Learning

Part 1: Visual Text Literacy

Reference
Material
Part 2: Typography
MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY

UNIT TWO:
Media
Construction
Our lessons so far...

We’re half-way with our topics this semester. At this point, we

already established the fact that media shapes society; that
media informs, persuades, enlightens, and entertains.
Unfortunately, mass media has just been doing more
entertainment than providing accurate information and
meaningful enlightenment. Persuasion has been coming more in
the form of propaganda.

The past topics have outlined the skills that you as a 21st century
media consumer should have. You have learned how to analyze
images and text with critical thinking questions. This led you to
understand that decoding these messages is contextualized in
culture. And as communication technology became more
sophisticated and liberal, you are called to be more responsible.

TEXT MEDIA LANGUAGE 01

MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY

Introduction:
Principles of Multimedia Production
But all these learnings must not just end in KNOWING and
UNDERSTANDING. It has to culminate in DOING. Appreciating
media’s necessary role in the future of civic society is done by
connecting Skills to Citizenship, Analysis to Production, Culture to
Creation, and Responsibility to Empowerment.

That means it’s now time to be the CREATOR of media with a

purpose. Mass Communication must take on a different paradigm
if it’s going to be a tool for change. The formula must be “Media +
Communities + Citizenship = Development.” Purposive mass
communication is called DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION.

It basically refers to the use of communication to facilitate social

development. It involves the strategic use of communication for
the alleviation of social problems in evolving societies. As such it is
an area where questions about the role(s) of media in
encouraging or inhibiting social change are absolutely central.

So, for this Unit, you will learn the basics of multimedia production
from Text to Audio-Visual with the goal of creating a social change
campaign using the digital platform.

Multimedia Production is ultimately creating MEDIA TEXTS and

VISUAL TEXTS.

TEXT MEDIA LANGUAGE 01

MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY

Media Text vs
Visual Text

All multimedia starts with a MESSAGE and it’s technically called

the Media Text. This is what we’ve been trying to deconstruct and
analyze in our 1st Unit when we did our Media Analysis via Q-TIPS.

VISUAL TEXT are media texts that are created using still or moving
images, and uses a combination of:
visual features (camera shots, still pictures, and graphics)
and
verbal features (words, dialogue and language features)
to get a message across to the audience.

Understanding these texts is called VISUAL TEXT LITERACY

02
Date//Time//Year

Visual Text
Comprehension
is the understanding images & words in the context it is being used.

The ability to interpret, recognize, appreciate, and understand

information presented through visible actions, objects, and symbols,
natural or man-made.
It is to bring life experiences and background knowledge to what is
being read/viewed.
All visual texts are influenced by the cultures, values, ideologies, and
world views in and through which they are created and consumed.
Examples:
Family photo in your home vs. a family portrait in a magazine

04
Date//Time//Year

IMAGERY or TEXT:
What do our brains prefer?
The average person responds far better to visual information compared to
just plain old text. Whether you’re buying a product or revising for an exam,
visual stimulation over text translation allows the brain to consume the
material with more consummate ease.

But why is there such a hunger for images and video? Why would we rather
click on a short video and avoid reading a big chunk of text? And why does
this trend seem to be increasing as time moves forward?

Well first off, it could be something to do with the fact that 90% of information
transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed in the brain at
60,000 times the speed of text. In other words, we look at pictures and videos
regularly and we consume them more quickly than we do text.

The average person responds far better to visual information compared to

just plain old text. Whether you’re buying a product or revising for an exam,
visual stimulation over text translation allows the brain to consume the
material with more consummate ease.

But why is there such a hunger for images and video? Why would we rather
click on a short video and avoid reading a big chunk of text? And why does
this trend seem to be increasing as time moves forward?
Well first off, it could be something to do with the fact that 90% of information
transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed in the brain at
60,000 times the speed of text. In other words, we look at pictures and videos
regularly and we consume them more quickly than we do text.

But it might also have something to do with how people now live their lives –
always on their smartphone and doing far too many things at once! No
longer do we have 30 minutes to sit down and read through a long piece of
text; we’re all far too busy tweeting, texting, pinning and liking to do that! We
would much rather “relax” for 3 minutes and let the information flow over us
by watching a video; enabling quick and easy consumption of the underlying
message. As the age-old saying goes, ‘an image is worth a thousand words.’
And never has this saying been so relevant. But if that is the case, then how
many images is a video worth?

But hold on. Let’s go back a few steps.

iF you think about it, text is nothing but a series of small intricately structured
images. Words are a collection of small shapes, i.e. letters, and letters are just
smaller shapes which when placed alongside one another make a bigger
shape – a word.

So, why don’t we like reading text as much as we do consuming images –

static or moving? Our theory is that when you are reading a piece of text, a
fairly long and complex decoding process takes place in your brain. You are
not only seeing the shapes written down but at the same time you are
translating them to make sense out of the information that they convey.
What’s more, because all words have different meanings, there is no way of
telling how long this translation process will actually take.

So, subconsciously your brain can become stressed and drift out of a
concentrated state. Especially when we consider that humans now have a
shorter attention span than goldfish. It’s just much easier for us to look at a
picture or watch a video.
 Did you really read
the previous page?

We're pretty sure - not all of you. If you did -- KUDOS!

Think back to 3,000 years ago. Our brains were focused

on three things:
Where can I find food?
Will that thing eat me?
How can I continue my species?

These are the primal factors that our brains were built for – survival. And
today we still react to information transfer in the same way. If we see a
spreadsheet or a long piece of text, our brain’s instant reaction is to tell us
that this is not essential for survival, even though it could actually be very
important to us.

And because we see with our brains and not with our eyes, this
subconscious bias is not easy to overcome. It is therefore vital that we
communicate in a way that makes it easy and straightforward for our
brains.
Date//Time//Year

Conventions make images easier to understand

Take the image here as an example. Most
people would tell you that this is an image of a
house, which isn’t necessarily wrong but it’s
also not strictly correct. What you actually see
is a series of orange lines joined together on a
white background. But your brain is telling you
it’s a house, because convention said so.

This is due to the fact that our brains are

masters at recognizing patterns in the
surrounding environment. And if everything
was text, we would find it far more difficult to
sort the important stuff from the not so
important.

When we absorb information in a visual manner – like the drawing of a house

– we compare it with past experiences and patterns we’ve seen elsewhere.
This just doesn’t happen so instantaneously when you are reading a book.

We firmly believe that by combining auditory and visual stimuli, you can
connect with the brain and really make a message stick. Utilizing simplistic,
recognizable imagery and a well-structured story can lead to the solid
grasping of an otherwise confusing topic.

In summary, if an image is worth a thousand words to deliver a powerful

message, then a video is worth a million images!
Date//Time//Year

How to interpret
visual texts?
We need to first identify the
different elements that make up the
text. These include:

WORDS or TEXT
which includes title, headlines,
captions, and their Typographical
Features (type of font, font size)

IMAGES
with shape and color,

LAYOUT
Tthe spatial arrangement of the
different elements (words and
images combined)
TYPOGRAPHY
What is TYPOGRAPHY?

The art and technique of arranging type to make written

language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. It’s
the style and appearance of printed matter.

It involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-

spacing (leading), and letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting
the space between pairs of letters (kerning)

TYPEFACE also called FONT, font type, or type refers to the

representation or style of a text in the digital format usually
comprised of alphabets, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols
and other special characters
What FONTS should I use?

The task of picking fonts is a mystifying process.

There seem to be endless choices — from normal, conventional-
looking fonts to novelty candy cane fonts and bunny fonts — with no
way of understanding the options, only never-ending lists of categories
and recommendations.
Selecting the right typeface is a mixture of firm rules and loose intuition,
and takes years of experience to develop a feeling for.

Why do FONT CHOICES matter?

Font choices serve the same purpose in a design.

Typography often provides that at-a-glance first impression that
people gauge and judge the rest of the design by — so your font
choices need to be purposeful and appropriate.

How to find the PERFECT FONT?

Finding the perfect font for your

design is all about matching the font
to the style of the icon. But this can
be tricky.
If the match is too close, the icon and
font will compete with each other for
attention; if the complete opposite,
then the viewer won’t know where to
focus.
The key is finding the right balance,
somewhere in the middle.
Every typeface has a personality. If
the font you have chosen does not
reflect the icon’s characteristics, then
the whole message of the brand will
misfire.
 PRINCIPLES
OF TYPE
DESIGN
AVOID THESE
COMMON ERRORS

TOO MANY TYPEFACES

SPACING

ALIGNMENT

DECORATIVE FACES (Aren’t Always Beautiful)

SIZE MATTERS

READABILITY

COLOR
GROUPING

LEADING

KERNING