Transcript Slide 1
VISUAL COMMUNICATION –
MEMES & GOING VIRAL
COMM 2P91
April 1st, 2015.
"The more you see, the more you know.“
Aldous Huxley
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Research Essay:
Is due by 5pm on Wed, Apr 8th. Digital copy
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submitted after Wed, April 22nd 5pm will not
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Class ID: 9758805 Password: social
Visual Communication
The role of the ‘visual’ in culture
Various kinds of visual
Meaning making, Inform, entertain, incite
Perceptual Theories
• Semiotics - Signs, signals & symbols
• Cognitive
Sensual Theories
• Gestalt
• Constructivism
• Ecological
John Berger – Ways of Seeing
Emphasizes the importance of vision
"It is seeing which establishes our place in the
surrounding world; we explain that world
with words, but words can never undo the
fact that we are surrounded by it“
‘seeing’ is an involuntary process where one
detects a stimulus
‘looking’ is a voluntary process where one
chooses what to see
Images are ways of ‘seeing’ and looking’
Understanding the Visual
Descriptive /Explanatory Photos
scientific accuracy of documenting & reproducing the subject matter
Interpretative photos
explain how things are, but they do not attempt scientific accuracy
expressive & reveal the views of the photographer
exploratory & not necessarily logical
Ethically Evaluative photos
make ethical judgments, usually about a social situation;
show how things ought to be or ought not to be
praise, condemn ,political
Aesthetically Evaluative photos
make judgments about aesthetic – beautiful things photographed in beautiful ways
Theoretical pictures
are photos about photography, the making of & politics of art making
are purposefully self-aware / self-conscious
Finding Meaning
How Can You Find a Picture's Meaning?
Graphic Clues
Symbolic Clues
Social Clues
Literal & Symbolic Messages
Is there Meaning Without Words?
Loch Ness Monster [1934]
Sudan Famine:
UN food camp [1994]
National Geographic
Afghan Girl [1984]
China: Tiananmen Square [1989]
Social Media – Viral Visuals
Visual quick & to the point
User-generated
Viral via networks
Visuals:
Inform: tells you something about subject
Educate: help viewer understand something
Persuade: makes you want to buy or believe
something
Entertain: may show funny things/situations
– word of mouth; networks
Social Media & Visual Comm…?
What has your FB wall looked like lately?
Tumblr, Twitpic etc
Creative & often collaborative
User-based or social networking web sites
4chan, Newgrounds, Reddit, Facebook, Fark, Flickr,
Myspace, Slashdot, Something Awful, YouTube, etc
infographics
What are they?
Visual representations of information, data or
knowledge
Why so popular?
Present complex info quickly & clearly
(sounds like how we tweet)
Information graphics
Memes
Meme: an idea, behavior or style that spreads
from person to person within a culture.
Internet meme: is an idea that is propagated
through the World Wide Web. The idea may take
the form of a hyperlink, video, picture, website,
hashtag, or just a word or phrase, such as
intentionally misspelling the word "more" as
"moar" or "the" as "teh". (wikipedia)
Why are Memes so popular?
Brevity
familiarity
Highly visual content
Instant accessibility
Conducive to sharing
Tailor made for a viral
internet culture
List of Internet phenomena
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_memes
Trends – Demotivational
Viral Videos
100 Greatest hits of YouTube in 4 min
http://bit.ly/AR8qL
Culture Jamming –
creative appropriation
“refiguring logos, fashion statements, and
product images as a means to challenge the
idea of "what's cool” along with assumptions
about the personal freedoms of
consumption” (Boden & Williams,2002).
Culture Jamming is “an organized, social activist effort that aims to counter the
bombardment of consumption oriented messages in the mass media .”
Chad Gillespie: What Is This Jam In My Culture?
Questions?
CLASS.
IS.
DONE.