Visual Communication Portfolio
Assignment 1 — Sensing, selecting, percieving
Part A: Sensing
I chose the song In Bloom by Neck Deep because it’s something I’ve been listening to again as I’m trying to work on becoming a better person and reflecting on my past. This song to me has a lot of meaning lyrically about taking your time, becoming a better person in your personal relationships, and not abandoning what you’ve already started. My original drawing was very loopy and the loops were concentrated in certain areas based on lyrical changes and intensity of the instrumentals.
Part B: Selecting
I selected the center of the page because it was the most concentrated with lines and loops and was the first half of the song leading up to the chorus and first big break in emotion and filled in color around that area. I isolated that area from color because that section wasn’t the truest part of self discovery, it was mostly uncertainty and frustration that didn’t deserve colors.
Part C: Perceiving
I selected it because it isolated the first part of the song where the lyrics are self-doubted and unsure, while the surrounding parts with large loops (in pink) and swirls (in blue) are big bursts of confidence and energy. The long lines were somber moments in the song towards the end of the chorus where the lyrics are the most reflective (“Stop digging it up because we’re never going to see it all in bloom”). I think I chose this song because while I close my eyes, I can image flowers blooming and the past versions of myself growing up. The colors more or less are the main colors shown in the music video, which adds another layer of imagery to the song itself through objects. I would definitely recommend watching the video because my explanation doesn’t do it justice.
Assignment 2: Visual Theories
I took a photo of my sister out at Lake Lowell at a very dry time of the year. It’s very clear in the original photo that the background is meant to be decorative and non-distracting. I found a free use stock photo of a city (Creator: Austin Neill | Credit: unsplash.com/@arstyy) and put my sister into that photo as naturally as I could.
The new photo of my sister suggests that this is a very specifically chosen location; it’s a city street being used to take a travel-esquephoto that suggested my sister went on vacation.
The viewer’s perception would change between the two photos by assuming they have different situational meanings. Those meanings being either a plain headshot in an indistinguishable location or a travel photo in a city she does not live in. Traveling could also suggest some subliminal meanings to a viewer,like social status, financial status, or personality traits about liking to visit new places. I tried to blend the photo the best I could in Photoshop without divulging too much time into to simulate the effect.
Assignment 3: Visual Persuasion
Assignment 4: Visual Stereotypes
The visual stereotype that stands out first is having women as an accessory to men, as if they were inferior or there for looks. I think that it would be extremely difficult given how people are easily marketed to, and stereotypes often play a role in what appeals to us, or in this case is considered “high fashion”. I think a world without harmful visual stereotypes is possible, but marketers have to think very critically about what they are publishing and the potential effects on communities it may have. The objectification of women and the appropriation of cultures is still rampant in high fashion today, so it gives me little hope that some industries are willing to change. There are certain things that appeal to certain audiences, regardless if we are actively thinking about the harm and stereotype it produces, so companies are going to continue to use those tools at their disposal despite controversy.
Assignment 5: Visual Analysis
The first image comes from coverage of Trump deciding to campaign despite CDC warnings about large gatherings.
Headline: Trump Will Give Convention Speech in Jacksonville, Capping a Dispute Over Safety
My intitial reaction to this image is confusion to what Trump is seemingly approving of with the “thumbs up”. Is it the turnout of the crowd or is it the attention he is receiving in general? I see most of the people in the crowd excited to see him and filming the moment as if it were a very important event in their lives; the photography also chose to frame the entire image to display the context of why Trump was in this photo. This is clearly a type of campaign rally where most attendees would be supportive of him, aside from the few shocked faces and security present.
The use of this photo can display some context in a story like isn’t directly spoken about, and in this case, it makes me think that Trump is doing all of the right things, according to himself, per this photo. This article is about hosting campaign rallies and Trump has personally approved of that, so the photo seems generally fitting. However, this photo could be easily taken out of context if it were to be put on a headline with a more serious undertone, such as news about deaths, international relations, etc. that would be inappropriate according to my standards.
This photo of Biden, however, is painted in a very different light given the circumstances of COVID-19 and how political candidates are responding.
This photo depicts Joe Biden, who is the main opponent of Trump in the 2020 election.
Headline: A Black Vice President for Biden? More Democrats are Making the Case
My initial reaction is that I am glad he is wearing a mask and setting a positive example because many public figures, like Trump, have not done so. I do have my own political bias, however, I do believe that the CDC recommendations should be anything but political. It is difficult to determine the exact context of this photo, however, based on the recent events of the killing of George Floyd, the BLM movement, and the POC in the photo, it’s reasonable to assume that it has something to do with that subject matter, which is very different from the way Trump was portrayed and the context. In a technical sense, this photo was framed to focus on Biden at this speaking engagement with some focus on the background and people in it.
The presidential race has been very polarizing, more so than 2016 in the sense that COVID-19 has further divided parties and the murder of George Floyd has sparked controversy in the wrong political debates, in my opinion. These two photos, in articles posted by the NYT on June 10 and 11, focus on two different issues for the candidates based on what they have been engaged in politically in the status quo and what topics they have been focusing on. I would consider both of these stories to be newsworthy however the photos do provide a slightly different painting for both of the candidates. The photo of Trump makes it out to seem that he is in support of hosting more events and is willing to ignore CDC guidelines, while Biden is in support of BLM but may also be using these speaking engagements to diversify his following. It’s really difficult to say because a lot of my own bias comes into play because I personally dislike Trump but I also don’t favor Biden. I think sometimes journalists will use photos that somewhat make sense for the story but do not analyze the deeper context or unconscious bias it could be contributing to the story.
Assignment 6: Typography and Graphic Design
I decided to go with a poster style that I would image in a classroom setting, where a child would be likely to see something like this on a regular basis. A lot of the posters I remember from my childhood in elementary school were very whimsical, colorful, and the font was easy to read for kids who were still learning. I also wanted to take into account the triangle shapes I used for what I would imagine could be a teaching tool for kids who are still trying to remember left and right, so I created arrows with the text. I found that it was difficult to determine if something flashy and colorful would catch a kid’s attention, or something simple and straightforward; I wanted to clearly get the point across so I choice straightforward, but I have doubts either way. I used blue and orange that were soft and complimented each other but I highly doubt kids really care about that aspect. If I had used a less whimsical font, like a serif font, it may turn kids away for being too strict or something they won’t take seriously. I chose a lighthearted font to hopefully make it easier to remember and be drawn to.
The font for the older age group was difficult because I wanted to catch their attention without infantizing, so I tried to use simple blocks to act as a highlight to remind them of the phrase they probably learned in childhood. I imaged this would a poster that had to quickly get attention at a crosswalk or busy street before crossing, so I inverted the standard black and white colors to make it stand out. The stop sign is universally recognized so it didn’t need more text on top of it to simulate the importance. The font I used was serious but easy to read for someone who may have poor eye sight. I found this version to be a lot easier to make because the shapes were a lot simpler to work with and the message didn’t have to be sensitive for children.
Assignment 7: Photography and Light
I decided to take photos of the first view outside in the morning: the front doorway. I expected to see more differences in scenery and lighting, but the neighborhood is very quiet and somber. The first photos I took in the morning just as I was leaving between 9 -10:30am. The second after I got home, between 7–8pm. The last late after sunset, at 10pm. The most obvious difference is the brightest and welcoming sun in the morning and late afternoon, while the nighttime is extremely dark because there are no nearby street lamps to illuminate the road. The moods between the night and day are inviting to extremely daunting. If there were a person in these photos, I think the overall feel of the photos would be exaggerated. For example, a person outside walking around in the morning seems normal, while a person walking around in complete darkness may seem suspicious. The weather had been clear in the area up until today, where you can see in the “Evening 2” photo. I had just missed a massive rain storm; if I were to have caught that on camera, it would have made the setting feel moody and sad rather than the warm sunshine that appeared 20 minutes later.
Assignment 8: Storyboard and Motion Pictures
I decided to do the nursery rhyme “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” because it was lighthearted and a well-known tune. My first hangup with the project was that when I got home from work, it immediately started pouring rain so I couldn’t film “on location” on an actual water spout/drain. However, I improvised using my kitchen sink and a paper spider who volunteered as tribute (please ignore that my sun is actually a bunch of bananas, it was the best yellow item I had). The first thing I learned was that it is very difficult to achieve the perfect film based off a storyboard alone. In my case, a real production would have taken a number of people and someone who knew how to animate a spider, which I could not. Creating a storyboard for something like a nursery rhyme puts me at an advantage in my opinion because a lot of music is abstract and doesn’t paint a clear picture so you have to create it out of thin air. I knew that doing video work was a lot out of my own experience, however, abstract video work, like a music video is very difficult because of the amount of creativity involved. Like many others, Blackboard was rejecting my video, so I uploaded it to Youtube.
Assignment 9: Television
(NO SPOILERS) For those not familiar, Criminal Minds is a series that following the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, a real and relatively young unit, that used behavioral profiling to track down criminals, primarily serial killers.
Theatre- This series stuck out to me as relating to theatre by being a generally time-accurate reenactment of what could happen during an actual investigation. While it’s exaggerated for TV, a lot of the bureaucracy that comes from the government is enacted through this performance. I felt this related to theatre by being a staged but semi-accurate adaptation of what a real government organization could look like; all of the characters have specific trope-like personalities that are predictable and consistent like a character in theatre might be. However, the camera work is very quick for this program and would be impossible to simulate through a theater production because the audience is stationary and can’t move with the characters.
Radio- Criminal Minds, in my opinion, would have a difficult time functioning as a radio program because so much of the show relies on visuals, graphic visuals of torture and crime scenes that are difficult to translate to just radio in a short amount of time. Could it be possible? Absolutely, but it would rely on a lot of narration that the show does not include. The show would have to move to an audiobook or podcast “feeling” format where the characters are responsible for providing first person descriptions of what they are witnessing and feeling.
Motion Picture- This series could easily be translated into a movie with some simple plot adjustments. For regular viewers, there’s not needed to introduce the characters or much of the premise of the show, which a movie would have to establish in the beginning for irregular viewership. The show usually runs for 45 minutes and often has two-part specials, so the timing wouldn’t be an issue. The story always follows a standard rising action, climax, and a brief resolution until the next episode. The only thing that couldn’t be adapted is the strings of subplots that the show carries that would be difficult to put into a motion picture.
Comic books- My first reaction was that this show didn’t relate to comic books in the slightest because of its physical format, but I was wrong. The story could be placed onto a paper format because they both could have detailed drawings and easily translate the emotions of the characters. All of the characters, like in theatre, have very specific characters that would act as tropes or predictable personalities like comic books typically have. This would be a great place to have intricate subplots like the show has and be a successful continuous series.
From this exercise, I learned that formats serve different purposes and most storylines would have to be dramatically adapted to successful serve its purpose to the audience. My analysis could easily change, though, depending on the type of show that I looked at. A documentary would probably fit a radio format better for storytelling purposes, or an animation could translate to a comic book series.
Assignment 10: Computers
I interviewed my mom, Heide, who is 42 and took some basic computer classes in high school in the 1990s.
My mom’s first computer was a Dell Desktop circa 2000, might have been a Gateway; there weren’t many options and it was cheap. There didn’t seem to be any options for people who were introductory to computers, though, so we went with what seemed mainstream and affordable, which at the time was Dell. She used it for emails, uploading family pictures, and playing solitaire. She could watch DVDs on it, with low quality, but it was enough. Emails were the main priority, though, because it was so foreign to a lot of people.
She purchased another Dell Desktop, circa 2005. It was a similar desktop, but it was faster and had more functionality. This one connected to the printer and was easier to use for the internet. She had gone back to school for nursing and it made it easier to do coursework, like using Microsoft Word, and research. A few years later she purchased a MacBook, around 2008, and it was an expensive but worthy upgrade compared to the old computers.
“I expect to see better displays and more beautiful quality. I’m surprised that there are computers with thumbprint scanners or have antivirus built into it. I think computers will get faster and lighter, or we will all start using tablets instead” Heide said.
The first thing that stuck out to me was that my mom said it was difficult having few options and little knowledge of computers because I struggle with having too many options when it comes to computers. My first computer was one that I was given through my high school, that I had to return, then an affordable laptop gifted to me for college. My sophomore year I was able to purchase a better laptop that could run Adobe software, but it was very difficult to compare models for my price range.
Email is also standard functionality and isn’t in the picture when I’m looking to buy a laptop, or any other hardware for that matter. It’s interesting to see how our priorities have changed as technology becomes better and our standards are higher. My mom and I were similar in the sense though that having a quality computer significantly helped us with school and our performance; without one, I would struggle getting access to any of my courses. The computer classes that my mom and I had to take in high school are also extremely different because we had such different computers to operate on.
Overall, because computer technology has changed so rapidly in my mom’s and my lifetime, it’s hard to categorize what we expect in the future.