Getting the Picture : A Brief Guide to Understanding and Creating Visual Texts

by Muth, Marcia F.; Kitalong, Karla Saari

• ISBN13: 9780312418502
• ISBN10: 0312418507
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-17
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

This handy illustrated booklet gives students critical tools for examining visual documents and creating their own. The first part offers basic guidelines for document design, and the second part helps students to read visual texts and think critically about them. Also included are helpful checklists and thought-provoking exercises for both document design and visual analysis.

Table of Contents

    Preface for Instructors
    
    Introduction for Students
    
PART 1: STRATEGIES FOR DESIGNING YOUR DOCUMENT
    Understanding Four Basic Principles of Document Design
       Principle 1: Know Your Readers
       Principle 2: Satisfy Your Readers' Expectations
       Principle 3: Consider Your Readers' Constraints
       Principle 4: Remember Your Purpose
    Creating an Effective Design for Your Document
       Using a Prominent Element
       Choosing Fonts
          Serif or Sans Serif Fonts
          Novelty Fonts
          Italics
          Boldface
       Preparing Lists
          Bulleted List
          Numbered List
       Using White Space Strategically
          College Papers
          Visuals
       Using Headings and Alignment
          Heading Levels
          Heading Consistency
          Heading Alignment
       Using Repetition Purposefully
       Using Color Effectively
    Using Visuals to Reinforce Your Content
       Adding Visuals
       Crediting Sources
       Arranging Visuals and Text in Your Document
          Integration of Visuals and Text
          Placement and Alignment of Visuals
          Balance between Visuals and Text
    Exercises
    For Group Work
    
PART 2: STRATEGIES FOR UNDERSTANDING VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS
    Using Strategies for Visual Analysis
    Level One: Seeing the Big Picture
       Purpose and Audience
       Prominent Element
       Focal Point
    Level Two: Observing the Characteristics of an Image
       Cast of Characters
          Objects
          Figures
       Story of the Image
          Action
          Background
       Design and Arrangement
          Selection of Elements
          Relationship of Elements
          Use of Space
       Artistic Choices
          Aesthetic Decisions
          Function Decisions
          Typeface Options
    Level Three: Interpreting the Meaning of an Image
          General Feeling or Mood
          Sociological, Political, Economic, or Cultural Attitudes
          Language
          Signs and Symbols
          Themes
    Exercises
    For Group Work
    
CHECKLISTS
    Purpose and Audience Checklist (Part 1)
    Document Design Checklist
    Purpose and Audience Checklist (Part 2)
    Visual Analysis Checklist
    
FIGURES
    
  Part 1
    Figure 1.1 Front pages of USA Today and the Wall Street Journal (with common features labeled)
    Figure 1.2 The first page and Works Cited page of a student research paper in MLA format
    Figure 1.3 Common features in magazine design
    Figure 1.4 Design showing prominent elements
    Figure 1.5 Space occupied by different typefaces
    Figure 1.6 Sans serif heading used with serif body font
    Figure 1.7 Identical text set in two fonts
    Figure 1.8 The raisin-bread effect produced by too much boldface
    Figure 1.9 Conventional résumé
    Figure 1.10 Résumé for the Web
    Figure 1.11 Example of double-spaced text
    Figure 1.12 PowerPoint slide with too much text and too little space
    Figure 1.13 PowerPoint slide with brief text and effective use of space
    Figure 1.14 Parallel headings on a Web page
    Figure 1.15 Centered title with left, right, and full justification of text
    Figure 1.16 Centered headings (no strong alignment)
    Figure 1.17 Left-justified title, headings, and text (strong alignment)
    Figure 1.18 Sample running header in MLA style
    Figure 1.19 Use of color on a Web page
    Figure 1.20 A diagram showing the process of wastewater treatment in King County, Washington
    Figure 1.21 Illustration of work at an archaeological dig
    Figure 1.22 A graph showing prices for residential heating oil in different regions from October 1999 to March 2000
    Figure 1.23 A pie chart showing shares of a whole
    Figure 1.24 A bar chart presenting numerical comparisons
    Figure 1.25 A table organizing textual data
    
  Part 2
    Figure 2.1 Three levels of visual analysis
    Figure 2.2 Photograph of four children
    Figure 2.3 Photograph divided into quarters
    Figure 2.4 Z pattern often used to read images
    Figure 2.5 Close-up detail of photograph
    Figure 2.6 Volkswagen advertisement, about 1959
    Figure 2.7 Oldsmobile advertisements, 1959
    Figure 2.8 Artistic use of Courier typeface
    Figure 2.9 Artistic use of Caslon typeface
    Figure 2.10 Public-service advertisement showing wordplay