Daniel Maddison
Communication Skills 1
‘What is Visual Communication and where do I fit within it?’
Wikipedia, the on-line god sent of definition and understanding, is always a safe port of call when words get the better of you. However in this instance, the usual never-ending spout of text that precedes the search engine could muster only four sentences:
‘Visual Communication’
“The conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon. Primarily associated with two-dimensional images, it includes: art, signs, photography, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, colour and electronic resources. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically oriented usability. Graphic designers use methods of visual communication in their professional practice.”
It’s a brief over-view, nothing more, nothing less. Wikipedia had failed to paint the crystal clear portrait of definition; there’s a first for everything I guess. So I persist elsewhere, trawling the internet through various search engines fronted with ‘visual’, ‘communication’, ‘definition’, ‘what is’, etc, but came up with nothing of real substance other than degree courses in America. Even ‘www.whatisvisualcommunicationandwheredoifit.com’ came up with nothing... This task was obviously going to be more than just pretentious waffle.
I knew before I had even arrived at Leeds that the nature of ‘visual communication’ was extremely broad and that the outcomes were equally as varied. However I saw this in a very positive light; I was unsure of a specialism, and still wanted to consider different processes and techniques. Will it be almost an extension of a foundation year? I was very eager to find out. Fast-forward to Wednesday the 12th of December last year, the last official day of term and ‘where do I fit?’ module, and I felt like I had a greater understanding.
The workshops were good fun, approaching the matter from various angles, and provoking many questions. As it is such a broad topic, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from each session in terms of subject matter, as I interpret the notion of vis-com to consist of an almost unlimited array of sources. However I found that the sessions I attended worked well as examples of ways that you can approach the concept of vis-com. Teaching from a more theoretical perspective helped especially, allowing for a more ‘stripped down’ perspective.
The first ‘problem solving’ workshop was an approach that I would have considered; I personally have always identified with the notion of communicating design solutions visually, and enjoy the challenge. Our group’s design was overly ambitious, verging on ridiculous, and this was generally a trend that emerged from each group’s presentation. It obviously highlighted the high standards of problem solving that a designer must match and better within the industry, and the documentary following the group of designers’ quest to spawn the world’s best bin showed this furthermore.
I think that I benefited to quite a large extent from the ‘reportage’ angle of the module, using it almost as an extension of our first project to build up a greater understanding of its place within vis-com. After compiling a project of the same heading with explicit photography, exploring it through film was useful, and allowed you to compare and contrast two different methods of reporting. The HD Cameras were good to work with, and I was pleased with our group’s final outcome. We decided to compile opinions of the college from current students and staff, and simply walked around asking for quick opinions and statements. Although it was a fairly clichéd format of reporting, it worked well in that the footage showed only the mouth of the individual, which created an anonymity. This in turn could heighten the truthfulness of what is said; if applied to a live news report for example, individuals would maybe feel more at ease if their identities were concealed to such an extent, and would express more honest opinions. A simple concept, but I liked it. The short film of the man being held hostage within the ‘story telling and narrative’ workshop is a more advanced example. Through simple composition of lighting and camera angle, the final outcome packs a raw, hard-hitting punch. A knife-edge atmosphere is created, and the film is delivered with great realism and drama, all without any Hollywood effects. It showed what could be achieved with basic groundings, and an idea of real substance.
These are just a handful of the approaches that I found that you could identify with and manipulate. Infact there was never really a point in a session where I felt that what was being suggested to us could not be utilized in any way. I suppose that this brought me a little closer to the notion of ‘where do I fit’. I have never really overlooked or rejected the idea that a piece of visual material cannot be conveyed to others in the way that an individual wishes. But does that mean that I don’t fit within a specific area of vis-com? Possibly. Is there even a need to do so? I think there are pros and cons. Considering the same ‘approach’ frequently will obviously improve that particular approach. But I see vis-com as a way of conveying or provoking something to others. With this in mind, would it be wise to rubbish a different approach method? One that may be more suitable or practical, or ultimately more effective? It is all a matter of opinion. Obviously everyone has their own, which in turn gives the notion of vis-com its diversity and spontaneity, which can only be healthy.
Bibliography:
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.iconmagazine.co.uk/issues/018/whatisdesign.htm
www.google.com
