WHAT IS VISUAL LITERACY? AND DO I HAVE IT?
From the earliest days of our education, we are taught literacy skills. Most
fundamentally, we are taught to read and write. As we get older, we're
also taught literacies like computer literacy, information literacy', and
financial literacy. Being literate in something means to be knowledgeable
and competent, to know the fundamentals first and foremost. But as we
learn more complex topics, vocabularies, and processes, we are said to be
""more" literate in something.
Two interesting anecdotes are important to consider when to talk about
what it means to be visually literate. Chemist rolled Hoffman, in his book
The Same and not the same, stated that his ability (and his implies other
scientists abilities in the statement as well) to draw a face so that it looks
like a face atrophied at age ten(69). Pause and reflect on that for a
moment. Can you (or most people you know) draw any better than a ten-
year-old? Why do you think that is?
The other anecdote comes from popular author Daniel Pink, who recounts
a time when he visited elementary schools and asked young kids if they
were artists. In kindergarten, without fail, when asked who was an artist,
nearly every child would consistently raise their hands. But as children got
older, the number of self-proclaimed artists would slowly drop; by sixth
grade, only one or two students would raise their hands. 1f this anecdote
is any reflection on our culture, it suggests students are either too
removed from artistic development in school by twelve years old, or they
are too embarrassed to admit that they like art. Either way, the result is
the same: most people, after and elementary school, don't develop "
literacy skills in visual communication and design.
If We put this into perspective, it means that, despite living in a visually
saturated world-where it has been said that we view between 3,000 and
20,000 visual messages per day-most grown adults don't know which
colour affect which emotions, how lines affect interpretation of statistics.
what visual cues make them feel like a product is expensive, or what is
most likely grab their attention on bill board, in others words unless
someone persuaded other and even more scary they are unaware of how
they are being persuaded.
From the earliest days of our education, we are taught literacy skills. Most
fundamentally, we are taught to read and write. As we get older, we're
also taught literacies like computer literacy, information literacy', and
financial literacy. Being literate in something means to be knowledgeable
and competent, to know the fundamentals first and foremost. But as we
learn more complex topics, vocabularies, and processes, we are said to be
""more" literate in something.
Two interesting anecdotes are important to consider when to talk about
what it means to be visually literate. Chemist rolled Hoffman, in his book
The Same and not the same, stated that his ability (and his implies other
scientists abilities in the statement as well) to draw a face so that it looks
like a face atrophied at age ten(69). Pause and reflect on that for a
moment. Can you (or most people you know) draw any better than a ten-
year-old? Why do you think that is?
The other anecdote comes from popular author Daniel Pink, who recounts
a time when he visited elementary schools and asked young kids if they
were artists. In kindergarten, without fail, when asked who was an artist,
nearly every child would consistently raise their hands. But as children got
older, the number of self-proclaimed artists would slowly drop; by sixth
grade, only one or two students would raise their hands. 1f this anecdote
is any reflection on our culture, it suggests students are either too
removed from artistic development in school by twelve years old, or they
are too embarrassed to admit that they like art. Either way, the result is
the same: most people, after and elementary school, don't develop "
literacy skills in visual communication and design.
If We put this into perspective, it means that, despite living in a visually
saturated world-where it has been said that we view between 3,000 and
20,000 visual messages per day-most grown adults don't know which
colour affect which emotions, how lines affect interpretation of statistics.
what visual cues make them feel like a product is expensive, or what is
most likely grab their attention on bill board, in others words unless
someone persuaded other and even more scary they are unaware of how
they are being persuaded.
