they affect me, or the ways that they have pressured me into the way I live my life. I am excited to learn about the different parts of visual literacy so I can know more about how things are affecting me as well become more educated and aware of these ads. Not only so I know how they influence me, but also how I can use visuals to affect students and people positively in the future. 

When I do think about the visual symbols that affect my life I think about commercials. When I am watching a show and a Pizza Hut commercial comes on or I see an ad, all I can think about it Pizza Hut. I might not get it right away, but after thinking about it for a while soon enough I will decide to go and get it. I also see many ads throughout my day, in newspapers and sent to me in the mail. 



Source: Pizza Hut Advertisement

The other symbols that I think affect me are the signs on the side of the road. I recently had to drive in Germany, and I realized how much I needed to look at the signs to help guide me on the streets. I did not have to take a class, so I would have to ask people who have driven in Germany before what they meant. There were many times that without the signs I would have been in big trouble because I was not aware of all of the rules and regulations they have in Germany on driving. For example, when the speed limit would change, which lane I could drive in and which direction I should go were all told to me by visual signs. Without these signs it would have been impossible to get anywhere successfully. 

I look forward to learning more and realizing in which ways visuals impact my everyday life.

Aha! Visual Literacy- Aesthetics

Throughout time people have thought and expressed what they believe to be beautiful without always being able to describe why they think it is. “Beauty is in the culturally conditioned eye of the beholder,” really caught my attention when I was watching the Ted Talk A Darwinian theory of beauty. It showed beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it has been conditioned deep in our mind from our ancient ancestors. Anything with an aesthetic value has the ability to evoke pleasure. So whether you are watching the Super Bowl or you are watching a symphony, if it is giving you pleasure, it is going to be aesthetically pleasing to you. In the same case, just because I think a fragrance smells beautiful, does not mean that my sister is going to find it as pleasing. Although, there are certain characteristics they know are going to be generally pleasing to a large population, such as the scenery picture used for postcards, calendars and more.

Please watch this Ted Talkby Denis Dutton: A Darwinian Theory of Beauty

I believe you can feel an immense amount of pleasure from both a scent and completing the steps of a long proof, because it has an aesthetic value to you. I know individuals can believe both are beautiful, because I have personally felt that way. I have felt the beauty of completing the proof step by step and working it all the way down to the very end. The same thing happened to me with perfume. I walked past a friend of mine and instantly fell in love with the fragrance of her perfume and I knew I was going to purchase it. Every time I wear it I now think of my friend and I still absolutely love the smell of the perfume!

Barnett Newman said, “Aesthetics is for the artist as Ornithology is for the birds,” which was his logic on aesthetics. Although many people study aesthetics and what makes aesthetics a certain way for a person, this is not what an artist is worried about. They are instead creating something that has a meaning to them and tells a story. This is the same as a bird. The birds are not worried about what the study of Ornithology says about them, they are to busy being birds.

A robin bird, being a robin bird. Source: http://pixabay.com/p-167650/?no_redirect CC Public Domain

Aha! Visual Literacy- Killing us Softly

The movie Killing us Softly had such good points to it, which I have never thought about. The media and the visual we see everyday really do point out the perfect body image, so perfect no one can even obtain it. After watching this movie I realized how much seeing these images day after day have influenced me on wanting to look like it. As we see in the video, these are unobtainable goals because they are airbrushed, photo shopped and manipulated to look this way. I do believe everything I watched, although I have never really thought about how much it affects me before. I believe this video made me become more self aware of the different visual ads that were having an impact on me. I really like how many examples she showed us throughout the video, to really drive home her point. We are negatively affected day after day by these ads, without even realizing it.

Source: Cosmopolitan Magazine

Here is a picture, that is suppose to be representing a makeup company in a Cosmopolitan magazine. They are showing off the females, which have beautiful bodies, and flawless features and skin. I cannot tell if it has been photoshopped, but if I had to, both the arms and stomach could have easily been manipulated to look more "perfect". To me this ad does not even show off the makeup, it does not make me want to purchase and use the makeup myself.

I absolutely believe the issues discussed are related to men. First, there are many ads where men are portrayed, certainly not as many, but they are definitely out there. Secondly, I think when there is an issue like this, it affect everyone. Men and women need to be aware of this issue so they can educate people and help stop these issues from happening. We need to teach each other, our children, and our friends that we cannot allow this to continue happening.

Source: Cosmopolitan Magazine

I also found this picture in the same Cosmopolitan magazine. Here is an ad where he is represented showing off his body and showing boys that this is the ultimate goal for where their bodies need to be. This is also sexualizing them the same ways they do to females. This ad shows that men can be treated the same way in these ads, and they are not always covered up and looking more professional (in suits and ties).

I believe the movie is called Killing us Softly because of how unaware we are of the ads affecting us. They are slowly making us feel bad about ourselves, about how our hair is not good enough, our bodies are not the right size, and we are not wearing the correct clothes. Every time we see an ad of a perfect girl, with a perfect body that has been photo shopped, we are telling ourselves we are not good enough. That constant tear down of telling us we are not good enough is, killing us softly.