VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Integrating Media, Art, and Science

Rick Williams and Julianne Newton

VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Integrating Media, Art, and Science

Rick Williams and Julianne Newton

2007
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Left: Hidden Mind by Melissa Szalkowski. Original in color.

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

Book © Copyright 2007 Rick Williams and Julianne Newton

Omniphasic Theory © 1996 Rick Williams
Ecology of the Visual Theory © 2006 Julianne Newton

Images © Individual Artist or Copyright Holder for Each Image. The authors gratefully
acknowledge all who contributed work to make this book truly visual. For a list of
contributors, please see page 421.

A number of Rick Williams’s photographs were previously published in his book

Working Hands, College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2000.

A number of Julianne Newton’s photographs were previously published in her book

The Burden of Visual Truth, Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.

Cover Image: Bonnie #1 by Adam Grosowsky.

Original Illustrations throughout book by Janet Halvorsen.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

Published in the United States by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 10 Industrial Drive,
Mahwah, NJ 07430, Telephone 201-258-2200 or 1–800–9–BOOKS–9. www.erlbaum.co

ISBN
PK: 080585066X
HB: 0805850651

First U.S. Edition

ISBN 0-203-87499-4 Master e-book ISBN

DEDICATION
For Jim Tankard and Max McCombs: Mentors, colleagues, and
dear friends who were the first to find merit in this work and the
first to support its publication.

And for Molly Ivins: Our friend and champion of truth, courage,
and laughter.

v
 An intelligent and beautifully illustrated book on how visual
communication helps us achieve intellectual and intuitive litera-
cy. A well-researched treatise that instantly shows what Omni-
phasism and Integrative Mind are all about. What Fritjof Capra
tried to do in the Tao of Physics three decades ago, the authors
have accomplished here: to bring rational and intuitive intelli-
gences into balance and to help us reconcile our inner and outer
vision for a higher state of awareness and a richer state of life.
Prof. Emeritus Herb Zettl, San Francisco State University
Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts Department

Drawing on their extensive experience as visual artists, educa-

tors, and researchers, the authors have produced a book that will
inform and stimulate any reader who wants to gain a better
understanding of the ways in which our minds make sense of
visual images. This is a work of mature scholarship, containing a
new theory of visual communication as well as a synthesis of
prior research. A valuable addition to the visual studies literature.
Paul Messaris, Lev Kuleshov Professor of Communication
The Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania

This is an important and truly beautiful book, one that is person-

ally and professionally useful, as well as theoretically advanced.
Williams and Newton synthesize key theories in neurology, art,
and visual communication as a platform for the concept of an
integrative, balanced mind. Filled with insights and practical
exercises to achieve this balance, this book suggests that the
truly integrated mind finds an equilibrium between intuition and
reason that leads to both a fuller way of life and a philosophical
outlook with vast educational and cultural implications.
Prof. Ann Marie Barry, Boston College
Visual, Media and Advertising Communication

A challenging book because it presents a thorough review of

theory and research in visual communication. An eloquent book
because it demonstrates the beauty and process of visual com-
munication through illustrations and many creative exercises. It
integrates the art and science of visual communication and is a
testimony to the power and insights of Omniphasism — the
underlying theory on which this work is based and which
explores an integrative balance in ways of thinking and know-
ing, both rational and intuitive.

Visual Communication breaks new ground in textbook writing

by bringing alive the creative and mind-stretching classroom

vi
 Contents
exercises that these professors have developed for their own
instructional use. It helps rational thinkers learn to break
through to their intuitive side through experiential learning. You
have to do more than read about it to open up the intuitive side
of the brain. Every student, whatever the learning or thinking
style, expands individual potential in a personal and private
journey through these broadening exercises.
Prof. Emeritus Sandra Moriarty
Integrated Marketing Communications Program
University of Colorado

Rick Williams and Julianne Newton are two of the most accom-
plished theorists in the wide field of visual communication.
Their years of experience as educators and photographers com-
bine in a well developed and important theory of intuitive intel-
ligence. Additionally the exercises they have created and tested
in their own courses illuminate for students ways to access
visual intelligence, creativity and the whole mind. The book is a
strong argument for inclusion of courses in visual communica-
tion and visual literacy in the liberal arts curriculum. Especially
valuable are the examples and historical review of the intersec-
tions between science and art as performed in the highly medi-
ated culture in which we live and learn. All of us have some-
thing to learn from this text.
Diane S. Hope, William A. Kern Professor in Communications
Rochester Institute of Technology

In addition to being a fine textbook and a dynamic practical dis-

course, the Williams-Newton book has combined rational schol-
arship and intuitive literacy into a vigorous call to enrich all of
humankind as we plummet into and beyond the virtual world of
the future. Leading by example and including critical lessons to
empower visual growth, the authors have employed imagery,
sensitivity, interdisciplinary sensibility, and authentic vision to
provide an elegant opportunity for transforming people's lives
for the better. It was Adams (Douglas, not Ansel) who once
remarked that "you can't help jumbling metaphors when lan-
guage tries to keep up with music," and so it must be in
describing the creative arc of the present volume. Few books
today have the insight and ability to energize one's mind, uplift
your heart, and make us all a little less vulnerable than we were
before experiencing it. This is one of those rare books.
Roy Flukinger, Senior Curator
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
University of Texas at Austin

vii
 CONTENTS
PREFACE. Knowing Before Words . . . xv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . xxi

INTRODUCTION. The Integrative Mind . . . 3

Clarifying Terms
Visual Intelligence
Musical Intelligence
Psychological Intelligence
Physiological Intelligence
Understanding a Key Point

PART I. Vision and Intelligence.

Understanding Intelligence as Intuitive and Rational . . . 11
CHAPTER ONE. Seeking Dynamic Balance: The Shaman, The Scientist, and the
Theologian . . . 13
She-Bear: The Power of Integrating Visual and Verbal Communication
A Theory of Integrative Mind
Table 1. Key Terms
Table 2. Key Ideas
Table 3. Primary Intuitive & Rational Cognitive Processes

CREATIVE ONE. The Intimate Eye: Accessing Your Inner Vision Through Creative
Visualization . . . 23
The Goal: Enhancing Your Creative Abilities

CHAPTER TWO. Abu Rocks: Integrating Perceptual and Conceptual Realities . . . 35

CREATIVE TWO. Visualizing a Personal Symbolic Portrait . . . 45

The Goal: Creative Problem Solving

CHAPTER THREE. Art and Personal Development: The Quest for Balance . . . 53
Art and the Integrated Individual
The Stages of Artistic Development

CREATIVE THREE. The Perceptual to Conceptual Leap: First Drawings . . . 69

The Goal: Creative Decision Making

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 Contents

CHAPTER FOUR. Overcoming Intuitive Illiteracy: Accessing Your Whole Mind . . . 73

Repetition Techniques & Perception
Rational Bias & Visual Response
The Second Nature of Consciousness

CREATIVE FOUR. The Yin/Yang of Drawing: Drawing Contours, Not Features . . . 85

The Goal: Integrating Ways of Seeing and Knowing

CHAPTER FIVE. Ulysses in His Right Mind: The Historical Intuitive Mind . . . 99
Julian Jaynes: The Bicameral Mind & the Ancient Intuitive Mind
Bogen & Sperry and Distinctive Cognitive Processing

CREATIVE FIVE. Drawing the Figure: One Contour, One Space at a Time . . . 107
The Goal: Drawing What You See

CHAPTER SIX. Multiple Intelligences and Nonconscious Biases: The Contemporary

Intuitive Mind . . . 113
Howard Gardner:Multiple Intelligence Theory
Table 4. Comparison of Integrative Mind and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
The Nature of Holistic Processing
Damasio: Nonconscious Mind and Behavior
Table 5. Visual/Spatial Intelligence
Table 6. Intrapersonal Intelligence
Table 7. Interpersonal Intelligences
Table 8. Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence
Table 9. Musical Intelligence
Table 10. Naturalist Intelligence
Table 11. Complementary/Parallel Systems of Knowing
Bringing It All Together

CREATIVE SIX. Bringing It All Together: Drawing for Real . . . 129

The Goal: Seeing Results of Cognitive Balance

PART II. Visual Illiteracy and Education. What We Don’t Learn . . . 131
CHAPTER SEVEN. The Square Peg and the Round Hole: Education and Intuitive
Intelligence . . . 133
The Contemporary Vision
Cultivating the Intuitive
The Rational Side of Visual Literacy
The Intuitive Side of Visual Literacy
The Need for an Integrative New Approach

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 Table 12. Omniphasic Visual Literacy
Beyond Visual Literacy: A Holistic Approach to Being, Seeing, Knowing, and Creating
In Conclusion
Table 13. Summary of Theories Relevant to Omniphasism

CREATIVE SEVEN. Designing Shapes: Concept in Visual Form . . . 153

The Goal: Communicating Concepts Visually

CHAPTER EIGHT. Visions in Voice: Language and the Intuitive Mind . . . 159
Visions in Voice
Written Language
On Sounds and Signs
Words as Balanced Ways of Knowing
The Sounds of Words
The Form of the Presentation
Conclusion

CREATIVE EIGHT . The Visual Word: Giving Vision to Voice . . . 177

The Goal: Integrating Visual and Verbal

CHAPTER NINE. Insight Out: Dreams and the Nonconscious Mind . . . 181
An Example
The Role of Dreams in Human Knowing
Miguel de Cervantes: Another Great Dreamer
What Science Has to Say
Historical Foundations of Dreams
Contemporary Research about Dreams

CREATIVE NINE. Dream Visions: Insight Out . . . 197

The Goal: Understanding Mental Imagery

CHAPTER TEN. Sharing the Vision: Photography as a Medium of Balance . . . 203

Photographic Truth
Technique in Photography
The Still Camera
Film, Film Speed, and Digital Ratings
Photography and Light
Contrast
Direction
Color
Camera Controls

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 Contents

Shutter Speed Controls Light and Motion

F/Stop Controls Light and Depth of Field
Working Shutter Speed and F/Stop Together
Lenses
Adding Light
Tripods
Constantly Changing Technology
CREATIVE TEN. Image Insights: Photography from the Inside Out . . . 233
The Goal: Translating Seeing into Images

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Designing for Meaning . . . 241

The Basic Elements
Point
Line
Plane/Shape
Volume
Frame
Summary of Key Points
The Core Principles
Contrast
Rhythm
Balance
Proportion
Additional Terms of Graphic Structure
Movement
Center of Interest
Rule of Thirds
Scale
Spatiality
Perspective
Light and Color
Context
Tying it All Together
Principles of the Gestalt
Unity
Cultural Biases
CREATIVE ELEVEN. Graphic Visions: Looking for Meaning . . . 263
The Goal: Understanding the Frame

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 CHAPTER TWELVE. Embedded Meanings: Learning to Look Behind the Mirrors and
Beyond the Windows . . . 273
Culture and Making Sense of What We See
Traditional Ways to Study Visuals
Other Methods to Study Visuals
Six Perspectives
Conclusion

CREATIVE TWELVE. Thinking Systematically about Images . . . 293

The Goal: Focusing on the Rational

PART III. The Public as Art and Image. The Academy, The Media, and Visual
Persuasion . . . 295
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Stopping Time and Framing Space . . . 297
Still Media Defined
Formats of the Frame
Designing Well Within the Frame
Characteristics of Type
Parts of a Letterform
Type Groups
Other Terms
Practical Guidelines for Effective Design
More than Appearances

CREATIVE THIRTEEN. Personal Impact Assessment: Understanding Images from Intuitive

and Rational Perspectives . . . 323
The Goal: Understanding How Still Images Communicate

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. Images That Move and Sound . . . 333

Moving Media: Transcending Time & Space
The Body as Moving Image
Technological History
Basic Elements of Moving Images
Light and Color
Two-Dimensional Space
Three-Dimensional Space
Time and Motion
Sound
Returning to Content

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 Contents

CREATIVE FOURTEEN. Film Clip Analysis . . . 359

The Goal: Understanding How Moving Images Communicate

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. Living at the Speed of Mind: Old Media–New Media . . . 365
What Does All This Mean?
What Do We Know?
Layout
Images
Ads
Multimedia
Reconceptualizing Media Studies

CREATIVE FIFTEEN. Communicating the Story of a Person . . . 389

The Goal: To tell a story visually with supporting words

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. The Thousand Year Project . . . 397

Synthesis
The Larger Problem
From Ulysses to Artificial Intelligence
The Other Side of the Problem
The Plan
Table 14: The Key Ideas
An Eye to the Future
Conclusion

AFTERWORD. Ecology in Paradise . . . 417

CONTRIBUTORS . . . 421

REFERENCES . . . 425

SUGGESTED READINGS . . . 433

INDEX OF TERMS BY CHAPTER/CREATIVE . . . 437

ALPHABETICAL INDEX. . .443

COLOR PLATES. . .449

xiii
 Preface

PREFACE
Knowing Before Words

No form of communication has a more profound effect on the private minds of

individuals or the development of the public mind and culture than the visual
imagery of today’s media. Images are the primary carrier of media messages
produced by the most sophisticated handlers of media-savvy politicians, cor-
porate public relations campaigns, and product advertising. Visual images pro-
duced and delivered by television, print media, movies, video games, and the
Internet are so pervasive that they touch and profoundly affect the lives of all
citizens of 21st-century global cultures.

Before and beyond the ability of words, visual images communicate complex
and complete concepts instantaneously to the whole mind. Advances in neuro-
science and psychology indicate that the human brain uses imagery, as well as
other information perceived by the senses, to guide our actions subconsciously
before sending information to the neocortex, the center of words and rational
thought. We also have evidence that our nonconscious brains do not distin-
guish between mediated images and what we see in real life. The brain
encodes both forms of imagery into memory as if they are real and as if we
have perceived the information directly from real-life experiences. This
research, along with other work in brain science, education, art, and communi-
cation, has catapulted visual issues to the forefront of scholarship in such
seemingly disparate fields as science, art, and media studies.

To become an educated person in the 21st century requires not only verbal and
mathematical proficiency but also the ability to interpret, critique, create, and
use visual communication on sophisticated levels. In today’s visual world, most
individuals — even those with advanced education — are ill equipped to distin-
guish their own perceptions of reality and the behavior those perceptions gen-
erate from realities generated by mediated messages. Furthermore, even navi-
gating contemporary culture with conscious awareness of external perceptual
influences requires at least minimal mastery of the basic techniques of image
production, distribution, and consumption. Most important is appreciation for

Left: Figure P.1. Undiscovered Self by Jerry Uelsmann. Original in color.

xv
 the profound effects of imagery on individuals and the communities in which
they live. Visual and media literacy are as important to the 21st-century mind
as verbal and mathematical literacy have been and continue to be.

This book focuses on cultivating integrative mind processes that facilitate visu-
al and media literacy from both consumption and production points of view
and across the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. We do this by
helping you become aware of and use your intuitive cognitive processing abili-
ties. That, in turn, will help you better understand and use visual communica-
tion to enhance your intelligence, creativity, problem solving, and performance
in education and in life. Two points are significant here. One, by intuitive cogni-
tive processing abilities, we refer to those ways we know and understand with-
out the need to consciously or purposefully seek that understanding. One way
to think of intuitive processing is as a powerful form of mental activity that
occurs before and beyond consciousness and that guides our perceptions of
reality and our behavior. Our purpose here is to focus on ways we can access
those powerful parts of the mind that are primary guides of everyday life —
and we call that process intuitive cognition. We will more fully explain these
terms as we work through the book. Two, by literacy, we refer to the ability to
use (write or create) a means of communication effectively, as well as to the
ability to understand (read and interpret) the symbols of that system. Our goal
with this book is to integrate the complex, multidisciplined fields employing
visual symbols into an easily understood model of balanced intelligence and
visual communication. To do that, readers must focus attention on their visual
processing skills. Ultimately, we want readers to use the ideas and skills pre-
sented in this book to better use all of their cognitive abilities as integrative
complements.

As a primary text for introductory-level courses focusing on the visual, Visual

Communication grounds you in current visual research and visual means of
communication. Creative exercises teach you how to apply these new ideas to
enhance both your understanding of and work with images. Used as a supple-
mentary text, Visual Communication can enhance courses in which new ways of
creative thinking and living are a major focus — ranging from the physical and
social sciences, through new and traditional arts, and through media studies.

Key Reasons to Read This Book

First, within these covers lie ideas and practices we believe are significant to
the future of human life — and more specifically, to how individuals can live
informed, creative, and balanced lives that sustain rather than drain personal
and communal resources. The contents of this book are the result of our work
with close to 10,000 individuals over the last 30 years in four institutions of
higher learning, as well as more than 100 conference and workshop presenta-
tions throughout the United States and in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, and

xvi
 Preface
Mexico. Both current and past students tell us the positive impact our work has
had on their lives. What we present to you also results from our own personal
and scholarly growth experienced during that time. We do not claim to have all
the answers. We know our goals are ambitious and idealistic. We do believe,
however, that we have wisdom to offer — wisdom that can help anyone who
wants to make life better at any level.

Second, we feel compelled to address a void in the preparation of tomorrow's

global citizens — whether professional communicators, artists, social scien-
tists, physical scientists, or everyday users of media, art, and science in various
forms. A remarkable research movement in neurobiology and cognitive studies
is cutting a path through what before seemed impenetrable — understanding
how human beings perceive and know, and why they act the ways they do.
Central to this new research is clarity about the significance of visual communi-
cation and intuitive processing to ways of knowing, creative problem solving,
responding to the world, and interacting with one another. We believe we all
can use this new information to further the conscious evolution of humans
toward a socially responsible and sustainable global culture. We do have choic-
es, as individuals and as collectives. We make these choices — on conscious
and subconscious, rational and intuitive levels — every day.

From a neurobiological perspective, our intuitive intelligences, which include

our visual intelligence, represent at least half of our cognitive abilities. Our
intuitive processing abilities are equally as complex and far faster than are our
rational intelligences. Scientific evidence supports the idea that our intuitive
intelligences influence and guide rational intelligences. In fact, according to
recent experiments, without access to our nonconscious abilities, it may not be
possible for an otherwise normal human being to make advantageous deci-
sions based on reason.

This new understanding of how nonconscious processing of both new and pre-
vious experiences affects our behavior has yet to be incorporated throughout
even the most advanced societies. Our educational, scientific, economic, politi-
cal, and cultural systems continue to ignore the great, untapped potential of
our intuitive intelligences. The result is what we call intuitive illiteracy, a perva-
sive lack of ability to access intuitive intelligences on the sophisticated levels
that can facilitate creative problem solving and advantageous decision making
on the most advanced levels of cognition.

However, the power of intuitive cognition has not been completely ignored. Media
practitioners and educators in media, advertising, and public relations work hand
in hand with researchers in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, art, and commu-
nication. Their quest is to understand how best to use media processes to influ-
ence public attitudes, and perceptions of reality. Ultimately, the result is persua-
sive communication that subtly shapes the public mind and public behavior.

xvii
 We believe this sophisticated use of intuitive communication techniques on an
intuitively illiterate culture is the fundamental reason media messages have
such influence over our lives. Media messages regularly encourage us to seek
personal meaning through wealth, the consumption of products, and the col-
lection of material objects. In such a culture, the environment; intrapersonal
and interpersonal relationships; physical health; spirituality; and care for the
elderly, the poor, and the disadvantaged too often take a back seat to the quest
to attain goods, wealth, and individual and corporate power.

It is important to note here that we are not saying that all media are destruc-
tive. Contemporary media, including advertising, produce some of the most
creative art in our culture. In fact, a great deal of advertising supports prosocial
aims, such as providing revenue for a free press and free media. Nevertheless,
an educated person needs to be aware that he or she sees an estimated 3,000
to 4,000 media images every day. According to Robert Coen’s “Insider’s
Report,” world advertising revenues were expected to be $604 billion in 2006.
Since 1950, product manufacturers have used more of the world’s natural
resources than were used by the entire world throughout the rest of history.

Our point is that most media are highly intuitive in that they are visually, musi-
cally, and psychologically provocative. Media imagery often associate such
qualitative values as love, family, friendship, beauty, freedom, wealth, and hap-
piness with material goods. Advertising, for example, appeals to the intuitive
mind to sell values and lifestyles, and then associates the purchase of products
with the fulfillment of these human values, needs, and desires. We see these
values and lifestyles not only in advertising but also in nearly all other forms of
media communication. Logically, we know that buying a certain product will
not fulfill our needs for friendship, love, or family, yet we buy the products at
record levels while genuine self-esteem plummets and social problems soar.

Whether by intention or ignorance, our educational systems and our societies

in general have oppressed the development of intuitive intelligence, leaving
the populace intuitively illiterate. Using highly intuitive messages, media both
support and feed on our intuitive illiteracy. The media are primarily owned
and dominated by such multinational conglomerates as General Electric,
News Corporation, Disney, Viacom, CBS Corporation, and TimeWarner. Many
corporations have taken advantage of our weakening antitrust laws and our
political system to build companies that now dominate both media and gov-
ernment. If current trends continue, they will soon dominate formal education.
Our collective intuitive illiteracy allows corporate-dominated media mes-
sages to shape our perceptions of reality and thus guide our behaviors. The
ultimate purpose of the messages is exploitation of economic and cultural
systems on a vast scale. In such a culture, dominant values will be corpo-
rate values, and activity will be governed by the economic bottom line.
Often forgetting its mission to educate at “higher” levels, higher education

xviii
 Preface
increasingly prepares students to become cogs in a largely corporate world.
Those who pursue careers in newspapers, for example, are likely to land jobs
with media chains, whether those jobs are news oriented or marketing orient-
ed. Should they be creatures of great conscience, they will experience enor-
mous conflict between their ideals of practicing socially responsible communi-
cation and the realities of profit-driven media companies. Artists, scientists,
and business people alike face similar conflicts.

What You Can Do About It

These are strong words. By using the abilities of your whole mind to look at
our world with clear vision and personal reflection, we believe you will see that
our concerns are warranted. Whether you agree with us about issues of corpo-
rate influence is not essential. We ask that you read our ideas about your visual
and intuitive intelligences with a mind that is open to possibility — the possi-
bility that you can draw on the enormous potential of your own fully devel-
oped intellectual abilities to live a more fully and meaningfully balanced life in
our complex world.

As scholars, artists, and educators — and concerned citizens of this earth — we

offer you the means by which you can learn to discern and rectify imbalances
within yourself, your community, and society at large for the common good of
humankind. This we believe is the mission of education. Our goal is lofty, yes,
but much can be gained in its pursuit. Consider the alternative — not to try?

We seek to arm you, our readers, with the knowledge and skills to change the
way you live and interact with the broader culture. We are not alone in this pur-
suit. Many independent and alternative publishers, highly aware editors and
writers, perceptive visual communicators and business people, soulful scien-
tists and artists, conscientious parents, and other like-minded professionals,
scholars and educators seek to educate the whole person and facilitate socially
responsible, conscious living in a globally sustainable culture. This book is our
way of contributing to that end.

At the heart of this book is a new, balanced approach to the study of intraper-
sonal, interpersonal, and mass communication. Communication is shared
meaning. In its best sense, it aspires for universal understanding — the idea
that every person can share meaning with, or understand, every other person.
But understanding alone is not sufficient. Sharing is a process, a continual
exchange of messages in many forms, a continual seeking to understand our-
selves and how we interact with the world around us. And that exchange of
messages results in the actions of everyday life.

We focus our new approach on developing intuitive intelligence through

increased understanding of and skill in visual communication. It is estimated

xix
 that more than 75% of the information our brains process is visual. Obviously,
when we see with our eyes, we communicate visually. When we read words on
a printed page, watch a sitcom on television, interact with an Internet site, take
pictures at a birthday party, notice a look on someone’s face, or remember
what a friend looks like, we communicate visually. When we write, type, draw,
paint, film, or photograph, we communicate visually. One of the discoverers of
DNA, Sir Francis Crick, chose visual perception as the path for subsequent
study of what makes us human. We also know that the blind develop vast visu-
al systems within their minds. Yet most communication schools emphasize
writing with words. Most colleges and universities stress verbal mastery with
only peripheral attention to visual mastery.

We do not advocate lessening the commitment to learning how to write well as

a foundation for good communication in any field of study. We do advocate
balancing the commitment to words with a commitment not only to the visual
but also to cultivating each individual’s potential for balanced and holistic
learning, thinking, problem solving, communicating, decision making, and
doing. To do otherwise keeps us anchored in the past, while all around us whirl
multidimensional media driven largely by profit motives with little regard for
consequences to life on this earth.

Visual communication is a core function of the human organism and its inter-
actions with other entities. We want you to understand how ingrained habits of
seeing, knowing, creating, and behaving limit potential for living full, satisfy-
ing, and socially responsible lives. We want you to learn how you can improve
your thinking and creative problem-solving processes through conscious per-
ception of natural and mediated stimuli and through conscious creation of
visual messages grounded in awareness of the reciprocity of life. We want you
to learn how to use your whole mind — verbal and visual, rational and intuitive
— to fully understand your self and the world in which you live and create.

The good news is that you CAN develop and cultivate your whole mind toward
a holistic perspective that balances quantitative and qualitative issues that
serve everyone, not just a small portion of the people of our world. The prob-
lems are serious and pervasive. The time for change is now. We believe there is
hope for change. This book is filled with that hope.

R.W. and J.N., Eugene

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 Preface

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The essence of this book emerged more than twenty years ago as the authors
began to teach and write about visual literacy in the late 1970s. So many indi-
viduals and institutions have contributed to our work during that time that it is
impossible to fully know or explain how it all came together or to name every
source of an idea or inspiration. Each time we found what we believed was the
earliest reference to even the most basic concept of a balanced, integrative
mind, we later discovered even earlier sources. This book is our best effort to
put into one volume all that we have learned — from our experiences, read-
ings, research, art, friends, family, and colleagues — about visual communica-
tion, media, the arts, and the sciences in the understanding and shaping of
reality, behavior, and culture. This book truly is a collaboration of hearts and
minds. Our personal goal is to continue our own paths toward balance and cre-
ating sustainable communities.

One thing of which we are certain is that the research, theory, and outcomes
are moving targets. They are a life process. Our hope is that this work will pro-
vide a flexible framework for continued advances in the many disciplines that
are influenced and supported by educational and cultural models that con-
tribute to the development of balance through visual communication and the
arts toward the integrative mind.

Our deepest thanks go to our family members, Josh and Bryn, Kate and
Graeme, and Matt and Abby, and our parents Vivian Hickerson Reagan, Fred
and Iris Williams, and Eva Henley, and to the thousands of students who have
been essential to the development of our theories and applications in visual
communication and the arts.

We also express deep gratitude to those — especially the students — who gave
us permission to include their work in this volume. Their images and words
bring the book to life.

At St. Edward’s University in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dean Jean Burbo
and Sister Ann Crane strongly supported our work in visual communication
and publications. As past presidents of the Texas Photographic Society during
the 1980s, we both received extensive help from TPS board members Ave

xxi
 Bonar, Carol Cohen Burton, Mary Lee Edwards, Bill Kennedy, Bob Haslinger,
and Bill Wright, and from Bob O'Connor and Francis Leonard at the Texas
Commission on the Humanities and the Humanities Resource Center.

In the 1990s colleagues and friends from many institutions and organizations
supported our work. At The University of Texas at Austin College of
Communication, Jim Tankard, Max McCombs, Wayne Danielson, J.B. Colson,
Janet Staiger, Nick Lasorsa, and Bill Korbus provided unwavering friendship,
support and guidance. Roy Flukinger, Senior Curator of Photography and Film
at the Humanities Research Center, was instrumental in helping us locate visual
artists, scholars, and collectors who contributed to the book and offered con-
stant encouragement for our work. Diane Hope guided us into the National
Communications Association Visual Communication Division, where we were
awarded for our research, and to the Rochester Institute of Technology Visual
Rhetoric and Technologies Conferences. Our dear friend Ann Marie Barry put
her soul into this work, line editing the entire manuscript and giving us rest at
her lake home in New Hampshire. Herb Zettl, Craig Denton, Larry Mullen,
Sandy Moriarty, Ken Smith, Paul Lester, Paul Messaris, and Mary Stieglitz,
among many others, contributed and extensively reviewed, critiqued, and
advanced our work over many years through the annual Visual Communication
Conference and beyond. Lance Strate and Sue Barnes introduced us to the
Media Ecology Association, which published our work.

Our editors and publishers at Texas A&M Press and Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, particularly Linda Bathgate, made it possible for all of this to come
together. Flukinger, Mary Ann Fulton (then at the George Eastman House),
Barbara McCandless at the Amon Carter Museum, and Anne Tucker at the
Houston Museum of Fine Arts collected and supported our work. Dean Tim
Gleason of the School of Journalism and Communication and Doug Blandy,
Associate Dean of Architecture and Allied Arts, at the University of Oregon
have provided more support in terms of time and funding than any faculty
member could expect. Other institutional and organizational support came
from Advanced Micro Devices, Austin Arts Commission, Houston Center for
Photography, National Endowment for the Humanities, Meadows Foundation,
Brown Foundation, Houston FotoFest, PhotoLucida, PhotoAmericas, NAFOTO,
Universidad Autónoma de Mexico, Instituto Culturo Mexicano, Instituto Culturo
Peruano, and the Instituto Culturo São Paulo.

Friends of The Old Jail Museum in Albany, TX, supported Rick’s work for many
years. They include: Reilly Nail, Betsy and Don Koch, Bob and Nancy Green,
Bill, Elizabeth, Billy and Liz Green, A.V. and Pat Jones, Watt Matthews, Benny
Peacock, Gary Hebel, Melvin Gayle, and all of their extended families.

The people of Zaragoza, Coahuila, Mexico; people in the Kinney Avenue neigh-
borhood in Austin, TX., and Terry Newton were core to Julianne’s work for

xxii
 Preface
many years. Russell Lee, Stanley Farrar, Frances Leonard, Pete Holland, Bill
Wright, Bill Stott, Roy Flukinger, and April Rapier offered feedback, encourage-
ment and exhibition and publication venues for Julianne’s work.

Colleagues at the University of Oregon who have been essential to our success
include Bill and Jan Ryan, James Fox, John Russial, Al Stavitsky, Carol Ann
Bassett, Janet Wasko, Leslie Steeves, Debra Merskin, Duncan McDonald, Andre
Chinn, Tom Lundberg, Ryan Stasel, Sue Varani, Greg Kerber, Kathy Campbell,
Glenn Morris, and Erik Palmer. Hillary Lake, Ellie Bayrd, and Sharleen Nelson
plowed through early versions of the manuscript to edit, create image databas-
es, seek permissions, and set up Quark files. More recently, Lane Community
College and LCC colleagues have supported the work. They include Mary
Spilde, Sonya Christian, Adam Grosowsky, Patrick Lanning, Rick Simms, and
Mary Jo Workman. Jan Halvorsen contributed enormous energy, time, and cre-
ativity through her art, illustration work, and synergistic dialogues.

In both Texas and Oregon, so many friends prodded, cajoled, nourished, and
encouraged us that we cannot list all. Here is a partial list in no particular
order: Steve and Gwen Clark, Bill Witliff, Dave Hamrick, Steve and Ann Taylor,
Nancy Springer-Baldwin, Marilyn Schultz, Alice White, Molly Ivins, Betsy Moon,
Mike and Julie Murphy, Jim and Cosette Wood, D.J. Stout, Tim McClure, Steve
Gurasich, Judy Trabolsi, Fred Baldwin, Wendy Watriss, Sharon Stewart, Jean
Caslin, Scott Lubbock, Keith Lawson, and Nancy Boyett.

Thanks to Nancy Golden and the Springfield Public Schools, Rosaria Haugland,
the Rosaria Haugland Foundation, and our friends at North Eugene high
schools for continuing to support and enrich our current work in integrative
arts learning.

Thank you to the friends and scholars of choice — Larry Mullen, Craig Denton,
Sandra Moriarty, Herb Zettl, Ann Marie Barry, and Roy Flukinger — who read
and edited first and later drafts of this manuscript and thus helped make it
what it is.

And to Janet and Richard Reed, kindred souls and forever friends, we could not
have made it without you.

Undoubtedly, we have left out the names of beautiful people who helped make
this book happen.

We thank you all.

Next Page: Figure P2. Detail from class self portrait made
in Rick’s first visual literacy class featuring omniphasism in 1995. Original in color.

xxiii
 I would like to support the idea that there could be a universal
set of biological responses to moral dilemmas, a sort of ethics,
built into our brains. My hope is that we soon may be able to
uncover those ethics, identify them, and begin to live more fully
by them. I believe we live by them largely unconsciously now,
but that a lot of suffering, war, and conflict could be eliminated
if we could agree to live by them more consciously.
Michael S. Gazzaniga, 2005
 Figure I.1. The Circus, by Julianne Newton.

2 Williams and Newton

INTRODUCTION
The Integrative Mind

The brain is naturally integrative as it creates mind. By

becoming conscious of its integrative modalities and by
developing one’s abilities to use those modalities on more
sophisticated levels as complementary processes, one can
achieve a state of dynamic cognitive balance that facilitates the
highest order of cognitive creativity, problem solving, and
performance in educational, professional, and life endeavors.
R.W.

T
his book is written using words to describe a part of the mind that knows
before and beyond words. This powerful component of human knowing
represents at least half of our cognitive abilities, including our visual,
musical, psychological, and physiological abilities. We call these cognitive abili-
ties intuitive intelligences because they are linked and differentiated by their
unique ability to attain knowledge directly without words and without evidence
of reason. These intuitive intelligences often use their primary knowledge on
nonconscious levels to shape our perceptions of reality, solve problems, make
decisions, and guide our behaviors before the conscious mind is activated.

Using words to describe cognitive processes that operate beyond words may
seem like a contradiction. However, it is not. We attempt through words and
images to provide a clear, working understanding of how you can fully develop
and consciously integrate the processes of both your intuitive intelligences and
your rational intelligences to create a state of Integrative Mind. This dynamical-
ly balanced state of mind will enhance your creativity and problem-solving
abilities to work at more sophisticated levels of cognition and to accomplish
more than by using only your rational abilities.

As you work through the book, stop to contemplate the images. Each image
has been carefully selected and placed in order to communicate to you in ways
that words cannot. Determining how each image complements and enhances
words in the text is essential to understanding.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 3

 The study of visual communication has come full circle as an essential compo-
nent of becoming an educated individual. During the 19th century, cultivating
artistic ability was standard: People considered “educated” were “visually liter-
ate” in the sense that they could “read and write” a visual language. Often,
that “language” was one or more of the fine or performing arts: A well-educat-
ed person could interpret and discuss works of art, as well as paint, or draw, or
perform music or poetry — at least on basic levels. In today’s world, however,
college students usually take a minimum number of arts area courses as part
of their undergraduate curricula. Few learn to use a visual medium with profi-
ciency, and even fewer extend visual learning at graduate and postgraduate
levels. Ironically, as visual education has been pushed to the periphery of the
core curriculum in higher education, the need for visual literacy has grown
exponentially.

One has only to glance at the contemporary environment to note the plethora
of visual forms that we all must navigate in the course of daily life: road signs
and maps, subway and bus schedules, video arcades, limitless Internet sites,
blatant brand advertising on clothing, tattooed and pierced bodies, heavily styl-
ized makeup and hair, all supported by 150+ channel television, Internet, and
print media that blur entertainment, editorial, and advertising boundaries. It is
estimated that the average person in the United States views some 3,000 to
4,000 media-generated images daily. Those images critically influence our lives
and our culture. How does a person intelligently negotiate this environment
through a word-based education that emphasizes skills that are neither visually
nor intuitively sophisticated?

Visual Communication addresses this dilemma by introducing a holistic

approach to education in order to integrate visual and verbal and intuitive and
rational proficiencies. We wrote this book for a wide range of audiences in vari-
ous disciplines operating at multiple levels of the educational system. As you
read the book, you will follow a carefully planned course of study that teaches
you to cultivate your intuitive and visual intelligences in tandem with tradition-
al, verbally based rational intelligences. A major theme throughout the book is
the role of the visual as the primary pathway to integrating intuitive and ration-
al cognitive processes. The book integrates our original, holistic approach to
learning and knowing with the work of other scholars. Thus, Visual
Communication expands and bridges traditional approaches to the study of
visual communication, liberal arts, and social and natural sciences by embrac-
ing intuitive and rational intelligences as equivalent, complementary, and
mutually essential cognitive processes.

This integrative approach is called Omniphasism, which means “all in bal-

ance.” Omniphasism teaches balanced, whole-mind cognition strategies by
strengthening visual communication and other intuitive processing abili-
ties. Another way to think of omniphasism is as Integrative Mind Theory.

4 Williams and Newton

 Introduction

Figure I.2. Focusing on consciousness, by Rick Williams.

Clarifying Terms
Let’s begin with the simple terms visual and verbal. Scholars and educators
often use these two seemingly opposing terms to represent the two primary
systems our brains use to process information into knowledge. In the 1970s
Roger Sperry and Joseph Bogen introduced the concept of right- and left-brain
hemisphere specialization to explain the same processes. In their model, the
right brain was predominately visual and the left brain was predominately ver-
bal. Since then neuroscientists have discovered that the brain is far more com-
plex and integrated than the right/left, visual/verbal model implies. But Sperry
and Bogen’s basic concept of two primary cognitive-processing systems — one
that analyzes information in rational, linear formats and one that synthesizes
information in intuitive formats — has stood the test of time and science. The
term cognitive simply refers to the process of knowing.

To clarify these ideas and facilitate applying dual processing systems to a

broader arena of cognition and intelligence, we characterize the two primary
cognitive modes in terms of the way they process information — either rational-
ly through analysis (dividing something into component parts to understand it)
or intuitively through synthesis (spontaneously relating different elements to
create something new), rather than by their location in the brain. Thus, we call
the analytical cognitive processes rational and the synthesistic cognitive
processes intuitive. Each cognitive mode uses particular intelligences in specific
ways to understand and respond to the world. These intelligences also can
operate intuitively or rationally on basic cognitive levels. The result is an inte-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 5

 grated system of complementary cognitive processing modes — each equally
significant to whole-mind knowing. We discuss the relationship of these various
intelligences to Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory later in the book.

Understanding and developing integrated mind processes is fundamental to

studying the visual, because visual intelligence is the primary intuitive intelli-
gence. Further, all intelligences, whether predominantly intuitive or predomi-
nantly rational, have significant visual components that operate on both physi-
cal and cognitive levels. It is estimated that more than 75% of all information
the brain receives is visual. Therefore, it is important to explore cognition and
multiple intelligences to fully grasp how significant visual communication is to
our understanding of the world around us and of ourselves, as well as the
behavior that this understanding generates.

The term cognition refers to the brain processes we use in the act of knowing.

The term intelligence refers to the ability to use cognition (the processes of know-
ing) to understand and act on what one experiences. For instance, visual intelli-
gence uses imagery we gather through our eyes, as well as imagery we create in
the mind’s eye, to make meaning, solve problems, make decisions, and determine
actions. This process occurs on both conscious and nonconscious levels.

We use the word intuitive to describe those primary cognitive processes and
intelligences that operate in a synthesistic manner at their most basic cogni-
tive levels. Intuitive intelligence means the ability to attain knowledge direct-
ly through cognition without evidence of reason. In this sense, intuitive does
not refer to extrasensory or paranormal perception. However, intuitive can
refer to preconscious awareness or barely conscious perceptions that guide
our behaviors toward certain decisions before we have rationally decided to
make those decisions. For instance, if someone unexpectedly throws a ball
at you, you may see and catch it using intuitive cognition before you have
time to rationally, verbally analyze the situation.

Although we also use these processes as part of rational ways of knowing,

their primary cognitive function is intuitive and therefore operates before
and beyond reason. On the other hand, rational cognitive processes and
intelligences use logic and reason to analyze information over time.

Synthesis means bringing disparate pieces of information together to form new

understanding. Analysis means taking something apart to understand it. So,
intuitive intelligences process information from a holistic, nonlinear perspective.
To say it another way, intuitive processing often is preconscious and prerational,
meaning it occurs before we are aware of it and before we can use it to make
conscious decisions. It synthesizes information across space and time to initiate
behavioral responses before the rational mind has had time to use the slower

6 Williams and Newton

 Introduction
process of analysis to receive, interpret, and respond to the information.
When we use the term consciousness in this book, we mean a state of aware-
ness. In other words, you are conscious of something when you are aware of it
or thinking about it. Most often, consciousness involves words. The noncon-
scious mind, on the other hand, refers to the parts and processes of our minds
of which we are not aware.

Preconscious processes bring information stored in the nonconscious mind

into consciousness, either through the behavior they initiate or through
processes of the conscious mind. Thus, the idea of preconscious information
includes nonconscious information in the process of moving forward into con-
sciousness.

Visual intelligence, as we use the term here, is a primary example of an intuitive

intelligence that uses both nonconscious and preconscious information to initiate
behavior. Our eyes move approximately 20 times every second to gather infor-
mation. We neither are conscious of this movement nor can rationally consider
and analyze every image that the eyes see. Nevertheless, selections of this visual
information are received by the visual processing center of the brain, which first
synthesizes visual stimuli on preconscious, nonrational levels before initiating a
behavioral response. In other words, by the time we become conscious of what
we are seeing, the intuitive mind has already synthesized the significant informa-
tion and set a response into motion. Of course, if the rational mind becomes
conscious of the information and behavior, it can then use the visual information
to analyze what has been observed and adjust behavior as it deems necessary.
Thus, visual cognition is equally significant to both intuitive and rational process-
es in an integrated and complementary format, and vice versa.

Listed below are several categories of intuitive intelligence, along with a brief
explanation of each. Please note that in each category of intelligence we
emphasize a strong, common visual component. That visual component does
not diminish the other properties of the intelligence; however, it does allow us
to consider and understand intuitive intelligence as a whole from a visual cog-
nitive perspective. The organization below draws in part from Gardner’s theory
of multiple intelligences and Ann Marie Barry’s theory of visual intelligence. We
discuss both of these theories in detail as we work through the book. The pur-
pose of Visual Communication is to extend these and other theories with our
own original work through a model for developing an integrated mind.

•Visual Intelligence
T h e a b i l i t y t o o b s e r ve , u n d e r s t a n d , a n d r e s p o n d t o i m a g e s , l i g h t , s y m-
b o l s , s h a p e s , p a tt e r n s , c o l o r s , c o n t r a s t , c o m p o s i t i o n , a n d b a l a n c e .
May involve physical sight, mind’s eye, meditations, metaphorical imagery,
imagination, drawing, photography, and gestalt comprehension and response.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 7

 •Musical Intelligence
T h e a b i l i t y t o h e a r a n d u n d e r s t a n d p i t ch , r h y t h m , t i m b r e , a n d t h e
e m o t i o n a l p o w e r a n d c o m p l e x o r g a n i z a t i o n o f m u s i c . May involve
physical hearing, mind’s ear, mind’s eye, musical instruments, imagination,
voice, and emotional and physical responses.

•Psychological Intelligence
T h e a b i l i t y t o k n ow , u n d e r s t a n d , a n d r e s p o n d t o a d e t a i l e d aw a r e n e s s
o f o n e ’s s e l f a n d o t h e r s . May involve sense perceptions; emotions; imagina-
tion; visualization; nonconscious mind and memory; dreams; physical, mental,
and emotional relationships with self and others; and gestalt comprehension
and response.

•Physiological Intelligence
T h e a b i l i t y t o k n ow , u n d e r s t a n d , a n d r e s p o n d t o o n e ’s b o d y a n d i t s
r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t h e s e l f, t o o t h e r s , a n d t o o b j e c t s . May involve visual and
spatial awareness, physical movement, coordination, sense perceptions, emo-
tions, nonconscious mind and memory, meditations, dreams, and gestalt com-
prehension and response.

All of us are familiar with such rational intelligences as mathematical and lin-
guistic ways of knowing and communicating. We use them every day to name,
categorize, count, and logically explain our activities and conscious thought
processes. We spend most of our school years learning to read, write, and
work mathematical equations — to use our rational intelligences.

We also all use such intuitive intelligences as visual, musical, psychological,

and bodily kinesthetic ways of knowing thousands of times everyday. We use
them so much, in fact, that we take them for granted. Because most of us are
born with the ability to see, hear, and move, we assume that these intuitive
abilities develop without need for the intensive formal training or practice that
we give our rational intelligences. To some extent, they do develop on their
own, without conscious attention. However, we have much to gain if we recog-
nize, develop, and nurture our intuitive abilities beyond the rudimentary levels
that enable us to function on basic levels in everyday life.

Not all intuitive cognition is nonconscious or preconscious. Visual memory, for

example, can be brought to consciousness and integrated with our rational
processes to help us make informed decisions consciously, or it can be deeply
embedded in the emotional systems so that we become aware only of the
intense feeling that nonconscious visual memories generate. Seeking informa-
tion in our preconscious minds for guidance in rational decision making can
add a cognitively balanced perspective to our experiences and our behavior.

8 Williams and Newton

 Introduction
Two active ways to access the preconscious, intuitive mind include meditation
— sometimes called active imagination or visualization — and dreams. The first
creative assignment that follows chapter 1 asks you to use an ancient technique
of visualization. You will work with dreams in creative 9.

Underscoring a Key Point

Before going further, we need to make clear that we are talking about two dif-
ferent, yet integrated, cognitive-processing systems — one rationally dominant
and one intuitively dominant — in
one brain. Both our intuitive and
rational cognitive systems, though
operationally different, are integrat-
ed and operate together all of the
time. Although a particular intelli-
gence does not work alone, it may
be dominant for a given task or
process. For instance, the rational,
mathematical mind might be domi-
nant when we are balancing check-
books, though the intuitive mind
might clue us to the fact that some-
thing is wrong with our figures,
even when they seem to add up. The
intuitive mind might dominate while
we draw or dance, but we need the
rational mind to study and learn
new dance steps or drawing tech-
niques. Learning to use the comple-
mentary, integrative nature of cogni-
tion in conscious, intentional ways
to enhance intelligence and creativi-
ty is a primary focus of this book.

The problem today with this integra-

tive-mind scenario is that we live in
a culture that has become so ration-
ally biased that our intuitive systems
remain underdeveloped and operate
primarily on basic, nonconscious
levels. Yet they influence both our
conscious decision making and our
actions. Because our educational,
scientific, economic, political, and
cultural systems do not focus on or Figure I.3. One type of knowledge source, by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 9

 emphasize the intuitive mind, few of us have developed a significant, much
less sophisticated, ability to recognize and use our intuitive intelligences. This
is not to say that intuitive intelligences have gone unnoticed or unused by all.
Many sophisticated executives in major corporations, and particularly in adver-
tising and media, have recently learned that practicing visualization and other
intuitively centered techniques improves creativity, problem solving, and deci-
sion making and thus enhances productivity. But this has not been incorporat-
ed into our educational system or our overall culture on a broad scale.

The very fact that you, as an individual within a society, have been taught so
little about your intuitive intelligences is itself a testimony to the rational bias
of our culture. This bias against the development and nurture of our intuitive
intelligences suppresses and oppresses the very cognitive processes that bring
creativity, problem-solving abilities, deeper meaning, quality, compassion, and
an integrated spirit to the facts and dogma of our lives and communities.

This book is written in words about ways of knowing that operate beyond
words to influence and guide our lives. We have organized the reading so that
the book flows between theory and practice, and between rational processing
and intuitive creating. Chapters 1 to 6 integrate our own work with theories in
neurobiology, psychology, education, neuropsychology, and visual and media
literacy. This provides both historical and contemporary support and context for
various aspects of the omniphasic model of intuitive and rational intelligence
and their relationship to visual literacy. Chapters 7 to 11 add new dimensions to
traditional approaches to visual and media literacy by introducing and applying
omniphasic, integrative-mind techniques. Chapters 12 to 15 illustrate how the
media use intuitive communication techniques and offer suggestions about how
you can use omniphasic techniques to overcome media manipulations and to
create socially responsible visual messages for mass and personal media.

This book teaches you how to use your intuitive intelligences, especially the
visual component of those intelligences, as equal and complementary to your
rational knowing processes. In this book, you will explore both facts and theory,
from a primarily visual perspective, to help your rational mind understand the
power and significance of its intuitive complement. You also will work though a
set of creative assignments to become more aware of your intuitive abilities, to
enhance them, and to integrate them with your rational abilities. In the process,
you will expand your cognitive abilities to help you find new solutions to old
problems in ways that enhance both meaning and quality of life. You will be
well on your way to becoming an excellent visual communicator — one who
can both interpret and create visual messages for the 21st-century world.

10 Williams and Newton

 Part I

PART I.
VISION AND INTELLIGENCE
Understanding Intelligence
as Intuitive and Rational

Part I integrates our new ideas with established theories in neu-

robiology, psychology, education, neuropsychology, and visual
and media literacy. This provides both historical and contempo-
rary support and context for various aspects of the omniphasic
model of intuitive and rational intelligence and their relationship
to visual literacy.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 11

 Figure 1.1. Sitting Bull holding peace pipe, by D. F. Barry, 1885, Bismarck, Dakota.
Photographic print on cabinet card, courtesy of the Library of Congress
Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-111147.

12 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER ONE
Seeking Dynamic Balance:
The Shaman, The Scientist, and the Theologian

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make
for our children.
— Sitting Bull, Lakota Sioux, 1877

She-Bear: The Power of Integrating Visual and Verbal Communication

L
et us tell you a story, a parable yet, as it was given to us by Bear Faces the
Wind. In this story of the soul, Bear Faces the Wind tells the story of She-
Bear to a theology professor and to a scientist.

= = = Figure 1.2.
Standing Holy,
“Hidden in a den deep beneath the frozen ground in the mountains, She-Bear
Sitting Bull’s
awakens from her winter sleep and gives birth to two tiny cubs. The bear cubs
Daughter,
are blind, hairless, somewhat shapeless creatures weighing less than two
by D. F. Barry,
pounds each. As the spring sun melts the snow, remaking the fertile world out-
1885, Bismarck,
side, She-Bear uses her tongue to lick her shapeless cubs into the image of
Dakota.
bears. Thus, when the melted snow has filled the rivers and the forest floor has
Photographic print
flowered, the cubs will be ready to face the outside world in the fullness of
on cabinet card,
their Bearness.”
courtesy of the
Library of the
The scientist, considering the meaning of the story, focuses on the idea of bear
Congress Prints
cubs being shapeless and ponders the idea of how the mother can lick them
and Photographs
into the image of a bear. Questioning this, the scientist follows She-Bear to her
Division, LC-
den the next fall. Later, when the bear is comfortably hibernating, the scientist
USZ62-117642.
returns to make a peephole in the den so he can apply scientific observation to
the formation process after the cubs are born. Of course, being aware that sci-
entific observations are always challenged, the scientist increases the reliability
by following 10 bears and digging 10 peepholes to expand the sample size. To

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 13

 increase confidence further, the scientist adds five more observers to the team.
Naturally, in the spring, the team records that in 10 of 10 dens the cubs, though
hairless, apparently blind and somewhat shapeless at birth, do in fact look like
small bears and, though the mother does lick them, this does not literally
change their shape or image. Thus, armed with quantitative scientific evidence,
they denounce the story as inaccurate, and therefore invalid, and not to be
taken seriously.

Thinking the scientist has missed the mark and that there must be some deep-
er meaning to the story, the theologian looks to the book of wisdom that she
reveres as the word of God and finds the idea of discipline and spiritual growth
in a passage about sparing the rod and spoiling the child. Obviously, the the-
ologian challenges, this story is a parable and means that the mother disci-
plines the cubs until they conform to the image that she has picked out for
them as bear cubs.

Bear Faces the Wind, who has told the story from generation to generation,
smiles at the scientist and the theologian and tells them, “You are both com-
pletely correct and you are both completely wrong.”

“Of course,” says Bear Faces the Wind, “the cubs physically look like baby
bears when they are born. That is what they are. It is good though to confirm
that they are hairless, blind, and shapeless.” The scientist smiles. But Bear
Faces the Wind continues, “Yet what they look like on the outside is not all that
the story is about.”

“And,” says the Bear Faces the Wind, “the story is a parable, and the mother
bear will certainly use her own form of discipline to teach the cubs what she
wants them to know.” The theologian smiles. Bear Faces the Wind continues,
“But using physical force to make the cubs in her own image is not the whole
point of the story either.”

Bear Faces the Wind explains, “This is a story of the soul that teaches both the
Rational and the Intuitive mind. It does this by using facts as symbols or
metaphors for reality that exists beyond the facts alone.”

”For example, it is within the cave,” continues Bear Faces the Wind, “that She-
Bear, who represents the mature, life-giving, nurturing, feminine spirit within
each of us, begins the preparation for the cubs to enter the outside world.
Thus, at the beginning of the story, the idea of shaping the cubs has to do with
shaping their inner selves, not their actual physical shape.

“Also, bears use their tongues to both lick and heal wounds and to show affec-
tion. So, the idea of licking is a symbol of protection and nurturing of the
immature until their own inner sense of themselves as bears matures. Because

14 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 1
of this shaping, the cubs are able to protect and care for themselves inside
before they move into the outer world.”

= = =
This story, She-Bear, is significant to us as individuals and as a society. It clear-
ly illustrates the advantage of holistic application of the rational and the intu-
itive intelligences of our minds. In addition to using our logical, rational intelli-
gences to establish certain facts about bear cubs, the story draws on our sym-
bolic intuitive intelligences to look beyond the facts. Seeking this deeper mean-
ing is the key to developing creativity and values that ensure quality of life for
the individual and, subsequently, for the relationships the individual develops
within the community.

The story also parallels and symbolizes the way that mass communication,
driven by rationally biased, educational, social, economic, and governmental
systems, can effectively ignore the whole story to perpetuate their own, limit-
ed, linear, hegemonic systems upon a half-literate society. In this way, they are
able to significantly shape our values and, therefore, our behaviors, relation-
ships, and lives.

This symbolic story is significant to the teaching of visual literacy, art, journalism,
mass communication, and other disciplines because media messages produced
by symbolic prose or visual craft have the power to communicate instantaneous-
ly and profoundly to both the conscious and the nonconscious, the rational and
intuitive intelligences. Thus, they leave lasting impressions that shape our lives
on levels of which we are not always consciously aware.

And these deeply felt intuitive metaphors can be, and are, misinterpreted and
misused by gifted, intuitively literate communicators in these same mass
communication, educational, social, economic, and government systems. The
visual communicators behind these powerful systems use the media to pro-
duce and disseminate intuitive image metaphors that are constructed to per-
suade and manipulate our preconscious cognitive states. Subsequently, these
intuitive messages, operating from our preconscious memory, form precon-
scious biases that guide our problem-solving and decision-making processes.
This is the most popular, effective, and powerful art of our time. It shapes our
lives in specific ways that exalt the intent of the systems but rarely foster the
quality of our being. They teach us to focus our energy and our behavior to
use physical, external rewards to nurture and satisfy our deepest inner
needs for human understanding and relationships. Of course, this pro-
duces an overwhelming quantity of objects in our lives but very little
quality in the form of relationships or a sense of community integrity.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 15

 Because our educational systems have focused on rational intelligences rather
than intuitive intelligences, intelligences that are powerful and equally as com-
plex and effective as our rational intelligences, we are left as intuitive illiter-
ates, vulnerable to sophisticated media manipulations. The use of sophisticat-
ed, intuitive communication techniques establishes the mass media as the edu-
cators and exploiters of the intuitive intelligences. As such they are positioned
to unduly influence our perceptions of reality, our values, and thus our lives
and our culture. The film series The Matrix suggests what a continuation of this
model might look like in the future.

Only when, as did Bear Faces the Wind, we integrate the intelligences of our
whole minds to shape our lives and our culture do we embrace the balance
that reaps the benefits of the whole story, so that human beings enjoy both
appropriate quantity and optimum quality of life.

If you want to become fully educated, both in theory and practice, you must
move beyond the limited educational model, which emphasizes mathematical
and linguistic intelligence, to study and apply the full capacity of your intelli-
gence. You must move beyond rational bias toward a balanced cognitive per-
spective that develops and nurtures your intuitive intelligences as equally sig-
nificant to your rational intelligences. Omniphasism proposes one way to
begin making this critical transformation individually and as a culture.

A Theory of Integrative Mind

Omniphasism, which means “all in balance,” is a holistic approach Rick
Williams developed in1995 to cultivate and use the varied abilities of the mind.
Before we explore the omniphasic theory in detail, it will be helpful to get on
even ground in terms of the meanings of basic concepts and words that inform
the theory. Tables 1, 2, and 3 at the end of this chapter outline the key terms,
ideas and basic theory underlying the view that rational and intuitive intelli-
gences are complementary cognitive processes at work in the integrative
mind. We explore the ideas and concepts further in the next few chapters. It is
critical to the understanding of omniphasism that you also develop and prac-
tice your intuitive abilities. The creative exercises that follow each chapter of
this book are designed specifically to help you recognize, practice, and develop
your intuitive intelligences in concert with your rational abilities. They will help
you understand and apply the theory that is explained in each chapter. For that
reason it is important to do the exercises in order, after you have read the
chapter. You may discover your own rational bias as you do the creative exer-
cises. This means that you may find some resistance to doing them, or may ini-
tially think they are too simple, or that you are not getting enough out of them.
Do not let that discourage or stop you. You have spent most of your school life
developing your rational abilities in the rational realm of logic, mathematics,
and linguistics. If you spend the required time to complete all of these exercis-

16 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 1
es, we feel certain you will have a new and deep appreciation of your intuitive
intelligences. Not only will you become visually and intuitively literate but you
will be better prepared to apply your whole mind to creatively solve problems
and make advantageous decisions for your work and life. The first creative
exercise that follows provides a relaxing, intuitively oriented break from the
rationally dominant theoretical ideas in the chapter. Enjoy.

Figure 1.3. Winter, by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 17

 Table 1. Key Terms

Cognition (W)*
The act or process of knowing, including awareness and judgment, or a
product of this act.
K n ow i n g ( W )
Having information or understanding.
Intelligence (W)
The ability to learn or understand and apply knowledge advantageously.
P rocess (W)
A continuing activity or function marked by gradual changes that often pro-
ceed toward a particular result.
Rational (W)
Relating to, based on, or agreeable to reason.
Intuition (W)
Attaining direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought or
inference.
Rational Intelligence (A)**
The ability to learn or understand and apply knowledge through a process
relating to, based on, or agreeable to reason.
I n t u i t i ve I n t e l l i g e n c e ( A )
The ability to learn or understand and apply knowledge directly and non-
consciously without the intervention of conscious rational processes
R a t i o n a l C o g n i t i ve Pr o c e s s ( A )
A knowing activity that is related to, based on, or agreeable to reason.
I n t u i t i ve C o g n i t i ve Pr o c e s s ( A )
A knowing activity based on attaining direct knowledge or cognition without
evident rational thought or inference.
Omni (W)
All
Phase (W)
To adjust until balance is achieved.
O m n i p h a s i s m ( A ) / I n t e g r a t e d M i n d T h e o ry
All in balance. An interdisciplinary theory that integrates the rational
and sintuitive intelligences toward balanced, whole-mind knowing activity,
which leads to balanced lives and cultural systems.

*W = from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (10th Ed., 1993)

**A = Authors’ Extension

18 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 1

Table 2. Key Ideas

One
• Human intuitive and rational intelligences complement one another
as equal and parallel cognitive processes that operate independently
but are integrated.

Tw o
• Intuitive and rational intelligences are equally complex and equally
significant to the balanced, whole-brain functions of a human being.

Three
• A significant bias exists against the development and maintenance of
intuitive intelligences throughout our scientific, economic, educational,
and cultural systems.

Fo u r
• The rational bias has created an experiential and psychological intu-
itive intelligence void in our cultures that promotes intuitive illiteracy
and leaves us unbalanced, lacking, and longing for completion as
whole beings.

F i ve
• Intuitive illiteracy has opened the door for the media to be used as
the educational/exploitation system for intuitive intelligences. The
power of the media to persuade and shape lives and cultures lies in
their ability to develop intuitive communication processes that effec-
tively fill this intuitive void.

Six
• The development of a holistic educational model that embraces a
balanced curriculum, developing both intuitive and rational intelli-
gences as equivalent and complementary, has the potential to enhance
creative problem-solving and decision-making abilities and prepare a
more balanced, fully educated, self-determining individual, less sus-
ceptible to manipulative media influences and better prepared to apply
classroom experiences to life experiences in ways that generate bal-
ance within the individual and thus within the cultural systems subse-
quently developed.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 19

 Table 3.
Primary Intuitive and Rational
Cognitive Processes*
This table briefly describes some of the basic cognitive processes used by the
intuitive and rational intelligence systems. The definitions highlight comple-
mentary characteristics of, and differences among, the main processing func-
tions of the two primary cognitive systems. This list, selected from the Bogen
and Ornstein list in chapter 6, is not meant to be an exhaustive account of all
cognitive processes or all intelligences. Primary intuitive intelligences are dis-
cussed in detail in chapter 6.

I n t u i t i ve C o g n i t i ve Pr o c e s s e s R a t i o n a l C o g n i t i ve Pr o c e s s e s

V i s u a l / S p a t i a l - Direct knowing based V e r b a l - Knowing based on how

on seeing, either with the eyes or with to use words to name, define,
mental vision. describe, label, and categorize.

I n t u i t i ve - Direct knowledge R a t i o n a l - Knowledge that is

or cognition without evident related to, based on, or agreeable
rational thought or inference. to reason.

H o l i s t i c - Knowledge of whole things L i n e a r - Thinking in terms of linked

working in groups or as systems; ideas, one thought directly
perceiving patterns and relationships. following another.

S y n t h e s i s t i c - Knowledge gained through A n a ly t i c - Knowledge gained by

awareness of the interdependent separating things into component
relationships or connections among things; parts or constituent elements;
putting things together to form wholes. figuring out step by step.

A n a l o g i c - Knowledge gained A b s t r a c t - Knowledge gained

by seeing likenesses between things; by taking out a small bit of
understanding metaphoric information and using it to
relationships. represent the whole.

T i m e l e s s - Knowing without regard Te m p o r a l - Knowing in relationship

or awareness of time. to time; sequencing based on time.

P r i m a l- - Knowledge of a primary, D e r i va t i ve - Knowledge derived

fundamental, firsthand nature; often from something primary or basic.
based on perception. Often based on conceptualization.

*List drawn in part from Bogen,1975, p. 25, and Ornstein, 1972, p. 37.

20 Williams and Newton

Figure I.4. Eloina’s Mother, by Julianne Newton.

21
CREATIVE ONE
The Intimate Eye: Accessing Your Inner Vision
Through Creative Visualization

The Goal: Enhancing Your Creative Abilities

When people think of visualization, a meditation technique, they may think of
dark-robed monks sitting cross-legged for hours chanting monophonic sylla-
bles while staring at candles or, eyes closed, drifting off into other realms of
consciousness. Yes, this is a form of visualization or meditation that has been
used by devotees of a number of religions for thousands of years. As we men-
tioned earlier, visual intelligence uses both images we see with our eyes and
images that are created from the mind’s eye. The mind is able to create visual
images from within — that is how we dream. These processes are intuitive and
represent a form of creativity that is also used regularly by artists and by exec-
utives in advertising, media, and major corporations to help employees focus
and enhance creativity, problems-solving, and decision-making abilities.

There are many forms of visualization. All of us have experienced the precon-
scious, integrated state of mind associated with meditative visualization thou-
sands of times in our lives. Anytime you daydream, for example, you shift into
a visual/meditative state of mind. This simply means shifting from the control
of your more logically oriented, word-oriented, conscious state of mind to a
more introspective, integrative, centered state of mind. In this state, images,
instead of words, tend to be the primary means of communication, though
words can be part of this state, such as the use of a mantra. For instance, when
you use a mantra, such as counting sheep or the word Om, and repeat that
mantra over and over, the repetition keeps the rational mind directly involved
in the process, yet the simplicity of the repetition opens the intuitive mind to
the visualization process. This is an example of how creative visualization can
be integrative. In the process that we use in this exercise, you focus on your
body and your breath instead of using a mantra. Just as when you daydream

Left: Figure C1.1. Reflection, by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 23

 or when you draw, when you visualize or meditate, you may feel peaceful and
very connected to your sense of being. At the same time, you may feel very
energized and vibrant and fully engaged in the process. You may find that see-
ing is enough — that words fade from consciousness. You may become so
involved with your process that you lose track of time.

If you have never purposefully visualized or meditated before, you may feel
resistance to the idea. You may think it is silly, pointless, or even something you
cannot or do not want to do. Those feelings are completely normal, because
what we have come to know as the dominant rational mind is all about organi-
zation and labeling with words, not about seeing. But as you learn to recognize
the advantages of this process to your overall intelligence and to your ability to
solve problems of various types (as many creative executives in this country
have learned), you will see why it is so important to develop your intuitive intel-
ligences along with your rational thinking processes. All we ask is that you give
the experience a chance for a very short time — you have everything to gain.

Getting Started
In this particular creative assignment, your goal is to experience the transition
from your rational, word-centered, conscious mind to a more integrated state
that blends your conscious mind with your visually centered, preconscious
mind. Do not set yourself up for failure by trying to preconceive or control the
outcome of your efforts. The effort of trying to experience the transition is itself
admirable and sufficient. The best way to begin is with an open mind and a
willingness to accept whatever happens as appropriate.

The preconscious mind communicates primarily in visual symbols or flowing

colors. These symbols are rarely literal depictions of events to come. Instead
they are metaphors for events of an interior nature that are happening within
your preconscious mind. For instance, if you envision a snake biting you dur-
ing your visualization, this does not generally foretell your demise (though
your rational mind may think it so). One interpretation could be that this image
links you to a snake, which, because of its ability to shed its skin and start over,
is a symbol of transformation and new life. As in dreams, the preconscious
mind often uses images of friends or of real events as metaphorical symbols.
So, if someone does something that they shouldn’t in your visualization, do
not assume that they will do the same thing in real life. Instead, ask yourself
what part of you the person and action represent. What message is your pre-
conscious mind trying to communicate to you about yourself through the
process of the visualization?

Now, focus on opening your mind. Try not to expect anything specific.
Experiencing the intuitive mind in this way is usually simple, enjoyable, and
relaxing. You can do it as often as you want and almost anywhere that you are.

24 Williams and Newton

 Creative 1
This time is just one of those times, not the only time. Many people use short
visualization periods during the workday as a way to relax and center them-
selves, thus regenerating their energy and creativity. You might recall an experi-
ence of studying at your desk, rubbing your tired face, and letting your head rest
in your hands as you drifted off into a daydream. That was a form of visualiza-
tion, a way to relax your conscious mind and ask your preconscious mind for
inspiration and energy. In this creative exercise, you will enter that state inten-
tionally, rather than accidentally. We also want you to extend the state for a
longer period of time. You may or may not see clear images or meanings in each
session. So you do not have to go there seeking anything in particular. Simply
enjoy the relaxation and experience the sense of awareness. Whatever happens,
just happens. Either way, you will benefit from relaxing and refreshing yourself.

We have used this process for more than 30 years. Sometimes we see, in the
intuitive eye, clear images with meaning. Sometimes we just see colors and
shapes. Sometimes we just listen to the endless, internal dialogue about our
problems. Do not try to control the integrative state. However, if you make the
effort to engage the intuitive mind and are receptive to its symbolic communi-
cation, you can benefit from its insight and wisdom. It is part of your mind
and your intelligence. Remember — no one is trying to tell you what to think
or do. You simply are learning to listen to and respect your intuitive self.

Figure C1.2. Kelsey finds quiet time in the back yard, by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 25

 Figure C1.3. Josh Daydreams, by Rick Williams.

Part I: The Process

Read through this description of the process completely once or twice before
you start. It is simple and you will be able to remember it once you have read
it. And you don’t have to do it perfectly. These are simply guidelines that work
for us. There is no strict process or right or wrong way. Once you start, simply
follow this process as well as you can remember and adapt it as is best for
you. If you need to scratch your nose in the middle of the meditation, just do
so if you like.

You can reach this integrated state in many ways. If you already have a method
you prefer, feel free to use it. Even though you are trying to move into a more
integrated state, you are not leaving your rational mind completely out of the
process. Remember that omniphasism is about integrating the mind. You are
using your rational mind to choose to visualize, to select the process you will
use, and to focus yourself on whatever technique you choose. This is a holistic
process. Once you make the decision to do it, learn the techniques, and prac-
tice the process, everything else becomes automatic. It is much like dancing, or
driving, or drawing. Once you have learned and practiced the basics, you reach
a point where they all just come together and the process works.

26 Williams and Newton

 Creative 1
Before you begin, find a quiet place where you can be comfortable and undis-
turbed for 20 to 30 minutes. Put your drawing pad and pencils, crayons, mark-
ers, or whatever you want to have with you within reach so that you can make
a visual or written record of your experience when you finish. Turn the answer-
ing machine on, unplug the telephone, and turn off your cell phone. If you
have a favorite place to sit or recline, that will probably work well. Either inside
or outside is fine. Some people prefer to sit cross-legged on the floor, perhaps
on a pillow. Others prefer to sit erect in a chair or recline in a lounge chair or
on a sofa. Most important is to be comfortable in a place that you like, but not
quite so comfortable that you fall asleep.

You may want some very soft background music. Music can help you ease
away from the mental, verbal chatter that pulls your focus away from the inte-
grated state. If you use music, choose something that does not have words,
because words can draw your attention away from the intuitive, back into the
verbal. Once you are set up, start the music and sit or lie down. If you are
cross-legged or sitting up, lay your hands open on the floor or chair beside you
or open on your knees or thighs, or lay one on the other in your lap in an open
position. If you lie down, keep your head slightly inclined on a comfortable pil-
low. Keep your feet uncrossed and your hands open beside you. These open-
hand and nonrestrictive body positions are important because they help you
open to the process.

When you are comfortable (and the music is softly playing if you like), ask your
rational mind to open to the wisdom of your intuitive mind. Ask your intuitive
mind to welcome the whole mind and to show you whatever it will. This may
feel odd at first, but go ahead and try it. Just say, “Intuitive mind (or inner self
or preconscious mind), please help me know what you would have me know.”
Don’t forget that although we are talking about the rational and intuitive as if
they are separate entities, they are simply parts — different cognitive-process-
ing systems — of your one mind. Shifting from the dominance of one part of
your mind into a more balanced, integrated state to perform a specific task is
not an affront to the normally dominant mode. It is dominant only because of
the rational bias of our culture.

Now, find a spot on the wall or ceiling that is just above your line of sight so
that your eyes (not your head) are looking up. Stare intently at it and take three
full, deep breaths, allowing time to let each breath out slowly and fully.
Continue to stare at the spot until your eyelids flutter or become heavy and
begin to close naturally. You may experience a strong pull or a little nudge, but
let your eyes close naturally when you are ready.

When your eyes are closed, begin to relax your body and mind. As you breathe
slowly and deeply, think about your feet. Flex and tighten your toes and arch-
es. Hold the flex for a few seconds and then release the flex. Do this as slowly

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 27

 as is comfortable. Visualize the muscles and cells in the part of your body that
is relaxing. This process includes both your body and your rational mind in the
process as you focus consciously on relaxing your muscles and limbs and
visualizing that relaxation. Now, do the same with your ankles by first pointing
your toes downward — hold and release. Then point your toes toward your
head — hold and release. At each release, notice and visualize the feeling of
relaxation and the release of tension and energy in that area.

As the visual, intuitive mind opens you may visualize this relaxation process as
actual images of your body or the muscles and cells in your body — or you
may visualize it as flowing colors or as anything else. The intuitive mind uses
visual symbols to represent other things, so when we say visualize, do not try
to be too literal or to understand this rationally.

Just relax and enjoy. Take what comes. Move up your body, tightening,
holding, and releasing various groups of muscles: calves, knees, thighs,
hips, abdomen, lower back, upper back, chest, biceps, elbows, forearms,
wrists, hands and fingers, neck, jaw (open wide and hold, relax), eyes (first
squinted and then opened wide, hold and relax), forehead, and top of head.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. The point is to acknowledge your
body, relax, and experience the flow of energy and any visualizations that
occur. This will ease tension in your rational mind, helping it integrate into the
visualization process as you name and organize various parts of your body (the
rational mind loves to name and organize things). As you work your way up
your body, tensing and releasing muscle groups, notice how you can feel the
couch or chair or floor supporting you. Allow your body to sink fully into that
support so you can release pent-up energy and feel the surge of new energy
flowing through you as you move into a deeper state of relaxation.

Also notice your breathing. As you become more relaxed, your breathing will
become smoother and more regular, though it may not be as deep. As you fin-
ish relaxing your body, gently shift your attention to your breath. Feel the
breath come into your nose, down into your lungs. Feel your chest and
abdomen rise and imagine the fresh life your breath draws into you. Feel your
lungs full of breath and life. Notice how your abdomen and diaphragm con-
tract to release the breath. Feel your breath as it leaves through your mouth
and joins the air that surrounds you, carrying into your surroundings breath
and life that, just moments before, was inside your body. Envision bringing
breath from the universe into your body to become part of you. Focus on your
breathing. Let all else fade into the background with your consciousness. As
words or concerns about the day move into your awareness, do not fight them.
Just notice them and refocus on your breath.

Sometimes this process is difficult at first because the rational mind is used to
using words to be in control by consciously describing and categorizing your

28 Williams and Newton

 Creative 1
experiences. With practice, howev-
er, the process will become easier.
You will develop your own way of
letting the words flow by without
interrupting your more visual intu-
itive state. If you still experience
resistance to trying this visualiza-
tion process, you might remind
your rational mind that it will have
an opportunity to write down the
meditation when you finish but that
there will be nothing to write down
if it keeps focusing on words now.
We know this all seems silly to
some of you. Just try it. Remember,
the goal of omniphasism is to inte-
grate your whole mind. Do not neg-
lect any part of this process. The
conscious decision to focus on your
breath is quite rational as is the
intention to return to that focus
when you drift from it. In the final
part of this exercise, you will get to
use your rational mind to write
about your experience. First, how-
ever, complete the visualization.
Move deeper into the wordless,
visual awareness of the intuitive. Figure C1.4. Watercolor by Grant.

During this state you often will begin to see or imagine or daydream. You may
drift in and out of this state. Do not try to control what you see or hear. You may
go into a deep meditative state, you may remain just below the state of con-
sciousness, or you may drift in and out of both. Simply notice what you see and
imagine. If rational thoughts of daily concerns distract you, refocus your atten-
tion to your breath. Notice the images, scenes, colors, characters, animals, or
whatever your intuitive, preconscious mind brings forth. Do not feel you have to
remember what happens. You will automatically remember what you need.

You will know when you are ready to return to a fully conscious state. When
you are ready, give yourself a little while to exit the deep state. Move your
limbs slowly and stretch before opening your eyes. Sit up or move slowly and
give your body time to readjust to gravity and balance. You may feel reflective
and relaxed. Now is a good time to pick up your pad and drawing or writing
instruments and record something of what you experienced. Put a date at the
beginning. You may want to write about what you saw in your mind’s eye or

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 29

 what you did or felt during the experience. You may want to draw or just doo-
dle. If you don’t remember much about your visualization, try picking up a
drawing instrument and start to doodle or write down words, ideas, phrases,
sentences, or stories that now flow naturally into your conscious mind.

Don’t try to make something happen. Just let it happen. If nothing happens that
makes sense or that appeals to you, then just write down what you did and
what it was like. Describe your experience in as much detail as you can.

Whatever the case, don’t judge your experience. This is a very personal experi-
ence, and no two are alike. What may seem silly and useless to you at the
moment may be, at a later time, the core of something quite profound or
meaningful. Remember that this is not a highly logical or linear process that
works in a specific way. It often takes practice to understand the significance of
a symbol or word or image. After using visualization techniques for more than
30 years, each of us has had a wide range of experiences. Sometimes one of
us will finish a session feeling profoundly aware of something important to our
lives. Other times we feel a little more relaxed. And sometimes we even feel
somewhat frustrated because we have a heightened awareness that we’re
struggling with a personal issue. All effort to deepen your process of personal
awareness is useful. Appreciate whatever level of experience you have. After
all, it’s you, right now.

When you finish writing about and drawing your meditation, give yourself a
few more minutes to emerge fully from the intuitive state of mind. Stretch a bit
more and move your limbs slowly. Do not drive or ride a bicycle or take on
other complex tasks that require your full attention until you have acclimated.

Part II. Connect With Media

Next, relate the visualization to the mediated world. Look through books, mag-
azines, or on the Internet or TV for an image that seems relevant to your visual-
ization. Think about the image and why it draws your attention at this moment.
What in the image reminds you of your visualization? Write a description of
the connections between your experience and the media image.

Part III. Reflect On Your Experience

Now write a separate assessment of your overall visualization experience,
including your experience with the media image. Explain what you did and
experienced in such a way that friend will understand it. Note what worked or
didn’t work for you in this creative exercise. What did you learn? What might
you do differently next time?

30 Williams and Newton

 Creative 1
Summary
! Read the introduction and instructions carefully, all the way through.
! Spend time visualizing.
! Describe your experience on paper in images and words.
! Find a media image that relates to your visualization.
! Cite the source of the media image.
! Describe in words how the image relates to your meditation.
! Assess your overall experience.

Example #1 (Andrea Schneider): Description of Visualization

Figure C1.5. Word description and representation of visualized images, by Andrea Schneider.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 31

 Media Image Discussion
The image I found was “Iceland,” by Mark Kohlman, Transworld Snowboarding, March
2005:143. What first struck me about the image was the lighting. In my visualization light
was significant and similar to that in the magazine photograph. The light I visualized,
breaking through the trees and spilling out the cracked doors, possessed the same
ambiguous golden glow as in the picture. The ambiance created by this light made it
hard to determine the setting in my visualization, and the overcast sky and environment I
saw appeared more like twilight than darkness created by cloud cover. I also felt a sense
of tranquility and warmth during my meditation that is echoed by the warmth of morn-
ing light in the image I found. Also, the image of light coming through the trees remind-
ed me of snowboarding in the morning and may have influenced my choice. My percep-
tion of the soaring bird matches the snowboarder flying through the morning sky. The
snowboarder in the picture points toward the right with his right arm like the hand I visu-
alized. The immediate similarities between both images resulted in my choosing this pic-
ture, but with closer consideration, my intuition played a large part, too.

Assessment
I experienced more success in this assignment than I had anticipated. I’m a very visually
oriented person, and I feel I could reach an intuitive state dominated by images. My
main challenge was eliminating verbally dominated thoughts, particularly current con-
cerns. I also tended to put what I was imagining into words so I wouldn’t forget.
Ultimately, I did not feel it was necessary, and I did recall what I needed. I learned more
than I had known about visualization methods and how they can bring forth subcon-
scious thoughts. I was surprised how much my intuition influenced my image selection
from the media. Once I examined the images for similarities I found several other than
those that immediately struck me. I discovered that intentionally engaging in visualiza-
tion could be a useful tool professionally in terms of ideation and breaking creative
blocks. My best ideas usually do not surface while I sit at my desk. They come when I’m
more relaxed and reflective as when I’m driving, in the shower, or falling asleep.

Example 2 (Cayla Campbell): Description of Visualization

I’ve actually been meditating on the same thing for quite a few days. Every night before
I go to sleep, it keeps me awake and every morning I wake up way before the alarm
goes off, just thinking.

For this meditation, I decided to try clearing my mind and letting it wander. I put on an
Enya CD, lay down on the couch, and just started breathing slowly, like the instructions
said. At first I stared at a spot on the ceiling. But then my eyes started to close. A fight
with my boyfriend kept coming to my mind. I could see him looking so angry at me,
and I had a hard time focusing on breathing deeply and trying to stay calm. I told
myself to just “go with it” and see where my thoughts would go. I started thinking about
past relationships and other arguments I’ve had with boyfriends and with my dad.

Then a realization came to me, sort of like a light turning on. I figured out that I had always
made it through the tough times, even though the last one really hurt. I survived.

I suppose love is one of the torments of youth. It is a sweet torment, but troublesome
nonetheless. Feelings and emotions begin to swell and build like a storm at sea. I’ve
always thought of love as the deep, fathomless sea. It can be calm and beautiful, it can

32 Williams and Newton

be passionate and stormy and it can swallow its victims into its bottomless depths.
My love stories always start calm, but when emotions start to gather like dark clouds
on the horizon, my vision becomes blurred. I can’t find the way. Last time I nearly
drowned in my blindness. Sometimes sinking into the numbing passion is easier than
confronting the waves and fighting the sensations.

This time I was again tempted to ignore the storm, but I chose not to be blind. Although
my feelings and emotions tossed and rocked me around, I searched for that light that I
knew would guide me. Actually, the signals had been there the whole time. I had
merely ignored them. You see, even if I am lost in the storm, He is watching for
me. He is shining His light out like a beacon, waiting patiently for me to come
home. God’s light is like a lighthouse to me in times of storm.

At night amidst the raging waves of the sea, the darkness stretches endlessly. All I can
see is the flashing glimmer in the distance. I have to rely on that light to guide me. It’s
called faith. Sometimes it’s scary to trust the small light rather than rely on my own
knowledge, but it’s never failed me. Finally, the darkness and the storm give way to the
light of the day. And I realize that even though I was scared and confused, He never
was — He was in control. He had a plan, a path for me to follow. I know there will be
more storms in my life, whether it be love, pain or hardship, but no mater how dark the
night is and how high the waves loom above me, His lighthouse will guide me back to
safety.

When I came out of the meditation, I saw myself in the

ocean, reaching upward toward a bright light. So I
drew a picture of that scene as best I could.

Media Image
My media image is a copy of a painting by Thomas
Kinkade called “Clearing Storms.” Many of his works
have lots of light and color in them, which would be
better represented if this copy were in color. He’s called
the “painter of light.” This lighthouse stands out to me
as a beacon in stormy times of life. I can see myself in
the scene, maybe in a boat tossing and turning in the
waves, trying to keep the boat away from the rocks.
The lighthouse stands strong to guide me home safely.

Assessment
The meditation helped me focus on my fears in a way
that turned out not so scary. They had really been
bothering me. Letting me wander while also allowing
myself to look for an answer to my problems helped
me figure things out. I realized that I knew how to deal
with my relationship problem, but I had not been
wanting to admit it. I thought I was trapped. The medi-
tation exercise freed me to acknowledge the problem
and figure out a way to solve it. It also helped me
realize that I’m a lot stronger than I thought and that Figure C1.6. Drawing of visualization, by Cayla Campbell.
I know what’s good for me. Look for a media image that relates to Cayla’s drawing.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 33

CHAPTER TWO
Abu Rocks: Integrating Perceptual
and Conceptual Realities

F
or a few moments, use your mind’s eye to look inside of yourself, into your
mind’s imagination. In this world of fantasy, imagine an image of yourself
as Abu, living in a time before time was known, before minutes and hours,
before days and language existed. As Abu, you are an early human being. You
roam the earth foraging for nuts and roots for sustenance. What you see with
your eyes, feel with your skin, hear with your ears, smell with your nose, and
taste with your mouth are the sources of the only reality that you know. You
live, moment by moment, in a sensual reality of experience and perception.

All around you, the forest vibrates with life. Your senses are keen and you are
aware of your environment and all that transpires around you. Even while you
stoop to scoop water with your hand from the stream at your feet, all your
other senses are intuitively aware of sounds and scents and movements that
surround you. You peer into the stream and see the same boughs of the forest
above you suspended in the water below you. You look up and see them above
you and down again to see the white clouds floating above the trees now float-
ing in the liquid sky at your feet. You have no verbal language and thus no
names for these images. They are not trees or sky or clouds or water. You have
no letters to represent sounds to describe them. You have no verbal thought
process to compare the reality of the clouds in the sky with the reality of the
reflection of the clouds in the water. The images below you are as real as those
above you. All that you see and sense is vibrant and alive. Your intelligences
are sensory and intuitive, and this critical perceptual intuition drives your
actions.

As you kneel to sip water from the creek, your own reflection comes to meet
you at the surface where your lips meet and you both drink. Your eyes focus
through the reflection into the depth beyond, and you become entranced with
the dance of waving fronds of water plants and darting fish. All the while, you

Figure 2.1. bang comics! impulse number one, by Erik Palmer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 35

 are aware of the sounds and scents and the feel of the forest about you. You
are acutely aware of all because at times not only are you the hunter but you
also become the hunted. Bird wings flutter through the brush. Smaller animals
shake the tree leaves. Behind you, something claws at the earth for bugs. You
drink deeply. The wind ruffles the hair on your back. The same wind carries a
scent, faint but certain and full of danger.

Suddenly, in a single motion, you rise from the water to face the wind and
breathe deeply of its message. Others, downwind from you, catch the scent
and do the same. In unison, without signal or sound, the clan begins to move
together, through the trees, across the open meadow, and up into the high
rocks and caves in the hills across the valley.

Here, in the safety of the high rocks, with your belly full, you lie back in the
nook of a low branch and rest. Above the forest below and in the distance, you
can see the white clouds darkening. You sniff the air and smell rain before it
begins to fall. You shift for comfort, and the breeze and the play of sunlight
through the leaves lull you near to sleep — more like a daydream trance. In
your semiconscious dream state, you see the rain and you dream of the youth
of your clan playing in the rain, and the red-clay mud left in puddles in front of
the caves. They scoop up handfuls of mud and sling them at one another. They
roll in the puddles and slap each other with hands full of clay, leaving momen-
tary red handprints on each other’s backs and stomachs. Though seen only in
your mind’s eye, your dream vision is as real to you as the waking.

A crack of thunder and flash of lightning startle you, pulling you from your
dream. You slide from the branch as the first rain splatters cold against your
cheek. Around you, darkness envelops the landscape, and you look up to see
that the sky is dark as well. Rain drops heavily on your face and your lips. You
close your eyes and open your mouth, licking the water as it falls and drips
down your face.

Wiping the palm of your hand across your face, you turn and walk beneath the
rock overhang, the entrance to your cave. You stoop and lean against the
curved wall and watch the waterfall. Stretching an upturned hand from the
cave, you let the rain fill your cupped palm so that you can drink. When the
lightning strikes across the sky, you mimic its jagged path, tracing its pattern
with your extended finger. Thunder rumbles long and loud close by, and you
cover your ears with your hands.

As the rain slows, you follow its dripping patterns down from the sky to the
earth. With outstretched arm reaching skyward and pattering fingers, one at a
time, downward, your hand descends and then rises again to start over. You
slow your mime with the slowing rain until a single finger follows one drip
from the cave overhang to splash in the mud hole it has bored near your feet.

36 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 2
Slowly leaning forward on all fours, you watch the drops drip into the pud-
dle, and rings move outward from the center to the edges of the basin. You
slide your fingers into the cool water and down to the bottom where you
can dig hard, sharp fingernails into the slippery, wet, red clay. Leaping
across space and time in your mind’s eye, you embrace an intuitive con-
nection between the fantasy of your dream image of the children and the
reality of the present moment. You pull a handful of clay from the basin
and wipe three red finger marks across the back of your other wrist, just as
the children did in your dream-trance.

Figure 2.2. Photogram by Bill Westheimer, 2001.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 37

 Enchanted, you roll over onto your back and hold the imprinted hand up
against the sky, examining the finger marks. Insight traces new patterns in
your mind, synthesizing thought, provoking relationships. Your heart races as
excitement swells. You roll over, jam both hands deeply into the basin, and
bring them up covered with red clay. A slap to each wrist leaves bright red fin-
ger impressions there, and open hand slaps to your chest imprint whole hand
images on your torso. Beyond simple perception, increasingly conscious, dis-
covery evolves into visual associations. Ecstatic at your discovery, you roll over
and over on the wet ground, wallowing in the mud hole, covering yourself in
the primal ooze before standing erect, stretching hands skyward, looking
down to survey the handprints on your chest and falling to plunge your hands
back into the paint pot. When you bring your hands upward this time, instead

Figure 2.3. Ian Summers, from Manual: The Personalities of Hands,

by Bill Westheimer, 2005.

38 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 2
of slapping your muddy chest, you slap them repeatedly on the smooth rock
surface of your cave wall, leaving multiple red prints of your own hand’s
image on the rock.

Staggering back, thrown by the power of the wall’s message, falling to the
ground on your back, breathing heavily of the wet air, you survey the wall. You
blink your eyes in disbelief, looking from the handprint on the wall to your own
hand. Back and forth you look, awestruck at the recognition of the symbol of
your own hand, both attached to your arm and standing alone, of its own
power, on the cave wall. You stand slowly and place your own hand on a hand
on the wall. You look from one to the other and back again. You slap the wall
hard and slap your chest with your hand, and then the wall, and then your
chest. In an instantaneous synthesis of intuitive knowing into conceptual
knowledge, in a conscious act of rational recognition, you know that you have
extended yourself beyond yourself so that others can see that you have been
even when you are no longer present. You have created art and a new form of
communication by using one thing to represent another.

Of course the story of Abu is fiction, though it is fun to imagine that similar
events actually happened. The intention of this story is to introduce us to the
idea of a transformation in the experience of reality from intuitive perception to
rational concept formation. This omniphasic experience integrated the intuitive
process of Abu’s dream with the rational concept of a physical symbol or hand-
print as an external representation of the self on the cave wall. In this process,
both intuitive and rational experiences are equally significant. Today, art and
communication media use visual symbols in this way to help us share a sense
of experiential, intuitive understanding and reality. Yet we hardly give the
process — or what it means in our lives — a second thought.

Although visual symbols are a condensed representation of our experience of

reality, and therefore limit or diminish the essence of the experience, they
allow us to communicate a sense of shared reality, even if it is not identical to
the sense of reality of the person or persons with whom we share it.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 39

 Where do the symbols that we use to define a common sense of reality origi-
nate? They come from our experiences, from our bodies and our minds. When
we see, or hear, or feel, we often create an image in sight or sound that sym-
bolizes our experience.

For instance, when Abu experiences the wind for the first time with newly
developed rational abilities and wants to describe it to someone else, Abu
might pass a hand quickly through the air or make the sound of the wind by
blowing out between pursed lips, or draw a mud wind symbol as three wavy
lines on a cave wall.

As Abu develops other symbols and agrees with others of the clan about
what they mean, the members of the group continue to define their reality
in external ways. They use the tools and concepts that are available to
them — motion, sound, shaped objects, and visual symbols — to commu-
nicate. Consider that motion (bodily movement) and sound both have visu-
al components. Through this scenario, Abu uses primarily intuitive expres-
sions — bodily movement and gesture, sound, and visualization to repre-
sent rational, reasoned concepts. This is an omniphasic blend of intuitive
and rational intelligences.

Over time, Abu’s descendants expand their symbolic expressions into an intri-
cate and sophisticated communication system that embraces an ever-expand-
ing world of experience and cognitive development. They develop symbols that
not only represent wind but also distinguish between a gentle breeze and a
raging storm. They add rain (raining fingers), lightning (slashing hand), and
thunder (cupped hands pounding ears) by expanding their intuitively based
visual, aural, and gestured symbols. They draw in the air and the dirt with their
fingers, and they expel air from their lungs to make sounds.

Later, with the discovery of mud and berry mixtures, they make paint to trans-
form air and sound symbols into more permanent visual symbols on the walls
of caves, on animal hides, and later on tree bark. Symbols of gesture, touch,
drawing, and sound become the accepted signs of reality for their communica-
tion system.

Over thousands of years their descendants string together different sounds in

logical, linear sequences to tell stories, developing the oral tradition. Sounds
and representational objects evolve into systems of letterforms and numbers
that can be logically arranged into a progression of concepts so that systems
of communicating, counting, and recording history develop. Cave walls and
hand-shaped objects give way to parchment, canvas, ink, paper, and the print-
ing press. The experiences of communication as predominantly intuitive
expressions of experience — through representational movement, sound, and
sight — change to predominantly rational representations of experience

40 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 2
through words. The primal intuitive nature of communication is transformed
into derivative, rational, logo-centric and numerical, symbolic systems.

Even later, just as our ancestors did in the beginning, we bring the intuitive
techniques of vision, sound, and gesture together as mass media books, televi-
sion, newspapers, films, and computers.

As these mediated forms of our original, personal understandings of real expe-

riences become more pervasive, the sense of reality that we share is defined,
perhaps created, more by the persuasive techniques of modern mass commu-
nication than by our personal experiences.

The major areas of media in modern communication — print, radio, film, tele-
vision, and computers — all are primarily intuitive and visual in the way that
they communicate. Although radio initially is dependent on aural, verbal com-
munication, it relies heavily on developing intuitive, interior mind images to
achieve meaning.

Oddly enough, in this visual world the need to fully understand and develop
intuitive, visual communication abilities is basically ignored in our schools,

Figure 2.4. Believe, by Bill Westheimer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 41

 careers, and homes. Because the media are such pervasive and powerful influ-
ences in our lives, it is important that we begin to educate our intuitive, visual
intelligences as equal and complementary processes to our rational intelli-
gences. To do so not only develops defenses against the eloquent seductions of
intuitive mass media messages but also lets us use our whole minds to shape
and balance our lives and solve the problems of our growing global culture.
In subsequent chapters, we discuss specific intuitive intelligences in detail.
However, it is important to note now that our emphasis on visual intelligence
as a primary intuitive intelligence is significant for several reasons. Our brains
process more visual information than any other form of information. As we
noted earlier, our mass media are predominately visual and highly intuitive. In
addition, all of our rational and intuitive intelligences — visual, musical, bodily
kinesthetic, psychological, mathematical, and linguistic — have strong visual
components. Thus, centering our study of balanced cognition and intelligence
on visualization provides the opportunity for the broadest comprehension and
development of intelligence within a specific framework that is familiar.

With this in mind, we turn to one of the most basic forms of visual communi-
cation, the process of creating a personal symbol. As Abu integrated intuitive
and rational intelligences to create an artistic and useful symbol, symbol mak-
ing and drawing can be used to integrate and develop both your intuitive and
rational abilities. Many of you have probably forgotten how to draw, or you
may have even been embarrassed by your perceived inability to draw. You may
believe you cannot draw. In chapters 3 and 4 we discuss how our rationally
biased educational and cultural systems help create word- and number-based
ways of knowing and communicating. The nearly exclusive use of these sys-
tems significantly diminishes your connection to your intuitive intelligences,
including your drawing skills. You will also learn how to overcome these sys-
tems by accessing your integrated intelligences on deeper levels through sym-
bol building and drawing techniques. Most students discover quickly that learn-
ing to use drawing techniques to integrate their natural, intuitive interests in
line, shape, and tone with their rational interests in perspective, angles, and
accuracy can help them access their integrated intelligences in new ways. After
introducing you to these new concepts in personal symbol building and draw-
ing, we move on in chapters 5 and 6 to explore research in cognitive science,
psychology, education, and communication that supports the idea of rational
and intuitive intelligences as complementary cognitive processes. We further
define and explain the intuitive intelligences that you can develop and use to
enrich your life.

42 Williams and Newton

Figure 2.5. Emergence, by Germán Herrera.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 43

 Figures C2.1-3. Students’ personal symbolic
portraits. Upper right by T. Adams.

44 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE TWO
Visualizing a Personal Symbolic Portrait

The Goal: Creative Problem Solving

This creative exercise helps you learn to consciously integrate the intelligences
of your whole mind as you create a symbolic portrait of yourself. Your rational
mind communicates primarily through words and complex concepts, which it
uses to organize and categorize different qualities that represent who you are.
Your intuitive mind most often communicates through visual symbols, feel-
ings, and metaphors that arise from your nonconscious memory to shape a
sense of who you are.

Most of the time the integration of rational and intuitive intelligences is non-
conscious and seamless. This exercise will help you understand that you can
choose to use and integrate them consciously. By purposefully blending your
rational and intuitive abilities to create a visual symbol that represents the
whole of your being, you also will create a reminder that you live and think on
more than one level. You will become more aware of how your various cogni-
tive abilities can cooperate to create something new.

The Process
In the story that began the previous chapter, Abu does just this when he or she
uses a dream to make a symbolic portrait that rationally represents Abu. The
handprint on the cave wall is Abu’s personal symbolic portrait. Read all of the
instructions below before you begin to work on Creative 2 to discover and cre-
ate your own personal symbolic portrait.

Describing Verbally
To begin this creative experience, sit down in a quiet place with pen and paper
and think about yourself. Who are you? What things are important to you?
What do you like and dislike about yourself, about others, about the world
around you? What makes you happy or sad? What animals are you attracted

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 45

 to? How does nature fit into your life? As
answers to these questions come to you,
write them down in a list. Make the list as
long as you want, but at least long enough
to give you a strong idea about what things
are important to you. Make different lists if
you want. This is a linear process that stimu-
lates and uses the rational mind to provide a
concise description of yourself in words.

Go over the words several times in your

mind. Add to the list or delete items if you
wish. Review what you wrote down until
Figure C2.4. Personal symbol, by Crissy M.
you have a full, reasoned idea of what you
are about. Write up the finished list. When
you finish this very rational, linear process, put the list(s) away and plan an
hour or so to begin working with the intuitive processes.

Two of the primary ways to actively access the intuitive mind are meditative
visualization or active imagination and dreams. We discuss both briefly below.
Each will help you integrate the logic of your verbal description with the
images of your intuitive mind to search for your personal symbolic portrait.

Meditating/Visualizing
As you learned during Creative 1, meditative visualization often takes you to a
place in your mind in which images communicate better than words. In
Creative 2, we want you to look for a visual symbol, which may or may not
include words but which represents your current sense of the whole of who
you are. You have already made a word list that provides a reasonable descrip-
tion of who you think you are. Now, with that list in your memory, we want
you to use the visualization process to help you develop a visual, symbolic
self-portrait. If time has elapsed between making your list and starting the visu-
alization process, just before you begin to visualize, spend a few minutes
reviewing your list. Then put it away and start the visualization.

Reread the description of the visualization process in Creative 1 completely before

you start. Remember that there is no right or wrong way to do this. Adapt our
instructions as you need or want to so that the visualization process works for you.

When you are comfortable (and music is softly playing if you like), ask your
integrated mind to help you develop a personal symbol. This may still feel a lit-
tle odd at first, but give it a try. Just say to yourself, “Integrated mind (or inner
self or nonconscious mind), please help me know what my personal symbol is.”
As before, find a spot above your sight line and stare intently at it until your

46 Williams and Newton

 Creative 2
eyelids begin to close naturally. Let them close slowly. Breathe very deeply
three or four times, slowing inhaling and then slowly exhaling. Remember the
process. Relax your body and mind. Begin at your feet and flex (curl) your toes
and arches. Hold the flex for a few seconds and then release the flex. Work your
way up your body tightening, holding and releasing the various groups of
muscles. Focus your attention on your breath. Feel the breath come in through
your nose, into your lungs, enlarging your chest and abdomen, filling you with
fresh life. Follow your breath as it leaves your body and joins the air in the
room, carrying breath into the universe that, just moments before, was part of
your body. Then bring breath from the universe into your body again to become
part of you. Focus on your breath. Let all else fade into the background of your
consciousness. As words or concerns about the day move into consciousness,
do not fight them. Just notice them and refocus on your breath.

You may drift in and out of awareness. Remember that you do not need to con-
trol what you see or imagine. Simply notice what is in your mind. Do not try to
find your personal symbol, simply let it find you. You may or may not know
what it is when you return to consciousness.

When you are ready, return to full conscious-

ness. Remember to give yourself a little time
to shift out of the meditative state by moving
your limbs slowly and taking a deep, con-
scious breath. Readjust to gravity and the
feeling of balancing your body in connection
with the floor. Now pick up your pad and
drawing instruments, regardless of whether
you are aware of a personal symbol. If you
have a sense of your symbol, go draw it or
make sketches of it. New ideas may come to
you as you draw, so it’s fine to start over on a
clean sheet of paper and refine it. It is okay to
draw the symbol again and again. It is fine to
change the symbol and try different interpre-
tations until one seems just right. If you draw
a symbol or several symbols and are not sure
which is best, just stop and wait awhile, and
then look at your drawings later. One proba-
bly will seem most appropriate to you, or you
may have a new idea that works better.

If you don’t yet have a symbol, try writing

down what you recall of your meditation.
Figure C2.5. Personal Symbol, by A. D.
That will often generate an idea. If you don’t

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 47

 remember much about your meditation, try just picking up a
drawing instrument and starting to doodle or write words or
phrases or stories that flow naturally into your mind. Don’t force
it. Just let it happen. If nothing happens that makes sense or
that appeals to you, then put the paper or pad away and move
on. A symbol may come to you later, or you may find a symbol
through the dream process below. Repeating this visualization
process on another day also may help.

Whatever happens at this stage, try to accept it. Don’t be dis-

couraged, and try not to judge your effort or compare your work
to someone else’s. This process is unique to each person. Even
people who have been doing visualizations for many years have
very different experiences each time they do it. The key to suc-
cess, as with music, sports, or art, is practice. The more you
practice, the more the process will work for you and seem natu-
ral to you. A symbol can come to you at any time, and you can
change it at any time.

Figure C2.6. Personal Symbol, Make notes about your experience visualizing in search of a per-
by Jaci Sonnenburg. sonal symbol. Write a description of your experience.

Dreaming
If you already have created a personal symbol through meditation, go ahead
and do this part of the exercise, also. You may find clarity about the meaning or
look of the symbol through a dream.

When you go to bed, take another piece of paper and write a note to your inte-
grative self. Say something like this: “Tonight I would like to dream about a
personal symbol that represents me.” That’s it. Now put the paper and pen by
your bed and go to sleep.

If you dream and a symbol idea comes up in your dream, try to wake up and
write it down or sketch it right then. Immediately after dreaming is the best
time to recall and record what you dreamed. If you are unable to record the
idea then, when you wake in the morning, pick up that piece of paper and pen
and, if you dreamed a clear symbol, draw it or make notes so you can draw or
sketch it later. If you did not dream a clear symbol, write down whatever you
dreamed. You may need to wake up a little early, because this is likely to take
longer than you expect — perhaps 30 minutes or more.

If you can’t remember what you dreamed, then just begin to write down what-
ever is in your mind. Often this process will generate information from a
dream or the nonconscious mind, or even an idea for a personal symbol.

48 Williams and Newton

 Creative 2
Sometimes an idea for a symbol will just pop into your mind later when you
reread or think about your dream. Make notes about your experience searching
for a personal symbol by dreaming. Write a description of your experience.

One More Try

If you did not get an idea from this process, then wait until you have another
hour or so and sit down in a quiet place that you like. Again, ask your integra-
ted mind to provide a personal symbol. Then do whatever you do to relax. Be
patient. Visualize, meditate, daydream, listen to music, or drift off to sleep.

Some people are most creative while exercising or doing physical labor. One
theoretical physicist actually digs ditches to help him think. The activity helps

Figure C2.7. Personal Symbol, by Patrick Healy.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 49

 integrate the rational, conscious mind and the intuitive mind to
enhance creativity. Write a description of your experience.

Finishing Your Symbol

It is important to be open to whatever comes to you. If you see
or think of something that seems right, then follow that idea. If it
is not clear, then just start working with it. Write, draw, or just
doodle using the idea as inspiration. Generally an appropriate
symbol will evolve. Remember, the intuitive mind does not work
in a linear fashion. It is more likely that the idea for a personal
symbol will just come to you at some time when you are not try-
ing to think about it specifically.

You might find it helpful to bring out crayons (yes — crayons!),

markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, pens, watercolors and
brush, or any other drawing tools that you like. Think of how you
liked to draw when you were a child. It might be worth buying a
new box of crayons and dumping them out on the table with a
lot of blank paper. Nigel Holmes, who designs graphics for such
publications as Sports Illustrated and Newsweek, advises people
who feel intimidated by drawing to doodle on newsprint, paper
Figure C2.8 Personal Symbol,
sacks, or other scraps of paper. You can always transfer your
by Michael Stevens.
design to good paper later, after you have worked intuitively on
scratch paper. Remember, don’t get uptight about creating this
symbol. It does not have to be the perfect symbol that represents every phase
of your being for the rest of your life. It is just a symbolic portrait of you at this
time. You can change it any time you want or keep it for as long as you like.
Once you have settled on a symbol, represent it as professionally as you can
on a full sheet of paper.

Summary
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Plan to make notes and doodle as you work.
! Make a list of words.
! Spend time visualizing your personal symbol.
! If you discover a symbol during your meditation, draw it.
! Dream about a symbol.
! Write down your dream and draw the symbol.
! Visualize again, if you want to, or try other ways — such as exercising.
dancing, or even taking a long shower — to access your intuitive mind.
! Create a final version of your symbol on a clean sheet of paper.
! Reflect on and assess your overall experience.

50 Williams and Newton

Figures C2.9. Personal Symbol, anonymous.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 51

 Figure 3.1. Carrie’s Dance, by Rick Williams.

52 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER THREE
Art and Personal Development:
The Quest for Balance

R
emember the last time you attended a class in art, creative writing, or
music appreciation? How many classes have you taken since that have
encouraged you and taught you to develop your intuitive intelligences
and your creativity? How does this compare with the number of courses you
have taken in grammar, math, science, and the social sciences?

We don’t have to look very far into the organization of our educational system
to find that rational bias dominates our learning. Even in the “creative” classes,
you may be taught basic, linear techniques rather than techniques that engage
the whole mind. Unless you are majoring in a creative field, you are seldom
required to pursue intuitively centered activities that reach beyond basic under-
standing and technique into the realm of integrated cognition that generates
aesthetically compelling expression. Too rarely are you encouraged to experi-
ment and move outside of the rational model of knowing and learning. This is
true not only in our educational system but also in our scientific, political, cul-
tural, and economic systems as a whole. To see this rational bias at work, we
need only explore the development, or lack of development, of our abilities to
visualize, appreciate, or play music; meditate; dance; write creatively; act;
sculpt; paint; or even draw.

Drawing is a primal skill that integrates intuitive intelligences, such as

visual/spatial, psychological, and bodily kinesthetic, with rational intelligences,
such as verbal and mathematical. In addition to artistic development, drawing
assists understanding and representation of geometric relationships, angles
and perspective, shadow and light, and spatial relationships.

As children, most of us spent hours living in the inventive world of drawing,

delighting in our creations. As we saw in chapter 2 with Abu, drawing evolves
from the intuitive perceptual process of seeing and feeling and is a primary
component in the development and use of personality, relationships, verbal
language, and intelligence in children. Because vision, drawing, and bodily

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 53

 kinesthetic (eye–hand coordination) abilities are such primary intuitive process-
es, they provide an excellent means to learn more about and to further develop
our intuitive intelligences. Because drawing also involves accurately interpret-
ing the relationships of one line to another, the interplay of light and shadow,
and conceptual ideas about how to use one symbol to represent something
else, it can be used to help develop logical thinking and mathematical relation-
ships as well. Drawing is omniphasic in that it blends highly intuitive cognitive
and bodily processes with rational thinking processes toward a more fully inte-
grated experience. The sort of cognitive integration that art education provides
tends to be marginalized in our rationally biased educational and cultural
processes.

That is why, if you are like most people, talking about learning to draw causes
you to repeat the rational mantra, “But I can’t draw.” If you can’t draw to your
satisfaction, it is not because you can’t draw but because you have not learned
how to use your basic intuitive, visual, and perceptual skills and to integrate
them with your rational abilities. It is likely that in your drawing efforts you
have come to rely primarily on your simple, rational, schematic, childhood sys-
tem of visual representation according to art scholar Viktor Lowenfeld. That is
why you probably draw the slight variations of the same eye, nose, and mouth
for every face you try to draw.

There are many reasons that you draw this way. Most adults do. Fortunately,
this is not difficult to overcome, because learning the intuitive/rational integra-
tion of skills that allow you to draw realistically requires no more than recogni-
tion and practice. Let us look briefly at the way drawing generally develops in
our culture so that we can see why so many adults draw the way they do —
like young children — and find out what we can do to overcome that problem.
If you already know how to draw, we still recommend you read this section
and do the drawing exercises.

Art and the Integrated Individual

Artists, psychologists, and educational scholars have long recognized the sig-
nificance of artistic expression and drawing to both the creative and psycho-
logical development of individuals. In 1947, Viktor Lowenfeld, a pioneer in the
creative and mental growth of children, wrote that “the double function of art
in the elementary school classroom as self-expression and as a means of self-
adjustment appears evident” (p. 4).

The 1940s and 1950s ushered in an explosion of research about the use of art
as a critical educational tool in the development of the whole individual.
Lowenfeld traced the artistic development of children and, based on scientist
Jean Piaget’s earlier work on the stages of childhood psychological develop-
ment, linked artistic development to psychological development. Lowenfeld

54 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 3

Figure 3.2. Matt, age 4, painting and painted, by Julianne Newton.

stressed that successful artistic growth both parallels and contributes directly
to healthy psychological growth and self-adjustment.

Other leaders in this field, including Florence Cane, Edward Hill, and Betty
Lark-Horovitz, concurred and advanced art theory through the development of
highly successful curricula and artistic methods in the public schools. However,
their primary aim was not to create artists but rather to develop healthy, well-
rounded individuals.

Florence Cane, director of art for the Counseling Centre for Gifted Children at
New York University, produced a seminal work that forms the basis on which
therapeutic art theories and practices are built. Her theoretical work preceded
(and perhaps forecasted) the neuroscience and art education work of Bogen,
Sperry, Edwards, LeDoux, and Damasio. However, her work grew out of educa-
tional, psychological, aesthetic, and intuitive perspectives, rather than from

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 55

 Figure 3.3. My Map, by Matt Newton, age 10.

neurobiological and cognitive perspectives. Her work prepared the ground

for the principles of the omniphasic theory and the concept of balancing
complementary cognitive modalities as rational and intuitive intelligences.
Cane wrote:

Nature and art have this in common — a form comes into

existence by the union of two opposites. In nature, male and
female create a new life. In art, two opposite states of being
within the artist are needed to create form. The active and
receptive states must alternate to produce and complete a work.
The idea of consciously — rhythmically — alternating the
process of giving out and taking in is so simple that it seems
obvious, but few people make use of it. The tendency is to work
to the point of fatigue at which nothing fresh can be con-
tributed. If the student learns to proceed in rhythm, he will find
a new energy, a fresh productivity; he will, in short, be follow-
ing the law of nature. (p. 21-22)

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 Chapter 3
Cane’s methods supported her theory and enrich the omniphasic idea of inte-
grated mind and balanced cognition rather than the dominance of one cogni-
tive modality over another. She suggested that there are many ways that pairs
of opposites balance each other in artistic and aesthetic practice, as in the way
that “the relation between near and distant objects creates a tension which
gives a sense of space; the play between dark and light builds form; the juxta-
position of warm and cold colours intensifies their values, the use of move-
ment into, and out of, a picture establishes living form.” Cane related these
insights to the idea of a balanced, integrated mind by suggesting that “to be
aware of the two simultaneously implies balance and understanding” (p. 24).

It is also clear that during this critical period Cane and other scholars were
influenced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in their recognition of the signifi-
cance of the interplay of the fantasies of the unconscious mind with the con-
scious mind to the psychological development of the individual. As Cane
observed, art is “a means of activating all of one’s functions; the simultaneous
use of these functions assists in the integration of the personality” (p. 33).
Cane echoed Jung, suggesting that too many teachers fail to recognize that
“change, the transcendent function, lies buried in the unconscious and that
only by coaxing it up through fantasy, play, rhythmic movement, and other
indirect means can it be released for union with the conscious” (p. 35).s

Cane’s thesis was later supported by Lark-Horovitz, Hilda Lewis, and Mark Luca
who suggested, “The aim of art education is not the production of works of art
but the unity of the entire growing personality. Learning is not the incorpora-
tion of something alien, something imposed on the child. It is an increase in
his capacity to bring forth what is within him” (p. 4).

Cane boldly asserted that the basic aim of her method was not the creation of
artists but rather “the development of the pupil’s body, soul, and mind through
art experience. Therefore, the method becomes a series of ways and exercises
to awaken and train these essential parts of the child’s being” (p. 37).

Edward Hill eloquently supported this transcendent idea in The Language of

Drawing: “To empty one’s mind of all thought and refill the void with a spirit
greater than oneself is to extend the mind into a realm not accessible by conven-
tional processes of reason” (p. 5). Lark-Horovitz et al. expressed a similar idea:

The goal in teaching art to children is not to train artists but

to offer experiences that contribute to the growth of the person-
ality. Experience with art heightens his sensitivity to the physi-
cal world and leads to a greater appreciation of his environ-
ment. It helps him to give order to his sense impressions, and
enlarges his capacity for enjoyment. It opens a way of express-
ing imagination and feeling. (p. 4)

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 57

 Following Freud’s and Jung’s lead, these luminaries of art theory and method
paved the way for the integration of dual cognitive modalities and artistic and
personal development that has evolved since the early 1970s. Cognitive neuro-
science continues to reveal more evidence of the significance of the integration
of unconscious and conscious, intuitive and rational cognitive functions.

In the following passage Cane made clear the importance of integrating these
processes to the development of the individual and to education in general:

Art is of first importance in education, for the adult as well

as for the child, because the problem of adjustment and the full
realization of one’s potentialities is fundamental in all education.
We apprehend the world through three chief functions:
movement, feeling, and thought. . . . An integrated individual is
one who makes a well-balanced use of each of these three
forms of activity. Art has three precepts, which must be fol-
lowed if one is to obtain its fullest expression. There is a corre-
spondence between these functions of the human being and
the underlying principles of art. The function of movement is
related to the principle of rhythm; feeling, to dynamics and har-
mony; and thought, to balance. Since the principles of art corre-
spond to human functions, one may therefore gradually inte-
grate functions through the practice of art. By this fortunate
relation, the teaching of art can be a valuable method for the
growth and integration of the individual. (p. 34)

It is significant, yet unfortunate, that these early concepts about the importance
of art to the development of the whole mind and the whole individual have not
been universally, or even minimally, integrated into our educational system. In
fact, most adults today have little arts education and still draw as they did
when they were adolescents — or even young children. Few have developed
the skills to recognize and use the multiple intelligences we now know are
available to whole-mind cognitive functioning. The centrality of art to education
has been severely marginalized by the conventional “wisdom” in much of aca-
demia that anything that cannot be measured is to be distrusted.

Fortunately, new research and applied work in Integrated Arts Learning at Harvard
and in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Tucson may be expanding this limited approach
to pedagogy. Though it is early in the application process, this research suggests
that proficiencies learned in the artistic process increase intelligence, creativity,
problem solving, communication, and decision making in ways that also enrich
performance across all disciplines and life processes (Rabkin & Redmond; Eisner).

Lowenfeld’s stages of childhood artistic development may hold the key to

understanding why most adults draw like children. They may also reveal some-

58 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 3
thing about the rational bias in our educational system and culture that
explains why we are not taught to use our whole minds. Reviewing these
stages of development will help you understand why learning to draw seems
so difficult when, in fact, it is very simple and anyone can do it. Understanding
these stages also helps you understand why learning to use your greater cog-
nitive skills and creativity is so important and how drawing and other arts
processes will help you do so. The following review draws primarily from
Lowenfeld’s work, though others, including Cane, Lark-Horovitz, and Kellogg
also made significant contributions to understanding childhood artistic devel-
opment and the significance of art in education.

The Stages of Artistic Development

Drawing comes naturally to the child. It begins with the discov-
ery at about two or even earlier that certain substances leave
marks on surfaces. The child has found a way to express him-
self. (Lark-Horovitz et al., 1967, p. 3)

Children begin to draw when they are about 1 to 1-1/2 years old. A child usual-
ly begins holding a crayon or chalk in a clenched fist, making lines or dots or
circles that look like random marks on the page. According to Lowenfeld, this
initial scribbling stage is purely derivative of bodily kinesthetic movements
with no thought process connecting the movement of arm and hand with the
marks on the page. As this progresses, perhaps after about 6 months, the child
will begin to recognize the causal relationship between the arm and hand
movements. This is followed around age 3 or 4 with the first significant shift in
the type of thinking the child employs. At about age 3 or 4, children learn the
same thing that Abu learned: Drawn lines, circles, and dots suggest something
else seen or perceived. This is a cognitive shift from purely intuitive, bodily
kinesthetic thinking to a more rational, verbal, though still imaginative, thinking
as the child begins to tell stories about and name parts of the scribbling. The
scribbling becomes representative in the child’s imagination and can be
described with words even though the scribbles still do not look like the
objects the child says they represent. Lowenfeld suggests that this significant
shift in thinking from visual kinesthetic to visual verbal will become a dominant
part of the individual’s cognitive preferences, as most thinking from this point
forward will be characterized by thinking in pictures that are described in
words.

It is also around this time that picture books become a daily part of a child’s
life. In today’s culture, this regularly occurs at an earlier age, as parents try to
help their children get a step up on competitive educational pressures to read.
In this stage, with the help of parents, children begin to expand their basic
vocabulary. They look at the pictures and name not only the figures of boys
and girls and dogs and cats but also their eyes and fingers and toes and noses.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 59

 This integration of pictures with words is significant in that it reinforces the
development of the rational symbol system that later supports the develop-
ment of the rational bias. Of course, integrating words and pictures is a useful
exercise in the development of language and complex associations and is not
an example of the rational bias itself. The bias develops as the pictures, draw-
ings, and creative activities are marginalized in the learning experience, and
words, symbols, and rational meaning are emphasized.

At some point, usually around the age of 4, children begin to develop the
desire to expand the relationship between bodily kinesthetic drawing and visu-
al representation. In this preschematic stage, the child explores many ways of
visually representing the various objects or parts of objects that are important
to them. At this stage, circles become heads, dots become eyes, and curved
lines become mouths. Not long after this revelation, arms, hands, and feet are
added, generally coming straight out of the circular head. But eventually the
child loses the fascination with simple and multiple representations and begins
to search for definite concepts to visually and verbally represent the important
things in his or her visual environment. The child is working here to create a
direct visual and verbal relationship between his or her drawings and reality.

As a child’s world becomes more complex and her words and symbolic associ-
ations more sophisticated, usually around the age of 7, she moves from the
preschematic to the schematic stage. She begins to add a body to the head and
fingers and toes to the feet and to draw more complex faces. Lowenfeld sug-
gests that after a long search for definite concepts of many elements in her
environment, the child develops a highly individualized visual symbol for a per-
son and for other visual elements of the environment. These “schema” are
used anytime a particular object is called for. In other words, when the child is
instructed to draw a man or a dog, the symbol will be the same regardless of
what the object actually looks like.

Children also practice their art by drawing these schema, or symbols, over and
over, just as they point to and name the same parts of the same pictures in the
same picture books repeatedly. In these exercises, their art is slowly transform-
ing from an expression of their primary intuitive, perceptual, and kinesthetic
experiences to repetitive, rational learning experiences that develop simple
visual symbols to represent objects and concepts from their environment. It is
interesting to note that this parallels the evolution of language from visual to
verbal discussed in the Abu story. This linear learning process is so pervasive
that it influences our drawing into adulthood.

Because this process is directly related to the verbal naming of drawn objects,
the repetition represents a distinct and primary process of the rational mind: to
be able to recognize and name everything it sees. Still, there is nothing biased
about this process of learning symbols as long as we are also taught and

60 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 3
Figure 3.4. “This is
my brother. He is hid-
ing in Sudan. He is
not happy. . . . He
wants to learn, to go
to school, but he has
nothing. Our school
was burned.”
Drawing by Nur, age
9, Darfur. Courtesy
of Human Rights
Watch, 2005.
Drawing not only
helps children devel-
op balanced mental
processing but also
can help them express
deep emotion and
communicate memo-
ries and concerns.

encouraged to see and draw the immense variety of eyes, hands, feet, and
even trees that exist beyond this limited set of symbols. If we are not taught
this, then our ability to draw what is before our eyes is replaced with the singu-
lar ability to draw schema or symbols that look similar each time we draw
them. The problem is that this system developed for organizational purposes,
not for drawing. Because of this, its symbols are simple and seldom realistic
or aesthetically pleasing to us as drawings. This transformation of complex,
intuitive experience and knowledge into rational symbols is not a rapid
process. It happens over many years as we are taught to draw within the lines
of our coloring books, to write only within the conventions of grammar and
composition, and to use only rational logic as the final judge of knowledge and
merit.

It is important to again stress that learning the basic, rational techniques of

visual and verbal expression is an essential part of our intellectual and psycho-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 61

 Figure 3.5. “I am looking at
the sheep in the wadi
[riverbed, or oasis]. I see
Janjaweed coming —
quickly, on horses and
camels, with Kalashnikovs
— shooting and yelling,
‘kill the slaves, kill the
blacks.’ They killed many of
the men with the animals. I
saw people falling on the
ground and bleeding. They
chased after children. Some
of us were taken, some we
didn’t see again. All our ani-
mals were taken: camels,
cows, sheep, and goats.
Then the planes came and
bombed the village.”
Drawing by Abd Al-
Rahman, 13, Darfur. This
drawing and Figure 3.3
were collected by
researchers, who asked
Darfur children to draw
while the researchers talked
with their parents.
According to Human Rights
Watch, the children offered
researchers “hundreds of
drawings in the hope that
the rest of the world would
see their stories as described
in their own unique visual
vocabulary of war.” The
children received no instruc-
tions. Courtesy Human
Rights Watch, 2005.

62 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 3

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 63

 logical growth. In itself, this linear process does not represent the rational bias.
However, these processes are only part of the learning process. Limiting our
educational processes and cultural expressions to rational, linear techniques
creates rational bias. In doing so, we deprive our culture and ourselves of
holistic development of our intuitive intelligences and of our ability to tran-
scend basic technique and to express ourselves with creative and aesthetic
sophistication in drawing and in other problem-solving activities that require
creative thinking.

The effect of this limitation of cognitive abilities is profound. It reaches far

beyond art and limits our abilities to use our whole, creative mind to solve
problems and to create things of significance to all people. But the limitation of
drawing abilities is one of the first, most easily distinguishable and correctable
forms of the rational bias. So, noting that this is not an argument against the
development of rational education but an argument for including the develop-
ment of intuitive intelligence toward an integrative cognitive model in our edu-
cational process, let us return to our discussion of childhood artistic develop-
ment from Lowenfeld.

As the child’s world becomes more complex, often in the fourth or fifth grade,
the child begins to expand her drawings to include new expressions of her
expanding perceptions. Some gender differences are noted. Traditionally, many
girls draw flowers, hearts, and rainbows, whereas many boys draw cars, weird
faces, and weapons. We don’t yet know if these differences are the result of
genetics or culture — or both. In other words, do parents and teachers draw
flowers and hearts for little girls from infancy, so girls become inclined to draw
such figures as they grow up, or has there always been something in little girls
that makes them particularly interested in hearts and flowers? Here again, we
see a strong emphasis on accuracy and realism. It is often during this stage
that a natural sense of composition begins to give way to the emphasis on
realism.

Between the ages of 9 and 11, children move into the stage of realism. By this
age, children depend strongly on their schematic symbol system for drawing
information. But these schema are merely symbolic with little means for
depicting the details needed to realistically represent a subject. Although their
symbol system has probably grown more sophisticated by this point, it is not
developed enough to satisfy their growing desire to draw realistically. The com-
plexity of a child’s world and experience outstrips the young child’s ability.
Here, the child often tries to overcome the inability to draw realistically by sub-
stituting a large variety of details for realism. The child is drawing from con-
cepts of object “schema” instead of from the visual perception of the object in
front of them. Nearly all children’s art scholars agree that this is the crucial
point at which most children give up drawing altogether or continue drawing
like children into adulthood.

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 Chapter 3
Self-criticism at this age becomes severe. If the right direction is not given, the
child may stop drawing altogether because of dissatisfaction with his or her
efforts, Cane said. Caught between the desire to draw as a mature artist and
the inability to do so, young teenagers tend to remain fixed on a plateau, the
threshold of realism, according to Lark-Horovitz. It has been shown that the
drawings of half of all adults are at the schematic level and can be compared
to the schematic representations of 6- to 10-year-old children.

So, what is the “right direction” to which Cane referred that can offset the
child’s dissatisfaction by teaching her to draw realistically? How can an individ-
ual, whether child or adult, be taught not to substitute his rational, schematic
symbol system for his natural, intuitive ability to draw what he perceives? The
answer is to learn to use intuitive cognitive processes, such as visual and bodi-
ly kinesthetic intelligences, in concert with rational processes, such as concep-
tual thinking and exploring mathematical relationships. We have used this inte-
grated, omniphasic process with more than 5,000 students, whose drawings

Figure 3.6. Self portrait, anonymous 18 year old.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 65

 became more realistic and whose drawing experiences became more enjoy-
able. Although drawing realistically was not the final goal of the exercises,
learning to draw more realistically often gives adults more confidence about
drawing in any form. Even more important is that our students also learned to
“see” and to use their whole minds to create and interpret visual messages of
all kinds — from classical art to video to theoretical models to better writing.

By now you may be getting the idea that the point of the creative exercises is
to help you not only learn to visualize, draw, or write creatively but also, and
perhaps more important, appreciate, develop, and nurture your intuitive intelli-
gences as essential components of an integrated mind and a balanced sense of
self. This is an area where practice perfects. The more you practice, the faster
you learn. Each creative exercise builds on the previous one to help you better
experience and recognize the nature of your intuitive and rational intelligences.

By practicing the drawing exercises in Creatives 3 to 6, you will learn to tap the
immense potential of your whole mind to enhance your creativity and prob-
lem-solving abilities. It is likely that you will also discover that you can, in fact,
draw what you see. Indeed, this is a major step toward developing the integrat-
ed intelligences required to understand and create today’s media images and
to successfully negotiate today’s visual cultures.

Figure 3.7. An Artist, by Erling M., age 6, Kolbotn, Norway. Color pencil. Natural Child Gallery.

66 Williams and Newton

Figure 3.8. Poppa Take Me to the Moon, by Megan A., age 7, Ontario, Canada. Watercolor and collage.
Natural Child Gallery.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 67

 Figure C3.1-4. Examples of first drawings. Clockwise from top left: by Abel, Beason, Fowell, and Harrell.

68 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE THREE
The Perceptual to Conceptual Leap:
First Drawings

The Goal: Creative Decision Making

Abu made the leap toward integrating perceptual and conceptual cognition by
learning the basic principle of representation and symbol making — that some-
thing painted or drawn can stand for something else. In Creative 3, you will
integrate your own perceptual and conceptual abilities to learn to use drawing
techniques to access deeper levels of your mind. This exercise is simple and
will take about 1 to 2 hours. It can also be fun if you can set aside your rational
judge and just draw the best that you can draw right now. One way to do that,
and one of the most important components to successful drawing, is to go
very slowly.

The goal is simply for you to make a record of your drawing skills so you can
compare them to your skills after you have finished all of the drawing exercis-
es. You will come back to these drawings later to see how much you have
learned about the integrated mind and how it has affected your drawing in
Creatives 4, 5, and 6.

You will make two drawings to the best of your present ability. Make each
drawing on a clean piece of drawing paper using a No. 2 pencil or a medium
drawing pencil. We suggest spending at least 30 minutes per drawing. Use a
full sheet of paper for each one. You may do both drawings one after the other
or do them at different times.

Do not worry if your drawings are not good enough to satisfy your inner critic.
No one but you will judge how well you draw. However, do the best you can.
Take the exercise seriously. No matter what your ability, this exercise is impor-
tant for your development as a professional as well as for your personal devel-
opment. It is important to your progress and needs to be done before you
move on to the next chapter and creative exercise.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 69

 The Process
1. Read the instructions before you start drawing.
2. Spend time relaxing before you begin. Doing a visualization works well.
3. Now, draw a picture of your hand in any position that you want — the more
complex the position, the better. Use a full sheet of paper for the drawing.
Use a pencil to draw. Do not put your hand flat on the paper and trace it. After
you begin drawing, do not move your hand or the position of your head. You
need to look at your hand from the same angle throughout the drawing.
4. Draw a second picture of your hand in a different but complex position. Try
to proceed at an even slower pace this time. Look carefully at the lines of your
hand and the angles that are made as a finger bends, and transfer those lines
and relationships to your paper just as your eye sees them.
5. Now, pause to look at your work. Do not be critical — that is not the purpose
of this exercise. Just note the lines and shapes in your drawings.
6. Sign and date both drawings.
7. Reflect on and write an assessment of your experience.

Summary
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Spend time relaxing before you start.
! Make two drawings in pencil or ink, using a full sheet of paper for each.
! Ponder your drawings.
! Sign and date each drawing.
! Reflect on and write about your overall experience.

Figures C3.5-6. First drawings of hands. Above Left: By Almeida. Above Right: By Jackson.

70 Williams and Newton

Figure C3.7. First drawing, artist unknown.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 71

 Figure 4.1. Mood Lifter, 2001, by Maggie Taylor. (Original in color)

72 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER FOUR
Overcoming Intuitive Illiteracy:
Accessing Your Whole Mind

The impulse to draw is as natural as the impulse to talk.

Kimon Nicolaides (p. xiii)

F
rom the earliest days of the Renaissance, the primary method used to
teach students to draw was to copy directly from masterworks, both draw-
ings and paintings. Vincent Van Gogh copied Rembrandt drawings of
hands over and over until he had mastered them. Traditionally, repetition has
helped students learn to “see” what is before them — to see as an artist sees,
in great detail, with attention to line, light, and shadow; visual relationships;
and emotional content. By focusing deeply and experiencing the character and
feeling of each line and shape as if it exists independent of the rest of the com-
position, you can learn to draw what you perceive rather than rely on precon-
ceived childhood schema or ideas.

Repetition Techniques and Perception

A number of repetitive techniques have developed since the Renaissance to
achieve this artist’s kind of “seeing.” These include gesture drawing, segment-
ed detail drawing, dot drawing, circle drawing, blind drawing, contour drawing,
duplication exercises, differentiation exercises, vase-face drawing, mirror-imag-
ing, and many more. Another technique that art teachers have used to teach
seeing and composition is to turn the work upside down to get a fresh per-
spective of the elements within the frame. This technique helps the student
move away from a literal, representative perspective and focus on the arrange-
ment and juxtaposition of specific visual elements within the composition —
such as line, form, relationship, direction, eye movement, and emotive quali-
ties of line and shading.

As early as 1544, the camera obscura was used to pass light reflected from a
subject through a pinhole into a darkened room and then project an upside-
down image of the subject onto the wall opposite the pinhole. Originally, this

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 73

 Figure 4.2. Camera Obscura, 17th century. Note that the artist entered the camera obscura,
or dark room, through a hole in the floor. Images of external objects passed through small openings and
were projected upside down on the walls to use as drawing aids.
From “Ars Magna” by Athanasius Kircher (Amsterdam).
Oxford Science Archive, Oxford, Great Britain. HIP / Art Resource, NY.

early camera was used to view solar eclipses and later was redesigned to be
used by artists to draw subjects realistically by tracing the upside-down images
as they were projected onto etched glass surfaces in portable versions of the
camera obscura. The same instrument was again adapted to take the earliest
photographs. With further adaptations and refinements, the view camera was
developed and used as the primary camera for photography for nearly 100
years. In this camera, the photographer focused and composed the upside-
down image on an etched glass plate under a large black hood.

Nicolaides adapted and integrated many of these historical drawing exercises

in his 1941 book, The Natural Way to Draw, which is still in print today. One of
the first statements that Nicolaides makes is, “The knowledge — what is to be
known about art — is common property” (p. xiii). Indeed, this is witnessed by
the plethora of art instruction in books and now on the web that use these
basic techniques to teach people to draw.

By the 1970s, researchers had shown that the two hemispheres of the
brain process information in different ways. Their work indicated that the
left brain is primarily verbal and that it processes information using analyt-
ical, linear cognitive processes. The right brain is primarily visual and

74 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 4
processes information using synthesistic, global cognitive processes.
Further studies in cognitive neuroscience have confirmed that the brain
processes information in two distinct ways (analytic and synthesistic) much as
earlier researchers suggested, but that the hemispheres and cognitive process-
es are more integrated than originally thought. Our integrative theory of mind
builds on this work but reframes it to focus on cognitive function as rational
and intuitive rather than as right brain/left brain. We believe that drawing exer-
cises help teach students to overcome their schematic symbol systems, as
Cane suggested, and to focus on perceptual details that are important to draw-

Figure 4.3. Illustration of two children looking at a table camera obscura, taken
from E. Atkinson's “Natural Philosophy,” 19th century. Camera obscuras were known
to the ancient Chinese and Greeks, and were used by Arab astronomers in the 10th century
to observe the sun. Note that in this camera obscura, a reflex viewing system projects
the image right side up. Science Museum, Science & Society Picture Library.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 75

 ing accurately and, perhaps more important, to authentic seeing and knowing.
We also believe that the exercises work in ways similar to the repetition of a
mantra in meditation, the rhythmic beating of a drum in dance, or the reitera-
tion of kinesthetic movements in sports, to integrate and focus rational and
intuitive cognitive processes rather than separating out the intuitive. We dis-
cuss this process further in creative 4.

Omniphasism suggests that drawing is a cognitively integrated process that

uses rational intelligences, such as finding mathematical relationships and
using verbal metaphor and abstractions, as equal and complementary process-
es to the visual, perceptual intuitive processes, such as seeing, eye–hand coor-
dination, and focusing on and integrating independent details.

Through the visualization, drawing, and other exercises in this book, you are
learning to integrate rational with intuitive processes toward whole-mind cog-
nitive experience. As Hill and others suggested, our purpose is more about
teaching you how to use complementary ways of knowing than about teaching
visualization, drawing, creative writing, or dream interpretation (though each is
useful in and of itself). The exercises are steps along the path toward cultivat-
ing a balanced mind with new, creative
problem-solving and decision-making abili-
ties that outperform more segmented,
rationally biased models.

The drawing exercises combine traditional

approaches of repetitive, mirror, and con-
tour drawing techniques to help you tran-
scend the habit of drawing schema and
learn to see as an artist. If you practice, not
only will you learn to integrate your ration-
al and intuitive abilities intentionally but
also you will learn to draw more realistical-
ly — if you choose to do so. Fortunately,
many of the creative processes that educa-
tors such as Rubin, Nicolaides, and
Simmons and Winer developed to help stu-
dents learn drawing and graphic design
have the added advantage of helping prac-
titioners learn to recognize and integrate
other abilities, including visual, physiologi-
cal, mathematical, logical and abstract, and
psychological intelligences.

You have already begun to learn how to

Figure 4.4. Untitled, by Jan Halvorsen. access and appreciate your intuitive

76 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 4

Figure 4.5. Jan’s Sketchbook, by Jan Halvorsen.

intelligences. By practicing a few basic exercises, including some that

have been used by artists for centuries, you can learn to recognize, use,
and develop your intuitive abilities more effectively.

Because visual stimuli are processed primarily in the right hemisphere and
visual cognition takes place before and without the need for reason, visual
intelligence is a highly intuitive process. However, reason can be part of visual
cognition. We can, for example, see the outline of a hand on a cave wall and
rationally speculate about its meaning. We can see words on a page and use
our rational knowledge to understand their meaning. Yet the original process of
seeing the hand outline on the wall or the words on the page does not require
a conscious reasoning process for you to derive knowledge from the seeing
experience. One of the primary purposes of using particular fonts in print
design is to impart visual meaning to the typeset words before and as you
read the words and without conscious analysis of the underlying font structure.
We discuss this in detail in chapter 13. Visual communicators and designers
use colors, shapes, composition, shading, and other techniques to attract our
intuitive responses before we can think about messages on a conscious level.
In fact, a great deal of media communication is never processed by the con-
scious, rational mind. Yet the messages affect us emotionally and become part
of the nonconscious memory system that guides our behavior.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 77

 Figure 4.6. School Children Pondering, by Julianne Newton.

Rational Bias and Visual Response

Further compounding the difficulty of learning to draw is the rational bias of
educational systems and subsequent oppression of the intuitive ways of know-
ing in everyday life. The effect of the rational bias is that we most often use and
value a certain kind of information processing — the conscious processing that
is best expressed in words or numbers. Verbal and mathematical classification
is the language of the dominant rational mind. Sometimes we sense other
ways of knowing and become aware of the intuitive mind, which operates
without words all the time. When we hear music and move spontaneously to
the beat; when we see art and respond with delight or sorrow or inspired
actions; when we catch a football or spike a volleyball or return a difficult ten-
nis serve; when we drift off into daydreams or into the visuals stimulated by a
good book; or when we drive from point A to point E without being aware of
points B, C, and D, we are experiencing types of intuitive intelligence at work.

However, because of the rational bias of our culture, we do not generally

understand these abilities as forms of intelligence. More often, we assume
either that such experiences are the result of practice or that they are aberra-
tions or experiences in which we have lost control. To some extent, this loss of
control is accurate because, in these intuitive experiences, conscious process-
ing does not dominate. Even when the rational mind is dominant, it is guided
by intuitive cognitive processing. Yet, often when we become aware that the
intuitive mind has guided a behavior, such as driving, instead of accepting the

78 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 4
experience as one of knowing and understanding, our conscious, rational mind
“assumes control” and warns us that we could have caused a serious wreck or
missed an important part of a lecture as our thoughts drifted elsewhere. Many
of our parents and teachers trained our rational minds with such well-inten-
tioned verbal cues as, “Be sure to color within the lines,” or “Think about what
you’re doing — stop daydreaming.” Such skills are helpful to develop self-dis-
cipline. Yet coloring outside the lines and daydreaming can stimulate the cre-
ative thinking processes that help us make decisions in innovative ways.

Remember: We believe that the bias toward rational processing is a learned,

cultural bias and that the natural state of cognition is a balanced integration of
cognitive modes. Remember, too, that cognitive balance is dynamic, constantly
shifting, and achieved when rational and intuitive intelligences are equally val-
ued and developed. When we seek and achieve a dynamic balance as a regular
part of life, we are best prepared to draw on the whole mind to solve problems.

The Second Nature of Consciousness

Practice and repetition certainly improve skills, but there is a point at which the
skills become integrated into the whole, when we transcend technique and the
skills become second nature. Notice the term second nature in the preceding
sentence. Our first nature is our nonconscious, intuitive mind responding intel-
ligently to stimuli. The stimulus might be a loud noise or something moving

Figure 4.7. Marion Jones

(left) finishes just behind
Gail Devers in the 100-
meter dash in the 2004
Prefontaine Classic at
the University
of Oregon’s
Hayward Field.
Photograph
by Collin Andrew.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 79

 quickly toward us, or it might be a media image, music, or a human gesture. At
those points, the intuitive mind responds more quickly than the rational mind
by instantly telling the body to respond in the most appropriate manner.

Great artists, musicians, dancers, actors, athletes, other highly skilled individu-
als such as policemen, firemen, medical professionals — and even writers —
also transcend the rational learning of technique when they soar into the realm
of intuitive creativity, performance, or action. Within this realm people certainly
use practiced techniques. However, we do not think about those techniques
rationally as we improvise a musical arrangement, as poetry spontaneously
flows from pens or lips, as we hit tennis balls moving toward us at 90 miles an
hour, or as we throw out an arm to protect a child in an automobile. These are
intuitive responses integrated with practiced technique in an omniphasic sym-
phony of expression. This is the integrated mind. Most of you have undoubted-
ly experienced the feeling of “being on a roll” while writing, or “being in the

Figure 4.8. Dancing at Lane. Photograph by Rick WIlliams.

80 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 4
zone” while playing a sport, only to be dashed out of the “roll” or “zone” when
you stopped to think consciously about what you were doing. Our goal is to
help you learn to tap into those zones and balance your conscious and subcon-
scious processing experiences through omniphasic practices.

Consider visual intelligence, for example. Most of us are born with the ability
to see, and we do enhance visual communication by using it constantly. But
we also can say that we are born with the ability to make sounds. We can even
learn to speak other languages by spending time with other people who are
speaking them. Yet children spend many years learning to recognize letters and
their combinations as words. Children also have to learn to form the letters on
paper in meaningful sequences. However, just as learning to read words does
not necessarily mean someone fully understands what he is reading, learning
to negotiate life visually does not mean we always understand what we see. It
also does not mean we can effectively create, or write, visual messages.

We spend 18-plus years of our lives learning predominantly rational processes

to the exclusion of our more intuitive abilities. We experience the loss con-
stantly. We experience the loss of our intuitive intelligences in the boredom of
classrooms where we memorize dates and data that have no evident relation-
ship to our lives. We experience the loss in the dissatisfaction with our real
lives in comparison with glamorized media images of freedom, independence,
sex, and beauty. We experience the loss through imbalances of wealth and
political power, through lack of concern for dwindling natural resources,
through intolerance for cultural differences, and through violent oppression.
We experience the loss through shallow relationships, disintegrating families,
devaluing everyday labor, and in the very heart of our being.

The good news is that we can learn to bring balance to our lives by conscious-
ly choosing to cultivate our intuitive intelligences — and we can have fun in
the process. The synthesistic nature of intuitive intelligences means they rapid-
ly integrate many diverse pieces of information to make a new whole. We do
not have to train them using the same laborious formats we use to learn such
rational processes as grammar and spelling. Visualization, for example, is a
global skill that uses one of the primary intuitive intelligences, visual intelli-
gence, to synthesize information across space.

One way you can nurture your intuitive abilities and integrate them with your
rational abilities in a very short time is to practice the drawing skills described in
the next three creative exercises. Additionally, as you learn the basic components
of drawing that help you integrate rational and intuitive intelligences, you can
also improve your drawing skills dramatically. If you use them regularly, the basic
component skills will become integrated into global skill and drawing will become
automatic. Soon you will be able to draw the things that you see to the satisfac-
tion of even your worst critic, which is most likely your own rational mind.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 81

 Figure 4.9. Music Instructor Ron Bertucci conducts the Lane Symphonic Band.
Photograph by Rick WIlliams.

It seems obvious that educating and using our whole minds would be advanta-
geous — and it is. Learning to access intuitive intelligences and use them in
sophisticated ways opens corridors to knowledge, helping us ”break-set” from
habitual approaches to problem solving and living. In the process, we learn to
tap our creative potential. We also learn to understand how media messages
influence our thinking and behavior. Advantages of developing our intuitive
abilities include greater creativity, better problem-solving abilities, enhanced
aesthetic abilities and appreciation, better communication skills, more bal-
anced living, and more sophisticated understanding of influences on our own
thinking and how we influence others.

As you enjoy the next three drawing exercises, remember that the main pur-
pose is the same as the visualization and other exercises — to learn to recog-
nize and use the power of your integrated mind. In chapters 5 and 6 we discuss
the historic and contemporary science underlying the ideas of Omniphasism
and Integrative Mind.

82 Williams and Newton

Figure 4.10. bang comics! nightwing number fifty three, by Erik Palmer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 83

 Figure C4.1. The Sawblade, by Rick Williams.

84 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE FOUR
The Yin/Yang of Drawing:
Drawing Contours, Not Features

The Goal: Integrating Ways of Seeing and Knowing

Before you continue reading, take a minute or two to draw an eye on a piece of
paper without looking at an eye. Just draw from memory. No one is going to
judge your work, so just draw an eye as you normally would.

Unless you are a practiced artist, the eye you have drawn is most likely an
adaptation of your schema for an eye. As both Lowenfeld and Cane suggested
a half century ago, the main impediment to drawing realistically for most of us
is that when we try to draw a feature such as an eye or a hand or flower or
butterfly we revert unconsciously to our schematic system of simple symbols
for those subjects that we learned as children. When we revert to our automatic
schema rather then seeing the individual character of each line that makes up a
feature, we lose many of the important details that an artist needs to see and
copy in order to make an accurate drawing.

For instance, many of us have a schematic for an eye that involves a complete
circle inside of an oval. You’ve just doodled an eye. Now turn the page and look
at the photograph of the eye in Figure C4.2. Notice that you cannot see the
entire circle of the iris. On most people you cannot see the entire iris even if
the eye is open wide. The schema we use to represent an eye works fine as a
visual symbol but does not begin to represent the details of an actual eye.

Take a few minutes to look more closely at the photographed eye in order to
see it as an artist sees it. While you are looking, notice the beautiful curved line
of the upper lid where its edge (or contour) appears to touch and follow the
curve of the eyeball below. Notice how the lashes make the edge a dark and
wide or heavy line at times. Slowly follow that curve with your vision. The line
starts near the nose, curves upward in a long arch, and then slopes gently
downward. The left arch is slightly longer than the right arch before it reaches

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 85

 Figure C4.2. Rick’s Eye, by Julianne Newton.

the middle of the iris. It slants more dramatically to the lower lid. Notice
how close the line is to the black pupil of the eye and how large the pupil is.
Notice the size of the pupil relative to the size of the iris. The size of the pupil
is also a subtle clue to how bright the light is on the subject. Does the pupil
sit in the middle of the iris or is it closer to one side and/or to the top? Is is
wide open or closed?

Now look above the iris and notice the line made by the entire upper lid as it folds
and rests just above the contour you just followed. The line of the upper lid is
longer and reaches closer to the nose than the lower line. Follow this second line
slowly with your artist’s vision from one end to the other. Did you notice that it is
thicker in some places than in others. Look at the distance between the upper and
lower lines. Are they equidistant from one another all the way across?

Now look at the edge of the lowest lid beneath the eye. Notice how it inter-
sects with the upper lid that you have been following in the preceding para-
graphs. Again notice the slope and length and character of the line as you fol-
low it slowly with your own vision. How far is this line from the bottom of the
pupil compared to how far the upper line is from the top of the pupil? This dis-
tance will help you define the arch of the bottom line, which you can see is dif-
ferent from the arch of the top line. Look carefully at the point where the upper
and lower lines meet near the edge of the nose. Notice the angle that is creat-
ed by their separation and consider how wide or narrow that angle is. Look at
the same corner on the other side of the eye. Is the angle the same?

86 Williams and Newton

 Creative 4
Now look at the corners again. Do you see the tiny flap of skin on the inside
of the left corner? Notice how that little flap helps give the impression that
the eyeball is behind that skin and the lid. Notice also all of the tiny lines that
come out of the corners and onto the face and notice the other lines above
and below the eye that tell you something about the person’s age and the
condition of his skin.

You have probably just spent more time seeing and understanding the physical
appearance of an eye than you have ever done before. This is the way an artist
sees any subject as they draw it. In doing so you have used your integrated
intelligences to experience and understand the dynamics of the eye in ways
that are far more complex and meaningful than a simple schematic under-
standing. You used mathematical intelligence to compare line lengths, direc-
tion, angles of rise, and intersection with other lines. You used your linguistic
intelligence to describe and understand these relationships to yourself and to
develop a sense of the feeling and character of the eye and individual. You
have used your intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences to understand the
emotions you feel when you look at another person’s eyes, and you have used
your visual intelligence to see and encode all of this meaning into your aware-
ness and your unconscious memory.

Learning to see in this way not only will help you draw better but also will help
you to consciously integrate your multiple intelligences, in turn making you
more aware of the world around you and more engaged in life experiences.
The process helps you understand life on more sophisticated levels and from
multiple perspectives. Enhancing your visual perception also helps you be
more creative and solve problems using you whole mind. By seeing the com-
plex system of contours that make up a subject and by drawing those lines,
you move beyond your early schematic system to a new vision of your world.

Before we move on to the drawing exercises that are specifically designed to

help you learn more about the process of seeing and accurately drawing the
lines of your subject instead of focusing on the subject’s features, let’s practice
using an artist’s view by studying one more subject that has been a standard
for teaching contour drawing for centuries, the hand.

Look at the photograph of the hand in Figure C.3. As mentioned earlier, artists
refer to an edge that defines part of a subject as a contour. Look at the contour
that defines the bottom edge of the pointing finger in this photograph. Do you
see the edge of the finger that separates it from the darker background? Just
as you did with the eye, notice how that contour starts. Look at the wrinkles
that the bend of the finger creates at the uppermost point of the finger. The
shadow in between the folds creates a contour on either side as it moves
upward into the hand. Notice the angle of that contour as it intersects the bot-
tom of the finger. Now let your gaze move along the bottom contour down the

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 87

 Figure C4.3. My hand, by Rick Williams.

finger. Do you see how that first contour arches and slopes slightly downward
before it intersects the next vertical contour below the knuckle? It is not a
straight line. This contour is really divided into sections of different lengths that
move in different directions. Here again look at the angles created by bends in
the contour. Notice how long each is compared to the other. These compar-
isons are one of the bases of proportion that will make your drawing realistic.

Now pull back and look at the dark background space between the bottom of
the forefinger and top of the thumb. Focus on that space so that the hand goes
out of focus. Look at the shape of that space and see the contour or edge it cre-
ates against the finger and thumb. To draw this part of the hand, you can either
draw the contour of the finger and hand or you can draw the contour of the
space. You will end up with the same contours either way.

Finally, move away from the photographic image and hold up your own hand
in front of you in a similar pose. Follow the same contours on your own hand
that you did on the image. But now, move your hand around and, one at a
time, notice all the contours that make up your different fingers, your hand,
and your wrist. Look at the veins and see the contour lines on either side of
them. Look at the hairs as lines or contours. Look at the wrinkles in the knuck-
les and bends in the fingers. When you do this, you are translating the features
of your hand into lines or contours. If you simply copy those lines as you see
them without defining them as finger or knuckle or fingernail, you will move
beyond your schematic system and learn to draw what you see — just as

88 Williams and Newton

 Creative 4
Lowenfeld and Cane suggested more than sixty years ago before cognitive
neuroscience became part of our understanding of the processes of seeing and
drawing. More important, you will help bring your cognitive system into a bal-
ance of integrated mind that will serve you on many levels of your life.

But before you start trying to draw realistically, it is important that you take
your new understanding of contours a step or two further so that you can truly
understand the importance of the character of lines to drawing. The following
exercises are designed to help you do just that. If you practice these two exer-
cises and those that follow, the drawings you will make later will surprise and
delight you. At least that has been true for thousands of people before you.

One final idea before you start the exercises. These two exercises focus on the
character of lines or contours, not on representational accuracy of features. So
relax and focus on seeing and copying the lines in your subjects. Do not judge
the drawings. Again, just enjoy these exercises and do not worry about what
the drawings look like. Learn to draw lines as you see them.

Part I. Drawing Contours

This exercise is as old as art schools. Nicolaides described this process in his
1941 book, The Natural Way to Draw, but it has been used for centuries by
artists and art teachers to help students access their artistic vision and draw
accurate contours. Notice we said draw accurate contours, not draw accurate
pictures. The point is to focus on the character of lines and simply copy that
character. The character of a line is its length, angle, direction, thickness or thin-
ness, and emotional impact. That is all we are interested in because it is truly
all that is needed to draw accurately.

Once you learn to see and draw contours accurately, we will teach you to put
those contours together to create realistic interpretations of your subject. Do
not skip or skimp on the practice of these exercises. You have been drawing in
the schematic stage for many years, and you must learn to see and draw con-
tours before you move on to realism, creative expression, and visual commu-
nication of concepts. As you draw, do notice how you feel. Look for that same
integrated state of mind that you experienced in the meditation and visualiza-
tion exercises — that enjoyable, engaged state of being in which all else seems
to fade into the background.

You will need a pencil, a blank piece of paper at least the size of computer
paper, and four short pieces of tape. The most important part of this exercise is
to see and draw slowly. Each drawing should take you about 30 minutes.
Before you begin drawing be sure to look at the examples in Figures 4.4-7. You
will note that the drawings are not accurate representations of their subject’s
features, but are expressive and intriguing contours. That is what you are after.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 89

 Situate yourself at a comfortable table that is large enough for you to put the
paper to the side of your dominant hand and your subject to the other side.
When you draw in this exercise, you will look at the subject but never at the
paper. When you are situated, tape the paper to the table so it will not move as
you draw. Place your non-dominant hand in a comfortable position where you
can easily see it but so that you cannot see the paper when you are looking at
your hand. Arrange your hand in a fairly complex position so that your fingers
overlap and bend somewhat.

Now look at your hand and find a contour that interests you. It can be a line
along the edge of a finger or fingernail or a line on your hand. Pick a point on
that line at which you want to start drawing.

Before you start drawing, focus on the point of a contour where you decided to
start drawing. Move only your eyes along that contour and move them very
slowly from one end of the contour to a natural ending point for that particular
contour. This might be where the contour intersects another contour or where
it curves to go in another direction. As you move your eyes slowly along the
contour, pretend that your pencil is touching that point and moving along just
as your eye moves. Repeat this on the same line several times. Notice the
direction and thickness or thinness of the line, its smoothness or bumpiness,
and where other lines intersect it.

When you have done this, look at the paper and pick the place where you think
your chosen contour should begin if you are going to draw your whole hand
on the paper. Place your pencil on this point and keep it there as you shift your
eyes back to your chosen contour. Do not look at the paper again until you
have drawn your entire hand by moving from contour to contour.

Focus again on your chosen contour. This time, as you begin to move your
eyes along that same, familiar line, move your pencil along the paper as if it is
following the same line, at the same pace as your eyes. When you come to the
end of the contour, do not pick up your pencil and do not look at the paper.
Move your eyes to an adjacent contour and then, without looking at the paper,
move your pencil to the point where you think that contour should begin. In
the same slow way, begin to move your eyes slowly along the new contour
and move your pencil as your eyes move. Imagine your pencil touching the
edge of a contour just where your eyes are looking.

If you have trouble focusing on the line of a part of your finger or hand, try
shifting your attention to the space behind, between, or around your finger or
hand. Draw the contour of that space instead. This will direct your attention to
something other than your hand, making the background the focus of your
vision. This process makes use of figure/ground relationships, a phenomenon
of visual perception. When you focus your attention on your hand, your hand is

90 Williams and Newton

 Creative 4

Figures C4.4-7. Clockwise from top left:

One of my shoes, Blind Drawing #1, Crumpled Paper, Candle Stick & holder, by Stu Holdren, 2005.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 91

 Figure C4.8. High-contrast detail of “The Sawblade,”
shown in Figure C4.1, accentuating figure/ground relationships.
Focus alternately on a white space and then on the black pattern,
bringing one forward in your vision and using the other
as background. Note the shifts your eyes make
as they move from one space to the other.

the figure and the space behind it is the ground. When you focus your vision
on the space behind your hand, you are reversing the visual relationships so
that the space becomes the figure and your hand becomes the ground. You
cannot focus on both figure and ground at the same time, but you can reverse
your visual focus on one or the other. Concentrating on what you originally
perceived as ground can help you focus on contours.

The same principle applies to perception of Figure C4.1, “The Sawblade.” You
alternately perceive the forms of the jagged blade’s shadow as figure or you
perceive the blade itself as figure. The illustration in Figure C4.4 will help you
define the figure/ground relationships of the Sawblade. We discuss more about
relationships of figure/ground in chapter 11.

Whether your hand or the space is the focus of your vision, concentrate on the
lines, moving from one contour to another until you have drawn all contours
on your hand, including the ones on your fingers. Do not just draw the outline
alone. You will probably have to fight your urge to look and see what you have
done. Remember that the point here is not to draw an accurate representation
of your hand but to learn to look at and draw accurate contours.

When you finish your drawing, look at it with an artist’s eye to examine the
contours. Compare a specific contour to the same contour on your hand, and
see how closely you represented the character of that line. Is the line the same
length, width, angle, and curve?

Take time to relax and do another contour drawing of something else — a

crumpled piece of paper, a flower, a shoe, or anything you like that has com-
plex contours that intersect each other. Each time, focus your attention on the
lines only. That is the important subject in this exercise.

Part II. Practice

Part II is the same as Part I — except this time, as you draw two contour draw-
ings of different objects of your choice, glance at your paper each time you
move from one contour to the next. Use this glance to place your pencil in the
correct position on the paper to start the new contour. Your focus is still on the
contours and spaces of your subject, rather than on the paper, 90% of your
drawing time. These images will look more like the subject than the one on

92 Williams and Newton

 Creative 4
which you did not look at the paper because of your alignment of each contour.
This moves you more toward the drawing technique that most artists use.

Part III: The Yin and Yang Drawings

In order to practice the contour skills you just learned, draw three horizontal
rectangles on a piece of paper in the same size and arrangement as the rectan-
gles in Figures C9-11. Then draw the simple contours of the abstract figures in
each of the rectangles in Figures C9-11, just as you see them. Be sure to focus
on the contour around the space and take your time. Move your eyes slowly
and move your pencil along with your eyes’ movement as your eyes follows
each contour. Remember that you can draw the positive or negative spaces.
Shade in the dark areas with your pencil. You may glance at the paper as you
draw. But focus primarily on the contours and spaces. Do this now.

Part IV. Completing the Circle.

When you have finished Part III, turn to page 98, but not until you have fin-
ished the drawings or you will spoil the effect. As you can see, each of the
abstract drawings you just made is a section of the yin and yang horse logo
created by graphic designer Maggie Macnab. Each rectangle you just drew is
1/3 of the entire drawing, and they were rearranged so the horses were not so
obvious. In addition to practicing your new contour drawing skills, the point of
this exercise is to illustrate that what you have learned about drawing contours
instead of figures actually works. If you cut out your drawings and put them in
the right order, they will complete the horse pattern even though you did not
intend to draw two horses at all. In this same way, looking at your subject as
an arrangement of lines that you copy onto paper will help you draw better.

Using your new contour drawing skills, draw a circle the same size as the one
in Figure C4.12. Then copy all of the simple contours into the drawn circle to
complete the entire design. If you have trouble focusing only on the contours
in the area you are drawing, try covering the lower 2/3 of the circle with paper
to isolate the lines as you drew them in the first part of the Yin/Yang drawing.
Then you can slide down the cover sheet and draw the next section. The more
you practice drawing contours in this way or in the contour exercises you did
in Part 1, the better you will see and draw as an artist does.

Look again at Maggie’s design in Figure C4.12. She derived the logo in part
from the ancient I Ching symbol for yin/yang. Note that you cannot see both
horses at the same time. Your eyes shift between figure and ground: either the
white or the black horse will be outlined as figure against the background of
the other.

When you finish, reflect on your work through all processes of this exercise
and write an assessment of your experiences.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 93

 Figures C4.9-11. Yin/Yang drawing exercise

94 Williams and Newton

 Creative 4
Summary
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Spend time relaxing before your start.

Part I. Drawing Contours

! Draw your hand, using a full sheet of blank paper for each drawing.
! Focus on contours and spaces. Do not look at the paper as you draw.
! Make as many contour drawings as it takes to become comfortable with
the process — at least two.
! Sign and date each drawing.

Part II. Practice

! Follow the process as in Part I except draw different subjects and glance
at the paper to position your pencil each time you move from one con-
tour to another.
! Sign and date each drawing.
! Reflect on and write an assessment of your experiences completing
parts I and II.

Part III. The Yin and Yang Drawings

! Use a full sheet of blank paper.
! Draw three rectangle about the size of those on p. 94.
! Draw the contours and spaces you see in each of the rectangles.
! Sign and date each drawing.

Part IV. Completing the Circle

! Use a full sheet of blank paper.
! Draw a large circle.
! Turn to page 98 of this book and look at the Arabian horse logo by
Maggie Macnab.
! Draw the contours inside the circle.
! If you have trouble focusing on contours instead of features, cover part of
the drawing with a clean piece of paper.
! Sign and date each drawing.

Reflection
! Reflect on and write an assessment of your experiences completing all
the exercises.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 95

 Figure C4.12. Logo design for Maddoux-Wey Arabians, by Maggie Macnab.
To learn how Maggie created the design, look in chapter 11.

96 Williams and Newton

Figure C4.13. Grand Canyon from South Rim, Arizona, 1941, by Ansel Adams. Vintage print. Records
of the National Park Service (79-AAF-8), National Archives and Records Administration. Adams com-
posed most of his great landscapes upside down due to the viewing system of the large-format cameras he
used. For fun, try studying the image upside down, looking for figure/ground relationships and contour
lines. Then turn it right side up again and notice how your eyes shift to determine meaning patterns.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 97

 Figure 5.1. Sea Sprite, by Rick Williams.

98 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER FIVE
Ulysses in his Right Mind:
The Historical Intuitive Mind

Until now, we have supported the fiction that adult roles

depend largely on the flowering of a single intelligence. In fact,
however, nearly every cultural role of any degree of sophistica-
tion requires a combination of intelligences.
Gardner (1993, p. 26)

B
y now, we hope you have experienced enough of the excitement that
comes with the intentional use of intuitive and integrated processes to
have both a sense that they are real and a desire to learn more about
them. If a part of you is still a bit skeptical, consider that quite normal. So far,
we have primarily used stories and creative exercises to facilitate an introduc-
tion to the rational, intuitive, and integrative mind. In this chapter and the next,
we present a rational, scientific argument to complement the intuitive process-
es you have experienced. A historical framework is a good place to begin to
situate omniphasic theory within the larger context of communication, art, phi-
losophy, psychology, neuroscience, and education.

Julian Jaynes: The Bicameral Mind and the Ancient Intuitive Mind
Evidence of the two major cognitive-processing systems of the human brain,
operating in tandem but in separate and distinct ways, is recorded in written
language as far back as 600–1000 BCE, the approximate time of the first written
version of the Iliad. Psychologist Julian Jaynes theorized that people living in
the era of the Iliad functioned as though human nature was split in two.

For the Myceneans, Jaynes proposed, this bicameral (two houses) mind oper-
ated so that one half seemed directly connected to a divine source (gods and
goddesses), serving as the admonitory guide and director of all human activi-
ties. The other half was connected to the corporeal world, directed activities to
carry out the guidance of the admonitory (divine) mind. Jaynes reasoned that

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 99

 Figure 5.2. Odysseus and Circe, illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle, a 15th-century book by
Hartmann Schedel. Courtesy of Morse Library, Beloit College. Note that the names Odysseus and
Ulysses refer to the same main character of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

this left humankind without conscious decision-making abilities. Because the

gods directed all decisions, there was no need for conscious reflection about life.

Jaynes’s other contribution with significant relevance to integrative mind theo-

ry is his assertion that the evolution of the rational, linear, conscious mind and
the development of written language during the Greek Golden Age of Reason
led to the origin of consciousness in humankind and, subsequently, to the
demise of the bicameral mind. When humankind began to use reason for intro-
spection, self-determination, and consciousness, rational thinking processes

100 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 5
began to take control over the divine (intuitive) mind. This initiated the devel-
opment of a disabling bias against intuitive intelligences in society.

In his updated Afterword to the 1990 edition of The Origin of Consciousness in

the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Jaynes asserted that the results of
research in asymmetrical hemispheric function (Bogen and Sperry’s right/left-
brain research), “even conservatively treated, are in agreement with what we
might expect to find in the right hemisphere on the basis of the bicameral
hypothesis” (pp. 455-456). He pointed out that the superior ability of the right
hemisphere to process information in a synthesistic manner and in a way that
uses spatial intelligence to add clarity to cognition is, indeed, the same synthe-
sistic process in which the
divine voice of the gods gave
clarity of direction in the early
bicameral mind. Jaynes fur-
ther suggested a relationship
between asymmetrical hemi-
spheric function and the
bicameral mind, stating that
hemispheric specialization of
the brain is the contemporary
neurological model of the
original bicameral mind.

We want to suggest a correla-

tion between Jaynes’s explana-
tion and current neurological
thought in which the reason-
generated demise of the syn-
thesistic–intuitive dominance
in the 10th- to 6th-century BCE
bicameral mind parallels the
subjugation of the synthesistic,
right-hemisphere processes to
the logical, left-hemisphere
processes described in the
20th-century research of
Sperry and Bogen. This correla-
tion provides a context for Figure 5.3. School of Athens — detail of Plato and
understanding our Aristotle, by Raphael (1483-1520). Notice that Plato,
rational/intuitive cognitive on the left, gestures toward the metaphysical, while
model by placing the origin of Aristotle’s gesture asserts the real. Location: Stanza della
a rational bias about 600–1000 Segnatura, Stanze di Raffaello, Vatican Palace, Vatican
BCE, the advent of the Greek State. Photo Credit: Scala / Art Resource, NY.
Golden Age of Reason.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 101

 Bogen and Sperry and Distinctive Cognitive Processing
To understand the significance of the Bogen and Sperry research to integrated
mind theory, it is initially necessary to understand the basic structure of the
human brain. The brain is physically divided into two major parts, the right and
left hemispheres, which are connected by the corpus callosum, a structure that
facilitates communication between the two hemispheres. When Bogen and
Sperry began their research in the early 1960s, it was generally thought that the
left hemisphere processed verbal information and the right hemisphere
processed visual information and that this information was integrated by the
corpus callosum. Until the late 1960s and early 1970s, the left hemisphere, the
seat of language, which we link to linguistics, logical thinking, and reasoning,
was considered to be the dominant or major hemisphere, and the right hemi-
sphere was thought to be the subordinate or minor hemisphere, in terms of
both complexity and function.

In the 1960s, Bogen performed a series of innovative neurosurgical procedures

at the University of California at Los Angeles to sever the corpus callosum in
patients suffering from incapacitating chronic epileptic seizures. After surgery,
the patients’ hemispheres continued to operate independently but did not com-
municate with each other. These individuals were the perfect “split-brain” sub-
jects for Sperry and his student, Jerre Levy, at California Institute of Technology,
to test their ideas about hemispheric specialization.

By administering a series of tests to these patients, Sperry and his col-

leagues were able to confirm their hypotheses that each hemisphere experi-
ences reality in its own way and each has its own way of experiencing and
processing information. He also discovered that the processes of the right
hemisphere are as complex as
the processes of the left hemi-
sphere. Sperry was awarded
the Nobel Prize in medicine for
his groundbreaking work.

Most significant to integrative

mind theory is the Bogen and
Sperry characterization of the
processes of the left brain

Figure 5.4. Brain from above showing

left and right hemispheres. The connecting
lines represent the corpus callosum,
which actually is embedded within
the two hemispheres. Illustration by
Janet Halvorsen.

102 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 5
Figure 5.5. Two hemispheres
of the brain shown from the front,
with the connecting corpus callosum.
Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

(rational) as verbal, analytical,

logical, linear, and the process-
es of the right brain (intuitive)
as synthesistic, global, percep-
tual, metaphorical, visual.

Jerre Levy, who worked and

published with Sperry on the
experiments, discovered that
the mode of processing used
by the right brain is rapid, com-
plex, whole pattern, spatial and
perceptual, and it is comparable
in complexity to the left brain’s
verbal, analytical mode. Levy, in fact, suggested that the language of the left,
logical hemisphere is inadequate for the rapid, complex synthesis achieved by
the right hemisphere. Levy described the left hemisphere as analyzing over
time and the right hemisphere as synthesizing over space.

In addition to these findings, Sperry’s own comments on his research indicate that
he clearly recognized both a societal and an educational bias against right-hemi-
sphere processes, biases significant to integrative mind theory. Sperry wrote:

The main theme to emerge . . . is that there appear to be two

modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather
separately in left and right hemispheres, respectively, and
that our educational system, as well as science in general,
tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it
comes down to is that modern society discriminates against
the right hemisphere.

Although contemporary brain research has challenged Sperry’s view of iso-

lated left/right hemispherical specialization, it has upheld the concept of dis-
tinct cognitive processes. Integrative mind theory is concerned with the dis-
tinct processing systems originally associated with left and right hemi-
spheres. As noted earlier, to transcend the issues related to left/right defini-
tion, we refer to the cognitive mode and processes that Sperry assigned to
the left hemisphere as rational and the cognitive mode and processes he
assigned to the right hemisphere as intuitive.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 103

 Thus, it is the very early recognition of a dual brain — half synthesistic, half
analytical, each half operating in its own unique way to make up the whole
brain, that is of interest in Jaynes’s work. And it is the Bogen/Sperry idea of a
local versus global, rational/analytical versus intuitive/synthesistic perspective
in cognitive processes, each functioning with equal intelligence and signifi-
cance to inform the whole individual that forms the correlation. Further, both
Jaynes’s recognition of the beginning of the demise of the synthesistic, intu-
itive intelligences in favor of the rational during the Age of Reason and Sperry’s
recognition of a societal bias against the intuitive processes suggest important
questions:

• If the rational and intuitive intelligences of the brain are

equally complex and significant in their cognitive abilities
to inform and establish the whole individual, and if there is
an economic, educational, and scientific bias against intuitive
intelligences, then what is the effect of this bias on the
individual and on society?
• If the effect is significantly negative, why do we continue
to support it?
• What can we do to rectify the problems generated by
this bias?

As individuals, we are equipped with minds that, as a society, we are half edu-
cating at best. We are leaving a major portion of our cognitive abilities out of
the equation of cognition. We have created a culture that wonders (with our
analytical/logical half-mind) why society is so out of balance, why we all seem
to struggle — under the influence of a rapidly growing, quick-fix, self-help
industry and a corporate agenda to substitute consumerism for self enlighten-
ment — toward some rational solution that remains just out of our grasp.

We believe that the emptiness and longing that so many feel in their lives is
directly derived, at least in part, from our half-headed educational and cultural
systems that ignore the growth toward individual and cultural wholeness that
educating the whole mind could provide. Perhaps the void many individuals
experience and the many personal, cultural, economic, and scientific problems
we face are in reality an inner recognition of the untapped potential of our intu-
itive intelligences and a suggestion of the possibility of a fully integrated mind
to creatively solve problems in new ways that support a sustainable future.

104 Williams and Newton

Figure 5.6. Outside Contact, Applied Materials clean room, by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 105

 Figure C5.1. Portrait I, by Janet Halvorsen, 2006.

106 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE FIVE
Drawing the Figure:
One Contour, One Space at a Time
You cannot govern the creative impulse; all you can do is elimi-
nate obstacles and smooth the way for it.
— Kimon Nicolaides

The Goal: Drawing What You See

By now you should have a strong sense of what the integrative state of mind
feels like in both meditation and drawing: that sense of deep awareness and
engagement as time passes without notice, words flow but mostly in the back-
ground or as a source of support, and you feel a sense of unity and purpose.
You also now can recognize and draw contours and negative space as you see
them. You have already seen, with the yin yang horses, how drawing contours
effectively represents your subject, even if you do not focus on what the sub-
ject is. Now you have an opportunity to draw a person realistically by drawing
the contours and spaces as you see them in a line drawing.

Part I. Pure Seeing

First, focus your mind on achieving a state of “pure seeing,” a way of looking
at what is before you “for itself,” as art theorist Donald Weismann believed (p.
20). Weissman distinguished three types of seeing. One is operational seeing,
which we use to get through everyday life without thinking much about the
process. Chances are you picked up this book and opened it without really
looking at the characteristics of the book — its paper, colors, size, thickness,
and so forth — in part because you have now become familiar with the book
as an object. You placed yourself somewhere — in a chair or couch in a quite
place perhaps — without realy seeing the chair or couch. Weismann’s second
way of seeing is associational seeing, which is a key way we interpret meaning
from the information that enters our eyes. Looking at a photograph of your
lover, for example, triggers “a chain reaction of associations” (p. 20). You might
recall a kiss, an argument, a certain smile or laugh. In other words, looking at
the picture brings thoughts to consciousness and you begin to “see” and think

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 107

 about more than is actually in the photograph. We talk more about this kind of
seeing in chapter 12.

Right now, we want you to focus on practicing the third kind of seeing — pure
seeing, stopping to consider what you are viewing just for the sake of noticing
details with your eyes. Look at Figure C5.1, which opens this creative exercise.
It was drawn by artist and instructor Janet Halversen, who created many of the
illustrations in this book. Notice the variation of thin and thick edges, and the
spaces and shapes created when lines intersect. Let your eyes wander over the
image slowly. Notice the details of the woman’s eye, lips, nose, and ear. Stop
to see each line that forms those features. Notice how far the line goes from
the top of her forehead at the hairline. See that the contour is the same length
as the contour edge from her chin to the end of the neck line. See the space
formed by the intersection of her hair, forearm, and bicep, and another space
formed by her neck, upper arm, and forearm. See the large area of space made
up by the contour of her back and the edges of the drawing. To draw the
woman’s back you can draw the contours of that big space. Look at the dark
thickness of the line that forms the contour of her back and compare it to the
thinner, broken contour that runs down the side of her bodice. Follow the con-
tour of her hair line from the lower lobe of her ear to where it touches the bend
of her elbow. Follow it very slowly and see how it is more than one line. It is a
series of broken lines that start and stop and that parallel each other.

Part II. Drawing

Now it is time to draw this figure one contour or space at a time. Place the
drawing on the table in front of you where you can see it easily. Place a clean
sheet of paper next to the drawing so that you can comfortably see both and
glance from one to the other. Take a moment to note and make a small light
mark at the point where the top of the woman’s head should be on your paper.
Mark the spot where the contour of her back touches the left edge of the paper.
Mark another spot where her right wrist should start and another where her
right elbow should be. Each of these is the beginning of a contour line.
Locating the general position of those lines in advance will help you keep the
proportions of your drawing accurate. Now pick a contour you want to draw
and find the spot on the paper where that line should begin. If you like, you
can lay your pencil on its side and measure the distance from the edge; then
transfer that to your drawing paper. Just as you did in your earlier contour
exercises, look at the contour you are going to draw and imagine that your
pencil is touching that line and moving along it as you eyes move along it.
Move your eyes and your pencil slowly and copy that contour accurately. Now
simply move from contour to contour, glancing at your paper for position but
looking mostly at Jan’s line drawing as you follow the lines with your eyes and
pencil. Keep your focus on a small area, the contour you are drawing, and on
its relationship to adjacent contours. If you have trouble staying focused on an

108 Williams and Newton

 Creative 5
area or seeing just the lines, try covering part of the whole drawing with two
sheets of paper so the section you are working on is all you can see. Spend at
least 30 minutes on this drawing. Then take time to enjoy your work and reflect
on your experience. Sign it with your name and date it. Write an assessment of
your experience and summarize your relections.

Before you finish this exercise, find another line drawing and draw it in the
same way as you did the first one. There are a number in this book, and you
can find many on-line under names like Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Degas,
and John Lennon. Cartoons make excellent drawing practice. Note the artist,
sources, and other information about the drawing you use. Sign and date your
drawing, and write about your experience.

Also, take a look at Figure C5.3. It is the same drawing you just studied first,
except Jan added shading that implies light, shadow areas, and tones. Notice
how much depth and feeling these simple shadings done with the side of the
lead add to the feeling and dimension of the drawing.

Figure C5.2. Portrait II, by Janet Halvorsen, 2006.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 109

 Summary
Part I: Pure Seeing
! Put associations and concerns of the day aside, and just look at the line
drawing that begins this exercise.
! Follow the contours — the lines and spaces in the drawing — with your
eyes.

Part II: Drawing

! Read the instructions carefully.
! Spend time relaxing before you begin.
! Use a full, clean sheet of blank paper for each drawing.
! Make two complete drawings — one from the line drawing at the begin-
ning of this exercise and a second one of your choice.
! Sign and date each drawing. On the back, include the
full citation for the original artist, work title, and source.
! Reflect on and write an assessment of your experiences.

Figures C5.3-4. Above: Shaded version of Figure C5.1. Right: Portrait III, by Janet Halvorsen, 2006.

110 Williams and Newton

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 111
 Figure 6.1. Rayograph, The Kiss, May Ray kissing Kiki de Montparnasse, hands face kiss, by Man Ray,
1922. Gelatin silver print (photogram). © 2006 Man Ray Trust, Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY /
ADAGP / Paris; Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY.

112 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER SIX
Multiple Intelligences and Nonconscious Biases:
The Contemporary Intuitive Mind

The factual knowledge required for reasoning and decision

making comes to the mind in the form of images.
Antonio Damasio (1994, p. 96)

D
istinguishing the nature of the principal cognitive systems as either
rational or intuitive organizes their respective processes as predomi-
nantly analytical or predominantly synthesistic. Rather than dichoto-
mous, however, this distinction should suggest complementary interdepend-
ence through parallel and integrative processes. It is important to remember
that even this approach is an overly simple way to distinguish the complex
cognitive patterns of the human mind. Certainly, in terms of identifying specific
locations, or in terms of mapping the interaction of rational and intuitive
processes, a dual system of this nature cannot tell the whole story. However,
this kind of organizing framework does facilitate discussion and comprehen-
sion if one thinks in terms of both/and — two kinds of processing operating
together in synchrony and in complementary ways.

Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligence Theory

Harvard Educational Psychologist Howard Gardner (1993) defined intelligence
as “the ability to solve problems or fashion products that are of consequence
in a particular cultural setting or community” (p. 15). He suggested that
“except for abnormal individuals, intelligences always work in concert, and any
sophisticated adult role will involve a melding of several of them” (p. 17).
Gardner (1999) described eight independent intelligences and separated them
into two distinct categories, those that are testable by logical, linguistic, and
mathematical means (tests such as college entrance exams) and those that are
not. Thus, Gardner used a parallel/dualistic organizational model and noted a
strong cultural/educational bias against the development of those intelligences
that are not testable by logical, linguistic instruments. There seems to be a
clear parallel between the educational bias Gardner cited against nonlogical/

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 113

 Table 4. Comparison of Integrative Mind
and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Integrative Mind Model Rational Intelligences Intuitive Intelligences

Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligence Model Logically Testable Int. Non-Logically Testable Int.
Linguistic Spatial/Visual
Logical/Mathematical Musical
Bodily Kinesthetic
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Naturalist

nonlinguistic intelligences and the bias cited by Jaynes and Sperry against
synthesistic cognitive processes. Gardner’s linguistic and mathematical/logical
intelligences correlate with the integrative mind definition of rational intelligence.
Gardner’s spatial, musical, bodily kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and
naturalist intelligences correlate with the integrative mind definition of intuitive
intelligence. Although Gardner’s spatial intelligence does not fully incorporate the
concept of visual intelligence, it may be seen as complementary to recent work by
Barry and Williams. The work views visual intelligence not as a basic aptitude but
rather as a functional process effectively utilizing both rational and intuitive
systems in the brain to fully understand and respond to visual information.

The Nature of Holistic Processing

We use the term intuitive intelligence to include the six intelligences that
Gardner defined as nonlinearly/logically testable intelligences. Because
Gardner uses the term intelligence to refer to specific aptitudes, to avoid confu-
sion, we note that intuitive intelligence also links to the cognitive models
developed by Jaynes, Bogen/Sperry, and Damasio. We also use the term intu-
itive intelligence to suggest the kind of processing implied within dualistic cog-
nitive models. To make the relationships clearer, Tables 5 through 10 show how
each of the six intuitive intelligences relate to the communication processes of
gathering and using information to solve problems and make decisions.
Information in these tables is adapted, in part, from the work of Florida A&M
University journalism professor Gerald Grow, who has developed ways to
teach students who are predominantly visual thinkers how to improve their
writing. Though these tables focus on communication, they also imply larger
information-gathering processes. Each table defines one of Gardner’s six intu-
itive intelligences, identifies visual components of each, describes how each
aids the processes of gathering and using information, and identifies which

114 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6
creative exercises in this book help develop each intelligence. Though not all of
the intuitive intelligences are specifically visual, all have significant visual com-
ponents. The creative exercises in this book develop both your analytical/
rational and your synthesistic/intuitive abilities.

There can be no words without images.

Aristotle

Damasio: Non-Conscious Mind and Behavior

Working from a neurobiological perspective in his book Descartes’ Error, cogni-
tive neuroscientist Antonio Damasio pairs nonconscious emotion and rationali-
ty as complementary aspects of cognition. Damasio asserted that “even after
reasoning strategies become established in the formative years, their effective
deployment probably depends, to a considerable extent, on a continued ability
to experience feelings . . . certain aspects of the process of emotion and feel-
ings are indispensable for rationality” (pp. xii-xiii).

Recent experiments performed by Damasio and others at the Iowa College of

Medicine present empirical evidence suggesting a causal relationship between

Table 5. Visual/Spatial Intelligence

D e f i n i t i o n : Ability to know through visual observation and mental Imaging

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s : Seeing, Drawing, Photography, Dreams, Media, Mind’s Eye

H ow V i s u a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
• Develops keen, accurate sense of observation with details including fact
and nuance
• Develops understanding of relationships on multiple levels, from diverse
perspectives Figure 6.2. Moon Rise, by
• Develops perceptual abilities Rick Williams.
• Develops understanding of the gestalt; comprehension of the “big pic-
ture”
H ow V i s u a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n
• Develops use of descriptive, spatial, and metaphorical techniques in com-
munication
• Develops ability to accurately record and report what is known
K e y C r e a t i ve E xe r c i s e s :
Drawing, Dreams, Writing from Images and Music, Photography, Design and
Semiotics, Personal Impact Assessment, and Six Perspectives Analysis of personal
and media images

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 115

 nonconscious memory and overt reasoning. The experimental data shed light on
the preconscious effects of unconscious knowledge and memory on behavior.
Working with Damasio and others, behavioral psychological Antoine Bechara
developed an experimental process called the Iowa Gambling Test to help study
how people make decisions and choices. The team reported results from their
series of experiments on both normal participants and patients with prefrontal
damage and decision-making defects. The experiments found that overt reason-
ing is preceded by a nonconscious biasing step. This step uses neural systems
other than those that support declarative (or rational) knowledge.

The researchers tested both normal participants (“normals”) and individuals

with prefrontal damage (“patients”) in a gambling task that simulates real-life
decision making. The researchers measured parallel behavioral, psychophysio-
logical (anticipatory skin conductance responses, or SCRs), and self-account
measures of participants’ progress during the experiment. Normals began to
produce SCRs when reaching for disadvantageous decks of cards and to
choose advantageously long before they were consciously aware of which
strategy worked best. Patients did not produce SCRs and chose disadvanta-

Table 6. Intrapersonal Intelligence

D e f i n i t i o n : Detailed, knowledgeable, responsive awareness of oneself

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s : Mind’s Eye, Dreams, Reflections, Meditations

H ow I n t r a p e r s o n a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
• Develops sense of one’s own inner values, biases, and motivations that
help one to be more objective and sensitive to others
• Develops insights or hunches into possible motivations of others
Figure 6.3. Cindy’s • Develops ability to bring to consciousness, unconscious biases that influ-
Grandmother, ence decisions
by Rick Williams. • Develops sense of integrity, self, and personal ethical standards
• Develops confidence in one’s own abilities and insights
• Develops empathy and understanding for others
H ow I n t r a p e r s o n a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n :
• Develops depth and insight
• Develops author’s voice and presence
• Develops symbols for inner experience including values, feeling, and per-
sonal story
K e y C r e a t i ve E xe r c i s e s :
Drawing, Dreams, Writing from Images and Music, Photography, Design and
Semiotics, Personal Impact Assessment, and Six Perspectives Analysis of personal
and media images

116 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6

Figure 6.4. Side view of the brain showing positions of the pre-frontal lobes, thalamus, amygdala, and
visual cortex. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

geously, even after they consciously knew the correct strategy. Thus, patients
with damaged prefrontal lobes, who did not have access to nonconscious
memory, were unable to make advantageous decisions even after they under-
stood the advantageous strategy.

Bechara et al. reported that “in normal individuals, nonconscious biases guide
behavior before conscious knowledge does.” They concluded, “Without the
help of such biases, overt knowledge may be insufficient to ensure advanta-
geous behavior” (pp. 1293–1295). This suggests that the brain’s prefrontal lobes
use a memory system that relies on nonconscious biases to guide advanta-
geous, rational behavior — before we engage our rational minds. In this way, it
is possible that rational behavior actually depends on access to nonconscious
biases as a means of functioning effectively.

The Iowa team’s work supports the omniphasic idea that intuitive intelligences
attain direct knowledge before conscious rational processing occurs. They
operate in complementary, parallel ways to both guide and support behavior
and rational decision making. Wolfe suggested a similar scenario for visual
processes in 1983 when he said:

Moreover, it appears that because vision is the result of a num-

ber of subsystems at work and not just a direct line to the brain
from the senses, many of these subsystems function independ-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 117

 ently of one another and are beyond all introspective under-
standing. (pp. 94–98)

In 1986, Joseph LeDoux described this complex visual process from a cognitive
perspective that suggests a similarity between the theory of unconscious bias-
es and preconscious visual processes:

The newer research contradicts earlier thought and reveals how

sensory signals from the eye travel first to the thalamus and
then, in a kind of short circuit, to the amygdala before a second
signal is sent to the neocortex. (pp. 237–248)

Simply put, the eyes see and, from a preconscious mode (using the amygdala,
perhaps in concert with the prefrontal lobes) motivate behavior before the
rational mind is activated. Integrating the work of LeDoux and Damasio reveals
a potential correlation between the intuitive, neurobiological processes
between the eye and the brain and the type of intuitive processes that charac-
terize the unconscious memory of our prefrontal lobes. Both processes operate
on preconscious cognitive levels to motivate behavior before the neocortex
can transform the information into conscious knowledge.

Table 7. Interpersonal Intelligences

D e f i n i t i o n : Detailed, knowledgeable, responsive awareness of others

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s : Observation and analysis of visual world and media

Figure 6.5. H ow I n t e r p e r s o n a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
Fisherfolk • Develops critical understanding of the effects of one’s own actions on oth-
Communion, by ers, including information gathering and communication
Rick Williams. • Develops sense of social responsibility
• Develops critical understanding of the effects of others’ communication
on the self
• Develops sense of personal responsibility
H ow I n t e r p e r s o n a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n :
• Develops one’s own critical and cultural perspectives in communication
• Develops techniques to enhance human interest in communication, sensi-
tivity to audience, characterization, human meaning, relationships, quotes,
anecdotes, and dialogue
K e y C r e a t i ve E xe r c i s e s :
Drawing, Dreams, Writing from Images and Music, Photography, Design and
Semiotics, Personal Impact Assessment, and Six Perspectives Analysis of personal
and media images

118 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6

Figure 6.6. LeDoux’s theory of visual processing and response. Illustration by Janet Halversen.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 119

 If this is true, visual communication, especially visual media images, both pre-
consciously motivates behavior and becomes part of nonconscious memory to
form the biases that guide future decisions and behavior. This supports the
omniphasic idea that visual intelligence operates as a highly intuitive process
both before and beyond reason.

In her seminal book, Visual Intelligence, Ann Marie Barry addressed

LeDoux’s work and this preconscious visual phenomenon. Barry suggested
that perceptual processes that begin with unconscious emotional bias, and
may or may not be checked by rational interference, are the primary motiva-
tors of behavior:

The implication of this is that we begin to respond emotionally

to situations before we can think them through. The ramifica-
tions of this fact are significant, suggesting that we are not the
fully rational beings we might like to think we are. . . . In fact . . .
much of [what seems to be rational] cognition is merely ration-
alization to make unconscious emotional response acceptable
to the conscious mind. (p. 18)

Table 8. Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence

D e f i n i t i o n : Control of one’s body and of objects, timing

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s: Drawing, Focusing, Eye–Hand Control, Movement

H ow B o d i ly K i n e s t h e t i c I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
• Develops ability to draw upon physical/visual resources to produce visual
and verbal messages
• Develops eye–hand coordination in photography, computer work, and
design
Figure 6.7.
• Develops ability to handle technological equipment
Frank jumping,
• Develops a sense of natural pace and movement
by Rick
H ow B o d i ly K i n e s t h e t i c I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n :
Williams.
• Develops understanding of physicality, sexuality, and ability to communi-
cate such
• Develops sensitivity to movement and understanding of body language
• Develops ability to communicate down-to-earth, organic, grounded, gut
feelings
K e y C r e a t i ve A s s i g n m e n t s :
Drawing, Dreams, Writing from Images and Music, Photography, Design and
Semiotics, Personal Impact Assessment, and Six Perspectives Analysis of personal
and media images

120 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6

Barry also addressed the rational bias of our culture and the power of images
to shape our world through sophisticated media. She recognized the need to
educate everyone in visual processing and proposed a paradigm shift in think-
ing “toward a growing awareness that images are a means of communication
that runs deeper and is ultimately more powerful than words in its ability to
condition attitudes and to form thoughts” (pp. 337–338).

Both Damasio and Barry suggested that emotions are the primary cognitive
complement to reason. Working from LeDoux’s research, Daniel Goleman
explained that emotional intelligence is more significant to decision making
and behavior than rational intelligences. Goleman also correlated emotional
intelligence with Gardner’s personal or psychological intelligences. From an
integrative mind perspective, this correlation, and the preconscious character
of emotion, place emotional intelligence within the intra/interpersonal frame-
work of what we have called intuitive intelligence.

Further, drawing on the work of LeDoux and Damasio, Goleman explained a

relationship between the amygdala and prefrontal lobes, whereby they work
together to mediate and guide preconscious behavioral motivations. He

Table 9. Musical Intelligence

D e f i n i t i o n : Sensitivity to Pitch, Rhythm, Timbre, and the Emotional Power and
Complex Organization of Music

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s : Mind’s Eye, Stimulation of past visual experience related

to music, Drawing from music, Music with images, Writing from music

H ow M u s i c a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
• Develops links to deep preverbal flow of thought or unconscious biases
• Develops sense of integrated harmony of parts and resolution of dis- Figure 6.8.
parate elements Singing at
• Develops ability to listen to varying dialects and languages Lane, by Rick
• Develops ability to perceive different cultures Williams.
H ow M u s i c a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n :
• Develops a sense of rhythm and flow in writing
• Develops ability to integrate complex organization
• Develops ability to develop harmonious solutions to disparate problems
K e y C r e a t i ve E xe r c i s e s :
Drawing, Writing from Images and Music, Photography, Dreams. (Music can
be used daily to help develop awareness of the ability of music to establish mood
and affect feelings in a synthesistic manner.)

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 121

 explained that the amygdala provides a more spontaneous, rudimentary
response and that the prefrontal lobes provide a more sophisticated, synthesis-
tic response — both preconsciously. All of this work suggests that visual com-
munication is clearly a primary provider of information that develops pre-
frontal, unconscious memory and, therefore, is the primary source of noncon-
scious biases that guide behavior.

Approaching the subject from a psychological background, Robert Ornstein

reviewed 25 years of the hemispheric specialization debate in The Right Mind:
Making Sense of the Hemispheres. Noting more than 45,000 publications, he
concluded his exhaustive survey of psychological, psychiatric, and biological
literature on cerebral asymmetry with a statement similar to, though perhaps
more poetic than, Damasio’s:

I’d say that there exists in the right side a capacity that updates
the different possibilities for action at any time. It’s necessary,
for the brain to guide us through this complex world, for the
different centers of the brain to be put on-line when it is time to
analyze sounds, update memory, or decode a new dish of food.
So one aspect of the right side’s overall or higher view of events

Table 10. Naturalist Intelligence

D e f i n i t i o n : Ability to recognize, appreciate and understand the natural environ-
ment.

V i s u a l C o m p o n e n t s : Observation, experience and analysis of natural world

Figure 6.9.
using both visual seeing and mind’s-eye memory of naturalist experiences
Nancy,
by Rick
H ow N a t u r a l i s t i c I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s I n fo r m a t i o n G a t h e r i n g :
Williams.
• Develops keen, accurate sense of observation with details, including fact
and nuance
• Develops understanding of relationships on multiple levels, from diverse
perspectives
• Develops perceptual abilities
• Develops understanding of holistic comprehension of the “big picture”
H ow N a t u r a l i s t i c I n t e l l i g e n c e A i d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n
• Develops use of descriptive, spatial and metaphorical techniques in com-
munication
• Develops ability to accurately record and report what is known
K e y C r e a t i ve E xe r c i s e s :
Drawing, Dreams, Writing from Images, Photography, Personal Impact
Assessment, and Six Perspectives Analysis of personal and media images

122 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6
is that it may well have a measure of influence over which men-
tal module gets activated. Context, in our life, trumps text, not
the other way around. “Higher consciousness” is another way
of putting it. (p. 159)

In another realm of science, physicist Fritjof Capra (1991) used a dualistic

model of parallel perspectives to address the need to develop a more holistic
scientific worldview. Capra cited such scientific luminaries as quantum physi-
cist Neils Bohr as he described a contemporary, ongoing paradigm shift in sci-
entific vision that leads away from the concepts and values of an outdated
rational, technological worldview that is “severely limited and inadequate for
dealing with the problems of our overpopulated, globally interconnected
world” (p. 325). He suggested that the paradigm shift currently taking place is
toward an ecological view “that will form the basis of our future technologies,
economic systems, and social institutions” (p. 325). Capra said, “The ecological
paradigm is supported by modern science, but it is rooted in a perception of
reality that goes beyond the scientific framework to an awareness of the one-
ness of all life, the interdependence of its multiple manifestations, and its
cycles of change and transformation” (p. 326). This ecological world view
embraces an organic, holistic view of the world; it recognizes the limitations of
all rational approaches to reality; and it accepts intuition as a valid way of
knowing. Capra’s ecological worldview is dualistic in that it recognizes rational
and intuitive thought as parallel and interdependent. Capra also recognized the
disabling bias against holistic, intuitive processes in our culture. The dualistic
approach of integrated mind theory also draws from centuries of cross-cultural
traditions that have explored and defined aspects of everything from human
psychology (conscious/unconscious), neuropsychology (left/right brain), and
mythology (masculine/feminine archetypes) to academic research
(qualitative/quantitative), philosophy (yin/yang), and physiology (male/female).

Table 11 draws from lists in Bogen’s (1975) parallel ways of knowing and
Ornstein’s (1972) two modes of consciousness to indicate how thinkers in a
variety of fields have described the dualistic nature of the mind over the cen-
turies. This helps to graphically and conceptually clarify the concept of equal
and complementary cognitive processes. In the table, the parallel cognitive
modalities are organized by author under the headings of rational and intuitive
intelligences.

As we noted earlier, one way of looking at dualism rightfully argues against

either/or kinds of thinking. Yet dualism can also imply both/and thinking.
Communication scholars Marshall McLuhan and Bruce Powers, for example,
predicted the need for this shift in our understanding in The Global Village,
which Powers completed and published after McLuhan died in 1989. McLuhan
believed humankind had advanced beyond two-dimensional perceptions when
we devised such multidimensional mechanisms as television. The blending (or

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 123

 clash) of Eastern and Western perspectives has led us to multidimensional,
simultaneous, and holistic ways of knowing, McLuhan argued. He further pos-
tulated that we have lived this nonlinear consciousness for most of the 20th
century — but that we have only recently begun to understand it.

We need not reach far to find ways that multidimensional, omniphasic mental
processing permeate our daily lives. Consider, for example:

• magazines packed with more ads than editorial content

• a sports bar with 27 television monitors lined up in a row showing six
different events simultaneously.
• an Internet site with blocks of text, multiple images, and blinking ads.
• a television screen that includes small frames of other visuals and run-
ning banners.

Table 11. Complementary/Parallel

Systems of Knowing
This is a partial list of key authors who have written about parallel ways of know-
ing, two modes of consciousness, two types of intelligence, or two cognitive
styles. The table draws in part from Bogen (1975, p. 25) and Ornstein (1972, p. 37).

I n t u i t i ve Rational Author

Divine Corporeal Jaynes

Feminine/Yin Masculine/Yang I Ching
Unconscoius Conscious Freud/Jung
Timeless Time Oppenheimer
Gestalt Analytic Levy/Sperry
Nonlineal Lineal D. Lee
Simultaneous Sequential Luria
Spatial Verbal Bogen/Sperry
Simultaneous Successive Sechenov (per Luna)
Intuition Intellect Assagiola
Intuitive Rational Maslow/Capra
Divergent Convergent Austin
Analogic Digital Bateson & Jackson
Metaphoric Rational Bruner
Relational Analytic Cohen
Primary Secondary Freud
Concrete Abstract Goldstein
Multiple Sequential Neisser
Holistic Analytical Ornstein
Synthesis Analysis Levy

124 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 6
• children who think they study better with the background noise of
television or loud music.
• billboards along the road that we have learned to perceive peripherally.

In fact, we find that McLuhan’s idea that the media are so pervasive that they
leave no part of us untouched is truer today than when he put it forth in the
1960s. Today, we know that media not only pervade our external lives but also
invade our intuitive, preconscious minds as well. Through the simultaneous
synthesis of music, movement, color, and metaphoric visual and verbal lan-
guage, the media develop interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships among
actors and their lifestyles. This promotes psychological associations with prod-
ucts, values, media characters, and celebrities on intuitive preconscious levels
of cognition. Media fill a large portion of our intuitive needs, affecting every
aspect of our conscious and unconscious processing.
In this light, McLuhan’s ideas about multidimensional ways of knowing lead us,
appropriately, to the next section of the book, which explores the relationship
between the rational bias of our educational systems and the development of
visual and media literacy curricula. These educational biases helped create, and
continue to support, the visual, intuitive illiteracy that make it so difficult to
negotiate intelligently the multidimensional, omniphasic messages of our
media-centric culture.

This dilemma emphasizes the critical need to adopt an omniphasic both/and

model that supports the development of both rational and intuitive intelli-
gences as equal and complementary cognitive processes. This synthesis facili-
tates cognitive balance — the whole-mind application and expression of intelli-
gence that is integral to a balanced individual and the balanced cultural sys-
tems she will develop.

Bringing It All Together

In summary, integrative mind theory, grounded in the historical framework of
Jaynes’s bicameral theory and Bogen’s/Sperry’s hemispheric specialization
research, affirms that the human mind uses two primary cognitive-processing
systems (rational and intuitive). The theory transcends the semantic and neu-
rotechnical problems associated with historical right/left-hemisphere research Figure 6.10. Sun
by focusing on function rather than location in the brain and by redefining the and Moon, illustra-
cognitive modalities as functionally rational and intuitive. Rational intelligence tion from the
is the ability to attain knowledge directly, through cognition, without evidence Nuremberg
of reason. Chronicle, a 15th-
century book by
Further, the theory integrates interdisciplinary research to suggest that rational Hartmann Schedel.
and intuitive intelligences represent complementary, parallel cognitive sys- From Morse
tems. These systems are independent, yet integrated, and are equally signifi- Library, Beloit
cant to whole-mind cognitive processing. The theory also points out a signifi- College.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 125

 cant cultural, educational, economic, and scientific bias against the develop-
ment and practice of intuitive intelligences. Additionally, these postulates are
grounded in an interdisciplinary synthesis of recent research and theory,
including Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory, Damasio’s theory of uncon-
scious biases, Barry’s theory of visual intelligence, Goleman’s theory of emo-
tional intelligence, Ornstein’s concepts of text and context, and Capra’s theory
of an ecological worldview.

Both journalism and entertainment media are visually dominated. Because

visual intelligence is primarily intuitive, and because people operate best when
using whole-mind thinking, the next generation of media professionals and
scholars must enhance their ability to use their intuitive communication skills
on more sophisticated and socially responsible levels. Therefore, visual literacy
provides a particularly significant area of study for the well-educated individual
as well as for the communication professional and scholar.

In Part 2 of this book, we explore the rational biases of traditional visual and
media literacy. We also suggest ways you can build on what you now know
and expand your knowledge of and use of the visual to embrace omniphasic
visual/media literacy. Further, Part 2 begins to explore the consequences of the
visual and intuitive illiteracy in our culture. You will develop a working under-
standing of the techniques of creative, intuitive communication processes in
writing, graphic design, photography, film, video, and new media. You will
learn how to use your creativity to guide your own intuitive experiences in
ways that will enrich life experiences and, subsequently, in ways that will help
you build defenses against media manipulations of preconscious cognition.

Theory must be testable. Although we reject the idea of total reliance on linear
data support, in keeping with omniphasic theory, we did draw on interdiscipli-
nary, quantitative, and theoretical evidence in neurobiological and psychologi-
cal studies, as well as qualitative experience from many years of teaching, to
structure the exercises in this book and to build theory for further testing.

Application of integrative mind techniques with university students and in

ongoing research studies has demonstrated that this holistic approach to visual
communication and education can teach you to use your whole mind, and to
replace invasive media experiences with self-directed intuitive experiences.
Development of whole-mind processes fosters greater creativity, powerful
problem-solving abilities, and balance. A more fully educated, self-determining
individual who is less susceptible to media influence is better prepared to
apply all his or her learning experience in ways that generate balance, both
within the individual and within the cultural, economic, educational, and scien-
tific systems of our visual world. You will have the mental tools you need to
meet the challenges of the century before us.

126 Williams and Newton

Figure 6.11. Bailando, by Julianne Newton.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 127

Figures C6.1–4. Before and after work by
students who have worked through the
drawing exercises. Figures on the left in
each pair were drawn for Creative 3. The
ones on the right in each pair were drawn
for Creative 6. Notice that everyone
improved, regardless of beginning skill
level. Clockwise from top left: Beason,
Fowell, Harrell, Abel.
CREATIVE SIX
Bringing It All Together:
Drawing for Real

The Goal: Seeing Results of Cognitive Balance

This is the final exercise in drawing your hand. If you have practiced all the
other exercises as suggested, you should be able to shift easily into your inte-
grated-mind drawing mode. Your goal for this creative exercise is to produce a
drawing of your hand that is a great deal more realistic than your preinstruc-
tion drawings, which you completed for Creative 3.

How to Begin
Allow at least an hour of free time for each drawing. Begin by relaxing. You
might meditate for a few minutes or do a short contour drawing of your hand
to help you transition into an integrative state of mind.

When you are ready to begin, place your free hand in a comfortable and aes-
thetically pleasing posture on the table in front of you. Tape a sheet of blank
paper close to your hand. Look at your hand for some time, noticing all of the
fine edges and spaces and relationships. Notice how the light and shadows
fall, how the fingers curve, and how the edges of your hand meet the table
below it to form an edge or contour.

Find the spot on your hand where you would like to start. Place your pencil on
an appropriate place on the paper. Just as you did in the contour drawings,
begin to move your eyes along a line or edge and simultaneously move your
pencil along the paper in the same direction. You should spend most of your
time looking at your hand and just glancing at the paper from time to time in
order to check an angle or spatial relationship or the width and strength of a par-
ticular line, or to find the right place to start a new contour or shape. Draw lines
and spaces that are adjacent to one another instead of outlining your hand and
filling in the blanks. As always, take your time and enjoy this relaxing process.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 129

 You should spend a minimum of 30 minutes on each drawing in this exercise.
Because we have not studied proportion or shading, you may find that a finger
is a little too long, or you may have some trouble trying to fill in shadows or
highlight areas. However, we believe you will find great satisfaction in the
result of your efforts, and it should be a peaceful, relaxing time. LIke all other
intuitive processes, practice will bring improvement.

When you have finished, sign and date your work and spend some time enjoy-
ing your progress. Get out your drawings from Creative 3 and look at the dif-
ference. Even practiced artists report that they find this method helpful and
enjoyable.

When you finish the first hand drawing, draw one more complete hand in a dif-
ferent position using this technique. You can do it immediately or wait until
another time. The more you practice, the more you will improve and the more
easily you will recognize the character of your integrated experience.

Now, reflect on and write an assessment of your drawing experiences. Include

a discussion comparing your early drawings with the ones you just completed.
Also note insights you have gained by working through the creative exercises
in Part I of this book.

Beyond this point there are many ways to continue to improve your drawing.
The best way to improve is to practice. Many drawing books are available to
help you learn about proportion, shading, and other aspects of drawing.

Summary
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Spend time relaxing before you start a drawing.
! Make as many drawings as you want to but at least two.
! Reflect on your work and write an assessment as described above.

Figure C6.5. Before and after, by Hammer.

130 Williams and Newton

 Part II

PART II.
VISUAL ILLITERACY AND EDUCATION
What We Don’t Learn

Part II presents approaches to visual literacy and grounds you in

the fundamental visual forms humans use and develop in order
to communicate.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 131

 Figure 7.1. Grocery Carts, by Ave Bonar.

132 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Square Peg and the Round Hole:
Education and Intuitive Intelligence

We have within us a deep wisdom and bondedness with our

incredible evolutionary history and a creativity within which we
draw, from moment to moment, that has an ingenuity that
should astound and humble us.
Edmund O’Sullivan

T
he metaphor of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole exemplifies
the traditional, rationally biased approach to education in general, and to
visual and media literacy specifically. Conventionally, the idea suggests
something that doesn’t work. Yet a simple, synthesistic shift in perception can
turn the metaphor into a symbol for an integrated, whole-mind dynamic.

To explain: In your mind’s eye, envision a round hole in the middle of a round
piece of wood. Now, envision a square peg. In the usual, logical scenario, the
square peg will not fit into the round hole. Now, envision a slightly smaller
square peg that will fit snugly but neatly into the hole, which is slightly larger
than the peg. In this interpretation, the square-peg/round-hole metaphor can
represent the integration of rational/analytic (square, lineal, solid, definable)
intelligence with intuitive/synthesistic (circular, global, continuous, noncontain-
able) intelligence. The peg and the hole together represent integrated, or bal-
anced, cognition, a gestalt synthesis of deeper understanding than either the
rational or intuitive symbols would imply independently.

An omniphasic experience blends the rational and intuitive intelligences. In

this instance, the rational helps us understand the logic (or illogic) of con-
cepts, and the intuitive helps us envision new possibilities. Though we have
neither used external visuals to describe this peg/hole concept nor described
a particular peg/hole in detail, it is quite likely that you have a strong image
of the metaphor in your own mind’s eye at this point. This is a glimpse into
the intuitive synthesis of the integrated mind.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 133

 Now, let’s apply this process to a media image. Consider both the logical con-
cepts and emotional impact of visual images in advertising. Visual logos, for
example, not only represent corporate image identity but, when linked with
visual imagery, also create emotional associations that encourage viewers to
link self-image with the corporate image or product. The Nike Swoosh coupled
with the emotional attitude of “Just Do It” and visual images of successful,
strong, determined, athletic individuals is one example of this intuitive/rational
blend. One relatively simple symbol communicates a complex blend of stimuli
to help us remember the association every time we view it. By stressing only
logical, linear, rational ways of understanding and interacting with the world,
however, many educational systems create citizens who are rationally skilled
but intuitively illiterate. They may respond to such stimuli as the Nike Swoosh
without being aware of its influence. The one-sided approach to knowing that
most of us have learned for most of our lives has prepared us for a singularly
rational world — that doesn’t exist.

Bogen (1975) noted that “the entire student body is being educated lopsidedly.”
An educational system based on monetary measures of success, he said,
“avoids altogether any concern for the quality of human existence.” He
believed many students found their courses irrelevant and that they were “con-
cerned not so much with making a living as making a life.” Students

see a world of warring elders, busily Becoming at the expense

of Being, who want them to be unhappy in the same half-
brained way. . . . It is time we learn to live within nature as bilat-
erally educated, whole persons. (p. 29)

Although the renowned neurosurgeon wrote those words in the 1970s, he

could write them today. School curricula have, with few exceptions, become
even more oriented toward rational skills than they were. Consider, for exam-
ple, the trend toward “teaching to the test,” the practice in which grade-school
teachers focus curricula on helping students score higher on standardized
tests. Although the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001 has the worthy goal of
making sure all children can read and do basic arithmetic, it often does so at
the expense of holistic learning. As CNN reporter Van Harken noted in 2003,
“An unintended consequence is that art and other classes like music, gym, sci-
ence and social studies get cut or compromised to make the budget focus
more on the core curriculum.” He cited the experiences of Christi Praeger, a
second-grade teacher at Bronx (NY) Public School, who told of the excitement
children express when she brings art supplies, which she had to pay for her-
self, to the classroom:

“They get so excited,” Praeger, 26, said. ”They'll ask me all

day long, ‘Miss Praeger, when are we going to get to make art?
Can we do it now? Can we? Can we Miss Praeger?’“

134 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7

Figure 7.2. Boy on Bus, by Ave Bonar.

Praeger said she wishes art could play a regular part in her
lesson plans. The students’ interest [sic] in reading, writing and
math increase when she employs creative methods.
But, she can’t afford it. She bought the construction paper,
markers and glue with her own money because she doesn’t
have an expense account. (para. 2-4)

The Van Harken article continued:

”I don't disagree that reading and math are the most important
aspects of education. But compromising other subjects . . .

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 135

 Figure 7.3. Los angelitos, by Julianne Newton.

causes us to teach only for the test,” Praeger said. If a student’s

talents lie in art, or music or science, they lose out, she said.
”And schools can’t force [teachers] to be creative in their
approach, especially if all that matters is a test score.” (para. 8)

It is important to emphasize here that, as Ms. Praeger noted and recent

research concludes, children do better in reading, writing, and math — the
skills traditionally considered linear and logical — when they also have oppor-
tunities to develop their creative, or intuitive intelligences. And, as we also
have stressed, areas long considered reason based, require intuitive-based
processing to be explored to their fullest capacity in the human brain.

Our goal in developing an integrative mind method is to help expand the cur-
rent models of both visual literacy and our educational system toward a bal-

136 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7
anced perspective by developing curricula that effectively blend the teaching of
intuitive and rational intelligences. Ironically, a movement toward visual litera-
cy has been growing since the 1960s. However, because of the rationally
biased educational system, visual literacy classes typically rely on ground-
breaking but still almost exclusively linear modes of teaching.

Although many people now understand the need for visual literacy, we have
few means for learning the holistic cognitive strategies that visual, intuitive
thinking makes possible. Even worse, current educational and economic para-
digms sustain a disabling bias against at least half of our cognitive abilities.
This bias has created populations who are unaware that they are intuitively illit-
erate, yet who live in a highly intuitive, media-dominated culture. A provocative
extension of this idea is that this same bias is a source of oppression and domi-
nation in cultures that have historically valued and developed intuitive process-
es. The rational bias is at least part of what spurred Western European domi-
nance of peoples of India, Africa, and the New World. And it is also the basis for
criticism that arrogance on the part of the United States has spread its early pol-
icy of “manifest destiny” beyond its own continental shores. The rational bias
feeds hierarchical systems of dominance with false notions of superiority in
terms of sex, race, class, age, rank, physical and mental ability, and culture.

The Contemporary Vision

I think that any belief that all the answers to a given problem lie
in one certain approach, such as logical-mathematical thinking,
can be very dangerous. Current views of intellect need to be
leavened with other more comprehensive points of view. It is of
the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the
varied human intelligences, and all of the combinations of intel-
ligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a bet-
ter chance of dealing appropriately with the many problems
that we face in the world.
Howard Gardner (1993, p. 12)

The phrase visual literacy may at first seem an inappropriate pairing because
in common usage literacy implies the ability to read and write words. Perhaps
we use it because the word literate links visual knowing to the rational brain
process of word play. Perhaps it is because intuitive intelligences, R-Mode
processes, global awareness, and synthesistic perceptual intelligences have
not worked their way into the mainstream language as easily as the more lin-
ear term visual literacy. Perhaps it is because a logical interpretation of visual
literacy can be more easily and appropriately quantified than intuitive process-
es, is more easily correlated with rational concepts, and is therefore more read-
ily legitimized. Perhaps all of the above contribute to our casual acceptance of
the rational, word-based term visual literacy to describe a highly intuitive, non-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 137

 word process. The complexity of this line of thinking (notice the linear refer-
ence to logic in the preceding phrase) relies somewhat on the fact there are
few clear, respected, mainstream words to describe intuitive proficiencies in
our language. So, we fall back on such readily accepted terms as literate, non-
verbal, or nonlinear to describe nonrational processes instead of using such
less-accepted but more specific and appropriate terms as intuitive, synthesistic,
visual, or global.

Another important perspective is that such terms as intuitive and visual

have been degraded as ambiguous, nonscientific, emotional, and even irra-
tional. However, that is exactly our point: Much of living as humans is all
those things — ambiguous, nonscientific, emotional, and even irrational.
Consider the practice of medicine, for example. As advanced as 21st-centu-

138 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7
ry medicine is, good physicians will be the first to tell you that medicine is
a “healing art” and requires attention to aspects of the body that science
cannot “fix.” The world’s greatest physicists, as they try to define a unified
theory that explains the basis of our existence, continue to discover as they
delve farther into either the vastness of space or the quantum universe of
the atom, that unseen, vibrating strings of energy, not solid objects, may be
the basis of all life. This is why Sir Martin Rees, Britain’s Astronomer Royal,
suggested that scientific explanations remain perpetually incomplete. Rees
said, “If we learn anything from the pursuit of science, it is that even some-
thing as basic as an atom is quite difficult to understand. . . . This alone
should induce skepticism about any dogma or any claim to have achieved
more than a very incomplete and metaphorical insight into any profound
aspect of our existence” (as cited in Wakefield, 2004).

Figures 7.4-5. Left and above: Looking two directions from the same spot on Texas Highway 166.
Photographs by Frank Armstrong.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 139

 Figure 7.6. Eloina and the Angel, by Julianne Newton.

140 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7
Cultivating the Intuitive
This brings us to another key point: The best way to deal with these human
tendencies is not to deny but rather to cultivate the intuitive processes to better
understand and use them. Carl Jung called this process ”embracing the shad-
ow,” acknowledging parts of ourselves with which we are uncomfortable to use
their power to help us grow as human beings. If you have ever watched reruns
of the science fiction program Star Trek, or movies based on the series, you will
recognize these same tendencies in the ongoing battle between the half-
Vulcan/half-human Mr. Spock (who symbolizes the rational and highly logical)
and the human doctor called Bones (who symbolizes the intuitive and emotion-
al). Throughout the episodes, Spock wrestles with the part of himself that is
human, favoring his logical, Vulcan self. Bones, a physician educated in the
most advanced medical technology, wrestles with his logical side, favoring his
intuitive gift for knowing. Occasionally, Spock and Bones learn from one anoth-
er, acknowledging their “shadow sides” as necessary complements to their
dominant mental modes.

Still another point of view is to consider that the term literate also has devel-
oped a more inclusive meaning: to be well educated, cultured, lucid, and pol-
ished, and to have knowledge or competence. This inclusive meaning reflects
the evolution of a more rounded, integrated view that embraces both the intu-
itive and rational perspectives, just as the square peg/round hole metaphor
did. Yet the idea of evolving beyond visual literacy toward an omniphasic per-
spective larger than reading and creating visual messages focuses attention
toward the integration of the visually intuitive with rational literacy. In the fol-
lowing sections, we review the ideas of a few key scholars who have paved the
way to move beyond conventional visual literacy. Understanding the tenets of
their work will help you comprehend the challenges you face as you try to use
your whole mind. We first review the rational side and then the intuitive side of
visual literacy. Then we offer an omniphasic perspective that blends both
rational and intuitive intelligences.

The Rational Side of Visual Literacy

Writing in 1973, at a time when the mention of the words visual literacy drew
questioning stares, Donis A. Dondis helped initiate the quest for an academic
foothold for a critical, yet long-neglected discipline with publication of her
now-classic work, A Primer of Visual Literacy. Dondis, a Boston University com-
munications professor and dean, noted the potential pitfall of comparing visual
communication to language and the futility of trying to fit visual intelligence
into a logical whole, analogous to language. Dondis also recognized that the
intuitive complexity of visual communication, coupled with the lack of methods
to analyze or define it, contributed to the paucity of attempts to realize and
develop basic visual competencies.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 141

 Figures 7.7-8. Morgan and Miller reading and telling stories, by Rick Williams.

Facing this challenge, Dondis developed an approach to visual literacy that was
unique but included the same rational purposes “that motivated the develop-
ment of written language: to construct a basic system for learning, recognizing,
making and understanding visual messages that are negotiable by all people”
(p. x). So, recognizing the complex intuitiveness of visual communication and
the need to develop a visual grammar to advance understanding and commu-
nication about the visual experience, Dondis began to develop an intuitively
based visual syntax:

There are guidelines for constructing compositions. There are

basic elements that can be learned and understood by all stu-
dents of the visual media, artists and non-artists alike, and that,
along with manipulative techniques, can be used to create clear
visual messages. Knowledge of all of these factors can lead to
clearer comprehension of visual messages. (p. 11)

Some 20 years later, communication theorist Paul Messaris of the University of

Pennsylvania contributed a strong contemporary voice to the visual literacy
debate. In Visual Literacy: Image, Mind, and Reality, Messaris suggested that
visual literacy’s strongest effects are to provide defenses against media manip-
ulation and to increase aesthetic appreciation. Focusing on media imagery, he
wrote that “greater experience in the workings of visual media coupled with a

142 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7
heightened conscious awareness of those workings” is often referred to as
visual literacy (p. 2). Messaris proposed that we consider four aspects of visu-
al literacy: “1. comprehension of visual media, 2. cognitive consequences of
visual literacy, 3. visual manipulation, and 4. aesthetic appreciation” (p. 3). He
suggested that these aspects represent a range of positive consequences most
commonly associated with visual literacy. Messaris ultimately dismissed the
first two aspects, asserting that images, unlike language or mathematics, use
cues learned in our basic perception of reality; therefore, visual literacy does
not lead to broader cognitive advantages. He suggested that increased aware-
ness of and experience with sophisticated media messages decreases suscepti-
bility to media manipulation and increases artistic appreciation. These,
Messaris said, are the primary positive advantages of visual literacy.

Further developing the rational, analytical perspective toward media messag-

ing, visual communication theorist Paul Martin Lester (1995) defined education
as “teaching the individual to seek factual information and base reasoned con-
clusions on those data” (p. 80). Additionally, he stressed that “the first step
toward understanding visual communication is to educate yourself about the
many ways that information is produced and consumed in a modern, media-
rich society” (p. x). Lester carefully explored the production aspects of media
through sections on typography, design, information, cartoons, photography,
motion pictures, television/video, computers, and interactive multimedia. He
addressed the need to analyze imagery and develops six perspectives to ana-
lyze any image: personal, historical, technical, ethical, cultural, and critical.

Our emphasis here on the pervasive rational perspective employed in tradi-

tional visual communication theory is not intended to suggest that these visual
literacy pioneers mistakenly neglected the intuitive aspects of visual literacy.
Dondis was clearly aware of the intuitive nature of the visual experience and
consciously directed the field toward the necessary development of an analyti-
cal perspective to establish legitimacy for visual education. Messaris suggested
that a great deal of visual learning is primarily intuitive and that one of the pri-
mary functions of visual literacy is to enhance artistic appreciation. Lester pro-
posed the personal gut-reaction perspective as the initial analytical tool.

Yet each of these thinkers necessarily employed linear, rationally centered

processes and techniques to communicate their ideas within the rationally
biased educational system. In his 1997 book, Visual Persuasion, Messaris stat-
ed, “Although the study of persuasive communication has a history of more
than two millennia, the focus of this scholarly tradition has tended overwhelm-
ingly to be on verbal strategies” (p. vii). Developing an analytical approach to
the study of visual communication has been crucial to its acceptance and is
critical to understanding the complex messaging systems of visual communi-
cation. It also provides a strong basis for the development of new theories and
new strategies in visual communication. Yet it addresses only part of the story.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 143

 Recognizing this, Lester, a photographer, theorist, and philosopher, included
omniphasism and omniphasic techniques in later editions of his book Visual
Communication: Images with Messages. Lester himself is strongly intuitive,
epitomizing the ambidextrous abilities of a whole-mind thinker. His book The
Zen of Photography is as intuitive as his Visual Communication is rational.

The Intuitive Side of Visual Literacy

In chapters 5 and 6, we related the work of a range of scholars to visual com-
munication and the omniphasic theory. We want to expand on a few of those
ideas here to support our discussions of the intuitive side of visual literacy.

Gardner is perhaps the most influential contemporary voice to begin to break

this pervasive cognitive imbalance. As we noted earlier, Gardner addressed
what he considered a rational bias against other forms of intelligence. Gardner
addressed the need to integrate the mind: ”Any adult and state of any conse-
quence, in any culture, will involve a blend of intelligences that make possible
the solving of problems and creation of products of significance“. He further
addressed the need to restructure both our views and our educational system:
“Only if we expand and reformulate our view of what counts as human intel-
lect will we be able to devise more appropriate ways of assessing it and more
effective ways of educating it” (1993, p. 9).

On the visual literacy front, communication scholar Arthur Asa Berger support-
ed and expressed an intuitive voice. He created an early, more balanced
approach to visual literacy in his book Seeing Is Believing. Berger blended a
strongly rational emphasis on design, semiotics, and media analysis with intu-
itively oriented exercises, reaching beyond the linear status quo to suggest “a
link between creativity and imagination — our ability to generate images in our
minds, images not always representational or connected to anything in our
experience.” Imagination, he said, “refers to the remarkable power our minds
have to form a mental image of something unreal or not present and to use
the power creatively, to invent new images and ideas” (p. 2). In this, Berger
captured the spirit of the intuitive process. Talking about visual thinking,
metaphorical/holistic knowing, synthesizing across space instead of analyzing
over time, he sees in the mind’s eye something like reality that is not reality —
imagining things that have never existed as solutions to problems that do
exist. Berger recalled Jung's story of how the scientist Kekule dreamed of a
snake with its tail in its mouth and from this dream discovered the benzene
ring. This creative ability to find new solutions to old problems is a phenome-
non common to the state of intuitive consciousness, however generated —
through photography, art, music, poetry, meditation, visualization, visions,
dreams, or other intuitive processes. Berger made a critical point: “Our emo-
tional states and our creative impulses need some kind of visual and symbolic
expression to develop and maintain themselves” (p. 1).

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 Chapter 7

Figure 7.9. Sculpture class at Lane, by Rick Williams.

This states the problem clearly. We, as individuals and as a society, do little to
develop and maintain our intuitive intelligence. This may be, at least in part, why
we keep coming up with the same old solutions that never work to the same old
problems that never get solved. We are not talking about such problems as put-
ting a person on Mars but about how to avoid continuing destructive social and
economic systems and how to replace them with sustainable systems.

There seems to be nothing implicit in our systems of government, business,

education, and socialization to recognize, or nurture our intuitive intelligence.
In ignoring this half of our cognitive abilities, societal systems leave a great
creative and qualitative void. Gardner (1993) went so far as to say:

Perhaps if we can mobilize the full range of human intelligences

and ally them to an ethical sense, we can help to increase the
likelihood of our survival on this planet, and perhaps even con-
tribute to our thriving. (p.12)

The Need for an Integrative New Approach

New work in visual studies and “multimodal literacy” raises important ques-
tions and suggests possibilities for mobilizing “the full range of human intelli-
gences” to which Gardner referred. In his self-described “skeptical” and “reac-
tive” introduction to visual studies, art historian James Elkins called for rigor-
ous visual theory that seeks to do more than critique the visual — “to affect the

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 145

 Figure 7.10. Singing at Lane, by Rick Williams.

state of affairs outside of academic discourse.” Asserting that

he wants “to make life harder — and therefore more interest-
ing— for people who love the visual world as much as” he
does, Elkins proposed eight visual studies-related competen-
cies to which undergraduates should engage: art history;
non-Western visual competencies; past modes of seeing-mak-
ing images; science imaging; special effects; digital images,
graphics, and design based on understanding the effects of
design; and a wider range of architectural spaces.

Carey Jewitt and Gunther Kress used the concept of mode in

“meaning making, including image, gaze, gesture, movement,
music, speech and sound-effect,” all of which are “equally sig-
nificant for meaning and communication” (pp. 1-2) Jewitt and Kress asked two
sets of questions:

First, how do modes shape what is represented, and how do

the differences in modal representation reshape what is repre-
sented?
And secondly, how are learners, and how is learning affected,
changed, shaped, by the differences in mode, the material dif-
ferences entailed, and the different senses called on, engaged,
in the use of a mode? (p. 3)

In his book Literacy in the New Media Age, Kress addressed “the profound
changes in the social, economic and technological world which in the end will
shape the futures of literacy”. He concluded: “We are the makers of meaning,
and we can move into that period with a theory that puts us and our sign-mak-
ing at the centre — not free to do as we would wish, but not as the victims of
forces beyond our control either” (p. 176). Kress called for theory developing
multiple ways of reading, writing, and knowing as a “new literacy” for the
“new media age.”

This new literacy is also implicit in Barry’s idea of visual intelligence:

What is needed to achieve visual intelligence is a paradigm shift

in our thinking away from a logocentric bias and toward a
growing awareness that images are a means of communication
that runs deeper and is ultimately more powerful than words in
its ability to condition attitudes and to form thoughts. Only
when we recognize the way in which images communicate can
we begin to deal appropriately with the effects of those images

146 Williams and Newton

 Figure 7.11. Dancing at Lane, by Rick Williams.

and to fully appreciate the horizons

that visual thinking opens for cre-
ative thought. While the ability of the
image to speak directly to the emo-
tions and to the deepest part of the
psyche is the great gift of images in
the realm of art and literature, and
the holistic logic of perception is the
key to opening up the mind, it is also
a curse to the uninitiated who do not
understand the range and profundity
of its power. (p. 338)

Edmund O’Sullivan addressed these ideas through his theory of transformative

learning. Decrying the rationally based, industrialized, and ruinous dominance of
Western culture, O’Sullivan called for a revolutionary shift in educational systems
throughout the world toward “integral development.” “Integral development,” he
wrote, “must be understood as a dynamic wholeness where wholeness encom-
passes the entire universe and vital consciousness resides both within us and, at
the same time, all around us in the world” (p. 208). In a remarkably hopeful trea-
tise calling for practices of transformative learning, O’Sullivan asserted, “We have
within us a deep wisdom and bondedness with our incredible evolutionary history
and a creativity within which we draw, from moment to moment, that has an inge-
nuity that should astound and humble us” (p. 222).

Omniphasic thinking addresses these challenges. By offering direction for the

future of education, omniphasic, integrative practices are one way to address
the problem of the deep intuitive void felt on largely nonconscious levels by
21st-century humanity. Drawing from the works of those who pioneered the
field, we suggest a broader, more inclusive definition of visual literacy as a
way for illuminating — and filling— the intuitive void (see Table 12).

Table 12.
Omniphasic Visual Literacy
The ability to perceive, interpret, and create visual messages through the use of
intuitive and rational intelligences as equivalent, complementary, and integra-
tive processes of the mind.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 147

 Beyond Visual Literacy:
A Holistic Approach to Being, Seeing, Knowing, and Creating
This definition blends the rational approaches of earlier proponents and theo-
rists in the visual literacy movement who laid the groundwork for an omnipha-
sic approach to knowing with their holistically centered work. Our goal in
teaching and scholarly work since the late 1970s has been to focus attention on
the intuitively grounded and visual aspects of music, writing, art, photography,
acting, meditation, daydreaming, and any of the multitude of other intuitive

Figure 7.12. Western hemisphere, image courtesy

of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

148 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 7
processes and activities that enrich our lives and our society — if we let them
and if we cultivate them toward processes of integrative mind. All of these, in
their own ways, have visual components, either visualized in the mind’s eye or
seen with the eyes in the external world.

Table 13 at the end of this chapter outlines scholars and theories discussed in
the first seven chapters of this book and notes their relationships to Omni-pha-
sism and Integrative Mind Theory. The resonance of scholarly thinking through
time and across disciplines underscores the significance of these core ideas.

Figure 7.13. Eastern hemisphere, image courtesy

of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 149

 Figure 7.14. Dancing at Lane, by Rick Williams.

In Conclusion
The problem? We don’t make adequate room in our cultural and educational
systems for sophisticated, self-directed expressions and understanding of our
intuitive intelligence. This has created an intuitive void in our experiences and
our cultural and educational systems and allowed mass media to shape our
perceptions of reality and, therefore, our lives.

The first part of this book sought to introduce you to the key ideas underlying
the development of omniphasic theory and to describe the capacity of the con-
scious and nonconscious mind to see, understand, and express itself in ways
that balance rational and intuitive processing. This chapter expanded on ideas
that inform omniphasism and stressed a few of the reasons omniphasic think-
ing is so important in studying the visual.

Our hope is that omniphasic thinking — an expanded, inclusive integration of

our ways of knowing — will further both education and research and enrich
your own personal life as well. You know part of the secret to fitting the square
peg into the round hole. You are about to learn more.

150 Williams and Newton

 Chapter Seven

Table 13.
Summary of Theories Relevant to Omniphasism

Omniphasism Rational Intelligence Intuitive Intelligence

Williams & Newton The ability to understand The ability to understand
through reason. through direct knowledge
without evident rational
thought or inference.

Bicameral Mind Corporeal Function Brain Admonitory Brain

Jaynes Conceptual Perceptual

Hemispheric Spec. Left Brain Right Brain

Bogen/Sperry Rational, verbal, Intuitive, visual,
logical, analytical synthesistic, gestalt

Multiple Intelligence Logical Intelligences Nonlogical Intelligence

Gardner Logical/Mathematical Spatial/Visual
Linguistic Musical
Personal Interior
Personal Exterior
Bodily Kinesthetic
Naturalist

Emotional Intelligence Reasoning Feeling

LeDoux/Damasio/ Conscious Nonconscious
Bechara/Gazzaniga Cortical Processing Limbic Processing/Amygdala

Visual Intelligence Analytic Judgment Associative Logic

Barry Reason/rationalization Perception

The Right Mind Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere

Ornstein Text Context

Science/Paradigm Shift Technology/Mechanical Ecological/World View

Capra Rational knowledge Intuitive knowledge

Contemporary
Visual Literacy
Dondis Grammar of VL Synthesis of Style
Messaris Four Aspects of VL Innate Visual Literacy
Lester Six Analytical Perspectives Personal Perspective
Berger Semiotics Creativity & Imagination
Elkins Verbal/Other Competencies Visual competencies
Jewitt/Kress Monomodal Multimodal
Barry Countering Media Influences Unconscious Perceptual Learning
O’Sullivan Rational Learning Transformative Learning

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 151

 Figures C7.1–3. Example of University of
Oregon student Brett Crosse’s final prod-
uct for Creative 7 in Winter 2005.Can
you guess the concepts each design com-
municates? See answers below.

Playful.Bottom – Congested
Answers: Top – Order.Middle –

152 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE SEVEN
Designing Shapes: Concepts in Visual Form

The Goal: Communicating Concepts Visually

As we move from visual theory and personal drawing exercises into practices
where visual forms communicate meaning, it is important to understand how
to create meaning with visual forms. In their book Visual Literacy, Judith and
Richard Wilde presented a series of exercises to “lead students away from tra-
ditional thought processes, away from traditional avenues of visual research,
and away from ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers” in ways that encourage students
“to look inward for personal design solutions” (p. 11). The Wildes’ novel
approach reversed traditional approaches to visual design by using concepts to
develop techniques, rather than the other way around. In other words, the
designer considers the meaning of a project and then works with visual forms
to discover effective content and techniques to convey that meaning. In this
way, visual communicators intuitively discover design techniques as solutions.

Because the Wildes stress self-discovery as the primary goal of their exercises,
students not only learn basic visual design techniques but also solve problems
in new ways as they develop personal creativity and self-reliance. Creative 7
adapts one of the Wildes’ exercises. It is designed to encourage you to go
beyond habitual, learned responses to use a more instinctive, introspective,
and spontaneous approach to problem solving. This approach supports
omniphasic thinking by integrating conceptual thinking and creative problem-
solving techniques. Creative 7 also leads you through the steps a professional
designer might take to find a visual way to communicate an abstract concept.
You begin by translating your thoughts onto paper through drawing and end
with work in a finished form ready for presentation.

How to Begin
Begin by gathering the tools you will need: blank drawing or typing paper, a
No. 2 pencil and a good eraser, a ruler, and a pen with black ink or fine-tip

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 153

 marker. If you prefer, you also may use a computer program, though designing
on computer is a very different process than when you begin with pencil and
paper. You can even do this exercise using the Word drawing tool. You may
copy and use the page of squares included with these instructions or you may
draw your own. To draw your own by hand, do the following:

! On one sheet of paper, use the ruler and pencil to draw three
sets of eight 1-inch-square frames (as illustrated at right).
! Leave about 2 inches of space between each set of eight
squares.

Now, take some time to relax and get into your intuitive, creative mode before
completing the exercise.

How to Proceed
Within each of the first set of eight square frames, sketch four black squares to
create eight different graphic images that all illustrate the concept of order.
Here is one example.

Continue until you have eight different visual thumbnail, or preliminary, sketch-
es that convey the concept of order.

Consider each sketch and select one you think is best. Now, using pencil or a
computer, carefully refine and re-create it in a 3-inch-square box on a separate
piece of paper. If using pencil, carefully draw the outline of each of the four
black squares in the pattern you created that best communicates order. Then
go back over the lines in ink and fill in pattern squares with black ink.

When you have this, repeat the entire process for two or more of the following
concepts using the other sets of eight square: peace, motion, boldness, and joy.

The Exercise
! Read the instructions carefully all the way through and get your supplies
together.
! Print or create the page with three sets of eight 1-inch-square frames.
! In the first set of eight frames, illustrate the concept of order using four
black squares within each of eight frames.

154 Williams and Newton

 Creative 7

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 155

 ! Pick the best example of order and carefully re-create it in a 3–inch-
square frame on another piece of paper.
! Repeat the process for at least two other concepts from this list:
peace, motion, boldness, and joy.
! Place each design on a separate page.
! Sign and date your designs.
! Assess your overall experience — what did you feel, learn, think about?
How does this creative exercise help you understand intuitive
and rational creative processing?

Example: Order, Peace, Movement

Andrea Schneider drew the sketches at right to explore the concepts order,
peace, and movement. Here are her final selections, which she drew using an
illustration software program. Pen and ink final designs will work well if care-
fully done. Her assessment is below.

Assessment by Andrea Schneider

I feel that my overall experience was fairly successful. I had fun with the assign-
ment and felt both relaxed and challenged. While doing the assignment I
worked in a highly omniphasic state. In terms of creativity, my intuitive abilities
dominated, but the difficulty came when I had to apply rational thought to my
project. Since we were given a word, a verbal, rational element, I felt as though
I flipped between different cognitive processes. Sometimes there were discrep-
ancies between the two
sides. With the word
“peace” in particular I first
thought, “What does peace
mean to me?” Ultimately,
peace for me was a feeling
of balance, harmony, and
cooperation that I strove for
with my arrangements.
Ultimately I felt that
“peace” was the most diffi-
cult, but I think my final
products reflect an accurate
visual representation of the
words for me, and reflect
some successful shifting
between intuitively and
rationally based thinking.
Above: Figure C7.4. Polished design communicating concepts of, clockwise from top left, peace, move-
ment, and order, by Andrea Schneider. Right: Figure C7.5. Schneider’s exploratory sketches.

156 Williams and Newton

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 157
 Figure 8.1. Poet’s house, 1999, by Maggie Taylor. (Original in color)

158 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER EIGHT
Visions in Voice:
Language and the Intuitive Mind

B
ecause integrative mind theory blends intuitive and rational intelligences in
a holistic manner, we now turn to a number of other areas of theory and
creative activities and processes that do just that. First we explore language
and the sounds produced by verbalizing language. Words often are considered
both product and process of reason; but recognizing the intuitive aspects of
words also can help balance your capacity for using and understanding them.

In the next chapter, as you learn to access your dreams, you will tap the poten-
tial of the nonconscious mind to serve as both a motivator of behavior and a
guide to understanding. As with our discussion of words, we want to turn the
common understanding of dreams on its head, opening up the rational basis
of dreaming. In chapters 10 and 11, working with photography and graphic
design will help you to express your inner feelings and thoughts and to under-
stand and respond intelligently to the visual meaning of the art you and others
create.

In part 3, you will learn how to apply what you know about blending rational
and intuitive processing to life experience. To do this, we turn to the media as
pervasive life experience for most individuals living in 21st-century culture.
Because mass media make available immense quantities of intuitive stimuli, as
well as information for the rational mind, they provide a ready resource for
omniphasic thinking. We show you how media-generated messages blend
words, sounds, and visual imagery into dreamlike symbol sequences to create
persuasive messages that shape perceptions of reality in ways that are not
always beneficial. You also will learn how to reverse the manipulative effect of
these mediated images by using them in positive ways to deepen your under-
standing of yourself and to expand and enrich your perceptions of reality, your
life.

Now, let’s move on to new ideas and creative exercises about language,
dreams, photography, and graphic design.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 159

 Visions in Voice
Both oral and written languages typically are considered to be highly rational,
forms of communication. Yet the ways we speak and write often emerge from
highly intuitive perceptual processes that influence how we live, communicate,
and think. Grammatical patterns and organizational structures of language may
be rational and logical. Yet patterns of sound, inflection, rhythm, and cadence,
as well as such figures (note use of the term figure) of speech as metaphor,
emerge from highly intuitive cognitive processes.

Although we may have moved beyond the idea that gods of ancient mythology
bestowed the gifts of speech and writing on humans, we have a long way to
go toward understanding how we actually produce, acquire, and use language.
We know, for example, as Altmann tells us, that newborns prefer the prosodic,
or melodic, characteristics of their mother’s voices, having learned the charac-
teristics while still in the womb. “For the infant,” Altmann wrote, “language is
not an independent entity divorced from the environment in which it is pro-
duced and comprehended, it is a part of that environment, and its processing
utilizes mental procedures that may not have evolved solely for linguistic pur-
poses” (p. 135). Altmann explains the complexity of the task infants face in
acquiring language:

How are children to know which of the many sounds they hear
correspond to which of the infinite range of possibilities before
them? For example, children may be able to work out that,
among the sounds in the spoken utterance “look, the dog’s
playing with a ball”, the sounds corresponding to “dog” are
intended to correspond to the animal in front of them (perhaps
because they already know that “ball” refers to the ball, and
have a sufficient grasp of syntax to realize that “dog” corre-
sponds to the concept associated with dogs, or with animals
more generally, or to things of that shape, or to things of that
colour, or to its head, or to all of it. Given the infinite number of
hypotheses that children might test, how are they to reject all
but the correct one? (p. 136)

Children learn names for objects in categories of similar shape, a phenomenon

psycholinguistics call shape bias. Shape bias emerges after children have learned
“a certain number of nouns,” indicating that associative learning is taking place.
Work in psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology supports neural connectionist
models of learning and knowing that can be tested through computer simulations
of “spreading patterns of activation between” neural-like units (p. 132).

Figure 8.2. Illustration by Soria Moria slott [sic], from William Lunder’s Asbjørnsen and Moe:
Norwegian folktales, Norway, 1936. MS 2774, The Schøyen Collection MS 2774, Oslo.

160 Williams and Newton

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 161
 Figure 8.3. Kate and J. B., by Rick Williams.

Although we do not fully understand how humans acquire and produce lan-
guage, we do know humans can distinguish from 60,000 to 75,000 words. Even
more impressive, more than half the world’s population speaks more than one
language. As Altmann concluded, “The adult language faculty . . . is an emergent
characteristic of a biological system that, in its initial state at least, is as much a
device for acquiring language as it is a device for using language” (p. 157).

Understanding exactly how human language originated or how babies learn

to talk and children learn to read and write is not as important a concern to
our present discussion as understanding the role of words and other symbol
forms. It is most important to understand words as symbols developed by,
acquired by, and used by the brain — both the rational and the intuitive parts.
It is likely that language developed as a secondary response to our primary
experience of reality, allowing us to describe and communicate with each
other about those experiences. Language also allows us to think rationally
and to communicate abstract thoughts and ideas. As did Abu, before we
developed language, we saw, we felt, we acted, but we did not speak in
words, though we may have made gestures, expressions, and sounds that
represented fear or rage or sorrow or some other primary feeling.

162 Williams and Newton

As our human cognitive processes evolved, we grasped the basic ability of
visual forms to represent reality and to keep records. We translated our visual
and aural perceptions into communication systems, developing sign language,
tools, patterned objects, and etchings or paintings of animals or objects on
rocks and cave walls, and later as symbols on clay tablets, papyrus, and paper.

Written Language
University of Texas archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat expanded our
understanding of how writing came about. Until her work during the 1970s,
scholars believed writing began with pictographs — simple pictures that look
like objects or living things. Before the 18th century, popular myth had it that
writing had been handed down to humans through divine revelation.

Drawing on archeological evidence supported by her own painstaking study of

ancient artifacts dating from 8000 to 6000 BCE, Schmandt-Besserat developed
a new theory of the origins of writing. She proposed that Neolithic counting
devices, small clay objects formed as geometric shapes and animal figures,
were the first records of human sounds and thoughts:

[These tokens] evolved to meet the needs of the economy, at

first keeping track of the products of farming, then expanding in
the urban age to keep track of goods manufactured in work-
shops. The development of tokens was tied to the rise of social
structures, emerging with rank leadership and coming to a cli-
max with state formation. (p. 7)

Eventually, clay, ball-shaped envelopes were devised to store the tokens.

Accountants imprinted token shapes on the outside of a container before sealing it:

The number of units of goods was still expressed by a cor-

responding number of markings. An envelope containing seven
ovoids, for example, bore seven oval markings.
The substitution of signs for tokens was a first step
toward writing. Fourth-millennium accountants soon realized
that the tokens within the envelopes were made unnecessary
by the presence of markings on the outer surface. As a result,
tablets — solid clay balls bearing markings — replaced the
hollow envelopes filled with tokens. These markings became
a system of their own which developed to include not only
impressed markings but also more legible signs traced with a
pointed stylus. (p.7)

Schmandt-Besserat noted that the signs were “picture signs.” She stressed,
however, that “the signs were not pictures of the items they represented, but

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 163

 Figure 8.4-6. Top left: Neolithic plain counting tokens, made of clay, “possibly representing 1 measure of
grain, 1 animal and 1 man or 1 day’s labour, respectively,” ca. 8000-35oo BCE. Middle: Complex count-
ing tokens made of stone; top left represented 1 jar of oil, others represented textiles, ca. 4000-3200 BCE.
Top right: Bulla-envelope with 11 plain and complex tokens representing an account or agreement, “ten-
tatively of wages for 4 days’ work, 4 measures of metal, 1 large measure of barley and 2 small measure of
some other commodity,” all from Syria/Sumer/Highland Iran, ca. 3700-3200. The Schøyen Collection
(from left) MS 5067/1-8, MS 4522/1, and MS 4631, Oslo.

rather, pictures of the tokens used as counters in the previous accounting sys-
tem …. the token system reflected an archaic mode of ‘concrete’ counting prior
to the invention of abstract numbers” (p. 7). The critical point here is that writ-
ten language evolved “not only from new bureaucratic demands but from the
invention of counting” (p. 7). The tokens, first used in physical “one-to-one
correspondence” (p. 7) to animals or jars of oil, initiated the next level of visual
communication — transference of literal depiction into abstract form.

On Sounds and Signs

Recognized sounds also became conscious, rational symbols of representation-
al reality. The integration of sound and visual metaphors became the basis of
languages that included both visual and verbal components used together.
Continuing this tradition in a slightly modified form, humankind developed
another kind of visual/aural symbol system — the alphabet.

To form letters we use the basic visual elements of point, line, and shape,
which we discuss in chapter 11. We discuss letterforms in more detail when we
get to the parts and characteristics of contemporary type in chapter 13. In the
Western alphabet, letterforms represent sounds that, when put together in a
particular order, form syllables, which form words. We use words to represent
ideas as well as things and living entities. The sound and sight of words call
forth not only visual symbols from our mind’s-eye memory but also feelings
associated with past experiences related to the sounds and the visual percep-
tions. Because language and sound processes deal, in part, with visual images

164 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 8

and feelings, language and sound are partially based in our visual, metaphori-
cal, perceptual, intuitive intelligence.

Words in sequence form phrases and sentences to communicate increasingly

complex thought patterns. In this way, language utilizes our linear, logical, sequen-
tial rational consciousness. Some scholars believe that the ways we developed the
visual representation of language have had profound influence on the structures of
our societies. Following the ideas of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, Robert
Logan proposed that the Western bias toward linear, rational cognitive processing
evolved from the effects of the phonetic Western alphabet, basically a code repre-
senting basic sounds of oral language, on the structures of the brain.

Reading words in a line, as you are doing now, helps create patterns in your
brain that in turn influence the way you think about living. Similarly, Logan
argued, the logographic or pictographic characters of Eastern languages have
affected ways of thinking and living in Eastern countries. In such pictographic
languages as contemporary Chinese, entire words are represented by unique
visual signs that depict them as ideograms or pictograms of about 1,000 basic
characters. Syllabic systems of writing, which fall between alphabetic and log-
ographic, phonetically code each spoken syllable into a unique sign. Many lan-
guages of North American indigenous people are syllabic systems.

Logan wrote:

A medium of communication is not merely a passive conduit

for the transmission of information but rather an active force in
creating new social patterns and new perceptual realities. . . . It
is only by studying both the medium as a “message” and the
messages that the medium transmits that a full appreciation of
cultural and historical processes can emerge. (pp. 24–25)

Logan called this the Alphabet Effect, a phenomenon that he and McLuhan
argued causes coevolution of written language thought. The Western alphabet
is the most recently developed letterform system, the most abstract, and uses
the fewest number of signs — 26 letters. It involves a) coding and decoding, b)

Figure 8.7. Churinga, “3 campsites, waterholes or totem centres (concentric circles) with people sitting
facing the centres, guards facing outwards (U-forms of 3 lines), as a part of the Aranda aborigines’
mythological landscape,” in chalk stone, Central Desert area, Australia, before 500, incised with opos-
sum tooth. According to collection commentary, “There is no certain way to date the old churingas
that are from the pre-contact period (before 1780). They can be as old as Aboriginal culture,
40-50,000 years. With the earliest rockpaintings and carvings, the cylcons and churingas represent
the oldes form of communication and art, still present, and they represent the oldest religion
still observed. The aborigine owner’s belief is that his kuruna or spirit is intimately associated
with his churinga.” The Schøyen Collection MS 4610, Oslo..

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 165

 Figure 8.8. Churinga in schist-like stone incised with opossum tooth: “Kangaroo tracks in the sand mov-
ing around concentric circles; an iconographic emblem of the kangaroo totem, and the movement of his
ancestral being around a waterhole, totem centre or a special place in the tribe Aranda’s mythological
landscape,” Central Desert area Australia, before 1800. The Schøyen Collection MS 4629, Oslo.

converting sounds into visual signs, c) thinking deductively, d) classifying infor-

mation, and e) ordering words. These processes, in turn, contributed to the
development of codified law, monotheism, abstract science, deductive logic,
and individualism. This idea is given momentum by the thousands of years it
took humans to develop oral and written languages through institutions rang-
ing from agriculture to global corporations. Logan argued, “Because the alpha-
bet is so much a part of our information environment, however, we often take
its existence for granted and we are blind to its effects, much as fish are
unaware of the water in which they swim” (npn). As noted earlier, we discuss
letterforms in more detail when we get to the parts and characteristics of con-
temporary type in chapter 13.

Notice that visual symbols are the basis of both the intuitive and rational
processes of language development and use. Both written letters and the
rational sequence into which they are arranged to make words and sentences
are visual. The verbal sounds and the concepts expressed by letters and words
elicit visual imagery in the mind’s eye. However, the two visual processes of
language construction differ significantly in the quality and use of symbolic

166 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 8

Figure 8.9. Oracle bone: “Cracking

made on the Xinhai (Day 48); no quick
victory on the yin (Day 51?). Approved.
It will rain on Jiahai (?).” Oxen scapu-
la, Xiaotun, China, 14th-12th century
BCE, lines in Chinese script, prepared
and cracked with burned marks on
reverse. “Nearly all known Chinese ora-
cle bones derive from Xiaotun near the
ancient capital of the Late Shang
Dynasty of Anyang. The oracular use
of the bones involved the interpretation
of pattern of cracks which appeared on
the bones after subjection to heat by
the application of a heated metal rod.
The text records the interpretation of
the oracle and the date of its produc-
tion. The oracle bones are so far the
first preserved evidence of Chinese
script in complete meaningful sen-
tences.” The Schøyen Collection MS
2103/1-4, Oslo.

information. Visual symbols of the rational mind are used to name and recall
objects and to think, speak, and write about them. The visual symbols of the
intuitive mind are based in perceptual and emotional experience and are used
to recall and create feelings. For instance, the word child is a rational arrange-
ment of specific letters in a specific order that names and calls to mind charac-
teristics of a human being of a particular age. But even though the word child
does not refer to a specific child, because we all have emotion-laden experi-
ences of childhood and children, the word goes beyond its rational meaning to
elicit feelings associated with those experiences and perceptions.

One way to think about how language works is to consider that the integra-
tion of logic and perception in the development and use of language may be
based in the ability to recognize, understand, and respond to the representa-
tion of one thing as a likeness or analogy for another thing. This ability is
the basis for both art and language. It is also what makes language
omniphasic: it is a format through which we can better understand the inte-
gration of rational and intuitive intelligences. Language also can help us
explore the role of the visual intuitive as a primary motivator of behavior.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 167

 For example, considered in one way, words are logical extensions of the
rational mind. The English alphabet is linear in character as one word is com-
posed of single letters, one following the other in specific order. Without the
rational order, the letters are simply shapes and references to sounds, not
words. Without the proper order their meanings as symbols of life experiences
or thoughts or images is lost. From this perspective, it is the linear, rational
order of words, sentences, and paragraphs that imparts basic meaning.
Meaning is what the word is really about.

But the logical aspect of words as symbols designed to name, categorize, and con-
vey basic meaning of experience or thought describes only one limited part of lan-
guage. The deeper meaning of a word or group of words is carried in the symbolic
aspects of the words. The full meaning of a word carries significant visual and intu-
itive aspects that were part of the original experience that the word represents.

When we read or hear a word, we reach beyond the basic, logical meaning,
backward toward the original experience and move across space and time
through a cognitive synthesis that connects
us, through imagination and memory —
including many nonconscious and precon-
scious memories — to primal feelings.
This synthesis moves us away from a gen-
eral, common understanding of the word
toward experiences that are wholly individ-
ualistic — experiences that really are not
shared by all.

For instance, when we rearrange the letters

o h e t r m into m o t h e r, we cre-
ate a common symbol that, on one level,
we can generally understand to represent a
woman who bears children, perhaps the
woman who bore us. But what an imper-
sonal, diminished symbol that common
definition is compared to the woman her-
self, or our experience of the woman.

Your mother and your experiences of her

as your mother are unique to you and are
the basis of your memories, both con-
scious and nonconscious, of those experi-
Figure 8.10. Cuneiform script on clay tablet, part of the
ences. Your essential, primal, visual, physi-
Sumerian creation story in which a bird and fish “argue
ological, and psychological knowing spans
for their usefulness in the universe as it was
a lifetime in a way that can never be con-
then conceived,” Babylonia, 1900-1700 BCE.
veyed accurately or completely to another
The Schøyen Collection, MS 2110/1, Oslo.

168 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 8

Figure 8.11. Above Left: Renowned Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s cursive script on paper of part
of first act of Lille Eyolf, ca 1893. Above Right: Signed letter concerning his right to produce the play
and present it throughout most of Norway, March 28, 1895. The Schøyen Collection, MS 2114, Oslo.

person merely by six written or spoken letters. Someone else may have her
own experiences of your mother, but the two of you cannot share the same
understanding of the same person. Although you can share meaning, that
understanding represents only a miniscule part of what you experience when
you hear, write, read, or say the word mother.

Thus the intuitive part of your mind, at the mere mention of the word mother,
can synthesize those primary, experiential memories instantaneously into a
holistic sense of your relationship. This cognitive synthesis has the ability to
affect the deepest parts of your psyche in ways that guide and change your
behavior at any given moment, and it can happen without your rational mind’s
awareness or controls.

And, of course, that intuitive knowledge and response is different from your
sister’s or your brother’s. This knowledge would bear only schematic
resemblance to your father’s sense of mother or to another person’s sense
of mother. On a predominantly rational plane, we may say the word mother
as if we all were talking about the same woman. However, underneath, our
intuitive intelligences are simultaneously synthesizing meanings with differ-
ent psychological, physiological, and behavioral nuances.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 169

 Of course, humans of similar cultures share ideals of motherhood on some
level. We also share archetypal images of motherhood, mother earth, Madonna
and Child. Yet our own individual intuitive knowledge of mother influences our
conscious and nonconscious perceptions. The meanings of most words and
other forms of experience and communication are deeper and more meaning-
ful than we are able to consider or understand rationally in any given moment.
Although we speak to one another on rational, conscious levels, the fact is that
deeply intuitive, nonconscious cognition influences all communication.

Words as Balanced
Ways of Knowing
With this in mind, let us revisit the
idea that words, as symbols for per-
sonal experiences, are perfect
examples of the integration of the
two primary ways that our brains
work. Our brains receive and
process intuitive or primal knowl-
edge using nonconscious memories
and preconscious information and
perceptual abilities. We use that
knowledge, often without conscious
awareness, to guide our perceptions
of reality and to develop our value
systems. Our brains also transform
that primary knowledge into ration-
al knowledge that helps us under-
stand, communicate, and evaluate
our behavior and respond with rea-
soned intelligence in our relation-
ships and behavior.

Before going further, we remind you

that we are talking about two inde-
pendent, cognitive-processing sys-
tems of our one brain. However, both
our intuitive and rational cognitive
systems, though functionally distinct,
are integrative and operate together.
One intelligence does not work
alone, though one may be dominant
for a given task or process. For
Figure 8.12. Chely and her baby. Photograph by instance, the rational mind might be
Julianne Newton. dominant when you balance your

170 Williams and Newton

Figure 8.13. Liturgical book script in Latin and French, with illuminated borders, initials, and
miniatures on vellum. Book of Hours; Metz, France, mid 15th century. The Schøyen Collection
MS 007, Oslo. Original in color.

checkbook, whereas the intuitive mind might be dominant when you draw or
dance. Yet the mental processes operate in an integrated manner.

As an example of this interplay, consider the first time you learned a new
dance, to drive a stick-shift car, or to type. At first it was awkward and you had
to think rationally about where to put your feet in keeping with the beats of the
music, or how hard to press the gas pedal or clutch. As you practiced the
rhythms of these various endeavors, you moved to a gestalt synthesis of
rational structure and intuitive flow, just as you did in the drawing exercise.
You experience the global integration of rational and intuitive as you eventual-
ly begin to dance without thinking; drive without stalling; and flow through
characters, words, and sentences on your computer keyboard.

This is a glimpse of the integrative mind, or omniphasic mental processing.

This balance can add deeper dimensions to your writing, speaking, thinking,
working, relating, and relaxing and knowing. For now, we are applying it to the
written word to see how daily activities are affected by the integration of
rational and intuitive language abilities.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 171

 Figure 8.14. Left: Oldest known musical notation on a lenticular tablet used
as a school text in Babylonia, 2000-1700 BCE. Old Babylonian cuneiform
indicates two ascending scales to be played on a four-stringed lute with frets.
The notation includes headings “intonation” and “incantation.” Below: A
modern transcription. The Schøyen Collection MS 5101, Oslo.

The Sounds of Words

We have discussed the development of language out of experience and looked
at its use from a written perspective. But beyond the structured, written use of
language, our ability to verbalize language through speaking or singing adds
another dimension to this complex concert of cognitive processes. Because let-
ters are visual symbols for sounds, words, and ideas, they are part of the rational
symbol system of language. However, the ability to use tone, pace, resonance,
volume, and inflection allows the voice to convey deeper and more complex
meanings drawn from our intuitive musical/tonal and emotional intelligences.
Vocalization of language also draws directly from and simultaneously informs
both our intrapersonal communication and our nonconscious memories.

An example of a personal life experience will help clarify. As a child, one of

your authors often nestled in the large, warm arms of his great-grandmother
while listening to The Phantom or The Cisco Kid on her bedside radio. As he
sat there cradled, rocked, and comforted, and the exciting mysteries unfolded,
he felt loved, secure, nurtured, and content. His imagination, aided by voices,
inflections, sound effects, and music, was free to create images of the unseen
characters and scenarios in his mind’s eye. So strong was this experience
more than 50 years ago that even hearing the word radio today brings back
both the inner visions of that experience and the inner feelings of warmth and
security. When he is working alone, Rick nearly always has either on the radio,
music, or the sound of the television in the background. We all have had these
emotional experiences. Not all are so positive, but all tap deep feelings within
our psyches when certain words are spoken or read.

Other intuitive processes involve tone of voice, pacing, inflection, and even
word choice. You may recall feeling a strong, emotional response when a par-
ent uses your full name in a loud, formal, and stern voice. On the other hand,
you probably have a very different emotional response when a significant
other calls you by a name that only he or she uses for you. So the language
that we read and write, and speak and hear blends perceptual visual and aural
processes with the conceptual, sequenced approach of our rational intelli-
gences to communicate to the whole mind. In this, language is omniphasic.

172 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 8

The Form of the Presentation

Of course, this blending of metaphor and fact, of intuition and logic, takes vari-
ous forms, depending on the intended point of the communication. It can be
designed as such a rational and linear sequencing of conceptual thought that,
though it makes its points, it is difficult to follow and loses readers’ attention.
For instance, note that even though the title of the following academic study is
The Nature of Human Arousal . . ., the form of presentation is such that only
research specialists would understand it or find it interesting:

Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested by regressing change scores

for the nonverbal composites on linear, quadratic and cubic
polynomial change scores for arousal. (p. 240)

On the other hand, linguistic communication can be so intuitively esoteric as to

be incomprehensible. The following passage from James Joyce’s Finnegans
Wake is an example of word play that is highly intuitive in its focus, tone, pac-
ing and inflection. The words roll lyrically off the tongue (especially with ans
Irish brogue), but the meaning is barely comprehensible to most readers:

. . . not yet, though venissoon after, had a kidscad buttended a

bland old isaac: not yet, though all’s fair in vanessey, were sosie
sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe. Rot a peck of pa’s malt
had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory end to the reg-
ginbrow was to be seen ringsome on the aquaface. (p. 3)

These extremes support the idea that a balance of cognitive processes can
improve both the understanding and the quality of word experiences. As an
example of this omniphasic blend, note the following passage from Henry
Miller’s Plexus. In its rationality, it is grammatically correct and develops a log-
ical theme. Yet, intuitively, it is presented in emotionally powerful, poetic
prose. Thus, the passage renders a gestalt experience that integrates tech-
nique and aesthetic to create an artistic experience of clear thought and inspir-
ing vision through the use of words and the everyday acts of writing and reading.

On lonely nights, pondering the problem — only one ever!

— I could see so very clearly the world as it is, see what it is
and why it is the way it is. I could reconcile grace and evil,
divine order with rampant ugliness, imperishable creation with
utter sterility. I could make myself so finely attuned that a mere
zephyr would blow me to dust. Instant annihilation or enduring

Figure 8.15. “My beloved knows my heart, / my beloved is sweet as honey, / she is as fragrant
to the nose as wine, / the fruit of my feelings.” Old Babylonian cuneiform script
on clay tablet, only known love poem for this early period, Babylonia, 18th century BCE.
The Schøyen Collection MS 2866, Oslo.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 173

 life — it was one and the same to me. I was at balance, both
sides so evenly poised that a molecule of air would tilt the scales.
Suddenly a most hilarious thought would shatter the whole
setup. An idea such as this: “However deep one’s knowledge of
abstruse philosophy, it is like a piece of hair flying in the vast-
ness of space.” A Japanese thought, this. With it came a return
to a more ordinary sort of equilibrium. Back to that frailest of all
footholds — solid earth. That solid earth which we now accept
as being as empty as space. (p. 635)

To experience the powerful way in which this integration of technique and aes-
thetic can communicate emotions within the intuitive mind, try standing and
reading the passage aloud several times. Or choose a poem that you like and
read it aloud. In either case, as you begin to understand the meaning, use your
voice to emphasize tone, pacing, and inflection to enhance the feeling and
meaning of the words.

Conclusion
To summarize, the linear, logical design of words in the Western tradition,
through alignment of letters locates language in our rational, analytical, cogni-
tive-processing system. This system delivers one kind of knowledge and mean-
ing — primarily logical, factual, naming, categorizing knowledge that generates
abstract thought and ideas, and can sometimes alter our behavior.

On the other hand, all of our factual, rational knowledge is derived from experi-
ences and thoughts of a very personal and unique nature, including those of our
imaginations and creativity. These experiences are stored in nonconscious mem-
ory until something — such as the need to make a decision, or seeing the word
mother — stimulates specific memories. Then these nonconscious memories are
brought forth through our synthesistic, intuitive cognitive-processing system to
give unique, personal meaning to the rational facts of our experience. This intu-
itive cognition may occur on either conscious or nonconscious levels, or both.

Thus, language is an omniphasic blend of rational and intuitive intelligence. It

allows us to communicate our experiences and thoughts through commonly
held concepts that suggest basic meaning. Language also stimulates deeper,
intrapersonal meanings that are drawn from both nonconscious memories and
emotions. When we use the global, symbolic imagery of our intuitive intelli-
gence in concert with the logical sequencing of ideas and concepts of our lin-
ear, rational intelligence, we use our whole minds in an omniphasic symphony
of cognitive unity. The conscious development of this creative process and the
abilities associated with it have the power to draw us — mind and heart — into
full awareness. From this sense of wholeness, our lives can then become an
artistic expression of our creative energy.

174 Williams and Newton

Figure 8.16. Dáme una sonrisa. Photograph by Julianne Newton. Language can both prohibit and
enhance rational and intuitive knowing. Words draw on and evoke images in the mind’s eye. Do images
evoke words? When you look at this photo what do you sense? One interpretation is that the image
expresses the mixture of emotions children feel in dealing with society: impatience, curiosity, acquiesence,
and anxiety. Those empathetic feelings are experienced by a viewer instantaneously, before the feelings
were named as words in the conscious mind. What do you see when you look at this picture?

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 175

 This is Sky He will play alone for hours,
then sit and color and do mazes
for still more hours.
Sky wears costumes.
He wears them everyday, I hope he will be able to deal
not just for special occasions. with the real world
He is very attached to his mother, when it is time for him to do so.
mostly to her thigh. What a shame that he must.

Figure C8.1. “This Is Sky,” by Mary Lee Edwards.

176 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE EIGHT
The Visual Word: Giving Vision to Voice

The Goal: Integrating Visual and Verbal

One way to find your own creative voice in language is to use visual images to
inspire creative writing. This very simple process can reap great rewards. In
addition to helping you find a unique voice for writing poetry or creative prose,
the process can help you improve such nonfiction writing as journalistic arti-
cles and term papers. The process also can help “unlock” writer’s block.

Another way to find your creative voice is to compare the difference between
reading silently and reading aloud. Words read in silence and words read
aloud evoke different thoughts, images, and emotions.

In this exercise you will explore the visually creative potential of words.

Part I
Find an image that holds your attention. It is fine to use one of the many
images in this book. Other potential sources are magazines, art books, picture
archives. Be sure to note the artist (if known), title, source, date, page number,
and other reference information so you can fully credit the image.

Take the picture, along with your journal or a few sheets of paper and a pen or
pencil, to a quiet place where you can sit comfortably and write.

Spend a little time relaxing. Try meditating or drawing for a short time. Try
vase/face or blind contour drawing.

When you are ready, pick up your pen and look at the picture. The idea is to let
the picture inspire creative or descriptive writing.

Begin to write immediately. Do not wait and study the image. If nothing that
makes sense comes to mind, just start writing the words that come to you. Let
them flow and see if they develop into a poem or short story or a creative

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 177

 description of the picture or some part of it, just as you let the lines flow onto
the page in blind contour drawing. Initially, do not worry about how it sounds
or fits together. As the words flow, see if thoughts begin to emerge that tie the
words together into a poem or story, or simply into a vivid description of what
you are feeling and thinking after experiencing the image and spontaneous
flow of words. If this does not happen easily, look back at the words you wrote
and see if they bring up ideas for a descriptive phrase or a sentence or two for
a poem or story. Or, try rearranging the words that you wrote and see what
develops.

Do this with at least two pictures.

Part II
Find a poem that you like. Read it silently several times. When you finish read-
ing it silently, stand and read it aloud using the tone and volume of your voice
to add depth and meaning to the words. Notice the difference between the
silent and spoken readings in terms of how you feel and what you think and
understand.

Reflect on and write an assessment of both parts of this exercise discussing

your experiences and what you learned.

The Exercise
! Read the instructions carefully and select an image.
! Spend time relaxing before you start writing.
! Write what flows out while contemplating the image.
! Select another image.
! Write as many word visions as you want, but at least two.
! Select a poem.
! Read it silently several times.
! Read it aloud at least twice.
! Assess your experiences.

178 Williams and Newton

Figure C8.2. The Bulman Ledger, Cheyenne cursive script, name glyphs and drawings, Oklahoma,
1891-1900. The rare intact ledger includes pen drawings by Bullman of travels, imprisonment, the
exchange of a dead golden eagle, a smallpox outbreak, and a marriage proposal. Above Left: The Lord’s
Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13, the Bible. Above Right: Collection Commentary indicates the page “seems to
depict the recounting by 4 men of a collective vision. The vision in a quartered circle shows a man on a
bench in the upper quadrant, being addressed by a blanketed figure who may represent Thunder, as
power lines are radiating out from a zigzag sky. Similar zigzags in the upper left quadrant have a differ-
ent connotation with 4 figures in prison and a conventionalised counting device of 5 lines, repeated 5
times. The diagonal slash to denote 5 is a White man's way of counting. The lower left quadrant depicts
a man chained to the wall, but surrounded on both sides by lightning symbols. The lower right quadrant
is distinguished by the Roman numerals 1-5 in semi-circles, plus 4 rifles, 3 horse heads, and 4 human
heads, seemingly the booty of 5 successful raids. In the last 3 decades of the 19th c. Indians of the
Apache, Cheyenne, Sioux, Kiowa and other tribes of the Great Plains, often deprived of traditional artis-
tic and ceremonial venues because of their confinement to reservations, turned to drawings in small
books and discarded ledgers as a way to make sense of the profound cultural stress to which they were
subjected. The indigenous style evolved into a new form of Indian art, characterised by meticulously
detailed depictions of clothing and paraphernalia.” The art is today represented in most major U.S. art
museums. The Schøyen Collection MS 4605, Oslo.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 179

 Figure 9.1. Kate’s Fourth of July. Photograph by Rick Williams.

180 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER NINE
Insight Out:
Dreams and the Nonconscious Mind

D
reams — windows to the soul, a recounting of the day’s events, the
voice of the nonconscious mind, a seemingly meaningless firing of neu-
rons, the language of the seer, an escape from the day, visions of the
prophets, mental visions, connections to the collective unconscious, messages
from the divine. Metaphors for dreams and arguments about their significance
to our lives — or the lack thereof — could be used to chronicle human under-
standing of human imagination and consciousness. Few people seem to be
neutral when the subject of discourse is dreams. Yet, whether one sees dreams
as significant or not, any history of humankind must include stories of how
dreams and visions have influenced individuals and culture. From Jacob to
Ulysses, Aristotle to Jung, and Sitting Bull to the Dalai Lama, dreams and
visions have served humankind as powerful metaphors for connections
between the soul and forces larger than us. Dreams have shaped the lives of
individuals and the futures of nations.

With its bias toward scientific measurement of provable facts, contemporary

culture has lost touch with ways to use dreams and visions for guidance and
clarity in improving the quality of our lives. Just as we balanced rational under-
standing of words with a discussion of their intuitive roots, we will balance intu-
itive interpretation of the phenomena of dreaming and visualization with the
rational basis of recent scientific exploration of dreams and mental imaging.

The term pseudoscience is often used by those who are rationally biased to
diminish the significance of theories and processes that do not fit within cer-
tain parameters of the scientific method — such as measurability and repeata-
bility — as proof of value. We recall one scenario, for example, in which a
group of individuals passed out leaflets about pseudoscience before a presen-
tation by physicist Fritjof Capra at the University of Texas at Austin.
Introducing Capra was Ilya Prigogine, a highly respected scientist and recipient
of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1977 for his contributions to nonequilibrium
thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures. Prigogine

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 181

 stressed his support for Capra’s applications of systems theory in Capra’s book
The Web of Life. Rationally biased members of the audience could not contain
their disdain for Capra’s provocative and imaginative ideas. Those who could
hold rationally and intuitively derived concepts in tandem were mesmerized by
both Prigogine’s and Capra’s presentations. The kind of marginalization
attempted by those opposed to Capra’s work exemplifies rational bias that
establishes quantitative measurement and evaluation as the primary — and
often the only — standard of value.

It is important to understand that we are not devaluing scientific approaches to

knowing. Some processes and theories appear to have the probability of being
precisely measurable and repeatable most of the time. For instance, when you
flip a light switch or start your computer, you expect the light or computer to
turn on and to function normally, just as they did the last time you used them.
On a biological level, if you are taking medication for a medical condition, you
want that medication to be exactly the same each time you take it.

However, many things that are important and valuable to our lives and com-
munities are not precisely measurable and repeatable. Physicists tell us that
nothing is infinitely repeatable. Therefore, quantification cannot be the ultimate
measure of value for all processes and experiences. When methods designed
for evaluating quantitative processes become the dominant paradigm, a cultur-
al bias then directs all evaluation toward rational thinking and quantification,
even of personal, social, and cultural concerns. How much money do you
have? How many home runs have you hit, either real or metaphorically? Will
you be able to do it again, and again, and still again? How intelligent are you
based on rationally biased tests such as the SAT and GRE? How many facts
can you repeat for a test? These questions all use quantitative measurements
of success and repeatability and ignore quality-of-life experiences. All things
of value are not quantifiable or repeatable.

An Example
Consider an evening when you go to a musical concert and the artists perform
extraordinarily well, not only playing their known hits but also improvising and
creating new, spontaneous compositions. By the time the concert is over, you
are so inspired and filled with excitement that you stand up and applaud and
whistle or yell for an encore. You do not want the experience to end.

Now, consider the concert from an omniphasic perspective. A concert is a

blend of the rational (quantitative) and intuitive (qualitative) processes that
together provide the final experience. The individual musicians practiced, play-
ing notes repeatedly, and developed technique until the integration of their
individual performances was tight. The lighting and sound technicians tested
the positioning of lights and circuits to set the right ambience for the light and

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 Chapter 9

Figure 9.2. Willie Nelson in concert, Austin, by Rick Williams.

level of sound. The maintenance crew made certain the floors and seats were
clean and comfortable and the temperature adjusted properly. These are a few
of the rational background processes that had to occur for the holistic experi-
ence of enjoying the performance to happen.

So, what happened then? The colors and lighting of the scene on stage set an
appropriate mood so that you could, without consciously thinking about them,
synthesize ambient, visual features into an intuitively sophisticated, unique
experience. The musicians performed beyond the mere playing of notes to cre-
ate a stirring performance that aesthetically transcended into a unique musical
experience. Your intuitive intelligences — visual, musical, and bodily kinesthet-
ic — synthesized the visual array, the musical excellence, the comfort of your
seat, and the rhythm of your body to create a holistic, qualitative experience.

So how do you quantify that quality experience? How do you measure your
experience? Does an applause meter accurately reflect your experience? And
further, would you want to repeat that experience exactly the same way each
time you went to a concert? You probably would want the light and sound to
work well and the musicians to be practiced and the theatre to be comfortable
and clean. But would you want to experience that same concert, in exactly the
same way, over and over? Probably not. Even if you did want to, you could
not. It is the uniqueness and aesthetic quality of a particular experience that
give it value. Repeating it precisely is neither possible, because we cannot

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 183

 quantify and repeat our unconscious intuitive experiences, nor desirable,
because the repetition denies the unique qualities that so inspired us.

Much of the quality of such an experience depends on the complex, rapid, syn-
thesistic abilities of the unconscious, intuitive, visual, musical, and bodily kines-
thetic intelligences. Your nonconscious mind integrated your various intuitive
processes so seamlessly that you were never aware of much of the process
itself. How you were relating to yourself (intrapersonal intelligence) and how
you were relating to the other concert patrons or to the musicians (interperson-
al intelligence) also entered into your overall experience in significant ways.

The Role of Dreams in Human Knowing

Dreams provide one form of visual experience that is not measurable or
repeatable — although some psychiatrists now believe they can construct a full
description of your personality if you provide them with 100 of your dreams.
Dreams can provide insights into the qualitative experiences and issues of our
lives. When we consider dreams and visions, we are working on a broader
scale with the same intuitive, synthesistic processes of our unconscious minds
that are active in musical events, media images, and films. All that is in the
unconscious mind has the potential to emerge into consciousness to influence
our actions. In this way, dreams build bridges between unconscious and con-
scious states of knowing, providing preconscious stages on which intuitive
intelligence can synthesize perception and memory.

The story of Rene Descartes, the 17th-century philosopher often called the
father of rationalism, provides important insight into this discussion.
Mathematics scholars Phillip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh told the story well:

The Modern World, our world of triumphant rationality,

began on November 10, 1619, with a revelation and a night-
mare. On that day, in a room in the small Bavarian village of
Ulm, Rene Descartes, a Frenchman, twenty-three years old,
crawled into a wall stove and, when he was well warmed, had a
vision. It was not a vision of God, or of the Mother of God, or of
celestial chariots, or of the New Jerusalem. It was a vision of
the unification of all science.
The vision was preceded by a state of intense concentration
and agitation. Descartes’ overheated mind caught fire and pro-
vided answers to tremendous problems that had been taxing
him for weeks. He was possessed by a Genius, and the answers
were revealed in a dazzling, unendurable light. Later, in a state
of exhaustion, he went to bed and dreamed three dreams that
had been predicted by this Genius.
In the first dream, he was revolved by a whirlwind and terri-

184 Williams and Newton

Figure 9.3. Jacob’s Ladder, 1973, by Marc Chagall (original in color). © 2006 Artists Rights Society
(ARS), NY. Photo of painting by Scala / Art Resource, NY.

fied by phantoms. He experienced a constant feeling of falling.

He imagined he would be presented with a melon that came
from a far-off land. The wind abated and he woke up. His sec-
ond dream was one of thunderclaps and sparks flying around
his room. In the third dream, all was quiet and contemplative.
An anthology of poetry lay on the table. He opened it at random
and read the verse of Ausonius, “Quod vitae sectabor iter”
(What path shall I take in life?). A stranger appeared and quoted
him the verse “Est et non“ (Yes and no). Descartes wanted to
show him where in the anthology it could be found, but the
book disappeared and reappeared. He told the man he would
show him a better verse beginning “Quod vitae sectabor iter.”
At this point the man, the book, and the whole dream dissolved.
Descartes was so bewildered by all this that he began to
pray. He assumed his dreams had a supernatural origin. He
vowed he would put his life under the protection of the Blessed
Virgin and go on a pilgrimage from Venice to Notre Dame de

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 185

 Lorette, traveling by foot and wearing the humblest-looking
clothes he could find.
What was the idea that Descartes saw in a burning flash?
He tells us that his third dream pointed to no less than the unifi-
cation and the illumination of the whole of science, even the
whole of knowledge, by one and the same method: the method
of reason.
Eighteen years would pass before the world would have the
details of the grandiose vision and of the “mirabilis sientiae
fundamenta —”— the foundations of a marvelous science. Such
as he was able to give them, they are contained in the celebrat-
ed ”Discourse on the Method of Properly Guiding the Reason in
the Search of Truth in the Sciences.” According to Descartes,
his ”method“ should be applied when knowledge is sought in
any scientific field. It consists of (a) accepting only what is so
clear in one’s own mind as to exclude any doubt; (b) splitting
large difficulties into smaller ones; (c) arguing from the simple
to the complex; and (d) checking, when one is done. (pp. 3-4)

Descartes became concerned that he could not tell the difference

between a state of dreaming while asleep and a state of wakefulness. This con-
cern became the basis of his argument that sensory perception could not be
trusted. Ironically, Descartes’s theories were inspired by the dreams, which,
wrote philosopher/theologian Peter Chojnowski, Descartes interpreted as a
“divine endorsement”:

Having in mind, for a number of years, a project and method

to bring all the sciences together within the context of a new
universal philosophical ”wisdom,” Descartes interpreted the
vivid dreams that he had on the night of the Vigil of the Feast of
St. Martin as a sign from God Himself. From that moment on,
Descartes would believe that he had a divine mandate to estab-
lish an all-encompassing science of human wisdom. (npn)

The point to relating Descartes’s story here is that the very person so often cited
as being the father of reason as a way of thinking that became the basis of the
scientific method, used his dreams to develop his rational theories. Though he
discounted his dreams, they influenced him. All humans have within them vari-
ous means for deriving knowledge. Dreaming is one of those processes.

Miguel de Cervantes: Another Great Dreamer

The great Spanish poet, playwright, and novelist, Miguel de Cervantes
(1547–1616), expressed this position eloquently through the adventures of Don
Quixote. One adventure from Part II of Don Quixote, published in 1615, is par-

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 Chapter 9
ticularly helpful to our discus-
sion of dreams. In the story of
the Cave Montesinos, Don
Quixote’s faithful servant,
Sancho Panza, and a guide
lower a rope-secured Don
Quixote “into the depths of the
dread cavern.” The guide,
described as a “humanist
cousin,” has urged the don “to
observe carefully and examine
with a hundred eyes every-
thing that is within there”
(chap. XXII). After spending
only about half an hour asleep
in the cave, Don Quixote
believes he has spent 3 days
there, experiencing “the sweet-
est and most delightful exis-
tence and spectacle that ever
human being enjoyed or
beheld.” The don describes a
scene in which an old man
approaches him, embraces
him, and says to him:

“For a long time now,

O valiant knight Don Figure 9.4. Don Quixote, 1955, by Pablo Picasso.
Quixote of La Mancha, © 2006 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society
we who are here (ARS), New York; Scala / Art Resource NY.
enchanted in these
solitudes have been hoping to see thee, that thou mayest make
known to the world what is shut up and concealed in this deep
cave, called the cave of Montesinos, which thou hast entered,
an achievement reserved for thy invincible heart and stupen-
dous courage alone to attempt. Come with me, illustrious sir,
and I will show thee the marvels hidden within this transparent
castle, whereof I am the alcalde and perpetual warden; for I am
Montesinos himself, from whom the cave takes its name.”
(chapt. XXIII)

So real were Don Quixote’s experiences in the cave (and so strong are
Sancho’s doubts about their actuality) that Don Quixote goes on to query a
number of unlikely sources whether his experiences were truth or dream.
Spanish literature scholar Anthony J. Cascardi, of the University of California,

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 187

 Figure 9.5. Still from Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, a film by Zacharias Kunuk, Igloolik Isuma
Productions, in co-production with National Film Board of Canada. Atanarjuat, which takes place in
the Arctic at the beginning of the first millennium, tells the story of an Inuit legend kept alive through
oral history. Atanarjuat is played by Natar Ungalaaq. The screenplay was written in Inuktitut and cast
with Inuit professional actors and first-time performers.

Berkeley, explained that Cervantes’s purpose was “to affirm the role of fiction
in our relationship to the world (which, it might further be said, is an affirma-
tion of the role of fiction in the task of philosophy).” Cascardi noted
“Cervantes’ will to include the imagination and dreams within the range of
valid human experience — within what we call the ‘world’ in the broad sense
— free of the caveats of reason.” Therein lies “a basis on which a discovery of
the world, as such, may begin” (npn). These are similar lessons to those
posed to you at the beginning of this book in the parable of the scientist, the
theologian, and the shaman. The point is that both science and fiction, rational
and intuitive, have value in helping us understand how and why we live.

What Science Has To Say

Fortunately, for those more scientifically than intuitively inclined, contemporary
science has come to value dreams as a rich source of understanding human
cognitive processing. Recent studies support the idea of a critical affective con-
nection between the preconscious and conscious mind. That connection guides
the development of our perceptions of reality and thus our conscious behavior.
Jaynes suggested the significance of this connection in early cultures with his
description of the admonitory qualities of the visions and nonconscious voices
of the bicameral mind. Bogen’s and Sperry’s description of the processes of the

188 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 9
right hemisphere as visual, global, synthesistic, and symbolic parallels Freud’s
and Jung’s theories that describe dreams as visual, global, and symbolic. More
recently, Bechara, Damasio, Tranel, and Damasio(1997) demonstrated the sig-
nificance of the influence of unconscious biases from the unconscious memory
of our prefrontal lobes as they guide our rational decision-making processes.
This work, together with the significance of dreams and visions as guides for
individuals and groups of people throughout history, suggests that the activi-
ties of the nonconscious mind are critical to the quality of our lives. In Part III
of this book, we explore how contemporary images employed by media —
from magazines to the Internet — use dreamlike qualities and processes to
affect the preconscious mind to influence our lives. But for now we explore
dreams and meditation as primary processes that help one approach and
understand the nonconscious mind as guide.

Historical Foundations of Dreams

As early as 1900, psychiatrist Sigmund Freud proposed the then revolutionary
concept that dreams are the “royal road” to the unconscious mind and that
they reveal, in disguised symbolic form, the deepest elements of an individ-
ual’s life. Freud’s younger associate and later critic, Carl Jung, suggested that
all consciousness evolves from the unconscious mind and that the process of
individuation, or self-awareness, integrates the unconscious and conscious
facets of the mind. He believed that one of the primary problems modern cul-
tures face is the splitting of consciousness from its roots in the unconscious
and the subsequent focus on material rewards as substitutes for self-aware-
ness and inner guidance. Jung believed that, although the unconscious breaks
into consciousness in obvious ways from time to time, one would have to seek
motivations in the unconscious to better understand how they work. He theo-

Figures 9.6-7. Left: North and Central American Indian archetypal art. Right: Milagros, silver icons
used to represent objects of prayer. Photographs by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 189

 Figures 9.8-10. Top left: Mesoamerican snake god sculpture.
Top middle: Hopi pot with bear icons. Right: Navajo wedding basket
with star pointing east. Photographs by Rick Williams.

rized that the unconscious mind communicates through visual symbols that
represent various aspects of the self, and that accessing and understanding
these symbols would lead to a deeper understanding of one’s psyche and
behavioral motivations. According to Jung, dreams and images from medita-
tion are the two primary ways of accessing the unconscious mind. Thus, he
developed a process for better understanding the symbolic meaning of one’s
dream imagery.

One of Jung’s most useful contributions was the concept of archetypes, which
he defined as instinctive patterns or imprints to which all humans unconscious-
ly relate. Jung believed that archetypes play major roles in our dreams and are
expressed in our myths, art, and stories.

Among Jung’s archetypes (adapted from Boeree, 1997) are:

• The Mother — nurturing, life-giving entity characterized by

Eve, Mary, earth mother, the sea.
• Mana — spiritual power characterized by phallic symbols.
• The Shadow — the dark side of humans, characterized by the
snake, dragons, monsters, and demons.
• The Persona — the mask one puts on for the outside world.
• Anima — the female aspects of men, characterized by a spon-
taneous, intuitive young girl, or as a witch or the earth mother;
the life force itself.
• Animus — the male aspects of women, characterized by a
wise, logical old man or sorcerer.
• Syzygy — the anima and animus together as a whole.
• Father — a guide or authority.
• Family — deep relationships.
• Child — rebirth, the future, characterized by Christ and the
child-god.

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 Chapter 9
• Hero — fights the shadow, demons, monsters; represents the ego.
• Maiden — purity and innocence; naiveté who may discover
her power and become the anima.
• Wise Old Man — form of animus that guides the hero to the
unconscious.
• Animal — human’s relationship with creatures.
• Trickster — troublemakers who impede the hero’s progress.
• Hermaphrodite — union of opposites, characterized by Jesus
as a feminine man and Kuan Yin as a male saint known for
feminine compassion.
• Self — ultimate unity of personality, characterized by the per-
fection of Jesus and the Buddha; represented by the circle,
cross, and mandala — a geometric figure often expressed as
circles within squares within circles within squares.

Though areas of both Freud’s and Jung’s work have been criticized by cultural
theorists and scientists alike, their discoveries and theories provide the founda-
tion for several mainstream strains of contemporary psychology. Psychologist
and Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés adapted Jung’s theory of arche-
types and personality in her classic book of myths and stories, Women Who
Run With the Wolves. Estés explored the archetype of the Wild Woman
through the relationship she sees between women and wolves:

Wildlife and the Wild Woman are both endan-

gered species.
Over time, we have seen the feminine instinctive
nature looted, driven back, and overbuilt. For long
periods it has been mismanaged like the wildlife and
the wildlands. For several thousand years, as soon
and as often as we turn our backs, it is relegated to
the poorest land in the psyche. The spirit lands of
Wild Woman have, throughout history, been plun-
dered or burnt, dens bulldozed, and natural cycles
forced into unnatural rhythms to please others.
It’s not by accident that the pristine wilderness
of our planet disappears as the understanding of
our own inner wild natures fades. It is not so diffi-
cult to comprehend why old forests and old women
are viewed as not very important resources. It is
not such a mystery. It is not so coincidental that
wolves and coyotes, bears and wildish women
have similar reputations. They all share related
instinctual archetypes, and as such, both are erro-
neously reputed to be ingracious, wholly and Figure 9.11. Zaragoza Woman,
innately dangerous, and ravenous. (p. 3) by Julianne Newton.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 191

 Figure 9.12. Ascent, by Germán Herrera.

She went on, of course, to write about woman’s deepest nature as sharing psy-
chic characteristics with wolves: keen sensing, playful spirit, devotion, rela-
tional nature, great endurance and strength, deeply intuitive, highly adaptable,
fiercely stalwart, and courageous.

The Wild Woman archetype is important to our discussion of dreams because

it illustrates how patterns and instincts related to the natural world can help us
understand our tendency to draw on myths, folktales, and stories for wisdom.
It also illustrates how understanding an archetype can help a person under-
stand how a seemingly nonsensical dream, full of creatures and strange-but
somewhat-familiar beings, can apply to our everyday lives.

Psychologist Frank Coolidge explained:

As the study of great apes aids in the understanding of early

hominid evolution, so too can contemporary dream research

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 Chapter 9
help in the understanding of ancient hominid dream life and
cognitive evolution. It has been proffered that a major leap for-
ward in the cognitive evolution of hominids may first have
occurred in the building of nests, and a second major step may
have been the full transition to ground sleep. These two
changes may have begun a modification of the quality and
quantity of hominid sleep, which in turn may have enhanced
waking survival skills through priming, aiding the consolidation
of procedural memories, and promoted creativity and innova-
tion. Current dream research with children, adults, and animals,
and the dreams of modern hunter-gatherers, appear to support
the hypothesis that these changes in sleep may have been criti-
cal to the cognitive evolution of hominids from Homo habilis to
Homo erectus. (para. 1)

Coolidge, who specializes in personality change, brain–behavior relationships,

sleep and dreaming, posed a fascinating theory about the concurrent develop-
ment of changes in human sleep habits, survival, and dreaming.

Contemporary Research about Dreams

Contemporary work on dreams by neuroscientist Jonathan Winson and others
offers support for Coolidge’s theory, at least in regard to a connection between
dreaming and surviving. Winson’s work also supports much of what Freud and
Jung proposed about the unconscious mind. We too have found that the core
psychological assumption that learning more about the self and intrapersonal
motivations through dreams and meditation supports positive self-evolution.
Our students report, for example, that the dream interpretation exercise that
follows this chapter provides insight to better understand themselves and the
motivations behind their behavior.

The work of neuroscientists, evolutionary scientists, and psychologists sug-

gests a correlation between Freud’s and Jung’s ideas about dreams and
LeDoux’s and Damasio’s work on unconscious memory. The omniphasic
emphasis in both yields insight into the effect of mediated images on percep-
tion, decision making, and behavior in the individual. By extension it can help
us understand the development of cultural norms as well.

Using electroencephalographic information from experiments on mice and rab-

bits, Winson developed a neurobiological map of dreaming. The map reveals
that dreaming uses the same mental processes used to develop waking strate-
gies of survival, learning, and long-term memory. Winson suggested that
“dreams may reflect a memory-processing mechanism inherited from lower
species in which information important for survival is reprocessed during REM
sleep. This information may constitute the core of the unconscious” (p. 60).

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 193

 Figure 9.13. Swans reflecting elephants, 1937, by Salvador Dali. © 2006 Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador
Dali Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY.

When integrated with LeDoux’s and Damasio’s work, Winson’s research sug-
gests that during waking activities and during REM dream sleep, life experi-
ences significant to survival are encoded neurologically in the hippocampus
and prefrontal cortex as unconscious memory. These nonconscious memories
are later activated as the basic cognitive substrate against which experiences
are compared and interpreted. Behavior is then motivated from nonconscious
cognitive levels. Winson’s work demonstrates that dreams are meaningful and
useful for survival strategies and memory. In short, dreams are windows into
the inner life of the individual, as both Freud and Jung suggested.

In subsequent chapters, we explore how media images parallel dreams in

the ways they encode nonconscious memory and guide behavior. We also
show how to decode and better understand the effect of those media
images on your life by using techniques similar to the dream interpretation
process that you will learn in Creative 9. But first, let’s look at how your
own dreams work to help you understand the world, both outside of you
and within your own nonconscious mind.

194 Williams and Newton

Figure 9.14. Boys sleeping, from “Street Boys of Haiti,” by Maggie Steber.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 195

 Figure C9.1. Unravel, by Germán Herrerra.

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CREATIVE NINE
Dream Visions: Insight Out

The Goal: Understanding Mental Imagery

The following is an adaptation of a Jungian/Johnson dream analysis technique
that can be used to explore the interior/personal meaning of one’s dreams.
Robert Johnson, a renowned Jungian psychologist who has practiced, written
about, and taught meditation and dream interpretation techniques at retreats
and workshops throughout the world, kindled one of your authors’ interest and
taught him to adapt a Jungian word-association process to interpret dreams.
This process is based on that technique. Only you can decide what your own
dreams mean, but this procedure can help you access that meaning.

According to Jungian dream analysis, dreams are not literal and should be
seen only as symbolic of the interactions of one’s own inner dynamics. There
are seven basic steps. Although the process is somewhat time consuming,
familiarity will increase speed and understanding. An example follows the
instructions.

How to Begin
l. Spend as long as it takes writing down a recent or remembered dream in as
much detail as you can. It is helpful to write the dream immediately upon wak-
ing or, if you remember an important dream or a recurring dream from another
time, write it down and work on it now. If you don’t remember the entire
dream, simply start writing what you remember. Often, the remainder will
come to you as you write.

2. Review the dream you have written and list all of its significant parts —
characters, places, things, colors/tone, feelings, and so forth — in a column on
the left side of your page. We will call these primary words. Leave enough
space between each primary word on this list to write new words above and
below the original words.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 197

 3. Look at each of the primary words you have written, one at a time. Start
with the first word and, in a circle around that word, write other words (associ-
ations that come into your mind as you think about the first word). Write
down whatever comes to mind. Finish all of the associations for the primary
word before you move on.

4. When you have completed the list of word associations, go back to the first
primary word and mull its associative words over in your mind. Try to intuit
which is the most significant word on the list and draw a circle around it. Look
at the associative words and say them to yourself until one seems most signifi-
cant.

There are no right or wrong answers so don’t let your rational mind overdo
this. One associative word will seem right. Circle it. Do this for each main word
of the dream you have listed.

5. Make a second list of the circled associative words, perhaps to the right of
the primary word list. Then, look at each of these words, one at a time, and
consider what part of your inner self that word represents. Create a third list of
the inner self words adjacent and parallel to the associative word list. Again,
there are no right or wrong answers. It may be helpful to say to yourself, “This
word represents my ____________ self.”

For instance, in the example that follows, the word home is the first significant
associative word. To Rick, home is a safe place. So he might say, “Home repre-
sents my safe self” and then write that down as the first meaning on the inner
self list.

6. Now, use the self words to help you write a story that interprets your dream.
This will show you how it applies to you and offers insight about your life and
behavior. Use as many of the words as possible. You do not have to use the
word self with each term unless it is helpful to you.

Example of Dream Interpretation:

Cave Dream by Rick Williams
1. Write the dream
I am in a forest and pick up a mossy rock from the side of a hill. Behind the
rock is a hole. As I look into the hole it enlarges and reveals a path. I walk
down the path and light follows me and I can see. At first I think it is sunlight,
but deep within the cave I can still see dark, shrouded figures scurrying away
from the light toward dark shadows near the back of the cave. It is at this
moment that I realize that the source of the light is I and that everything that is
illuminated by the light is within me.

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 Creative 9
2. Make list of significant parts of dream.
(Note that in some cases two or more words are used to describe a concept.)

Forest
Mossy Rock
Behind Rock
Hole
Hole enlarges
Reveals path
I walk down path
Sunlight
Deep in Cave
Shrouded Figures
Seek Shadows
Back of Cave
Source as I
All Within Me

3. Do word associations
earth nurture life nourish
Forest home Sunlight
hide safe see outside

ancient cover inner soul

Mossy Rock Deep in Cave
hard primal hidden unknown

under inner dark fear inner

Behind Rock Shrouded figures
beneath hidden inside hidden

entrance inner hide run away

Hole space Seek shadows
soul lost not seen anger

make room see inside end convergence

Look, Hole enlarges Back of Cave
welcome beckon all

movement change outside knowledge

Reveals path Light source is I
life reveal unknown knowing

courage seek unknown together one

I walk down path All within me
go inside inner integrate

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 199

 4. Select most significant associative words by underlining or drawing a circle around
them.
earth nurture life nourish
Forest home Sunlight
hide safe see outside

ancient cover inner soul

Mossy Rock Deep in Cave
hard primal hidden unknown

under inner dark fear inner

Behind Rock Shrouded figures
Beneath hidden inside hidden

entrance inner hide run away

Hole space Seek shadows
soul lost not seen anger

make room see inside end convergence

Look, Hole enlarges Back of Cave
welcome beckon all

movement change outside knowledge

Reveals path Light source is I
life reveal unknown knowing

courage seek unknown together one

I walk down path All within me
go inside inner integrate

5. Make a list of the significant associative words and then create a parallel list that
assigns some inner part of your self with each association.
Significant
A s s o c i a t i v e Wo r d s Inner Self
Home Safe self
Primal Core self
Hidden Fearing self
Inner Spirit/soul
Beckon Inner voice
Change Courageous self
Seek unknown Growing self
Life Powerful self
Hidden Shame self
Fear Broken self
Anger Destructive self
Convergence Integrative self
Knowing Eternal self
Together Unified self

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 Creative 9
6. Look over the list of symbols of your inner self and write down a story or
interpretation.
Inner Self
Safe self
Core self
Fearing self
Spirit/soul
Inner voice
Courageous self
Growing self
Powerful self
Shame self
Broken self
Destructive self
Integrative self
Eternal self
Unified self

As my core self draws on my inner voice and begins to feel

safer, I find the courage to move beyond my fearing self. This is
a powerful movement of the part of me that seeks growth
toward my shamed, broken self that is destructive. It is the inte-
gration of the two, and the acceptance of the powerful and the
broken together, that reveals the unified, essential self.

7. Evaluation/Assessment
This dream is consistent with the meditations and inner work
that I have been doing in my life recently. But the new revela-
tion in this dream is the suggestion that the constructive and
destructive forces within me do not have to be against one
another, but can work together. In other words, acceptance of
the negative as a real part of myself, rather than trying to deny
its existence, will help heal the wounds that created the
destructive forces and thus to transform the destructive into
constructive power.

Summary
! Read the instructions carefully and review the dream interpretation
example.
! Spend time relaxing before you start, and then use the process to inter-
pret your own dream.
! Write down your dream interpretation.
! Reflect on and assess your overall experience.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 201

 Figure 10.1. Hand on the Saddle, by Rick Williams. Gary Hebel mounts his horse
for an early-morning roundup on the Green Ranch in West Texas.
Note the soft light and shallow depth of field.

202 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER TEN
Sharing the Vision:
Photography as a Medium of Balance

The mind knows more than the eye and camera can see.
Jerry Uelsmann

I
n many ways, the photographic images we see in media are very much like
our dreams. They often represent small segments of life; they are often fan-
ciful and magical; they contain hidden, symbolic meaning; and they reflect
their creator’s idea of an ideal life. Thus, they shape our own perceptions of
what reality is and how we should respond to it. Though they enter our brains
through our eyes, they become memory through many of the same cognitive
processes as dreams. They may then become part of dreams and daily life.

Painted by light itself, photographic images are material representations of

what a person sees when looking at the world through a viewfinder and cam-
era lens. Furthermore, photographic images look like the world we see — so
real that people still tend to believe what they see in photographs. However, in
much the same way that words can communicate facts and fiction, and logical
and intuitive meanings, it is the nature of photographs to produce images that
can both stand for the real world and express opinion.

The world’s first known photograph (Figure 10.2), taken by French nobleman
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826, reflects the nature of photography as simulta-
neously objective and subjective. This first image accurately recorded the loca-
tion and form of buildings on Niépce’s estate as he saw them from the upper
window of his home. Yet, even if we define an authentic photograph as one that
reports what was before the lens during the exposure time, then what this image
recorded is complicated. Exposure time lasted at least 8 hours. This means that
only those things that stayed still for most of that time were recorded on the
image, because light rays bouncing off them had time to change the chemical
composition of the coating on the pewter plate. Birds, passing clouds and peo-
ple, and small trees blurred by the wind would not have been recorded because
they moved too fast to affect the light-sensitive process. As the sun traversed the

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 203

 Figures 10.2–5. View from the Window at Le Gras by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, heliograph, 1826.
Top: Figure 10.2. Version most frequently reproduced. Helmut Gernsheim touched up
an unsatisfactory Kodak copy (middle version above) with watercolor to look the way
he thought Niépce envisioned the image. Above from left: Figure 10.3. The framed image
as Gernsheim found it in 1952. Figure 10.4. Enhanced 1952 copy (which Gernsheim considered
a distortion) made by Eastman Kodak’s Research Laboratory in England.
Figure 10.5. 2002 copy by the Getty Conservation Institute in California. Gernsheim Collection,
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin.

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 Chapter 10
sky during the long exposure, highlights falling on both sides of the towers were
recorded — a visual effect not seen in real life. There is more to learn about
viewing this historic image, however. Collector/historian Helmut Gernsheim
first saw the pale, barely discernable heliograph in an elaborate frame (Figure
10.3). Eastman Kodak technicians produced an enhanced copy (Figure 10.4) of
the original heliograph. Gernsheim, however, was dissatisfied with the copy
print and touched it up with watercolors, producing the version that is most
frequently published (Figure 10.2). The Getty Conservation Institute recently
made another copy (Figure 10.5) of the heliograph that looks more like
Niepce’s original plate, which must be viewed at an angle to see the faint image.

Perhaps a more obvious illustration of the representational challenges to pho-

tographic reality is an image of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris (Figure 10.6)
taken 12 years later by another Frenchman, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre,
from a window. By 1838, exposure times had been reduced to between 5 and

Figure 10.6. View of the Boulevard du Temple, Paris, by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, 1838. Courtesy
of the Bayerisches National Museum München, Germany.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 205

 Figure 10.7. Two Ways of Life, by Oscar Reijlander, 1857. Composite photograph
by Swedish photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander (1817-1875) who worked in London.
Rejlander created this tableau representing Good (right) and Evil (left) by making
a combination albumen print from 30 separative negatives. Rejlander himself
is the central figure. National Museum of Photography, Film & Television/
Royal Photographic Society/Science & Society Picture Library.

60 minutes, depending on the light and tones of the subject. Daguerre’s image
portrays an accurate and sharp representation of the street, buildings, and
trees. Yet, only one human figure, a man who stood still as his boots were pol-
ished, was recorded in the image. All other activity was too fast to be recorded,
as if the image had been made when nothing but stationary objects and the
lone man were present. People passing, stopping, talking; wagons and horses
moving through; birds flying or landing on roofs; movements of the person
who was shining the visible man’s shoes — none of these is captured in the
photograph because of technical limitations.

Another early technique that illustrates an even greater disparity between

the material world we can see directly with our eyes and representations of
that world was composite photography, or combination printing. In this
genre, created about 150 years ago, each image became part of an enacted
narrative. The photographer made separate pictures of different models, in
different areas of a planned setting, at different times. The separate images

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 Chapter 10
were then either pasted into a collage, which the artist rephotographed to
make a new negative, or printed skillfully onto one sheet of paper in the
darkroom. Oscar Gustave Rejlander’s “Two Ways of Life” (Figure 10.7), an
1857 visual allegory about the choice between good and evil, comprises 30
negatives and poses by 16 models.

Contemporary photographic artist Jerry Uelsmann (see Figures P.1 and 16.1)
developed precise techniques for advancing the 19th-century combination-
printing method into 20th-century masterpieces. Uelsmann works with as
many as 10 negatives in a darkroom with multiple enlargers, moving the same
piece of light-sensitive paper to each enlarger to record a negative in a specific
location on the paper. The result is a provocatively surreal photograph that
challenges the viewer’s perceptions because visual elements in the image do
not seem manipulated:

The visually plausible but philosophically impossible situations

presented in Jerry Uelsmann’s photographs contradict the
essential information we have come to expect from photo-
graphs. By subverting the currency of literal fact, Uelsmann
releases us from the constraints of photography’s mimetic func-
tion. No longer burdened by representation, we naturally return
to our internal, nonlinear faculties of thought and feeling to
savor the inexpressible resonance of his enigmatic visions.
Vague, despite their sharpness and fine detail, and ambiguous
despite our recognition of their constituent elements, his photo-
graphic montages are like dreams that slip past our perceptual
defenses triggering a response but never quite revealing their
meaning. (Karabinis, npn)

Although advances in digital imaging could make Uelsmann’s painstaking work

easier, Uelsmann still prefers to use his darkroom method because he enjoys
“an element of alchemy . . . like some communion ritual. It's still magical to
me,” Uelsmann said (Karabinis, npn).

Digital artist Maggie Taylor (see Figures 4.1 and 8.1) uses Adobe
PhotoShop to combine photographs into fanciful images. Digital pioneer
Dan Burkholder also has advanced a technique for digitally combining ele-
ments from separate images and then producing a single high-quality neg-
ative of the new image. New digital cameras now produce images of such
high quality that photographic artists, as well as photojournalists, find
using film to be a matter of choice (and a less-frequent choice at that)
rather than necessity. The nonphysical nature of digital imaging frees pho-
tographic artists from the constraints of film technology, making possible
fantasy compositions of infinite variety. As Uelsmann once said, “The
mind knows more than the eye and camera can see.”

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 207

 Right: Figure 10.8.
Tía María 1,
by Julianne Newton.
The photographer observed
this scene repeatedly before taking
the image without Tía María’s
knowledge. When Tía María saw
the photo, she expressed concern
that she wore houseshoes and was
sitting by a trash can.
Is this a Visual Document
or a Visual Theft ?
Far right: Figure 10.9.
Tía María 2, a view made
with Tía María’s conscious
participation. Note how
the photographer’s point of view
changed to equal Tía María’s,
indicating a balance of power
between photographer
and subject. Is the second image
a Visual Embrace,
or Visual Theater?

Photographic Truth

The challenge to makers, users, and viewers of any image, whether a direct
recording of light rays from a nonmanipulated subject (as with the Niépce and
Daguerre images), or a composite of carefully constructed imagery (as with the
Rejlander, Uelsmann, and Taylor images) is to consider carefully the many fac-
tors affecting perception of truth and fiction. Photographs present both a repre-
sentational image of the subject, in that they look real, and a point of view,
established through the physical line of sight of the photographer and through
the photographer’s perception of a subject. This point of view is expressed first
by the subject the photographer chooses to represent (and whether that subject
be literal or symbolic) and then by the way the photographer represents that
subject through technique and style. This involves choices of lens; film or digital
mode; camera; angle of view; framing; use of stop action or blur; and use of
selective focus, light, timing, and the way a photographer and subject interact.

Point of view also affects the composition of the photograph. Composition

refers to how a photographer arranges, or composes, visual elements within
an image frame. A good composition stimulates eye movement that purposely

208 Williams and Newton

directs a viewer’s eye to one part of the image, and from one part of the image
to another. A professional photographer using a 35mm camera can intuitively
place the viewfinder of his camera around the visual elements in a scene for
the best composition. A professional studio photographer has time to compose
the elements before looking through the viewfinder. This composition under-
lies aesthetics of an image. (See chapter 11 for guidelines about composition
with different media within a frame.)

Many of the aesthetic choices a photographer makes are guided by noncon-

scious motivations. Further, the image goes through another level of control
after it is created: cropping, editing, placement with type or in a layout, literal
and symbolic framing, publication, exhibition, dissemination. Finally, once an
image is presented to a viewer, the image is interpreted from the viewer’s own
perspectives, using both rational and intuitive processes. This suggests that
photography is a medium in which the rational and intuitive processes are
equally significant to the production and interpretation of a compelling and
revealing image. Any image is both a representation of something ”out there“
in the real world and a revelation of the maker’s conscious and nonconscious
motivations, or that individual’s ”interior world.”

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 209

 Even the mechanics of photography embrace this rational/intuitive model. The
sophisticated technical and mechanical aspects, such as the direct relation-
ships between shutter speed and aperture that achieve a correct exposure of
an image, serve as creative controls the aesthetic qualities of the image. The
photographer must consider these interrelated factors to integrate the correct
technical exposure with the desired aesthetic qualities and content.

Consider the idea that people we see in still photographic frames often are
people who were in motion when the photographs were made. The moment at
which all of the technical and aesthetic decisions come together usually takes
less than one second. This means that the photographer had a very short time

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 Chapter 10

Left: Figure 10.10. Matt and the Governor, by Julianne Newton. In this photograph of 6-year-old Matt
Newton photographing then Texas Gov. Mark White, notice the extended depth of field created with a
small aperture, the expanded sense of space created with a 28mm lens, and the strong highlights and
shadows created by bright sun. In the photo above, Figure 10.11, taken seconds after the photo at left,
you see Matt’s response when Governor White pointed to him and asked, “Son, do you know how to work
that camera?” Texas Sequescentennial Celebration, Washington-on-the-Brazos, 1985.

to integrate all of the technical and aesthetic elements: choose the correct cam-
era, lens, film or ISO; set the appropriate shutter speed and aperture; point the
camera; frame the picture; and release the shutter.

The great documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado said that the 100 or
so images in one of his books together represent less than one second of real
time in the real world. This means that all of these technical and aesthetic deci-
sions must come together at the precise moment that the action reaches its
peak to create a great photograph. Photographic legend Henri Cartier-Bresson
called that very instant “the decisive moment.” When the action is moving
fast, this process occurs over and over very rapidly, although one moment or

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 211

 one photograph from a series usually is better than all the rest because of the
unique way in which the elements within the frame were captured. In a more
subtly moving scene, there may be only one moment that warrants taking.

Of course, some problems can be anticipated and some decisions made in

advance. Yet a photographer often has little control over changing light intensi-
ty and patterns, his or her distance from the subject, or the actions of the sub-
ject or other elements falling within the camera’s viewfinder. For fast action to
be translated into compelling images, the photographer must transcend the
rational thought processes about the mechanics of technique and allow the
intuitive, aesthetic processes to take over. This does not mean that technique is
ignored, rather that it has been incorporated into a holistic, creative process in
which the intuitive mind is the dominant guide. Just as you don’t think about
telling your legs to move when you ride a bicycle or your arm to swing the
racket to hit a tennis ball, a good photographer develops reflex responses to
what is seen. The more practiced the athlete, the better the performance. The
same is true of photographers. At the same time, some people could practice
forever and never perform an athletic feat on a professional level. Once again,
the same is true of photographers. The degree of talent each person possesses
affects the degree to which each can integrate intuitive and rational processes
into a masterful act. Part of the process of learning about your own multiple
intelligences is to discover how, and in what areas, you can best use the
processes of integrative mind in your own life.

This rational and intuitive character of photography makes it a medium similar

to visualization, meditation, drawing, dream interpretation, and creative writ-
ing. It can be used by anyone to learn to recognize and integrate both rational
and intuitive processes. It does not mean, however, that everyone can excel at
the same level. This integrative character of photography also means that pho-
tographs and other visual images are powerful because they communicate to
us instantaneously and holistically on both nonconscious and conscious levels.
Viewing and understanding images helps generate a sense of cognitive bal-
ance often lacking in the onslaught of rationally biased thought and activities
that dominate our daily lives.

Technique in Photography
Understanding techniques used to create photographs is basic to making
and understanding images in general. Though many media messages on tel-
evision and the Internet, in films and print media, integrate movement and
sound or words with visual images, the basic principles of photography and
visual design apply across the various formats. Thus, basic understanding of
photography and design prepares you to better understand the persuasive
and manipulative techniques of media messages, and it helps you turn the
meaning and affect of those messages to your own best advantage.

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 Chapter 10

Figure 10.12. Gary Hebel in the Bunk House, by Rick Williams. Note the natural light from the right
highlighting one side of Gary’s face and the window light from the left creating a rimlight on the other
side of his face.

Our technical exploration begins with a discussion of cameras and light. Then
we examine basic techniques of photography that interact to control an image
technically while also producing an aesthetically compelling image. We begin
each section with a discussion of film cameras because learning in analog pro-
motes visualization and because many students in art and related fields want
to learn techniques of film photography. Photojournalists and other artists pre-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 213

 fer digital photography because it is less expensive than film and because of
its flexibility; speed of use; and, increasingly, its unique aesthetic characteris-
tics. For these reasons we cover both film and digital photography as we go.

The Still Camera

A still camera is a light-tight box with a mechanism on one side for holding a
light-sensitive substance and a light- gathering opening on the opposite side.
The simplest camera, a pinhole camera, can be made by simply putting a piece
of film or photographic paper in a light-tight container, such as an oatmeal
box, and creating a tiny pin hole in the opposite end to act as lens and shutter.
Of course you have to load this camera in the dark and cover the pinhole with
black tape until you have the camera in position for the exposure.

In a manufactured camera, a glass or plastic lens focuses and controls how

much light passes through its opening, called the aperture, to strike the film or
digital sensor. A high-quality lens uses carefully designed and arranged con-
cave and convex glass pieces to focus light rays gathered through an
adjustable aperture onto the light-sensitive material in the camera. In front of
the film or sensor is a curtain, called the shutter, that shields it from light until
the curtain is opened. The shutter can be adjusted to open and close at differ-
ent speeds to let in varying amounts of light from the lens. The amount of light
that the aperture and shutter speed allow in is called exposure. Exposure is a
combination of a specific shutter speed and aperture that is adjusted according
to the intensity of the light available and the sensitivity of the film or sensor.
We measure light intensity with a light meter, which can be part of the camera
or separate and held by hand.

Film, Film Speed and Digital Ratings

Film is made of a clear, acetate base coated evenly on one side with an emul-
sion containing grains of light-sensitive silver halide. Light allowed through the
lens turns the exposed silver black in proportion to the amount of light striking
them. The brighter the light reflected from an area of the subject, the darker
the film will be in that area. That’s why the film is called a negative after it is
processed; light and dark tones have been reversed. In a black-and-white nega-
tive, a white shirt appears very dark, whereas a black hat leaves the film almost
clear. In color negatives, green grass looks magenta, blue sky looks yellow, and
a red apple looks cyan. Chemical development of the film completes this
process, converting exposed parts of the film and removing the silver that was
not exposed. The unexposed parts of the film are left clear or nearly clear in
negatives.

The speed of film is a numerical designation for the sensitivity of the film to
light. Film speed is determined by the size, and thus the number of the silver
crystals embedded in the emulsion. The larger the silver crystals, the more

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 Chapter 10

Table 14.
The Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE) System
All exposures are determined in relation to the Basic Daylight Exposure, which remains con-
stant. The formula for computing BDE is based on the correct f/stop for making good expo-
sures in bright, direct sun: f/16 for f/stop and 1/ISO setting for shutter speed (f/16@1/ISO).

Example: ISO 100 ISO 400

Shutter Speed 1/125 sec. Shutter Speed 1/500 sec.
f/stop f/16 f/stop f/16

Changing the shutter speed or f/stop to make equivalent combinations will give you the
same exposure results.

Example: ISO Shutter Speed f/stop ISO Shutter Speed f/stop

100 1/125 f/16 100 1/1,000 f/5.6
100 1/250 f/11 100 1/2,000 f/4
100 1/500 f/8 100 1/4,000 f/2.8

Sunlight - Normal Subject in Sunlight Use Basic Daylight Exposure

Sunlight - Dramatic Effect or Silhouette
Effect shooting directly into the sun Use 2 stops less than BDE
Sunlight - Bright Snow or Sand Use 1 stop less than BDE
Sunlight - Backlit Subject, exposing
for shadow area, portrait, etc. Use 2 stops more than BDE
Overcast - Weak, Hazy (very soft shadows) Use 1 stop more than BDE
Overcast - Normal, Cloudy Bright Use 2 stops more than BDE
Overcast - Heavy or Open Shade Use 3 stops from than BDE
Neon Signs, other light signs Use 5 stops more than BDE
Stage Shows, with Bright Light Use 5 stops more than BDE
Stage Shows, with Average Light Use 7 stops more than BDE
Flood Lighted Acts (Ice Shows) Use 6 stops more than BDE
Flood Lighted Acts (Circus, etc.) Use 7 stops more than BDE
Brightly Lighted Theater Districts Use 6 stops more than BDE
Store Windows at Night Use 6 stops more than BDE
Fireworks - Displays on the ground Use 6 stops more than BDE
Night Football, Baseball, Races, Track
Meets, Boxing, Wrestling, etc. Use 6 stops more than BDE
Office with Fluorescents Use 6 stops more than BDE
Brightly Lighted Night Street Scenes Use 7 stops more than BDE
Basketball, Hockey, Bowling, etc. Use 7 stops more than BDE
Fairs, Amusement Parks Use 8 stops more than BDE
Swimming Pool -
Indoors, Tungsten Lights above Water Use 8 stops more than BDE
Home Interiors at Night -
Areas with Bright Light Use 8 stops more than BDE
Home Interiors at Night -
Areas with Average Light Use 9-1/2 stops more than BDE
School - Stage and Auditorium Use 9 stops more than BDE
Churches - Tungsten Lights Use 9 stops more than BDE
Indoor, Outdoor Christmas Lighting at Night Use 10 stops more than BDE
Candlelight Close-ups Use 10-1/2 stops more than BDE
Floodlighted Buildings, Monuments, etc. Use 11 stops more than BDE
Distant View of City Skyline at Night Use 13 stops more than BDE

Adapted from table by J. B. Colson, University of Texas, Austin; and Frank Armstrong,
Clark University, Worcester, MA; for UT Austin Photojournalism Program.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 215

 sensitive the film. Film speed is expressed in numbers and has been set in the
United States by the American Standards Association and thus was called the
ASA of the film. ISO, which refers to the International Standards Organization
is now the most common designation. A few standard filmspeeds are ISO 100,
200, and 400. The higher the number of the ISO, the more sensitive, or fast, the
film’s response to light. For instance, ISO 200 film is twice as sensitive to light,
or twice as fast, as an ISO 100 film. The faster a film is, the easier it is to shoot
in dim light. However, this faster speed also results in larger grain structure
and a less smooth transition between tones in the negative. A slower-speed
film, such as ISO 100, needs more exposure time but results in a finer grain
structure and a smoother tonal range.

Film-speed terminology has carried over into the digital era; most digital cam-
eras indicate light sensitivity in terms of ISOs. Similar effects occur with digital
speeds: the higher the ISO the less light needed for exposure. The trade off is
lower-quality digital files. ISO speed and its inherent grain/pixel structure and
tonal range are part of the technical and aesthetic considerations of choosing a
film or digital speed. These factors affect whether you can capture movement
in blurred or frozen form and whether a photograph will look grainy/pixelated
or smooth and sharp.

Manufacturers make film in different sizes to fit different-sized cameras. For

example, the most commonly used camera size, a 35 mm camera, requires roll
film that produces 24 or 36 frames measuring 24 mm x 36 mm. A specialized
camera such as a Hasselblad is known as a medium-format camera because it
uses 2-1/4" roll film. Film comes in sheets as large as 8 x 10" or even larger for
use in large-format cameras.

Understanding different film sizes is important, because film size can affect the
ultimate quality of a photographic print. If you start with a small negative, the
result of using 35 mm film, small prints (3 x 5" or 5 x 7") may look fine, but
quality decreases when you make larger 8 x 10" or 11 x 14" prints from the
same negative. If you want to make even larger prints, such as 16 x 20", or you
want superior image quality, you may want to use a medium- or large-format
camera and hence, larger-sized film. In many cases, advertising photographers
typically use medium- or large-format cameras and film because their clients
desire the quality and versatility a larger negative can offer them. The trade-off
is lack of spontaneity. People often need to be posed in certain positions in
advertising photography. Newspaper photographers, on the other hand, use
35 mm cameras because they must capture spontaneous activities. Their trade-
off is image quality. News photographs are less likely to be reproduced large
and are printed on low-quality newsprint that does not render fine detail.

Right: Figure 10.13. In the Doghouse, by Rick Williams.

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 As camera and film technologies advance, quality and function are improving
in all formats and media. This is particularly true of digital technologies, which
have replaced film cameras for popular and journalistic use. Digital cameras
use semiconductors to translate light rays into zeroes and ones (digital code)
for storage (memory) as picture elements, or tiny graphic points known as pix-
els. Generally, the larger the capacity of the semiconductor device, or chip, the
more the number of pixels stored and the higher the quality of the resulting
image. A consumer-priced camera, for example, might have a resolution of 3.3
megapixels (or 3.3 million pixels), which is generally considered the minimum
number needed to produce acceptable quality small prints. A professional-
grade camera, such as Canon’s EOS 1Ds Mark II, uses 16.7 megapixels, suffi-
cient to make large prints that some critics say are of better quality than prints
made from film negatives.

One major advantage of digital cameras is that changing speed rating in the
middle of a shoot does not require changing film. Instead of having to adjust
the camera controls — and one’s shooting — to match the sensitivity of the
film being used (or vice versa), a photographer can adjust the camera’s ISO for
individual frames. Digital capture also makes it possible for photographers to
shoot in less light and still obtain usable pictures. It also means a photogra-
pher can set the ISO to shoot in the low light of a bar, for example, and then
go outside, adjust the ISO for bright light, and capture an image on the same
recording device.

The disposable film cameras you buy for one-time use are already loaded with
relatively high-speed, color negative film. Typically, these cameras allow no
control other than how and when you frame the subject matter and whether
you add flash. Distance from the subject and careful framing are keys to suc-
cess with these cameras. Lens quality can improve somewhat in more expen-
sive versions of one-time-use cameras.

Single-use digital cameras, available since 2003, are increasing in quality. The
camera introduced in 2005 by Jonathan Kaplan, head of Pure Digital
Technologies, for example, includes an LCD viewing screen on the back and
and a button for deleting images before taking the camera to a store for down-
loading, printing, and storage on a CD. Other models will allow users to trans-
mit images directly from the camera to the store. The success of camera
phones has revolutionized everyday picture taking even more. The main tech-
nical issue with disposable digital cameras and camera phones has been
image resolution. Even as digital technology advances, concerns about image
permanence continue. In 2006, making a permanent, archival negative became
a selling feature.

Even though digital cameras use pixels instead of silver grains to record an
image, most of the basic components, functions, and principles of still photog-

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Figure 10.14. Chute Dance, by Rick Williams.

Notice how this photograph of a Texas cowboy, a figure who exemplifies both myth and reality,
captures the power of rugged energy and the grace of a dancer.

Note the stirred-up dust and peak moment caught by a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/125th
of a second, the slightly blurred extended boot indicating differential motion, the depth of field
caught by an aperture of f/11, the contrast of light and shadow making angular patterns on the
ground, and the intuitive framing of the decisive moment by an experienced photographer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 219

 Figure 10.15. Horse Race, by Julianne Newton. This motion of horse and rider were frozen
by panning the camera with a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/60 second. Notice the hard,
contrasty light, shallow depth of field and blurred background.

raphy camera use are the same for digital and film technologies. For instance,
even though pixels have no grain, as the photographer increases the sensitivi-
ty of the recording medium, the digital camera creates electronic noise rather
than grain, often seen as distorted color or contrast.

Most important, however, is that photography — which means writing with

light — is more about seeing and image making than it is about the image-
making device. Good equipment certainly makes a difference to a skilled pho-

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tographer — but the training and eye of the seer ultimately make the difference
between a snapshot and a great photograph.

Photography and Light

Light is the essence of photography — and of physical sight. The quality of
light expressed by contrast, direction, color, and brightness conveys its own
meaning as we gaze upon the real world and presents particular issues when
trying to represent that world in an image. We describe light both in terms of
contrast and direction.

Contrast

Hard or High-Contrast Light. Contrast means the difference in tone between

the highlight, or brighter areas, and the shadows, or darker areas. In high-
contrast light, such as direct sun, light generally falls directly on the subject
from the light source. Contrasty light is defined by clearly delineated bright
highlights and deep shadows that reveal strong textures in the subject. The
shadows are well defined, making a sharp definition of tones between
shadows and highlights. High contrast is typically used to convey a rugged,
outdoors feeling or for dramatic effect. The smaller the light source in rela-
tion to the subject, the higher the contrast. For instance, though the sun is
very large, it is so far from Earth that it provides a relatively small point-
source of light and a great deal of contrast. If a large cloud passes in front
of the sun, it scatters the light rays from the sun, effectively becoming a
much larger light source itself. Light from a large cloud in front of the sun
therefore produces less contrast than the direct sun. Furthermore, if the
entire sky is cloudy, then the expanse of the sky becomes a very large light
source and produces very low contrast, or flat, soft light that makes differ-
ences between light and dark tones or areas less obvious. These same prin-
ciples apply if you use a light in a room. A bare bulb produces a higher
contrast light than one with a shade to diffuse it. One common form of high
contrast light is light produced by a direct flash from a camera.

Soft or Low-Contrast Light. Scattered light is diffused light and is soft in

terms of contrast. As mentioned earlier, sunlight behind a bank of clouds is
a good example of soft light. Light also can be diffused by bouncing it off a
wall or light-toned umbrella, or shooting it through a soft-light box or a
cloth. Bouncing the light enlarges the size of the light source and decreases
contrast. With soft light, highlights tend to be less bright and harsh, and
shadows are open, or less deep, so that you can more easily distinguish
details in dark areas. The transition between highlight and shadow typically
flows from one tone to another without a strong line of differentiation
between them. Soft light is often used to give the subject a romantic or
sensual feel or to make portraits of people more flattering.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 221

 Direction

Side Light. Light coming from the side of the subject throws shadows on the
nonlit side of the subject. Photographers use side light to add a sense of depth,
to accentuate contrast and texture, and to increase drama in the scene. Bright,
high-contrast light from the side of the face leaves the darker side in deep
shadow, adding mystery. Soft, low-contrast light from the side leaves the shad-
ow open and draws the viewer into the image to explore both the light and
shadow detail.

Back Light. Light that originates from behind the subject generally appears like
a rim of light outlining the subject and throwing shadows on the front (camera
side) of the subject. This light usually is high contrast and dramatic and can
create a complete silhouette to accentuate the subject’s outline. A back light is
often used with a front or side light to add drama and to make the subject
stand out from the background. This is called rim lighting.

Front Light. Light from or close to the camera position tends to light the sub-
ject fairly evenly, showing details throughout the subject area. However, front
light tends to diminish the sense of depth, texture, and contrast, and it can
impart a sense of being invasive or revealing in an unflattering way.

Fill Light. A less-intense light from the front or side to provide some detail on
the front of the subject. The source can be natural, such as window light, or
added with a reflector or flash.

Color

Understanding how photography, film, and video production work with color
requires knowledge of light theory. Light is the visible part of the electromag-
netic spectrum, a range of radiation frequencies, wavelengths, and energies
including radio waves and gamma waves. The part of the spectrum that
humans can see ranges from shorter wavelengths of about 400 nanometers for
violet to longer wavelengths of about 700 nanometers for red (see Color Plate
27). In light theory, all the colors together make white. When you see an object
as white, you are seeing all colors reflected from that object. When the object
absorbs all colors of light, you see it as black.

Film and digital cameras are manufactured to respond to the additive colors of
light: red, green, and blue, known as RGB. If you are working with color-bal-
ancing filters, you are using principles related to the subtractive colors of light:
cyan, magenta, and yellow, CMY. Color filters allow their own wavelengths to
pass through and reflect other wavelengths. Note that additive and subtractive
colors are complementary: cyan is the complement of red, magenta the com-
plement of green, and yellow the complement of blue. In offset printing, black
(K) is added as a fourth ink, resulting in the CMYK designation.

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Figure 10.16. Pop and Matt, by Rick Williams. Note that the shot required a fast enough shutter speed to
freeze the action of Pop getting up from the table and a wide enough aperture to record the natural but
relatively low window light. The more distinct shadow of the plant leaves on the table top is caused by a
bright overhead light.

When working with color in photography, film, and video production, profes-
sionals also use another system of measurement. Color temperature, meas-
ured in degrees Kelvin, uses a scale developed by the mathematician and
physicist Lord William Thomson Kelvin, who is credited with discovering the
law of thermodynamics, the system is based on comparing the visible colors of
a blackbody radiator as it is heated. Counter intuitively and counter to the elec-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 223

 tromagnetic spectrum scale, when using the Kelvin system, reddish light has a
lower color temperature than bluish light, which has a high color temperature.

Color temperature becomes particularly important when working with light-

recording technologies. Film, for example, is manufactured to respond to dif-
ferent color temperatures. If you shoot regular, daylight-balanced film indoors
under a typical household tungsten light, it will record the light with a reddish
cast because tungsten light has a lower temperature (about 3,000 K) than aver-
age daylight (5,500 K). Different fluorescent bulbs, on the other hand, can emit
light ranging in color temperatures from less than 3,000 K up to 6,500 K. Before
the days of digital imaging, professionals working with color film often relied
on color-temperature meters for measuring the light so they could fine-tune
choices of film and color-balancing filters. Now, digital photographers can
adjust the color balance of their images by using their cameras’ white-balance
settings or even after shooting by using computer software such as Photoshop.
However, understanding the basics of color temperature and light theory can
greatly help a photographer get the color results he/she wants with minimal
post-shooting work.

Camera Controls
Shutter Speed Controls Light and Motion
In most single-lens-reflex (SLR) cameras, the shutter is a device directly in front
of the film or digital sensor. When you press the shutter release button, the
shutter opens and then closes for a specific amount of time to let the proper
amount of light reach the film. By opening and closing for specific lengths of
time, the shutter controls how long light can strike the film or light-recording
area. This exposure varies according to the sensitivity or ISO of the film or sen-
sor and the intensity of the light. Shutter speed also controls the creative effect
of freezing or blurring motion. Shutter speeds are measured in seconds and
parts of a second. A typical shutter-speed scale ranges from 1 or 2 seconds to
1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000, and
1/8000 of a second. A rapidly moving subject will appear to be blurred in a 1/2-
second exposure because the shutter is open long enough to record the move-
ment of the subject. If you choose a shutter speed of 1/4000 of a second, the
subject will appear frozen in action, because the shutter is open only long
enough to record a tiny slice of the subject’s motion. Think about it. One-half
second is a good bit longer than 1/4000 of a second, just as one half of a pie is
much larger than 1/4000 of a pie. Although shutter speeds were once problem-
atic with digital cameras, models now match the capability of film cameras.

F/Stop Controls Light and Depth of Field

Most lenses house an aperture that opens and closes to create a hole of a spe-
cific size for light to pass through. By providing different size openings, a lens

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Figure 10.17. Nava Christmas Eve, by Julianne Newton. A quiet moment between Doña Margarita and
her great-granddaughter at midnight on Christmas Eve took place in a dimly lit room. The image, shot with
Tri-X 400 ASA film, required a flash bounced from a ceiling/wall intersection: f/5.6 @ 1/60, 28 mm lens.

aperture controls the amount of light striking the film or sensor but in a man-
ner different than the shutter speed, which controls the time light can strike the
film or sensor. At the same time, the aperture controls the size of the light rays
that strike the film. When the aperture is larger, the entering light rays are larg-
er and overlap on the film or sensor. When the aperture is smaller, the entering
light rays are smaller and appear more distinctly on the film or sensor.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 225

 Apertures are called f/stops when they refer to the specific size of the lens
opening. The term f/stop refers to a ratio between the width of the lens open-
ing and the length of the lens (how far the light has to travel through the lens
before striking the film).

In addition to controlling light, the size of the aperture controls something

called depth of field. This refers to the area in your picture that looks sharp
from foreground to background. Areas of the picture outside the depth of field
will look blurry. When you focus on a certain spot, a specific distance in front
of it and behind it will look sharp. The area that looks sharp (depth of field) is
controlled by the size of the aperture. A typical aperture scale is designated in
f/stops as f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, and f/32. The numbers can be
confusing at first. An aperture of f/2, for example, refers to a larger lens open-
ing than an aperture of f/16. Just remember that the numbers refer to ratios:
the larger the opening (smaller f/stop numbers), the less the depth of field. The
smaller the opening (larger f/stop numbers), the larger the depth of field.

To master photographic exposure, the photographer must learn to control the

shutter and f/stop together to get the correct exposure, desired motion control,
and depth of field.

Working Shutter Speed and F/Stop Together

If both f/stop (for example, f/8) and shutter speed (for example, 1/125) control
light, and thus exposure, why bother with both? In addition to controlling
exposure, each also offers a different creative effect. As explained above, shut-
ter speed controls motion. Aperture controls depth of field. This interplay of
motion and depth of field are creative trade-offs that integrate the func-
tion of photography with the aesthetics of photography — the rational
and the intuitive. Skilled photographers consider these options each time
they take a picture.

For example, each time you increase the depth of field by using a smaller aper-
ture, you decrease the amount of light reaching the film and thus you must
increase the amount of time the light exposes the film by using a slower shut-
ter speed. This slower shutter speed diminishes your ability to freeze motion
and may cause blur. The faster the shutter speed you use to freeze motion, the
less depth of field you will have. Consequently, photographers not only must
constantly monitor how they use these controls to gain correct exposures but
also be aware of how those choices are affecting the final images in terms of
motion and depth of field.

As a creative tool, increased depth of field can be used to include foreground

and background sharply in focus and to place the subject in context by includ-
ing the surrounding area in sharp focus. Decreased, or shallow, depth of field

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can also be used creatively to
place foreground and back-
ground out of focus. This iso-
lates and emphasizes the pri-
mary subject by making only the
main subject look sharp while
other areas appear blurry.

Motion control can be used cre-

atively to freeze the action of a
baseball leaving a bat, a tennis
ball leaving a racket, or a gym-
nast flipping in midair. It can
also be used to blur a race car
while leaving the stands and
track in focus or to blur any
dancer in a ballet who is moving
when the shutter is released.
Look at the images in this chap-
ter to see how these controls
were used creatively.

Figure 10.18. Cowboy Art, by Julianne Newton. To These choices alter both the
make this image, the photographer used a 55mm appearance and the meaning of
macro, or closeup, lens. Note how the wide aperture photographs. They also illus-
resulted in shallow depth of field, with sharpness trate why it is important to prac-
extending from about two inches in front of the art to tice technique so that it
three inches behind the art. Photographing the tiny becomes natural and second
work of art in the palm of the artist’s hand gives view- nature. If you spend too much
ers a comparative sense of scale. time trying to figure out the
technical controls before you
take a specific picture, you may well lose the decisive moment and thus the
aesthetic power of the image. Like meditating, drawing, or dancing, once you
have learned the rational technique you can transcend or blend technique with
intuitive aesthetics. In the next section, we discuss some other creative deci-
sions that photographers make in this symphony of cognitive balance.

Lenses
The length of a lens — its focal length — is measured in millimeters (mm).
Length refers to the actual distance from the rear nodal point of the lens to the
focal plane of the camera when the lens is focused at infinity. If you are not
familiar with millimeters, a rough approximation is 25 millimeters to 1 inch.
Hence, a 50 mm lens has a focal length of about 2 inches. Compare that to a
200 mm lens, which would have a focal length of about 8 inches, and you will

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 227

 understand why a 200 mm lens is called a long lens. A 50 mm lens is consid-
ered a normal lens for a 35 mm camera because it provides an angle of view
between the left and right edges of the frame that is approximately the same
as your eyes see, without including your peripheral, or side, vision.

Digital cameras often use sensors that are actually smaller than the film size of
a 35 mm camera. This causes the focal length of their lenses to operate as
longer lenses than they would on a film camera — generally by about 1.5
times. This means that a 35 mm lens would be the normal, or 50 mm-equiva-
lent lens on a digital camera, but this is generally not true on high-end profes-
sional digital cameras. It is important to know this before you buy lenses for
your digital camera. Lenses are generally divided into wide angle or telephoto
lenses on each side of normal or medium focal lengths.

A wide-angle lens is shorter in focal length than a normal lens. Typical wide-
angle lenses for a 35 mm camera include 35 mm, 28 mm, 24 mm, and 20 mm.
The lower the number, the wider the angle of view. A wide-angle lens has an
angle of view that is significantly greater than your eye and tends to include a
lot of the foreground and background around the subject. Wide-angle lenses
have the effect of making viewers feel present with the subject, as if they could
step into the scene. Photographers like to use wide-angle lenses in small
spaces because the lenses can take in a great deal of area, even at close prox-
imity. You might also use a wide-angle lens to capture an expanse of land and
sky or to exaggerate or distort a close-up subject.

A long, or telephoto, lens is longer in focal length than a normal lens and has a
narrower angle of view. The higher the number, the narrower the angle of
view. Typical telephoto lenses for a 35 mm camera include 85 mm, 100 mm,
150 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm, 400 mm, and 600 mm. Telephoto lenses generally
do not include as much foreground or background around the subject as wide-
angle lenses, and they have the effect of isolating the subject from its context.
They also make subject elements appear compressed, or closer together than
they are. A sports photographer would want to use a long lens, such as a 600
mm lens, to make images that look as though they were taken extremely close
to the athlete. She would choose a wide-angle lens, such as a 28 mm, if she
wanted to include an expanse of the playing field or stands. That’s one reason
you often see sports photographers with two or three cameras dangling from
their shoulders: changing lenses takes time and could mean missing the picture!

A zoom lens is designed so that a photographer can change from one focal
length to another simply by turning or sliding a ring on the lens or pushing a
button on the camera. Typical zoom lenses for a 35mm camera include 17–35
mm, 28–70 mm, 28–200 mm, and 70–200 mm. Zoom lenses are more expen-
sive than single focal-length lenses, but usually not as expensive as buying all
of the lenses in the zoom range. They also have the advantage of not having to

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Figure 10.19. Studio setup for computer company catalog, by Rick Williams.

change the lens to change the focal length. This can save a great deal of time
and help a photographer get shots he would miss while changing lenses. On
the other hand, the ability to change focal length requires more complex use of

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 229

 glass elements, making the lens heavier and harder to hold steady — an
important factor when shooting in low light at a slow shutter speed.

Adding Light
Photographers have a number of options for adding artificial light sources to
enhance a scene. Single-use and point-and-shoot cameras often have built-in
flashes with limited ranges of between four and 15 feet. Older cameras have a
hot shoe, or a device on top of the camera for attaching a flash unit. Wireless
technology allows using flash units off camera, either as direct flash aimed at
the subject or as bounce flash aimed at a reflective surface to throw diffused
light at the subject. Flashing light directly at the subject can make a person
look washed out, overexposed, or too bright, contrasted against an underex-
posed, dark background. Flash placed directly in front of the subject so that
light enters the iris and bounces off the retina causes what is commonly known
as red eye because it reveals blood vessels at the back of the eye. Some pho-
tographers, such as Mary Lee Edwards (see Figure C8.1), perfect direct-flash
technique to give the effect of harsh reality. Other photographers prefer to
bounce flash off a wall, ceiling, or ceiling/wall corner (see Figure 10.17) to
achieve a softer, more natural effect.

Manufacturers rate flash units using Guide Numbers, which indicate the capac-
ity of the flash to cover a certain distance. The higher the guide number, the
more powerful the flash.

Beyond direct-versus-bounce effects, several technical concerns are critical

when using flash. Newer flash models use through-the-lens (TTL), remote fir-
ing, and auto-exposure systems to make flash use relatively simple when com-
pared with 20th-century technologies, such as flash bulbs. Nevertheless, best
results come from understanding a few basic principles:

• Light rays travel in a straight line (unless refracted).

• Inverse Square Law — Light from a point source falls off inversely to the
square of the distance. Moving the light from 10 to 20 feet away results in 1/4
the intensity. Light from a flash falls off dramatically the further the subject is
from the flash. Conversely, subjects close to the flash receive the most light
and can be overexposed easily.
• Law of reflection — Angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence:
Light is reflected at the same angle from which it came, but in the opposite
direction.
• Distance = how far the light travels, NOT the distance between the camera
and subject unless a flash is on the camera and aimed directly at the subject.
• f/stop = Guide Number divided by distance.
• Shutter speed varies depending on whether the photographer is trying to bal-
ance light from the flash with ambient light or dominate the scene with light

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from the flash. Shutter speed must be equal to or slower than the flash synch
speed for a particular camera in order to avoid non-exposure of part of the
frame.

Professional photographers become expert at adding multiple sources of light

when working in studios and on location. A flash meter, light kits, stands,
tripods, backdrops, and power packs are common accessories. Digital camera
technology, with increased capacity to capture images in low light, has
decreased the need for adding artificial light in many instances.

Tripods
Photographers often use three-stemmed support devices called tripods to
make sure their images will be sharp when using slow shutter speeds. If light
is very dim, for example, one would attach the camera to a tripod to avoid the
blurry effects resulting from even slight camera movement while using a slow
shutter speed. When photographers use medium- and large-format cameras,
they usually use tripods to support the extra weight. The great landscape pho-
tographer Ansel Adams said he used the largest, heaviest camera and tripod
available to get the quality of larger-size film. Sports photographers often sup-
port their long lenses with monopods — single-legged support poles — that
allow them relative freedom of movement. Photojournalists, however, eschew
both tripods and large cameras because they want maximum flexibility of
movement, exposure, and lens. Advances in lens and camera technology also
are making possible equipment with-image stabilizing functions, which can
control motion blur from both photographers and subjects.

Constantly Changing Technology

Ironically, just about the time film technology advanced to the point of making
cameras and lenses smaller and lighter weight, new technologies once again
required photographers to carry massively heavy gear. By the end of the 20th
century, in addition to multiple cameras and lenses, a professional news pho-
tographer might have carried a laptop computer for downloading and transmit-
ting images immediately from the scene of an event to the editor in the news-
room. A typical backpack of gear weighed 50 to 60 pounds. Fortunately, as dig-
ital technology improved, the size of equipment decreased again. As wireless
technology became more common, transmitting pictures became less prob-
lematic.

Walter Curtin, a Canadian photographer who lived through most of the 20th
century’s technological changes, once said he was waiting for the day when he
could simply wink an eye and then touch his fingertip to a reception device to
produce a photograph. Regardless of technological advances, what matters
most in photography are the eye, heart, and mind of the seer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 231

 Figure C10.1. The Touch, by Rick Williams.

232 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE TEN
Image Insights:
Photography from the Inside Out

The Goal: Translating Seeing Into Images

Your goal is to see through a camera lens, put frames around parts of the real
world, and produce a visually interesting set of images and words.

What You Need

1. Camera. Any camera you know how to use is fine, including a cardboard
throwaway camera you can buy at any photo or drug store, a digital point-and-
shoot (must have at least a 3.3 megapixel sensor), or a professional camera.
Camera phones usually do not produce images of sufficient quality.

2. Film (if using film). Use a roll of 24-exposure color print film (not slide/trans-
parency film). We suggest ASA/ISO 200 or ASA/ISO 400. You may use black-
and-white film if you can make prints or have them made. A note about film
processing: One- and two-hour turn around for color-negative film processing
and printing is available at commercial processors.

However, BEFORE you leave your film with a processor, or your digital files
with a service bureau, be sure you know when your prints will be ready and
what the final product will be (number and size of prints, scanned to CD, proof
sheet).

3. At least an hour of free time for shooting and additional time to deliver and
pick up film or download digital images, edit images, and write.

4. Allow extra time for things to go wrong. When working with camera equip-
ment, film, commercial processors, computer equipment, labs, and so forth,
the number of problems you may have to solve increases.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 233

 Part I — Seeing and Creating Photographs
1. Go somewhere you enjoy being and that is visually stimulating to you.

2. Spend at least the first 10 minutes using the best technique for you to
shift into the intuitive mode. You might listen to music with your eyes
closed, meditate, draw, do a blind contour drawing, or simply relax and
daydream.

3. When you have made the shift, get up and move around. Look, see, feel,
experience the environment around you. Look at the quality of the light.
Consider the contrast range and the angle. Notice what the light reveals
and what it hides — how it draws you in or shuts you out. When you see
something that interests you visually, take a picture of it. Look at it from
different angles and through the lens to consider what you want in or out
of the frame. What draws your eye? How does putting a frame around what
you’re seeing affect how you see it?

These images should be mostly spontaneous, coming from your feeling

mode. Consider appropriate technique as well as you can to produce com-
pelling photographs, but don’t dwell on technical issues to the point of
interrupting the flow of your seeing, framing, and picture taking.

Shoot at least 24 different pictures before you stop. You may shoot several
angles of the same subject, but shoot at least four different subjects.

4. If you’re shooting film, take it to a processor for developing and printing.

Ask for a small proof sheet or CD. [One 3 x 5-inch or 4 x 6-inch print of each
picture is fine. You may also want to ask the processor to scan the negatives
into digital form and make a CD. Not all processors have such capability, and it
may cost extra. Download digitally captured images to a CD, make prints of
your three favorite images, and print out a proof sheet of all your images.

Part II — Seeing and Creating Word Images

Pick at least three of your images and use them to inspire a poem or piece of
creative prose. Write one poem or short piece of creative prose for each of the
three photographs you have selected as your best/most appealing images.

Part III — Preparing Your Work for Presentation

1. Arrange the three pictures and accompanying words in a creative manner.
This is a good opportunity to practice using page-design software, but you
may do the design manually (for example, pasting the images neatly on a
piece of paper on which you have printed your words).

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 Creative 10
Summary
! Read the instructions carefully and get your camera and supplies ready.
! Think carefully about where you will photograph and the time of day
you choose. Will the light be sufficient for good exposures? When is the
light best where you plan to shoot? Will the visual characteristics of the
surroundings be appealing and creatively stimulating?
! Spend time relaxing before you start photographing.
! Shoot at least 24 exposures of at least four different subjects.
! If you’re shooting film, take it to a processor for developing and printing.
Ask the processor to make a proof sheet. One 3 x 5” or 4 x 6” print of
each picture is fine. You may also want to ask the processor to scan the
negatives into digital form and make a CD for you. Note that not all
processors have such capability and that it may cost you more.
Download digitally captured images to a CD, make prints of your three
favorite images, and print out a small proof sheet of all your images.
! Pick your three favorite images. Indicate the three images on your proof.
! Write a poem or creative prose for each of your three chosen images.
! Design and prepare the presentation of your photographs and accompa-
nying words.
! Reflect on and write an assessment of your overall experience.

Examples

Figure C10.2. Urban Tree, by Andrea Scheider.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 235

 Figure C10.3. Flags, by Andrea Schneider.

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 Creative 10

a has a serif
that likes to sit on bowls
really expensive ones
in really expensive shops
and then laugh at the people who buy them
which is mean and judgmental

maybe people really like those bowls

and don’t want them sat on
and don’t want to laughed at by a stupid serif
that only likes to sit on bowls

Above: Figure C10.4. Photograph and poem by Ally Burguieres.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 237

 Who needs a square robe anyway?
And a square pillow
And a square blanket
In a round chair
And they take up the whole chair anyway
So no one else can sit in it
Except for the Squares and all the other Squares in the Square club.

Above: Figure C10.5. Photograph and poem by Ally Burguieres.

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Figure C10.6. Eloina’s Mother, photograph and poem by Julianne Newton. From The White Page fine
art campaign, Eastman Kodak, as published in Aperture, 40th Anniversary Issue, Fall 1992. Compare
this cropped version of the photograph with the full-frame version in Figure 1.4. Designers should not
crop art photographs and should take great care to avoid altering meaning or diminishing aesthetic qual-
ity when cropping any photograph. When in doubt, consult the photographer.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 239

 Figure 11.1. Magazine cover design by D.J. Stout, Pentagram.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Designing for Meaning

F
undamental to visual and intuitive literacy is understanding the basic prin-
ciples visual communicators use to inform, inspire, and persuade both
our conscious and nonconscious minds. These principles derive from
within and without — from within through the basic structures of matter and
life, and from without through millennia of human cultivation of symbol sys-
tems. The 3rd-century BCE mathematician Euclid laid the geometrical frame-
work for many of the theories and visualizations that bridge science, math, and
art today.

Those who study and teach design use terms such as contrast, harmony, bal-
ance, proportion, rhythm, movement, color, repetition, dominance, and unity.
Peter Stebbing, a German design and visualization educator, devised what he
calls a universal grammar: contrast, rhythm, balance, and proportion, or
CRBP for short. Stebbing analyzed how many times key terms were used in
the tables of contents for 50 books by leading visual design authors.
Stebbing believes humans, and perhaps other primates, share “a basic sense
of composition”:

The adaptation of our perceptual system to the recognition of

the principles of organic organization (as perceptual primitive)
has resulted in our favoring the same principles for aesthetic
composition. This knowledge provides a strategy for art and
design educators, because what has appeal for us has been
determined by our evolutionary past. We have apparently
evolved a cognitive fluidity for responding to organic novelty
based on permutations of universal principles — Contrast,
Rhythm, Balance and Proportion — that are simultaneously
embedded in our own biology. (p. 69)

Stebbing grounds his conclusion in theories of evolution and ecology, asking

why humans “possess a sense of visual composition” and “from what ability
did this sense evolve” (p. 67). Key to this idea is research indicating that “the

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 241

 recognition of complex form takes place through the perception of simple pat-
terns” (p. 67). Other contemporary theorists, such as Gunther Kress and Theo
van Leeuwen, have articulated in verbal terms an intricate grammar of visual
design to encompass the complex ways visuals work in contemporary media.
You will recall from chapter 9 that psychologist Carl Jung believed humans
share a “collective unconscious” rooted in “archetypes,” or primordial patterns.
This ability to perceive patterns is fundamental to contemporary research in
neuroscience (see chapter 6). As we’ve discussed earlier, we need not compre-
hend the origins of human visual perception or the intricacies of how and why
we see to appreciate that creating and interpreting imagery is central to 21st-
century communication.

We begin here with a discussion drawing on basic elements of visual literacy pio-
neer Donis Dondis outlined as components of images. Then we add work from
other theorists and practitioners to extend the discussion where appropriate.

A visual element is a unit we perceive when we see. It can be as simple as a

speck of dust, a dot in a newspaper photograph, or a brushstroke of color in a
class painting. In combination, visual elements can be as complex as the intri-
cately arranged details of a movie set; the carefully constructed scenario of a
video game; or the expanse of meadows, rivers, valleys, sky, and clouds we
see when we stand atop a mountain peak. In The Way of the Earth, T. C.
McLuhan explored the idea that the land on which we live and evolve —
whether coast or plains, mountains or valleys, forest or desert — affects the
ways we develop our symbol systems. Our eyes and brains organize visual ele-
ments into groups or patterns that have evolved within the structures of life
and the physical world. Recall our brief introduction to the idea of the gestalt in
the introduction to this book: the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Barry stressed the relational aspect of the parts within that whole: “A gestalt
implies a configuration that is so inherently unified that its properties cannot
be derived from the individual properties of its parts” (p. 42). In this chapter
we break down the whole into parts to help you understand how to construct
and interpret designs.

A design is an arrangement of visual elements, or parts, into a whole. Design

can be conscious or nonconscious in origin. Design can be effective or ineffec-
tive. Good design is an effective arrangement of visual elements, meaning that
the arrangement of visual elements communicates or evokes feeling. Good
design can be defined as the artful arrangement of elements within a frame to
create a unified or meaningful whole. Artists and designers use basic elements
to create patterns of meaningful design. As we first discuss the basic elements
of graphic design, we use very simple illustrations that help you see how easi-
ly elements fit together to form meaning. Then we show you how artists and
visual communicators use these same processes in more sophisticated ways.

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 Chapter 11
The Basic Elements
Point
The first and most basic element of visual design is the point or dot. Designs
are built from this simple element. The moment you press your pen to the sur-
face of paper or point the cursor and click the period symbol on your computer
keyboard, you create a point. In the illustrations below, you see that a simple
point within a frame can be used to attract attention; indicate direction; carry
meaning, emotion, or weight; or look like something:

Line
The second basic element of design is a line. When you extend a point or con-
nect points, you create a line. Lines can be long or short, thick or thin, curved
or straight. Lines can even be implied by a series of dots. Written language
evolved from patterns of points in combination with lines. When used together,
lines can indicate look and shape; they can have quality, emotion, and move-
ment; and they can convey meaning.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 243

 Plane/Shape
The third basic element of design results from extending a line to create a
plane or shape. You can also connect lines to make a shape. Lines form three
basic shapes — square, circle, and triangle — as well as irregular shapes. Each
shape has its own character and elicits particular emotional responses.

A square tends to have a character that is honest, solid, static, and straightfor-
ward. A circle suggests a continuum and feelings of warmth, perfection, and
nurture. A triangle is dynamic and suggests action, conflict, and tension. A
basic plane or shape has two dimensions: height and width. The square, circle,
and triangle are two dimensional.

Volume
By extending a plane along both the width and height axes, you
create the illusion of the third dimension, or depth, and we tend to
perceive that shape as having volume. If you look closely at the
extended cube, you see how the front and back of the cube seem
to shift back and forth, depending on how you look at the figure.
This classic is known as a Necker Cube. Your eyes shift focus
between the cube’s front and back planes.

Point, line, plane, and volume are four of

the five basic elements at the heart of
design. As you can see, these simple elements convey
visual meaning and can evoke feelings and ideas. They
also express a basic property of visual communication:
Visual elements represent meaning.

If we add tone or color to any visual elements, we can

further influence how viewers interpret their meaning.
For example, if we add different shades of gray to the

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 Chapter 11
different planes of the Necker Cube, you perceive a third dimension more easi-
ly, enhancing the illusion of volume and depth, within what really is only a
two-dimensional plane.

Filling a simple rectangle with black makes the rectangle look solid, heavy, and
as though it has depth or substance. Without the tone, the rectangle looks
empty — unless you stare at it long enough to begin perceiving the white tone
within the rectangle as carrying substance, or visual weight. Notice also how
the black-filled rectangle appears to be a different size though both are the
same size. We can take the same shape, add texture or pattern, and vary the
communication in an infinite variety of ways.

We can take a set of shapes, adjust the basic shapes, arrange them, add tone
or color, and suggest different meanings. What meanings can you create with
these three elements?

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 245

 Rearrange them, tilt and elongate the large oval slightly, add tone to two of the
circles, and overlap the large oval with the smaller circle. You begin to convey a
planet orbiting the sun. Remove the small smaller circle and adjust the oval a
bit, and you have a fried egg.

Duplicate the oval with the circle and

flip one set horizontally, and you can
see a pair of animal eyes. Add heavy
lines above the ”eyes“ and you have a
perplexed animal. Flip the eyes vertical-
ly and you have a worried animal. Use
two pieces of paper to cover all but one
set of eyes if you find it difficult to inter-
pret expressions conveyed by the eyes.
The mind works to relate visual ele-
ments that appear to be in the same
group. Previous experiences with simi-
larly arranged elements also affect how
people interpret visual elements.

Frame
Another way to think of a group of visual elements is to envision them sur-
rounded by a frame, the fifth basic element of visual design. Any shape also
can be a frame. Frames have shape, size, and direction. Horizontal frames tend
to have left to right direction. Vertical frames tend to have top to bottom direc-
tion. Notice how we intuitively relate the three sets of “eyes” above into a ver-
tical organization with an implied frame. Square frames evoke more of a circu-
lar direction. You also can frame subject matter within another frame for
emphasis or pattern. A door can frame a person. A building can frame a door.
A tree can frame a building. Frames help add a sense of dimension and direct
the viewer’s eye to the subject.

Frames create meaning because they include. They wrap up elements within
them causing the brain to search for ways to relate those elements. Frames

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also create meaning because they exclude. They cut out elements outside the
frame so that we pay attention to the elements within the frame. In the eye
sets above, each oval frames a smaller circle, which is filled with gray. The
brain relates the ovals, circles, and arcing lines because they are close together
and look familiar. This causes us to organize the visual information, relating the
elements into patterns and interpreting the patterns as eyes. Notice that the
brain intuitively completes the face around each set of eyes, even though a
face frame is not drawn, as it is below. One of the first things we learn as new-
borns is to recognize our mothers’ faces. Newborns are drawn to simple

shapes, especially when their combinations resemble faces.

Notice that the large oval above appears to be in the background, whereas the
”eyes“ and ”eyebrows“ appear to be in front of the large oval. As you learned
when completing Creative Four, this is seeing figure and ground.

This logo design, with which you worked in Creative 5, was created by Maggie
Macnab for Maddoux-Wey Arabians and evokes the classic figure/ground rela-
tionships of the ancient yin-yang symbol. As we noted earlier, visual experts
tell us we cannot see both figure
and ground at the same time. What
seems to be simultaneous viewing
of both may be rapid reversal. The
same phenomenon was true when
you looked at the Necker Cube —
but it probably was harder to see
both the front and back of the cube
reverse as quickly. To see how
Maggie came up with her design,
turn the page and study her
sketches and explanations.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 247

 Figures 11.2-5: Maddoux-Wey Arabians logo by Maggie Macnab.
The Arabian horse logo, a variation on the ancient symbol yin-yang,
represents the intrinsic role of relationship and duality in the universe.

The underlying symbolism of this mark refers to cross-breeding opposites

and the long standing relationship we have had with this animal
to help us horsepower civilization.

Indeed, civilization would not exist like it is today without

the work and fleet transport these animals provided.

Appropriately, the Middle East, where these small-boned and large-lunged horses
run over desert sands, is considered the cradle of civilization.
Arabian horses are known for their endurance, grace, and intelligence.

The shape also visually supports the signature arch of an Arabian's neck
and the dished face, which structurally lets them breathe more effectively in sandstorms.

The whole of these rather intricate concepts when seamlessly integrated

creates a multi-metaphoric, yet simple, symbol.

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 Chapter 11

Here is how I arrived at a simple symbol that says so much.

From Far Left: Figure 11.2. Intuitively, my initial drawings begin with the circle
and showing relationship in the most visually obvious way: touching closely.

Figure 11.3. I then explore relationship in another way: the mare with foal at her side.
I begin to see the Escher-esque opportunity of working equally with negative and positive space.
This creates the oppotunity to use the jawline to communicate maximum information
with minimum detail.

Figure 11.4. It doesn’t take long from here to see where I’m going.
I needed to bring it back full circle.

Figure 11.5. Herein lives an eternal symbol which creates an effective and enduring logo.
There is no attachment to style in the essential work of a concept development —
just attention to the substance of the true communication and skilled execution.
Branding provides the opportunity to stylize, but even this design’s support collateral,
created more than 20 years ago, is viable and vibrant today.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 249

 Now, return to our ovals and lines. Let’s change the size and shape of the large
circle so that it no longer frames the eyes but becomes the base of the face.
Note that changing only one visual element causes a shift in our perception of
all elements.

Typically, frames are rectangles rather than circles, in part because we are used
to seeing that way and in part because of conventions in industrial manufactur-
ing. The 35 mm photographic frame is said to have been created by Oskar
Barnack for the Leica camera because the frame approximated a classic Golden
Rectangle, which we discuss later in this chapter.

What happens if we reverse the background tone (also called white space or
negative space) to make the eyes and eyebrows (figure) stand out against the
background (ground) in a different way? Note that we turned the small ovals
vertically. Now, if we add pattern to the eyes, we create yet another meaning:
These simple illustrations show how easy it is to shift the meanings we per-
ceive by reconfiguring the same basic visual elements. Imagine the infinite
number of possible meanings we can communicate given more visual ele-
ments, more time, and creative thinking. For instance, notice how the artists
used points, lines, shapes, the illusion of three dimensions, and frames in
some of your favorite artwork or media images.

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Figure 11.6. Bennie Roping, by Rick Williams. Draw a thumbnail sketch of the elements and analyze
what is included, excluded, and related by the photographic frame.

Summary of Key Points

! The five basic visual elements are point, line, plane (shape), volume,
and frame.
! We can add such characteristics as tone or color, texture, and pattern to
enhance the meaning an element conveys or evokes.
! Frames have size, shape, and direction.
! Frames include, exclude, and relate visual elements.
! Visual elements can be viewed as figure, ground (positive or
negative space), or both.
! We can arrange and combine the elements in different ways to communi-
cate and evoke feeling.
! If we change one element in a design, it changes the whole of the design.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 251

 The Core Principles
To understand how designers integrate the basic elements in graphic design,
we focus on Stebbing’s four organizing principles as the core principles of
design — contrast, rhythm, balance, and proportion.

Contrast
Contrast refers to an emphasis or difference in size, shape, placement, or color
in relationships and suggests meaning. For instance, contrast might visually
relate things that are large and small, black and white, in front of and behind,
above and below.

Representational contrast might relate concepts such as young and old, male
and female, or happy and sad. In music, contrast might be expressed through
loud and soft sounds, or fast- or slow-moving sequences. Contrast generates
and suggests attention and importance. It can create tension among the vari-
ous elements.

Rhythm
Rhythm is achieved by repeating or contrasting visual elements. Rhythm can
convey pattern and a sense of movement or direction. We might see rhythm,
for example, in the repeating pattern of light and shadow made by the sun
shining through leaves of a tree or by the repeating circles a pebble makes
when it strikes the surface of water.

Balance
Balance is the arrangement of elements in terms of symmetry, or regularity. In
design, we describe balance as either formal or informal.

In formal balance, also known as symmetrical balance, compositional elements

are arranged equally on both sides of an imaginary middle axis. Formal bal-
ance generates feelings of stability, formality, sophistication, and elegance.

In informal or asymmetrical balance, there is no formal balance or attention to

equally dividing space on either side of an axis. An axis can be clearly visible
as a line separating parts of the frame, or it can be perceived or sensed
through the arrangement of elements in the frame. Informal balance is dynam-
ic and can generate a sense of energy, change, or tension.

Proportion
Proportion is a ratio of one part of a frame to another part. Proportion defines
how dimensions of the frame itself (width and height) relate to one another.
Proportion also establishes the relative relationship between visual elements or

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Figure 11.7. Couple with Dog, by Ave Bonar. Contrast the small dog with the large people, or
the light tones of the dog against the dark background. Notice the movement communicated by
the lines of the arm and hand, and the rhythm of the folds in the pant leg or the shapes of the
background and foreground. Although you can draw a line vertically through the center of the
picture, balance is informal with the weight of elements in the right side of the frame assymetri-
cally balanced by the movement toward and space in the left side of the frame. Proportion can
be interpreted as 1:1 (divided vertically down the middle) or as a 3:1 (divided vertically at the
dog’s tail). Close your eyes for a few seconds. Now open them and look at the image again.
Your eyes likely settle on the dog, determining center of interest in the frame, and are directed
leftward by the visual vectors of the dog’s body, the taut leash, and the extended arm.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 253

 between an element or group of elements and the design as a whole. Here are
a few frequently used proportions:

1:1 1:2 2:3

One of the most frequently used proportions is found repeatedly in nature and
is variously known as the Golden Ratio, Golden Rectangle, Golden Section, the
Golden Mean, the Golden String, or the divine proportion. Some would go so
far as to say the Golden Section is the only universal design principle. The
Golden Section, found in such patterned natural objects as conch shells,
leaves, and pinecones, is expressed in human creations through music, art,
mathematics, architecture, and product design. The mathematical expression,
known in one form as the Fibonacci series, is especially helpful when trying to
understand and verbalize the intuitively sensed Golden Section. The numbers
in a Fibonacci series begin with 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and so on. They are
obtained by adding the last two to get the next: 2 + 3 = 5, 5 + 8 = 13, for exam-
ple. The rectangle below is a golden proportion because a:b as b:c.

a b

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Figure 11.8. Chasing Strays, by Rick Williams. While riding a horse during a roundup on the
Green Ranch, Rick intuitively framed this shot in a classic golden proportion (envision reversing
the a and b parts of the figure at left). Also notice Rick’s point of view (see chapter 10) and the
contrasting sizes of cattle and horse head, an illusion of scale achieved through use of fore-
ground/background framing (spatiality). Balance is informal, with the dominant visual ele-
ments on the right balancing the open but rhythmically patterned space on the left. The frame
also can be divided horizontally by imagining a line between the lower half, ending at the top
of the horse’s left ear, and the top half with the cattle. The horizontal directionality of the
frame is enhanced by visual vectors, which convey the illusion of movement toward the upper
right of the frame.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 255

 Additional Terms of Graphic Structure
Learning a few other terms of graphic structure will help you create and ana-
lyze designs. These terms are related to the characteristics of tone, color, pat-
tern, and texture, which we discussed above.

Movement
Movement is generated by a sense of rhythm or direction in a design. Line
establishes movement visibly and rationally, as in this frame with the arrow, or
intuitively, as in the frame with the dots:

Note how the arrowed line at left appears to ascend, directing your eye to the
upper right-hand portion of the frame, whereas the two dots in the frame at
right form a pattern you read as a line that appears to descend, directing your
eye toward the lower right-hand side of the frame. These are visual vectors,
which visual communication theorist Herb Zettl defined as forces with direction
and magnitude. Lines and shapes help move our eyes around the frame of an
image or composition. These vectors can direct our eyes toward certain areas
in a frame or toward objects that convey meaning or feelings.

Center of Interest
Key subjects that attract your eye within a composition are referred to as cen-
ters of interest. There may be single or multiple centers of interest, but typically
one or two centers dominate the others and are considered primary. A second-
ary center of interest can make a composition more interesting and help direct
eye movement. Using compositional elements in the frame to create diagonal
lines helps direct the eye from one center of interest to another as a form of
visual vector. Including too many focal points can diminish the composition.

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Figures 11.9-10. Left: Rule of Thirds illustration by Janet Halvorsen. Right: Logo design by Maggie
Macnab.

Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds divides the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally. The
four points where the lines cross are primary points of visual interest for sub-
ject placement because these are points where the eye naturally falls.

Note how the Rule of Thirds relates to the core principles of balance and pro-
portion. One way to achieve effective asymmetrical balance is to place the
most important visual element at one of the intersecting points. This also
establishes a proportion of 1:2. Dividing a frame in half, or 1:1 proportion,
results in symmetrical balance if the elements in each half mirror. Centering
the principal subject is another way to focus attention on an element but also
can be static and boring unless used sparingly and purposefully.

Scale
Scale is the relation in size between shapes and objects of unknown size with
those of known size. Scale helps us discern how large or small something is.
Scale carries emotional impact, such as the relationship of a small child’s hand
in the hand of a very large man. Exaggerated scale can be used to emphasize
importance or power and to establish contrast.

Spatiality
Spatiality is the way elements (the figures) are arranged within the frame in terms
of the area (the ground) surrounding them. Spatiality evokes attitudes. Typically, a
lot of white space evokes attitudes of class, wealth, uniqueness, and room to
breathe. On the other hand, crowded pages with little white space seem cramped
or pinched and tend to represent inexpensive products or sale items. Pushing the
edge of the frame can imply a cramped setting with a larger world beyond. Yet a
crowded composition can also be dynamic and convey a sense of action.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 257

 Perspective
Perspective establishes a sense of depth and conveys point of view. In two-
dimensional representation, depth refers to the way visual elements appear to
have dimension through the use of shadowing, size, and position in the frame.

Using linear perspective in drawing or within a photographic frame makes

lines appear to converge, establishing an illusion of depth in the frame. Closer
objects appear smaller, and distant objects appear larger. Perspective as point
of view refers to how we look at something — are we directly in front of it, or
above or below it? This is also called angle of view. In photography, selecting
an angle of view that places the camera eye below and looking up at the sub-
ject tends to give a sense of importance or power to the subject. Selecting an
angle of view that places the camera above and looking down on the subject
tends to diminish the importance of the subject and make it appear more sub-
missive or less powerful. Conceptually and ideologically, perspective refers to
the individual point of view each individual has as a result of unique cultural
experiences and biological characteristics.

Light and Color (related to tone)

Light (see also chapter 10, Photography), the visible part of the electromagnetic
spectrum, is a form of energy that illuminates visual elements in our field of
view. Light, or the effect of light, sets the emotional mood and feeling by illu-
minating shape, texture, and specific parts of the subject while leaving other
parts in shadow. High-contrast light with deep, dark shadows and bright high-
lights and colors can create a sense of drama and toughness and generate
feelings of fast-paced action and bright sunlight. Diffused, or low-contrast light,
is soft with open shadows that flow smoothly into medium highlights and pro-
duce more pastel colors. This light is used to generate sensual, friendly, or
young and peaceful feelings.

Light is also described in terms of hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue refers to
the actual color or specific tone, as in primary red, yellow, or blue. Saturation is
the strength, intensity, or purity of the color from gray to vivid. Brightness refers
to lightness or darkness of a color, ranging from black to white.

Light also is described as being warm or cool. Natural sunlight changes color
from morning to evening. Light is measured in degrees Kelvin (K) with cool,
bluish, morning sunlight measuring about 5,500 degrees K and warm, red and
orange afternoon sunlight measuring in ranges from about 3,600 K to 4,600 K.
The colors of light also carry emotional overtones, as do cultural colors such as
a white or black hat or the colors of a nation’s or organization’s flag. Still pho-
tographers and cinemaphotographers often use color gels over their lights or
flashes to simulate natural daylight colors.

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Context
Perceiving can be ambiguous until we know the circumstances or situation into
which visual elements fit. For instance, a pistol on a white backdrop has little or
no context for interpretation. A pistol under the seat of a car has a different con-
text, and thus a different meaning, from a pistol in a police officer’s holster. One
technique that advertising uses is to produce images in which the context is not
completely clear so that the meaning can be whatever the viewer imagines.

Figure 11.11. Melvin at the Longhorn Cafe, by Rick Williams. Note the strong side light from the win-
dow on Melvin’s face, contrasted with the shadows on his shirt. What is the center of interest? Does the
Rule of Thirds apply to this photograph? Is the photograph symmetrically or asymmetrically balanced?
How is the space in the frame handled? How does the bright light affect the overall communication of
the moment? How does scale work in the frame?

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 259

 Tying it All Together
Principles of the Gestalt
Finally, we come to four key concepts brought forth by the German perceptual
psychologists Koffka, Köhler, and Wertheimer in the 1930s. Recall that the basic
idea of gestalt is that an arrangement of visual elements means something
more than any one of the elements alone — the whole is greater than the sum
of its parts — a 1 + 1 = 3 effect.

The primary principle, the Law of Prägnanz, stated that a “psychological organ-
ization will always be as ‘good’ as the prevailing conditions will allow” (Koffka,
p. 110). Koffka admitted that the principle was “somewhat vague.” The concept
of good, though undefined, embraced “such properties as regularity, symme-
try, simplicity and others” (p. 110). Barry said it another way: “As the principle
which unifies perceptual elements into a single harmonious whole, this Law of
Prägnanz is the early twentieth-century counterpart of Aristotle’s concept of
‘common sense,’ the Gestalt essence of which is efficiency achieved through
simplicity, regularity, and symmetry” (p. 47).

Four sublaws follow:

• Law of Proximity — we perceive grouped elements as belonging together

• Law of Similarity — we perceive similar elements as belonging together
• Law of Good Continuation — we perceive a line as continuing beyond its
ending point
• Law of Closure — we will complete unseen parts of a shape

Unity
All of these elements, terms, concepts, and principles come together through
unity, a concept similar to gestalt expressing the sense that all visual elements
in a design work together to form a whole that communicates. That whole may
not be harmonious and, in fact, may not “work” well. Fragmentation can occur
if all of the elements do not relate or are working against each other.
Fragmentation provides a psychological feeling of incompleteness or tension,
as if the elements are coming apart. Fragmentation can be disturbing but can
also be dynamic and exciting, depending on context and meaning.

Cultural Biases
It is important to remember that this chapter is heavily influenced by traditions
of Western European design. Although we have stressed basic elements, princi-
ples, and terms that some scholars argue are understood by all humans, differ-
ent people in different cultures can and do apply and interpret them in different
ways to construct and discern different meanings. Kress and van Leeuwens

260 Williams and Newton

Figure 11.12. Pies at a Psychiatrists’ Convention, by Ave Bonar. How do the Law of Prägnanz and the
four sublaws of Gestalt psychology affect the way you interpret the photograph? Do you have a context
for interpreting the image, or do you supply your own (see * below)? Can you see how gestalt perception
affects your understanding of the images?

argued that “visual language is not transparent and universally understood,

but culturally specific” (p. 3). Yet we began this chapter with Stebbing’s idea
that humans perceive the universal principles of contrast, rhythm, balance, and
proportion. Both approaches are useful when learning to understand and cre-
ate visual design. We discuss these issues more fully in chapter 12.

For now, we invite you to explore the visual through your own “design for
meaning.”

*They really are pieces of pie at a pyschiatrists’ convention.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 261

 Figure C11.1. Heiress Series ad, Sims girl’s snowboard (original in color) in Transworld Snowboarding.

262 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE ELEVEN
Graphic Visions: Looking for Meaning

The Goal: Understanding the Frame

Use a creative exercise such as visualization to help relax and enter a state of con-
scious seeing and reflection. Allow yourself plenty of time. Although the exercise
may at first seem tedious to work through, the potential rewards are great. The
goal is for you to gain a clear understanding of how design communicates mean-
ing in a purposefully constructed visual message with persuasive intentions. Read
the instructions carefully.

Look through a magazine or newspaper to find two advertisements: one that

appeals to you and in which you think the design works, and one that does not
seem to work as well. Note the name and date of the publication and the page
numbers of the ads for your records. Note any information identifying models,
photographers, designers, or agencies. Although such information is seldom
made available, it is important to think about the people who were involved in
creating the ad.

Now, sketch the ad in two ways.

First, draw a thumbnail-size frame — a small, simple rectangle (or other shape
if appropriate) 1 or 2 inches wide — in the basic shape of the ad’s overall
frame. Sketch in the three to five primary visual elements of the ad. Use simple
lines to represent the type and other visual elements in the ad.

Consider how each of the five basic visual elements (point, line, plane, vol-
ume, and frame) studied in chapter 11 is used in the design of the ad. Make
notes to use later.

Second, draw a quarter-page frame (about 4” wide) in the basic shape of the
ad’s overall frame. Sketch in the three to five primary visual elements in the ad
— this time with more detail. Use lines or simple, overall shapes to represent

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 263

 the type in the ad. You may draw these two sketches on the same piece of
paper if you wish. What you are doing is practicing the process a graphic
designer might use to originate the design for the ad. You are simply doing it
in reverse order, meaning you are starting the finished design and working
backward so you can evaluate and interpret the design rather than starting
with simple sketches and working forward to fine-tune your design ideas.

Now, using your two sketches to guide you, consider again how each of the
five basic visual elements is used in the ad design. Think about the lines or
blocks of type as design elements rather than individual letters and words.
Squinting your eyes and looking at the ad through the blur of “half vision”
sometimes can help you discern what visual elements stand out in an image.
Make notes about what you see.

Work your way through the following questions, making notes as you go. You
may find drawing additional thumbnail-size sketches to address each question
will help you break down the design to understand how it works visually to
communicate its meaning.

• How are the five basic elements of visual design (point, line, plane, volume,
and frame) used in the ad?

• Which visual elements stand out as figure? How is ground used in the ad?

• How are the design characteristics of tone or color; texture; and pattern used
in the design?

• How are the four core design principles (contrast, rhythm, balance, and pro-
portion) achieved in the ad? Are some of the principles more obvious or do
some work better than others?

• How do other aspects of graphic structure (movement, vectors, centers of

interest, Rule of Thirds, scale, spatiality, perspective, light, context)
discussed in chapter 11 work in the design? Discuss at least three.

• How do the five gestalt principles (Law of Prägnanz, Law of Proximity, Law
of Similarity, Law of Good Continuation, Law of Closure) work in the ad?

• How is unity achieved?

• What cultural biases do you discern in the ad?

Now, using your notes and sketches to guide you, write an essay address-
ing these questions and discussing how the design of the ad communi-
cates the meaning of the ad visually.

264 Williams and Newton

 Creative 11
Now, draw a thumbnail sketch of the second ad and make notes about why it
is not as effective as the “well-designed” ad. Write a paragraph about the
design of the second ad, addressing what does not work well and including
suggestions for how to improve the second ad.

Conclude your essay with a paragraph comparing the two ads.

Reflect on and write an assessment of what you learned and of your overall
experience.

Summary
! Spend time relaxing before you start to work.
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Choose two different print advertisements from a magazine or newspa-
per. Choose one ad that you think uses good design and one that you
think uses poor design. Note the name and date of the publications,
page numbers of the ads. Note any information identifying models, pho-
tographers, designers, or agencies.
! Work first with the well-designed ad.
! Draw a thumbnail sketch and a quarter-page sketch of the main visual
elements in the ad. Sign and date your sketches.
! Use your drawings to help you assess the graphic design of the ad. You
may need to do additional drawings to help you see various design ele-
ments, principles, graphic structure, and gestalt principles.
! Evaluate the ad in an essay as described above. Be sure to address all
the questions.
! Draw a thumbnail sketch of the poorly designed ad. Sign and date your
sketch. Write a paragraph for your essay evaluating the design and sug-
gesting how to improve the design.
! Conclude the essay with a paragraph comparing the two ads.
! Reflect on and assess your overall experience.

Example by Andrea Schneider

The first ad I chose was one from Transworld Snowboarding magazine for a Sims girl’s
snowboard called the “Heiress Series.” It is marketing to an atypical snowboard buyer,
a more high maintenance girl in particular. The ad works and communicates the mes-
sage because of its effective design. All the elements cooperate and support each other
to sell a board for a girl who, although stereotypically girlish, still has an edge.

Points in the ad include the girl’s face, the dogs (especially the one peeing), the
board’s graphic of the dog, the logo and the text image. The logo in the upper left,
the board, and the text image are distinguished by the color pink and are empha-
sized. The dog collars are also pink and draw attention to those elements.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 265

 Figures C11.2-4. Analysis
of visual design for first ad
critiqued by
Andrea Schneider.

266 Williams and Newton

 Creative 11
There are lines that run through the board’s graphics and they are repeated in various
ways throughout the design. The direction of the text in the lower right corner follows
these lines and is also echoed by the texture of the sidewalk in the ground. The lines in
the building in the ground help move the reader’s gaze from left to right across the
page. If you were draw a line connecting the two point of the dogs, this line would run
parallel to the same lines of the board graphic. All these lines help to create a move-
ment, especially to the upper-right hand corner of the ad where the Sims logo is.

The variety of shapes creates a tension of different emotions in the ad. There is warmth
created by the circular shapes and curves in the snowboard and the girl. The word
Heiress is also very round. A triangular shape of energy can be seen more in the dogs,
the logo, and the text block image. Relationships between different elements within the
design seem to form triangles.

Different planes and levels exist within the ad. The graphics seem to sit on top of the
overall image, while the snowboard also seems to exist on its own plane. The location
of the girl with her two dogs in front of her staggered different distances also creates
depth with the ground of the building falling to the back of the ad.

Tone and color are very active in distinguishing, emphasizing and relating different ele-
ments. The board, logo, and text graphic grab the viewer’s attention and seem to be
related because of the pink, the flatness, and tone. The girl and her dogs are related
because they are more muted and have more depth. The pink collars of the dogs help
relate them to those elements first mentioned. In contrast, the ground is very mono-
chromatic and recedes. It acts as negative space for the ad. The abundance of negative
space evokes a feeling of wealth in this instance, and the design echoes that of a fash-
ion ad rather than one for sporting equipment.

The frame contains the main elements in mid-range without cutting any of the images
off and still leaving some space to let the viewer’s eye wander across the ad to the logo
and text.

Patterns can be seen with the lines in the snowboard graphic echoed with the sidewalk
texture and direction of the text. Other elements are also repeated throughout the
design. There are two dogs on a leash but there is also a pink silhouette of a dog incor-
porated into the text image in the lower right-hand corner. An even smaller dog is in the
snowboard graphic itself along with the same text “Heiress.” The girl in the picture is
talking on her cell phone and wearing stilettos and both those can be found again as
pink silhouettes in the text image. The Sims logo appears in a pink box in the upper
right-hand corner of the design but also makes the tag of the dog’s pink silhouette and
is inscribed in the building in the ground. Texture isn’t used that effectively in the ad
and seems to be most abundant in the ground.

The ad does effectively contrast different elements. The most recognizable contrast is
with color. A few items share the same color pink and it is the only real notable color in

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 267

 the ad (aside from some green stripes). The rest of the ad is more muted in an almost
grayish sepia hue. Elements also contrast in that flat, bold images grab attention. As a
whole there is a contrast in proportion and balance where the right side has more of the
key elements of the ad. More in regard to the message of the ad itself, there is a contex-
tual contrast where the snowboard seems out-of-place in its environment. In this same
sense the image of the fashionable girl seems to contrast the stereotype of a snow-
boarder and that’s played upon with this “classy” girl and her high maintenance dog
peeing on the snowboard. While this contrast exists, it also relates the girl and the
snowboard; the “Heiress” is both the snowboard and the girl.

Rhythm is a successful element in communicating the ad’s message because relation-

ships, line, and movement create continuity. There is rhythm created by the relationship
of both size and placement of the girl and the snowboard. The three dominant figures
to the right create rhythm balanced by the girl and her two dogs on the left. By connect-
ed each set of these three elements, a triangle is formed. The same occurs in the bottom
third of the ad with the two dogs and pink dog silhouette. Together these elements and
their relationships also create and informal balance or asymmetry that still has fluidity.

Within the ad there seems to be an approximate 2:1 ratio. The attention grabbing ele-
ments on the right seem to occupy two-thirds of the design. It appears the designer cre-
ated this ad without particular regard for the rule of thirds. Most elements fall outside
the focal points created by the three squared lines. Instead the snowboard sits central
and the other elements lie out at outward directions from it. Regardless, I feel that the
design was still successful with its nontraditional arrangement.

The perspective of the ad seems to be from an angle below center. That way the snow-
board and the girl appear higher on the page but are also very large and important
looking. This technique reflects the message and attitude of the “Heiress.” Even the
small dogs don’t look meek and obedient, but are regal and mischievous.

Gestalt principles help the viewer perceive the intended message by creating relation-
ships and meaning. The rule of proximity allows the viewer to group the girl and the two
dogs because they are close together. The law of similarity helps the receiver of the mes-
sage group the other three main elements on the right of the page including the logo,
snowboard and text box image. This correlation is aided because the objects are similar.
They all have similar color and appear bolder and flatter than others in the ad. The ad
successfully uses the different design elements in conjunction with the process of seeing
and relating to communicate the message. It uses stereotypes to help identify and reach
the market, but uses humor to help sell the product.

Ad #2 Critique and Comparative Discussion

Although the product is similar, the Sims ad is much more effective than the House
Boardshop ad. The Sims ad effectively uses different visual elements and structures of
design that are absent in the other ad. One particular success of the Sims ad is its use

268 Williams and Newton

 Creative 11
of color. The designer used pink to
emphasize certain elements and
create rhythm, movement, line,
and relationships through the
gestalt law of similarity. Pink also
conveys the message of the cre-
ator. In contrast, the House
Boardshop ad uses color in a dis-
tracting way. No one element
grabs your attention. Instead the
eye darts around the page trying
to determine a hierarchy.

Color type and type blocks them-

selves also create line but result
in a sort of wavy, haphazard
movement across the page. Other
elements, like the logo and snow-
board are subjugated due to their
lack of color. Red text and blue
background do not organize the
design effectively, especially
because the creator switched the
use of color. Sometimes the text
was in color; sometimes the block
behind was in color and other
times text was outlined in color.

The Sims ad also uses space effec-

tively. The abundance of negative
space contributes to the message
Figure C11.5. House Boardshop ad (original in color).
by conveying a wealthy and fash-
ionable attitude. In the House
Boardshop ad, objects and text are crowded and jumbled, giving the ad a cheaper and
chaotic look. The negative space itself is colored and takes away from other more
important elements in the ad.

Although some balance from left to right is created by placement of the snowboard and
snowboarder on either side, an effective informal balance was not achieved. The Sims
ad had similar elements but achieved balance because of the relationships with other
parts. There is no rhythm, and the way the text was presented doesn’t evoke any type
of cohesion. It’s also harder to determine which elements are related in the ad. Red
seems to signify type and the style groups certain text together, but the text doesn’t
work together and fights for attention. The House Boardshop ad doesn't use effective
proportion. In fact, I’m not even sure how to determine proportion in this ad.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 269

 Figures C11.6-7.
Top: Small
thumbnail.
Left: Larger sketch
of key visual elements.
Ad Critique #2 by
Andrea Schneider..

Were I trying to improve this ad, I would start by deciding what I wanted to be a focal
point. The text I wanted to stand out I would perhaps make red and then find another
structure to organize the rest of the type. I would also choose to emphasize the logo by
also making it red. Instead of having a distracting blue negative space, I would make it a
neutral color, such as beige and that would help both my text and my images come for-
ward. I would try to open the ad up a bit by having more ground. Arranging some of
the text in horizontal lines instead of waves might help me accomplish that. Making a
few of these simple changes would improve the design in other ways by creating more
contrast, better movement, informal balance, and rhythm.

270 Williams and Newton

Figure C11.8. Hot Springs, Big Bend National Park, 1979. Photograph © Frank Armstrong.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 271

 Figure 12.1. What are the signs conveyed
in this spoof ad from Adbusters.org? What is signifier and what is signified?

272 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER TWELVE
Embedded Meanings:
Learning to Look Behind the Mirrors
and Beyond the Windows

I
magery created by and delivered to us by the media is the basis of the most
prolific, pervasive, and effective popular art in history. By effective, we mean
that media images fulfill the purpose for which they were designed. Media
images, particularly those developed for advertising and public relations, are
most often created from a strategy of persuasion. Yet even news and entertain-
ment imagery use communication strategies with specific intentions: to inform
you; to grab and hold your attention; to increase television ratings; to sell the
newspaper or magazine; to make money through box office sales, video
rentals, and Internet advertising; and, perhaps most important, to provide an
audience for advertisers and sponsors.

These strategies use visual images to generate psychological and physiological

responses that encourage us to do whatever the imagemaker has in mind: get
especially excited about watching an upcoming sports event, crave a juicy
bacon cheeseburger, buy a greeting card that says ”just the right thing in just
the right way,” enjoy a movie so much that you will tell your friends to go see
it — and will later rent it or buy it (and related products) to watch again.
Beyond all of these fairly obvious consumer-oriented prompts, it is even more
significant that media use visual images to create a sense of what is normal
and acceptable in terms of our values, lifestyles, and related behaviors. In
effect, media images often urge us to adopt an impossible reality as our own.

Advertising is by far the most sophisticated producer and user of intuitive

media messages. Advertising professionals and educators use the work of
neuroscientists, psychologists, and media scholars to understand precisely
what images, sounds, phrases, movements, and combinations of intuitive
processes are most effective in establishing emotional and psychological asso-
ciations with their messages of persuasion. Though the educational system as
a whole may marginalize the significance of intuitive intelligence, schools of

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 273

 advertising, media, art, and communication study it as the core of the integra-
tion of creativity and persuasion. The advertising industry was expected to
spend close to $600 billion worldwide in 2006 (Coen, 2005). It costs more to
produce 30 seconds of a major television ad than it does to produce the same
amount of time in a blockbuster sci-fi movie. And advertising concepts are
incorporated into all media, including TV sitcoms, children’s programming,
video games, and your favorite movie. It is estimated that the average U.S. citi-
zen sees as many as 4,000 media-generated images every single day.

The cumulative effect of all of these messages — whether or not we take the
specifically intended action — can be seen as a kind of collective memory, one
based on media-generated images and events rather than on interaction with
real people. Ultimately, that collective memory shapes our perceptions of reali-
ty and guides our behaviors in real life by defining the culture in which we live.
This collective memory based on shared media experiences is related to but
differs from Carl Jung’s idea of a collective unconscious. Collective memory is
not media dependent — people can be thrown together during a major event,
for example, and share memories of a unique experience — but it often is the
result of sharing experiences with millions of people via mass media. Jung’s
collective unconscious focuses on sharing universal understanding of basic life
patterns because we are part of the same species.

Because media imagery blends sophisticated rational and intuitive cognitive

processes in visual components, competence in creating and understanding
visual and media messages is now requisite for contemporary viewers. It is
important here to distinguish between visual literacy and media literacy. Visual
literacy encompasses the ability to interpret and create visual messages of all
kinds — from dreams and poetic imagery through virtual reality. Media literacy
is a component of visual literacy that focuses on learning to interpret and use
forms of mass media, such as newspapers and television, in intelligent ways.
Intuitive literacy means the ability to use intuitive intelligence to complement
rational intelligence, thus enhancing both visual and media literacy.

Although most of us can see to a degree when we are born, infants still must
learn to focus and recognize shapes, colors, and such patterns as their parents’
faces. As noted earlier, seeing is more than the physiological act of gathering
light rays and sending signals to other parts of the brain. In fact, “seeing” is only
1/10th physical in terms of eye functions. The other 90% of the process of visual
perception is mental, or cognitive. This refers to the processing the brain goes
through to make meaning and store visual information into memories that are
mostly nonconscious. So, when we speak of the mind’s eye, we are really talking
about mental experience that operates on both rational and intuitive levels.

In the chapter on language, we explored the rational and intuitive aspects of

language. We suggested that a word stands for a meaning that we share, at

274 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 12
least to a basic extent. As an example, we offered the idea that when we say
the word mother, we all share the meaning that a mother is the female parent
of a child. We may also have varying, culturally learned descriptors for a moth-
er, such as nurturing, caring, intelligent, and successful. These represent our
basic rational or logical concepts of who a mother is.

We also discussed another type of cognition related to the word mother that
represents an intuitive cognitive response based in our interior, personal, emo-
tional, psychological, and physiological experiences and interactions. This intu-
itive process touches our deepest feelings, values, and emotions, and it often
moves us toward a physiological response, such as a small shudder, smile,
feeling, or the desire to talk with one’s mother.

If a simple word, such as mother, can elicit such strong mental imagery and
emotional responses, imagine what kind of response an external visual image
that has been carefully designed to influence your deepest feelings, values,
and emotions can elicit.

Culture and Making Sense of What We See

Most media images use both visual imagery and value-laden, emotional lan-
guage. Many media images also use sound, music, and movement to affect
our perceptions and shape our behaviors. Consider, for example, a television
advertisement of a man and woman, whom we interpret as a mother and
father, sitting together on a comfortable, colorful sofa in a beautiful home filled
with warm afternoon light. Dad puts his arm around Mom, and the two of
them smile tenderly as he reaches for the phone to make a call. The screen
splits, and a young man, whom we interpret as their son, in a college dormito-
ry room looks up from his books and picks up his cell phone. When he hears
his dad’s voice, he smiles and moves to the cozy comfort of his bed, as the
same afternoon light that shines on Mom and Dad shines through his window
to warm him. The son happily talks and connects with his parents as the voice
over suggests that you “reach out and touch someone.” The intended mes-
sage is that talking on the phone connects parents with their children in college
in the same way that being with them would. The intended behavior is that
viewers will associate talking on the telephone with the visual and emotional
impact of actually being with (touching) beloved family members, as in this
dreamlike scenario.

Mediated messages such as this have been produced to attract our attention,
touch our emotions, and move us to act. As noted earlier, the average U.S. citi-
zen sees 4,000 such messages every day. These estimates are probably low if
we include the thousands of colorful boxes and wrappers we see in a single
stroll though a store (about eight per second). Then there are the logos on
clothing worn by people we pass on the street, magazines and newspaper ads

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 275

 we think we don’t notice as we browse publications in a waiting room, the covers
of magazines on a newsstand, products carefully arranged in store windows,
posters taped to a telephone pole, pictures on envelopes and stamps in our
mailboxes, huge billboards on the sides of road and buildings, the television
that lulls us to sleep, the flashing Internet banners that divert our attention from
news stories, and the ever-present television screens in airports and sports
bars. Of course, we cannot simultaneously attend to all of these images on a
conscious level. However, our intuitive cognitive processes, synthesizing across
space and time, take in more information than we consciously note and retain a
sense of many of these messages in nonconscious memory. Here, they are used
as a standard of reality against which new perceptual information is weighed as
our nonconscious mind creates nonconscious biases that guide our behavior.

On a conscious level, we think we select what we “see.” However, we our non-

conscious memories and predispositions guide us in this editing process. What
we choose to note, or bring into our rational consciousness from the seeing
process, depends on such factors as:

• What catches our attention — The bright colors and movement of a

banner or news crawl running across the bottom of the television makes
us want to read it.
• What we know — Leaves turn red and gold in the fall, so we think of
changing seasons when we see brightly colored leaves.
• What we believe — We don’t like a political candidate, so when we see
him speak on television, we “see” him as looking arrogant or stupid and
we interpret what he says as deceitful.
• What we want — We see a beautiful model wearing a coat in an ad and
think, “I don’t need a new coat, but the coat in that ad is really cute . . .
maybe I could use another coat.”
• Our physical or emotional state — We’re tired from studying most of
the night, so we drift off during class, daydreaming about taking a nap
when we get home.
• Memory — We saw a political ad on television that we con-
sciously recognized as misleading. The images stick in our memory, how-
ever, and we use them later, perhaps nonconsciously, as evidence for
voting against the candidate.

Figure 12.2. The Oregonian, March 21, 2006. Images of photojournalism differ from many other media
images in that their purpose is to visually convey truthful information about real events that happen to
real people. Their messages also carry deep symbolic meaning and invite viewers to connect with people
they meet through the images. Unfortunately, we often view the images so quickly that we do not stop to
consider their multiple meanings. Serious photojournalism often becomes lost in a sea of ads and enter-
tainment imagery. This makes appropriate interpretation especially challenging. Which one of these pho-
tographs, highlighted with others here on a newspaper picture page, most catches your attention? Why?
Consider that image in terms of the six personal editing factors listed above.

276 Williams and Newton

 By the time we bring images into the conscious mind, they have already affect-
ed behavior on intuitive levels. They have become part of our nonconscious
memory that helps to shape our perceptions of reality and guide our behavior.
Thus, it is critical to our understanding of ourselves and how we interact with
others that, in our highly visual and mediated world, we learn how to better
understand and use visual communication both intuitively and rationally.
We can approach the study of visual communication in a number of ways. In this
chapter, we explore several analytical techniques for studying visual media images.

Traditional Ways to Study Visuals

Researchers use five categories of techniques for studying the media: survey
research, experimental design, content analysis, historical/comparative analy-
sis, and field research. Although a great deal of the media research conducted
in the 20th century was statistically oriented, or quantitative, the last 30 years
have seen a rise in the use of methods that rely more on verbal analysis than
on numbers. Increasingly, researchers are finding they need to use more than
one type of method for trying to answer their questions or test their ideas.

Key concepts in research underlie the credibility of any study. First, has the
research been conducted in a systematic manner? A systematic method of
study refers to a careful, reasoned process that the researcher can clearly
explain. Second is the research valid — that is, does it study or measure what
it says it does? A third key concept in research is reliability — that is, will we
obtain the same result in repeated studies conducted in the same way?

You are probably most familiar with survey research, in which randomly select-
ed individuals are questioned about their thoughts, opinions, feelings, and
behaviors. Public opinion polls and Nielsen television ratings are examples of
survey research. Surveys are useful for giving us an idea of trends, such as
how many people plan to vote a certain way or what people are thinking.
However, people often act differently from what they say they do. People usu-
ally underestimate the amount of food they eat in a day, for example. In addi-
tion, unless they are very careful, survey researchers can bias the phrasing of
questions in such a way as to elicit certain responses.

The only method that can reliably establish cause and effect relationships is an
experiment in which researchers carefully control the conditions to which sub-
jects are exposed. In one classic and often-repeated experiment, called the
Stroop Task, researchers ask people to sit in front of computer monitors and
indicate the color of a word on the screen. That doesn’t seem so hard to do.
However, we know from repeated experiments that if the word names a color
(such as the word red), and the color of the type is different than the name of
the color the word indicates, people have a difficult time responding quickly
and correctly. So, if the word “RED” is shown in the color green on the screen,

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 Chapter 12

Figures 12.3-4. Testing patterns of eye travel on the Internet. Researchers Nora Paul and Laura Ruel in
the Digital Storytelling Effects Lab, a joint project of the University of Minnesota and the University of
North Carolina, are studying effective presentation forms for online storytelling. Left: The two dots in the
middle of the screen show the user’s eye position, which is tracked with an in-monitor camera. Right:
Heat map imaging indicate viewing patterns for an HTML page about alcohol use. Researchers deter-
mined that users enjoyed and spent more time with an interactive presentation but considered more mate-
rials in an “encyclopedic-type reference” presentation and found it easier to navigate.

people find it difficult to say the word “RED.” We have learned a great deal
about human behavior by testing how people respond and behave in experi-
mental situations. The question then becomes: Will people act the same way
outside of the laboratory, in real-world situations? We’ve even learned that
people will act differently in a laboratory setting to please the researcher.

Social scientists sometimes use quasi-experimental design, or experiments

conducted in real-world settings, to increase the validity of their studies. An
example of a quasi-experimental design is a study in which the social psychol-
ogist Stanley Milgram observed how people walking along a sidewalk
responded to different kinds of photographic situations. He learned that when
the photographer looked more professional, the passersby tended to walk
around the photographic scene rather than walk between the photographer
and subject, as they might do when the photographer looked like a tourist. The
sidewalk experiment was one of a series Milgram conducted to test his theory
that when someone takes a picture, it is a “photographic event.”

Mass communication researchers use content analysis to study images as well

as text. In quantitative content analysis, a researcher might count the number

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 279

 of times news stories address a certain topic, measure how much space is
given to particular kinds of photographs in a magazine, or time how long news
broadcasts report about an issue. Qualitative content analysis often requires
subjective judgment rather than objective counting or measuring.

Historical/comparative research examines documents and trends across time

and geography.

Field studies use such techniques as interviews, case studies, and participant
observation, through which the researcher seeks to understand a community by
living in the community. Journalists use field methods to gather both visual and
verbal material for their stories. In some ways, you have been conducting this kind
of research your entire life. Social scientist Earl Babbie wrote that field research

is constantly used in everyday life, by all of us. In a sense, we

do field research whenever we observe or participate in social
behavior and try to understand it, whether in a college class-
room, in a doctor’s waiting room, or an airplane. Whenever we
report our observations to others, we are reporting our field
research efforts. (p. 28)

Yet, as Babbie also pointed out, being a good researcher, who obtains valid and
reliable information, requires honing these “natural” abilities into thoughtful

Figure 12.5-6. Children pose with Polaroid images of

themselves. Giving photos to study participants shows
them what the visual researcher is seeing
and can enhance both communication about the project
and the quality of image content. Photographs by
Julianne Newton.

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 Chapter 12
skills that dig below quick conclusions. The key to being a good researcher is
questioning one’s own preconceptions as well as the preconceptions of society.

We have offered this cursory introduction to research methods to give you an

idea of the many different ways scholars and professional communicators try
to determine what is true and what is not. Ultimately, we cannot determine
with absolute certainty what is true. However, we can work hard to determine
what is reasonably true (Newton, 2001), given our best efforts to dig beneath
the often misleading messages others send our way. If we are genuinely seek-
ing to understand visual images and how they work, we must use different
ways to seek that understanding in order to increase the likelihood of deter-
mining what is reasonably true.

In that spirit, we introduce you to several techniques that we find especially

useful in uncovering the most “reasonable truth” of visual messages.

Other Methods to Study Visuals

A rhetorical analysis is an approach to studying a text or image by critically
examining the goals of the writer or imagemaker and how they created the
message in their effort to achieve their goals. If a Hallmark Cards commercial
stirs your emotions, for example, you might ask, “Why did Hallmark want to
affect me in this way? What strategies did Hallmark’s advertisers use to affect
me?” Messages with strong intentions and points of view are not unique to
contemporary media, however. People have been using and analyzing rhetori-
cal strategies for at least 2,400 years. Consider this from Plato:

Socrates: The fact is, as we said at the beginning of our discus-

sion, that the aspiring speaker needs no knowledge of the truth
about what is right or good. . . . In courts of justice no attention
is paid whatever to the truth about such topics; all that matters
is plausibility. . . . There are even some occasions when both
prosecution and defence [sic] should positively suppress the
facts in favor of probability, if the facts are improbable. Never
mind the truth — pursue probability through thick and thin in
every kind of speech; the whole secret of the art of speaking lies
in consistent adherence to this principle.
Phaedrus: That is what those who claim to be professional
teachers of rhetoric actually say, Socrates. (Plato, p. 272)

Although Plato was referring to words in the above scenario, his classic
allegory of “The Cave” addressed the challenges of looking beyond the illusion
of shadows cast on a cave’s wall. A developing field of scholarly study is visual
rhetoric, in which researchers examine the underlying purposes, meanings,
effects, and processes of images, as well as the contexts of image use.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 281

 Discourse Analysis is a related method through which researchers study how
visual and verbal materials are organized and produced, looking for meanings
lying beyond the surface of the obvious content of language. Critical discourse
analysis is particularly concerned with how messages exert power over audi-
ences through practices that appear transparent (easy to interpret accurately),
yet are actually manipulative.

Psychoanalysis seeks to uncover the underlying processes of the mind by

studying people’s dreams, thoughts, feelings, fantasies, and behaviors. In psy-
choanalytical therapy, a person meets regularly with a psychologist or psychia-
trist to work through a problem or crisis in the person’s life. A classic visual
method of psychoanalysis is the Rorshach test, in which an ambiguous inkblot
image yields insights about the viewer’s mental associations.

Projected Interviewing asks people to look at photographs and talk about them.
Photographic historian Zoe Smith, for example, showed images by documen-
tarian Donna Ferrato to women and asked them to tell her what they felt or
saw in the images. Ferrato’s images were of abused women, and the women
viewing the images were either social workers or had themselves suffered
abuse. The result was insight into both the credibility of Ferrato’s photographs
and the lives of those viewing the photographs.

A similar technique is a focus group, in which individuals selected for a range

of characteristics are invited to discuss a topic, question, or presentation as a
group. Focus groups often work best when used to generate ideas that can
then be studied through quantitative approaches.

Semiology, or the study of signs, seeks to take apart an image and trace “how
it works in relation to broader systems of meaning,” wrote Gillian Rose (p. 69).
Closely related to semiotics, this method examines units of meaning, or signs,
which can be “anything that has meaning,” ranging from verbal texts, such as
news stories or novels, to visual images, such as photographs and films (p.
74). The field of semiotics is so complex that various thinkers have devised
different systems for studying signs. Two early scholars usually credited with
developing this approach are Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders
Peirce, who wrote entire books explaining the way each theorized that signs
work. We present only the key terms from their theories with simplified defini-

Figure 12.7. In a semiotic analysis of this ad, Israeli Prof. Amir Hetsroni wrote that this “ad for VISA
shows the Mona Lisa, and the text affirms that this is a ‘signature smile.’ The word signature has three
different meanings here — one that relates to the painting, one that signifies the solid position of the
credit company and supposedly gives assurance to consumers, and a third meaning that stands for the
cardholder’s signing on the back of the card” (pp. 62–63). What are the signs in the ad? Are they iconic,
indexical, or symbolic? What system of meaning did the designers use to encode the ad’s message? Is the
design using association or an analogy? Image courtesy of BBDO Denver, Colorado.

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 Chapter 12

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 283

 tions to introduce you ways of studying images using semiotics. In some
instances, we use definitions and examples from Rose, from Daniel Chandler’s
Web site Semiotics for Beginners, and from Arthur Asa Berger. The terms are
complex, and we offer only the simplest versions of definitions here.

S i g n — anything that stands for something else: picture, word, sound.

S i g n i f i e r — the form a sign takes.
S i g n i f i e d — the concept a sign represents. If you see an Open sign in a shop
window, the word open is the signifier, and the idea that the shop is open for
business is the signified concept.
I c o n — a sign that looks like or resembles the thing it stands for. A drawing of
a cat is an icon of a cat.
I n d e x — a sign that is logically connected to what it represents. A footprint in
the sand is an index to a person.
S y m b o l — a sign that does not resemble what it represents but that we learn
represents a thing or concept. A dove can be a symbol for peace.
C o d e — A system of symbols that we learn to make sense of signs. The
clothes we wear are part of a fashion code that cues other people to our per-
sonal characteristics.
E n c o d i n g — Using one or more systems of meaning to create a message.
D e c o d i n g — Interpreting the image through one or more meaning systems. If
you look at a CD cover of a music star, you may use the code of the music
genre to respond to the image.
A s s o c i a t i o n — Linking the meaning of one thing with the meaning of anoth-
er. In a car ad with a Mercedes parked in front of a mansion, we associate the
meaning of good taste, wealth, or class with the car.
S i m i l e — Comparing two things using like or as: When Bob Dylan sings “Like
a Rollin’ Stone,” he is using a simile.
M e t a p h o r — Comparing one thing to another directly: When Shakespeare
wrote, “All the World’s a Stage,” he was using a metaphor.

These terms are not mutually exclusive — you will note overlapping categories
when you apply them to interpreting visual messages. However, they do pro-
vide a vocabulary for helping you analyze and discuss an image. Visual com-
munication scholar Sandra Moriarty has developed a theory called visual semi-
otics that applies these terms to media images such as ads. Moriarty (1995)
used visual semiotics to study Apple computer’s classic “1984” ad. In a quasi-
experimental design, she showed 200 students the ad and then surveyed their
responses. Moriarty determined that, although more viewers recalled iconic
signs (such as the television screen) than symbolic (inmates and runner) or
indexical signs (the hissing wind sound accompanying the explosion was asso-
ciated with cause and effect), symbolic signs may have created “greater
impact” than others (npn). For example, although the running figure was an
icon for a woman runner, viewers interpreted her as symbolic for “a new age,
new way of life, or new era” (npn).

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 Chapter 12
People who design media messages such as the “1984” ad are expert
encoders, according to Stuart Hall et al. They are skilled professionals who
study research, observe how people respond, and design messages using
highly effective codes. People who view media messages learn codes for view-
ing. We learn, for example, how to skip advertisements in magazines if we’re
reading an article or that a television program will resume after a series of
commercials. We learn to decode media messages so that we can understand
the plot of a movie or distinguish between an advertisement and a newspaper
article. However, few people other than those training to become professional
communicators learn how to encode information into sophisticated media
messages. The result is that people think they are adequately decoding media
information, when, in fact, they know only a functional basis for the codes!
This is precisely why we wrote this book: to teach you as much about these
codes as we can so that you can more fully understand what you see and how
it affects you. You also will better appreciate the importance of designing mes-
sages that communicate in socially responsible ways.

Here is another critically important point about codes. People develop codes
consciously and unconsciously. The code that tells you (or leads you to
assume) that someone is male or female is in part a dress code developed
over centuries through the development of civilization. Dress codes vary by
country, function, economic, and social status, to name but a few causes of
variations. Some of those codes have developed without a great deal of con-
scious thought. People who live in Texas in the summer wear shorts and light-
weight clothing to make themselves a little cooler in extreme heat. But whether
someone wears short-shorts or knee-length shorts more often is a matter of
conscious personal choice. Taking the example further, we also know that fash-
ion designers consciously change the length and style of shorts in an effort to
sell more clothes. A person selecting which shorts to wear might then uncon-
sciously select shorts that look more in keeping with new designs and uncon-
sciously promote that style of shorts by wearing them.

A phrase that can help you understand the difference between conscious and
nonconscious encoding is ”it’s your air.” That means that, if something is so
familiar or comfortable to you that you are not aware of it, it is like the air you
breathe. You can’t see it; you seldom think about it; you just breathe. That’s
how the actions underlying racism, sexism, and many other negative “isms”
work. Learning to decode your beliefs is key to becoming a well-educated,
enlightened citizen of the 21st-century world. Learning how to understand visu-
al messages and how they affect your behavior is one way to begin.

The next two pages feature Figure 12.6, an Adbusters spoof ad titled “Joe
Chemo.” Practice analyzing the ad by using visual semiotic theory.

Next Page: Figure 12.8. Spoof of Joe Camel ads (original in color). Courtesy of Adbusters.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 285

 Six Perspectives
Another useful method for analyzing images is Paul Lester’s (2006) Six
Perspectives. You will note that the method combines a few approaches that are
key to methods we’ve already discussed in this chapter. The method also adds
other approaches. A photographer, philosopher, and visual theorist, Lester
developed this system in his book Visual Communication (pp. 111-112) to help
people become intellectually involved with the images they study and to
encourage viewers to base conclusions about images on rational rather than
emotional responses. In some instances, we have adapted Lester’s definitions.
The six perspectives follow:

1 . P e r s o n a l P e r s p e c t i v e — Your subjective response to the work, based on

your opinions and feelings. Lester suggested that personal perspectives are
superficial, are of limited use, and tell more about the person than the image.
He also suggested that a viewer who rests a conclusion about an image on
personal perspective denies the chance of perceiving the image in a more
meaningful way. Thus he provided five more rationally centered perspectives.
We fully discuss Rick Williams’s Personal Impact Assessment (PIA), included in
Lester’s book as one way to explore the personal perspective, in chapter 13.

2 . H i s t o r i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e — examining the work in the context of media or

other chronological perspectives. You might discuss the history of newspaper
photography when examining a photojournalism image, for example. Or you
might discuss the history of visual stereotyping of women when examining a
television program.

3 . Te c h n i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e — exploring how the work was produced and how

it is presented. In photography, for example, you might explore the relation-
ships among quality of light, film characteristics, the way the photographer
framed the image, and how the image was printed in a magazine.

4 . E t h i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e — considering the purposes and potential conse-

quences related to a work. You might reflect on the motivations a designer had
for creating a logo such as the Nike Swoosh, for example. Then, you might
consider how Nike uses the Swoosh logo to sell its products and possible
effects of its manufacturing systems and advertising strategies. A few ethical
approaches (adapted and expanded from Lester, 2006, pp. 115–117):

Teleological — Goal oriented. The end justifies the means.

Deontological — Principle oriented. Duty and adherence to basic princi-
ples matters more than consequences.
Categorical Imperative — Kant - Consistent, unconditional rules.
Utilitarianism — Bentham/Mill - The greatest good for the greatest num-
ber of people.

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 Chapter 12
Hedonism — Aristippus - Maximize pleasure without concern for the
future.
Golden Mean — Aristotle - Find middle ground between two extremes.
Golden Rule — A principle found in most religions and spiritual tradi-
tions, interpreted variously as “Act toward others the way you want
them to act toward you.”
Veil of Ignorance — Rawls - All people are equal. Imagine you respect
everyone equally and have no knowledge of class or other human dif-
ferences, and act accordingly.

5 . C u l t u r a l P e r s p e c t i v e — exploring how parts of the work convey meaning

within a particular society at a particular time. While studying images of pro-
testers, for example, you might consider that the presence of flags could con-
vey peace as patriotism at an anti-war rally or going to war as patriotism at a
pro-war rally. Or you might examine the image in regard to its representation
of race or gender.

6 . C r i t i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e — exploring a work in the context of issues of power,

politics, and economics. For example, if you studied television broadcasts
about the United States’ attack on Iraq in 2003, you might examine how the
political power of the United States is represented in comparison with the polit-
ical power of Iraq.

One way to practice visual literacy is to apply apply Lester’s six perspectives
and other terms discussed in this chapter to the images included. “Joe
Chemo” is a great place to begin.

Conclusion
Most media images have been especially created for public consumption. They
are meant to be seen and read and to have specific functional meaning and
impact. Traditionally, the kinds of methods we have discussed here are used on
a dominant rational/logical level to decode visual imagery as it is processed by
the conscious mind. These methods categorize and label the significant infor-
mation about our conscious understanding of images and their meanings.
In this chapter we have presented a number of different ways you can system-
atically, rationally study visual images. Important to note is that these methods
are usually word or number based. That is, they are ways researchers have
devised to try to translate visual forms of human expression into words or
numbers. Given the rational, word-biased nature of contemporary, industrial-
ized culture, this is not surprising. Remember, we believe rational analysis is
necessary, but it is only a PART of the process of understanding visuals.

We know that visual communication is also highly intuitive and that a great
deal of visual communication takes place on nonconscious levels. Thus, both

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 289

 the production and the consumption of imagery involve the nonconscious,
intuitive cognitive processes of both the creator of the communication and the
user of the communication. We can only speculate about the nonconscious
motivations of the creators of visual communication, and it is unlikely that we
could consciously decode all of our own nonconscious visual cognition.
However, these nonconscious visualizations are perhaps even more significant
to our decision making than the images of which we are conscious.

It is advantageous to develop ways to bring these nonconscious visual motiva-

tors to consciousness. By learning about imagemakers’ motivations and tech-
niques, you can learn how images affect you and influence your behavior. In
the next few chapters, as we discuss different kinds of visual media, we teach
you methods that balance both intuitive and rational processing techniques.

The goal: for you to be both a wise user and an ethical creator of visual media.

290 Williams and Newton

Figure 12.9. Washington Post Readers (original in color). Photograph © Andrew Glickman.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 291

 Figures C12.1–2. These ads are part of Adbusters’s
culture jamming series, which uses ad campaigns
from tobacco, fashion, food, alcohol, and other com-
panies to challenge the way signs are used and mis-
used to motivate product purchase and use. From
Adbusters.org.

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CREATIVE TWELVE
Thinking Systematically about Images

The Goal: Focusing on the Rational

Look through a magazine or newspaper to find an advertisement that grabs
your attention. Then, use semiotics, Six Perspectives, and field research to ana-
lyze the ad. As always, read the instructions carefully before you begin.

Part I. Semiotic Evaluation of an Image

Using the definitions and information in chapter 12, analyze the image using a
semiotic perspective. Be sure to address the following points:

1. List all of the signs you see in the ad.

2. Select and note the three most important signs. One way to do this is to
close your eyes, then open them, and pay attention to which three signs grab
your attention first. Another way is to draw a thumbnail sketch of the ad.
3. Decide whether each of the three most important signs is iconic, indexical,
symbolic, or a combination. Discuss why you think so.
4. Discuss the code or codes you the think the image creators used to encode
the meaning of the image.
5. Discuss the code or codes you are using to help you decode the meaning of
the image?

Part II. Analyzing an Image Using Six Perspectives

Now, apply each of the Six Perspectives to help you analyze the same ad.
Write several lines using each perspective to explore the image.

Part III. Using Field Research to Study an Image

Using the same ad, interview at least five different people about their interpre-
tations of the image. You may interview people together in a group (called a

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 293

 focus group) or privately. Avoid conveying your own ideas about the ad.
Simply show the ad to people and ask them to talk to you about it. This is
called projected interviewing. If a person doesn’t know how to begin, you
might ask him to point out the most important parts of the image and to tell
you why he thinks the parts are important. That usually will get people started
talking. You might ask the person to tell you what each part she selects means
in the image, and then what the overall image means. Either tape record (ask
permission first) or take good notes about the interviewees’ comments.

After the interviews, summarize the main points each person made.

Part IV. Overall Self-Assessment

Reflect on and assess your experiences in completing the exercise. What did
you learn from doing each part? Which part was most effective in helping you
understand underlying meanings of the ad? Include a discussion of how you
conducted your interviews and how the interviewees’ interpretations of the ad
compared or contrasted with your own interpretations. Conclude with a sum-
mary of your final interpretation of the ad and if/how your understanding of
the ad shifted as you worked through the methods.

The Exercise
! Read the instructions carefully.
! Select an ad published in a magazine or newspaper.
! Use the same image for Parts I, II, and III of the exercise.
! Follow instructions for each part carefully and thoroughly.
! Reflect on and write an assessment of your experiences.

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PART III.
THE PUBLIC AS ART AND IMAGE
The Academy, The Media, and Visual Persuasion

Part III extends the application of integrative mind into

discussions of media, introducing basic technical information
about each medium as a basis for using and understanding
media images. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion
of visual ethics and a systemic approach to understanding
and using the visual.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 295

 Figure 13.1. G. Cardona: “I was born in Corona, Queens, November 19, 1979.
My family is from Colombia. I love Colombia but I’m not just stuck on Colombia. I do music
for everybody: Cuban, Puerto Ricans, Centro America, Sur America. Everybody.”
G. Cardona flew to the Bahamas in 2003 to film his first video, “Donde Están mis Latinos?”
(Where are my Latinos?). “We try to keep it as Latin as we can ’cause we are doing it for the Latinos.
But it’s definitely still New York. You gotta have that balance and give everyone what they want.”
Photograph by Luís Salazar, from Hip Hop en Español in New York City.

296 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Stopping Time and Framing Space

B
y now you have a basic understanding of the complexities of visual com-
munication. The first two sections of this book explored the role of sub-
conscious processing in creating knowledge. Part 2 also began our dis-
cussion of fundamental symbol systems, from the development of language,
to our increased awareness of the significance of dreams in our lives, to an
exploration of ways humans have extended themselves beyond the body
through photography and graphic design, and finally to focusing your attention
on ways we enhance our understanding of our external and internal worlds
through systematic observation and careful analysis.

Now we move full force into media, those extensions of body and mind
through which we express ourselves and connect with others. They can be
as subtle as the air we breathe — and as overwhelming as a virtual environ-
ment that seems so real our minds cannot discern it is a machine projection.

Still Media Defined

Our first project in this section is to study ways we control time and space —
and hence our perception and behavior — through still media. By still media, we
refer to all of those forms that do not convey motion. These include print publi-
cations (such as books, hand-prepared journals, photo albums, fliers, newspa-
pers, magazines, and billboards); fine and applied art (such as oil, acrylic, pastel,
watercolor, sculpture, pottery, tapestry, photographs, and digital media; products
of various kinds, as well as their containers; ways we adorn the body (such as
tattoos, jewelry, hairstyles, and clothing); artifacts of medical technologies (such
as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs); landscape (home, city, countryside); and architecture.
Our bases for selecting media for this category are these:

• the object d o e s n o t m ov e unless attached to another moving object

• its c o n t e n t s a r e s t a t i o n a ry and static once created
• the object may be t wo - o r m u l t i - d i m e n s i o n a l
• the object may be m a t e r i a l o r i m m a t e r i a l

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 297

 A computer, then, would not be considered a still medium. Even though the
container may be stationary, parts within the container move. Its production
contents — data — are fluid, constantly changing, and ephemeral. Holders of its
production results — a printed page or a CD — are tangible, however. A com-
puter screen fits both still and moving criteria. The perimeters of the screen, for
example, are fixed, controlling the space into which we look and which we fill
with words, images, and multiple frames. Some of those images move, howev-
er, through digital video technology. And even the words move as we create
them by typing the keyboard to inscribe them on the digital page on the screen.

298 Williams and Newton

 Left: Figure 13.2. Mae.
Above: Figure 13.3. G. Cardona.
Photographer: “How have you supported your art?”
G. Cardona: “I always hated nine to five. I’ve been a hustler all my life. And thank
God I’ve been lucky.”
Photographer: “What’d you do?”
G. Cardona: “The streets, you know? That’s what really got me by up to now. But it’s
all about my music right now. That’s all I’m trying to sell now. I ain’t trying to sell
nothing else.”
Photographs by Luís Salazar, from Hip Hop en Español in New York City.
Note how Salazar’s photographs play with the concept of frame.

In this way, a computer screen is a transitional medium, not still, yet retaining
aspects of the static. As we became more skilled at creating complex media,
such as motion pictures, video, holograms, virtual reality, ultrasound, robotics,
vehicles of various kinds, our understanding of the fluidity of knowledge has
become clearer.

Let’s move now into a few of the specifics about still media that are important
for you to know. We begin with the frame, the fifth element of visual design. As
we discussed in chapter 11, the way we put a frame around a group of visual

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 299

 elements, or the way we fill that frame with visual elements, determines what
we understand about the contents of the frame. Combining elements with sur-
faces and frames directly affects the way we understand the meaning in seeing
and touching them.

For example, when humans first noticed an animal paw print in the earth, that
print had an outline shape and a degree of texture, depending on the surface
material earth and the weight of the animal. That outline shape was a kind of
frame, containing a pattern that was an index sign of the animal whose paw
had made it. The outline shape also may have been framed by a path in the
forest and, in sequence, became a line, or visual vector, leading the human to
follow. Our eyes do much the same work as early humans’ did when we notice
a pattern in a book, such as a letter, and follow the lines of letterforms across
the page and back again as we read.

Figures 13.4-6. Pentagram designer D.J. Stout created this cover and interior spreads for MFOH Today,
magazine of the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, to highlight the exhibition “African Art Now.” The
cover image (left) is by Nigerian J.D. Okhai Ojekere, who says, “Without art, life would be frozen.” The
first spread below shows Elizabeth Gilbert’s documentary photographs of disappearing traditions of
Kenya and Tanzania Massai, who used ostrich feather headdresses to frighten enemies and wore hats
made of lion manes. The second spread (below right) features the museum’s sub-Saharan art collection.
Although most of these pieces date to late 19th or early 20th century, the third figure from the right is a
fragment of sculpture produced by the Nok civilization, the first sub-Saharan group to create sculpture.
Note that each spread is its own frame encompassing two pages the size of the cover.

300 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
Formats of the Frame
We begin the breakdown of still imagery by expanding discussion of the frame.
Remember that a frame can be any shape and size and that it conveys a sense
of direction. Consider, for example, the images that often come to mind when
we think of humankind’s first images: those on cave walls. One of the earliest
images is a handprint, either made by an impression on a wall surface, or
through a tracing of fingers and palm contours. Archaeologists date some hand
images back 60,000 years. British scientists working in Zambia have discovered
paint-grinding equipment and pigments they believe are between 350,000 and
400,000 years old. The scientists think these early human ancestors used paint
on their bodies during rituals, thus creating moving images (see chapter 14 for
more about the body as a moving medium). Early still frames likely were
stones, clay forms, or walls on which were drawn simple shapes (see chapter 8
for a discussion of the development of oral and written language). Signs and
images drawn or chiseled into objects and walls took on the character of the
surface and required ways of viewing that are different from today. Cave paint-
ing, a more sophisticated form of imaging that scientists believe they can date
back about 40,000 years, had to be viewed by daylight, where accessible, or by
firelight, which would directly affect what was seen and when it could be seen.

A frame does not have to be a rectangle. A hand or face — even a fingernail —

a shell or piece of stone, a tree trunk or spot in the sand, our view of a moun-
tain peak meeting the sky, a cloud — any shape in any size can be a frame. In
this way, plates and vases frame patterns; arches and beams frame the tops of

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 301

doorways and rooftops; petals and stems frame parts of flowers; and lips
frame the mouth. In this way, we have created conventions for designing forms
of mass media within still frames.

Many frames we use in print publications have standard sizes and shapes
developed to work well with the technologies of printing. A typical book format
is 6 x 9", though printed books range in size from less than 1 millimeter square
to a 133-pound 5 x 7’ book. One such enormous book was designed by MIT sci-
entist Michael Hawley, who believed it was the best way to portray the colorful
life of Bhutan through photographs. “What I really wanted was a 5-by-7-foot
chunk of wall that would let me change the picture every day,” Hawley said.
”And I thought there was an old-fashioned mechanism that might work. It’s
called the book” (Guinness, para. 7). Brewster Kahle, the inventor of the

Figures 13.7-8. Tim Jordan, art director for Oregon Quarterly, designed this four-page spread fea-
turing photographs of Singapore photographer Russel Wong and a story by University of Oregon
Prof. William Ryan. Note that Jordan varied columns, using one column surrounded by white
space on the open page, two columns on the second page, and three columns on the fourth.
Traditionally, designers maintain the same column widths after the opening spread. Here, Jordan
used less formal style within the 17 x 11” frame of two 8.5 x 11” magazine pages to design as cre-
atively as Wong photographed. Take a close look, too, at how Wong applied the basic elements of
visual design within a square photographic frame to portray celebrities in creative ways.
 Chapter 13
Internet Archive project, bought a copy of the book and noted that its size caus-
es a reader to approach the “book in a fundamentally new way… .You meet it
eye-to-eye, like a person” (Guinness, para. 9). Hawley cautioned that his book
is not one to read in bed, “unless you plan to sleep on it” (Guinness, para. 2).
The largest previously published book was Audubon’s 40 x 30" Birds of
America, four-volumes of 435 hand-colored, life-size images completed in 1838.

MIT scientists Pawan Sinha and Pamela R. Lipson developed a method for
reproducing a book about the size of a pencil eraser. The process uses comput-
er software and a font with letterforms about four microns high to write the
180,000-plus words of the New Testament in 24-karat gold on a crystalline sili-
con chip. Yet the book is not digital: “If the PC goes out of vogue, you’ll still be
able to read this [with a microscope, that is],” Lipson said (Flaherty, npn).

As noted in chapter 10, photographic frames come in a variety of sizes. Most

common is the 35 mm frame, which measures 24 x 36 mm. The world’s largest
camera, built in 1900 for the Paris Exposition, used a glass plate measuring 8 x
4.5'. The smallest film camera on record is the 1958 Japanese Petal camera,
measuring 29 mm in diameter and 16 mm thick (about 1.25" round), and produc-
ing 6mm circular images on a 25 mm diameter film disc. The largest photograph
in the world is said to be an 18 m x 272 m image of Elton John made in 2002.
A traditional, full-sized newspaper page, called a broadsheet, typically is about
 Figure 13.9. Science Section Front, The Oregonian, May 12, 2005.
What are the lines of eye travel? How do the type and columns vary?

304 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
17 x 22" when folded in half and is cut from massive rolls of newsprint. In
order to cut costs, broadsheet newspapers have moved toward trimming page
sizes. A standard magazine page is 8.5 x 11", opening to create a 17 x 11" frame
for two-page spreads. In contrast, an outdoor billboard can be as large as 48 x
14', the size you might see while driving down a freeway.

Print publications often are designed using a base skeleton called a grid.
Newspapers and magazines often work with a six-column grid, which allows
them to vary the width of their columns across one to six grids.

Designing Well within the Frame

Print publications often use combinations of type blocks and images that fit
together as frames within frames. This sometimes results in unfortunate juxta-
positions of news stories and advertisements because page designers often
view these elements separately rather than as parts of an entire frame of a
page. Readers, too, learn to see them separately but subconsciously take in
more than the items on which they consciously focus.

Print publication designers have different methods for beginning their designs.
Some still prefer to draw thumbnails by hand. Others prefer to begin by plug-
ging visual elements into a page grid via computer page layout and illustration
software. Whichever you prefer, the first elements to draw you in are the visual
images. Research indicates that readers’ eyes go first to photographs, then to
headlines, captions, and news stories, in that order. So, it makes sense to
begin with the visual element that first grabs the attention of the reader.

When selecting a photograph for a page layout, the designer should keep the
following factors in mind:

• Which image best communicates the idea or story?

• Which image do you want viewers to remember?

Only after selecting an image based on its content should a design focus on
the visual appeal of the image. All too often, designers work in the opposite
manner: They select an image for its visual appeal, and then think about its
message content. In another common scenario, designers lay out the text first
and then look for images to illustrate it — the opposite of what a designer who
wants to maximize potential for reader attention and understanding should do.

Eye tracking research with newspapers indicates that readers process or pay atten-
tion to 75 to 80% of artwork and photographs, according to Garcia and Adam. They
process 56% of headlines, 52% of advertising, about 30% of briefs and cutlines,
and about 25% of text. It makes sense then that designers and editors should take
seriously the content of the elements that dominate readers’ attention.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 305

 Chapter 13
Eye-tracking research also revealed that
readers are more drawn to color than to
black-and-white designs. Color is so impor-
tant to readers that even the New York
Times, traditionally known as “the good
gray Times,” and the Wall Street Journal,
known for long columns of type and small
visuals known as stipples, underwent
redesigns that included the addition of
color to their front pages. But they did so
cautiously, with reader habits in mind.

Readers become accustomed to a publica-

tion’s design. Design scholar Kay Amert calls
this the contract of literacy, meaning read-
ers learn to expect a particular form of visu-
al presentation in a publication. When publi-
cations change their design — even for the
better — it is often upsetting to readers.

Readers also respond best to clearly organ-

ized pages that help them determine what
is most important to view. A well-designed
newspaper page has a clear, dominant
entry point for the reader. Mario Garcia,
known for his successful redesigns of U.S.
newspapers, stressed that a newspaper
front page should have one visual that is at
least three times larger than other visual
elements on the page.
Editors should choose the words they use
in headlines and captions with great care
to make the best use of space and the
knowledge those readers may never get to
the body of a story. Type is a key element
in print media, and key to processing type
is the designer’s selection of typeface.

Figure 13.10. Bruce Ely combined 60 images

he took of guard Damon Stoudamire during
a Trail Blazers’ game against Dallas in
Roco Garden to make this composite illustra-
tion for a broadsheet doubletruck (center pages
designed as one layout in a regular-sized news-
paper), The Oregonian, April 17, 2005.

307
 Figure 13.11. Special Food Section front, The Oregonian, February 10, 2006.
Note the sanserif type, text wrap, and fun illustrations. Compare with the serif type,
formal design, and serious photojournalism of the science special in Figure 13.9.

308 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
Figure 13.12. Casts of Korean bronze
type, 1406. Koreans used wooden types
embedded in wax in shallow wooden
trays. In 1397, the king of Korea set up
a foundry to produce metal types, which
were wedged into place with narrow
strips of bamboo between each vertical
row. Printing was done by inking the
type and taking an impression on paper
by gently rubbing on the back. These
movable types antedate Gutenberg's
invention of movable type in Western
Europe by more than a century. Science
Museum/Science and Society Picture
Library.

Characteristics of Type
Although type refers to words, it is important to remember that you perceive
the words you read on a printed page — as these you are reading now —
through visual means. We have become so accustomed to reading them that
we forget the significance of their visual characteristics (see chapter 8 for an
earlier discussion of this subject). We are not born reading words — we must
learn first how to distinguish letterforms and then how to recognize sets of let-
ters put together into words and sentences. In fact, it is estimated that thou-
sands of oral languages in the world have yet to be recorded in written form.

The Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans printed from movable type well before
the Western world discovered the art in the 15th century. In the 11th centu-
ry, the Chinese developed type characters from hardened clay. Koreans had
cast type through a method widely used in China and Japan. The oldest
known text printed from movable type was created in 1397. In spite of this
history of invention in Asia, Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, is
generally credited with the invention of printing from movable type
between 1440 and 1450. Historians believe his invention consisted of the
combination of a number of existing processes. Gutenberg’s major contri-
bution probably was the making of adjustable metal molds for casting
types of different sizes accurately and in large quantities. By the end of the
year 1500, printing presses had been set up in more than 250 cities
throughout Europe, a sign of a mass movement of literacy that would shift
the control of words — and therefore ideas — in an unparalleled fashion
until the diffusion of the personal computer in the late 20th century.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 309

 Figure 13.13. Printing, 1574.
Woodcut illustration by Jost
Amman from “De Omnibus
Illiberalibus Siue Mechanicis
Artibus...Liber” by Hartmann
Schopper, published in
Germany. Schopper's book,
written in Latin, detailed a
variety of trades. Here, two men
in the foreground are shown
inking type and preparing
paper on a printing press, while
in the background men are
seen selecting and setting the
type to be printed. Science
Museum/Science and Society
Picture Library.

Parts of a Letterform
At this point, we want to introduce you to the basic vocabulary of type and
typography in common use today.

s t ro ke — lines of a letterform
s e r i f — finishing marks on the ends of strokes
b ow l — the outside of a letter that contains space within it, such as a or d
c o u n t e r — the inside of the bowl
l ow e r c a s e — no capital letters
u p p e r c a s e — capital letters
x- h e i g h t — the vertical dimension of a lowercase x
a s c e n d e r — the part of the letterform extending above the x-height, in letters
such as l or f
d e s c e n d e r — the part of the letterform extending below the x-height, in letters
such as p or y
s i ze — the vertical dimension of a letterform measured from the bottom of the
descender to the top of the ascender
p o i n t — the smallest unit used to measure letterforms vertically; 72 points = 1
inch. Type measuring 36 points high is about a half-inch high.
p i c a — units used to measure line length and width and depth of visual ele-
ments and spacing; 12 points = 1 pica, 6 picas = 72 points = 1 inch.

310 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13

Figures 13.14-15. Top left: Measuring type in points and picas with one inch comparison, illustration by
Janet Halvorsen. Top right: Three Ws cast in movable hot metal type, sitting on rows of metal type. ©
iStockphoto.com/D.S.L. Zgorzelec.

e m — the square of a type size. Seventy-two-point type has an em that meas-

ures 72 points vertically and horizontally.
e n — one-half the horizontal size of an em. Seventy-two-point type has an en
that measures 36 points horizontally and 72 points vertically.
a g a t e — small type used largely in classified ads or tables; 14 agate lines = 1
inch.
l e a d i n g — line spacing. Designs specify (or spec) type as solid (written 9/9 for
lines with no additional leading between them, 9/11 for lines with two points
spacing between them, or 9/7 for minus leading to reduce space between lines,
to stack lines, or to overlap lines).
t r a ck i n g — how the letterforms or words are spaced in a line
k e r n i n g — modifying the space between individual letterforms for better
appearance and readability
l i n e l e n g t h — how wide a line is, often determined by the width of a column
used in a grid for layout. One formula for determining the optimum line length

Figure 13.16. Parts of a Letterform. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 311

 Figure 13.17. Ludlow line type-casting machine, 1955.
Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

for ease of reading is the width in picas of the lowercase alphabet of a font
(one typestyle in one size). Use that width as the minimum line length when
using that font, and use twice that width as the maximum line length with that
font.
f l u s h l e ft — lines of type beginning at exactly the same point on the left side
r a g g e d r i g h t — lines of type that are uneven on the right side only
f l u s h r i g h t — lines of type ending at exactly the same point on the right side
r a g g e d l e ft — lines that begin at uneven points on the left side only
j u s t i f i e d — lines that begin and
end at the same point on both the
left and right side
c e n t e r e d — when lines of type
are spaced exactly in the middle of
a type block; both sides will be
uneven.
t ex t w r a p — when body type is
formed around a graphic

Figure 13.18. Lines of hot metal type with

metal shim leading between lines (typeset in
Swedish). © iStockphoto/Monolinea.

312 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
-=,./;’[]`\!@#$%^&*()_+<>?:”{}~|

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
-=,./;’[]`\!@#$%^&*()_+<>?:”{}~|
Figures 13.19-20. Each of the above sets is one font when using the traditional definition based on hot
type (or metal). The top one is 14 point Electra LH Regular. The second one is 18 point Ekectra LH
Cursive. Digital type (cold type) uses the term font to refer to a general family name, such as Bodoni,
and all of its varieties, such as 12-pt Bodoni Bold or 36-pt Bodoni Bold Condensed.

Palatino 6 point

Palatino 8 point
Palatino 10 point
Palatino 12 point
Palatino 14 point
Palatino 18 point
Palatino 20 point
Palatino 24 point
Palatino 30 point
Palatino 32 point
Palatino 36 point
Palatino 48 point
Palatino 72
Figures 13.21. Standard type sizes. Note that the type is set flush left, ragged right.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 313

 Type Groups
You will find different names for different kinds of type, but general typefaces
fall into six basic groups based on shared graphic characteristics:

B l a ck l e tt e r o r Te x t — ornate, angular letterforms created with dominant, thick

strokes flourished with thin strokes. Many newspaper nameplates continue to
use their original blackletter type as a sign of authority and tradition. These
typefaces are associated with medieval times in Europe and the Bible. The
Oregonian nameplate (or flag)in Figure 13.23 is set in a blackletter typeface.

Here is an example of a Blackletter typeface called Wilhelm Klingspor Gotisch:

Blackletter
R o m a n — classic letterforms with strokes of varying width and ending with
small finishing marks called serifs, originally used to cover strokes made
imperfectly with chisels or brushes.

Three subgroups of Roman typefaces are Old Style, which uses angled axes,
some contrast in stroke width, oblique serifs on some letters (such as the low-
ercase d or l ), and bracketed serifs with small indentations, or humps, on the
bottom; Transitional, which has only slightly angled axes, more stroke-width
contrast, bracketed by cleaner serifs with no humps; and Modern, which uses
vertical axes, increased contrast in stroke widths, and thin, hairline serifs that
seldom are bracketed.

This version of Georgia is an example of Old Style Roman type:

Old Style Roman

This version of Baskerville is an example of Transitional Roman type:

Transitional Roman
314 Williams and Newton
 Chapter 13

Figure 13.22. Ways to distinguish Early Roman (Old Style), Transitional Roman, and Modern Roman
typefaces. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

Bodoni is an example of a Modern Roman type:

Modern Roman
S a n s s e r i f — clean, even strokes with no finishing marks, or serifs.

Many sans serif typefaces are geometrically styled with uniform strokes that
show little or no variation. Others, more calligraphically styled, are based on
the subtle variations in stroke widths of calligraphy, offering a more graceful
appearance. The body type for this book is set in 10-point Univers, a Geometric
Sans Serif type.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 315

 Figure 13.23. Page One, The Oregonian, July 22, 2006. Note how the page designer used different type-
styles, sizes, tones, column widths, rule lines, and images to organize the day’s news.

316 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
Helvetica is another example of Geometric Sans Serif type:

Geometric Sans Serif

Optima is an example of Calligraphic Sans Serif type:

Calligraphic Sans Serif

Note the different visual effects of Helvetica and Optima. One is bold, the other
more graceful. In these two examples, Helvetic carries more visual weight.
Optima is more elegant.

S qu a r e s e r i f — uniform strokes with blocky, slablike serifs and a massive,

strong-appearing structure. Princetown is an example of Square Serif type:

Square serif
S c r i p t o r C u r s i ve — letterforms that resemble handwriting. Script letterforms
connect. Cursive letterforms do not (remember the useful trick: curse them
because they’re not connected). Edwardian Script is an example of Script type:

Script type
Savoye is an example of Cursive type:

Cursive type
Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 317
 N ov e l t y — each typeface in this group has unique characteristics associated
with the meaning of the message the type conveys. Jazz is an example of
Novelty type:

Novelty type
This is Bearpaw:

Novelty type
Other Terms
However, our adventure with type does not stop with basic groups. Typeface
details are identified by:

! family names, such as Edwardian Script ITC, Palatino, or Jazz

! style, which includes such variations as
— weight (bb o l d or light)
— width (expanded/extended or condensed)
— posture (italic/oblique or upright, also known as Roman)
(for example: Baskerville Semibold or Optima Bold)

108
! series, which refers to all the sizes in a particular family of type, as in

6- through -point sizes

! font, which refers to all characters for one size and one style of a family
of type (such as 10-point Baskerville). Note, for example, that both sam-
ples of novelty type above are typeset in 54 point. Yet Jazz takes up more
vertical and horizontal space than Bearpaw, even though Jazz is set in
upper- and lower-case and Bearpaw is set in all caps (in 10 point here).

Contemporary use of the word font has changed since the term was originated.
In the early days of type design, one font filled an actual drawer in a bureau of
drawers, each filled with different sizes and styles of the same basic family of
type. So, for example, each size of the lowercase alphabet, numbers, and punc-
tuation marks for 18-point Baskerville Semibold was one font.

318 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 13
Before the invention of the Linotype, a machine that melted bars of a lead alloy
for formation into lines of letters, a typesetter had to hand select letter blocks
and put them together in a form to print even one line of type. For three-
fourths of the 20th century, typesetters still hand-set display type, large-size
type for headlines and advertisements but used Linotype machines to cast the
main text or body of type. As computers took over the processing of words,
print shops gradually shifted from using physical type, also known as hot type
because of the molten metal used, to cold type, or type that was digitally
coded and could be set using software programs such as Microsoft Word.
Because of the ease of making type any size and any style one desired, the
meaning of font has shifted to refer to the basic names of a typeface.

Practical Guidelines for Effective Design

Designers make many choices beyond frame dimensions, image selection, and
type. Other factors, too numerous to name in their entirety in this brief intro-
duction to print publications, include the surface or material that carries the
design (the kind of paper, cloth, stone), how the visual elements are inscribed
on that surface (offset printing, screen printing, hand application), quantity
(one original or millions of reproductions), and distribution (handed from per-
son to person or mailed en masse). Designers’ choices are as large as the over-
all goal of a project — and as small as how to place each visual element,
including letterforms, within the frame of the page or object.

Even so, following a few simple practices can help beginning designers pro-
duce effective publications that readers can easily read.

• Clarify purpose of the design.

• Know your audience.
• Use a grid for consistency.
• Select visual and verbal content based on the meaning conveyed.
• Use color when possible and appropriate to content.
• Use type wisely.
— Select type style to convey publication image and content.
— Mix typefaces sparingly and cautiously.
— Only vary type styles within the same family when in doubt.
— Select column width for readability.
• Consider the entire frame, not just individual frames on a page. This
means considering the publication with pages open as a whole frame.

More than Appearances

Are these guidelines primarily about appearances — making sure your publica-
tion looks good? Hardly. Good design can make the difference between a pub-
lication that is picked up or not, read or not, sold or not, and understood or

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 319

 not. Furthermore, design can carry elements of racism, sexism, classism,
ageism, any “ism” you can imagine. Lucy Ganje (1998), professor of visual
communication at the University of North Dakota, conducted research on the
ways American Indian populations perceive design in newspapers. Lakota cul-
ture, for example, holds four colors as sacred: red, black, yellow, and white.
Black Elk described how ribbons on his sacred pipe stood for the four directions:

The black one is for the west where the thunder beings life to
send us rain: the white one for the north, whence comes the
great white cleansing wind: the red one for the east, whence
springs the light and where the morning star lives to give men
wisdom; the yellow for the south whence come the summer
and the power to grow. (npn)

Stressing that “language, culture, and thought are interrelated” and that “lay-
out is a form of expression,” Ganje recommended editors use “cultural empa-
thy” through attending to shapes, colors, patterns, directions, numbers, and
symbols of unique significance to American Indian readers. She wrote:

A culturally sensitive layout can be accomplished by relating

the precepts of the culture to the design and layout of the publi-
cation. Newspapers continue their struggle to attract minority
women and younger audiences. There are many barriers to
overcome for those from oral tradition cultures who may not
operate as well within print-oriented mainstream society. The
newspaper should not keep people from the news but guide
them through it using familiar signs and landmarks. This map
can be accomplished by recognizing that the most effective
composition comes from within a culture or community.

As we become aware of the remarkable diversity of human life, even as we

shorten distances among us through technology, it is important to remember
that the visual resonates deep within the human mind. The way we design, the
way we arrange elements within a frame for publication or other use, commu-
nicates more than we realize.

Stopping time and framing space are powerful tools in the creation and com-
munication of ways of seeing and knowing. As you can now see, the subtlety
and nuance of the many elements of graphic design and visual production
techniques create highly intuitive visual communication products using print
media. Often, the rationally dominant instruments that we use to assess and
understand visual media do not account for the effective use of intuitive tech-
niques to shape our perceptions and persuade us toward specific behaviors.
That is why it is so important to understand visual communication from a vari-
ety of perspectives that include both rational and intuitive processes.

320 Williams and Newton

Figure 13.24. LVM cover design by Pentagram (original in color). Courtsey of D. J. Stout.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 321

 Figure C13.1. Jovan Musk ad, Coty.

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CREATIVE THIRTEEN
Personal Impact Assessment: Understanding Images
from Intuitive and Rational Perspectives

The Goal: Understanding How Still Media Images Communicate

As we have seen in preceding chapters, the techniques that contemporary media
use to convey their messages are visual, musical, and metaphorical flights of
fantasy and magic, similar to our dreams. They are processed in the brain using
the same intuitive cognitive processes that are used to develop knowledge and
memory. These stimuli follow LeDoux’s and Damasio’s neurological paths
through the thalamus, amygdala, and prefrontal lobes to bypass reason. We usu-
ally are not even aware that we have been seduced by compelling imagery.

Media imagery is similar to dreams in format, content, and nonconscious

memory processing. Because of the intuitive aspects of media communication,
the more discursive, rationally biased instruments that we have used to under-
stand media communication, such as semiotics and the Six Perspectives, can
never completely access the deeper meanings and influences of mediated
imagery. A classic process of dream interpretation, however, can be useful to
understand media images from an intuitive perspective.

As noted earlier, Personal Impact Assessment (PIA), an instrument that was

adapted by Williams from a Jungian dream interpretation technique allows us
to understand media imagery in ways that redirect their persuasive intent
toward self-awareness. Working through the process of PIA helps reveal the
motivations of the creator of the image and explores the influence of the
media-delivered motivations of others on the viewer. This self-awareness is
critical to understanding and guiding the effects of those motivations on your
behavior in both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. This is signifi-
cant to you on three levels.

First, if you are to guide your own behavior in ways that are individually and
culturally advantageous, it is critical that you understand the motivations driv-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 323

 ing your behavior. As Freud suggested, bringing one’s own unconscious moti-
vations into consciousness and integrating that understanding with reason
allows a person to consider more fully and critically the outcome of a particular
response to those motivations. That, in turn, helps an individual guide that
response in ways that are consistent with personal values and beliefs. Using
PIA to assess one’s own imagery — including dreams, meditations, drawings,
paintings, photographs, and metaphorical writing — from an intuitive, synthe-
sistic perspective can help you become more aware of the intrapersonal moti-
vations that have generated the imagery. This is a direct method of integrating
the unconscious and conscious toward greater self-awareness.

Second, it is clear that most media images are permeated with messages
designed specifically to bypass reason. With symbolic, archetypal power beyond
logic, they communicate to our interior feelings, values, needs, and desires in
ways that shape our beliefs and direct our decision making and external
actions. Similar to waking dreams, media images speak to the whole mind
instantaneously, leaving powerful memory suggestions in the unconscious.
Because our unconscious memory processes do not differentiate between
mediated and real experiences in terms of cognition and decision making, these
symbolic memories become more powerful motivators of behavior. In this virtu-
al, visual culture, it is critical to the individual and to society that we learn to
recognize and develop means of defense against media seduction and manipu-
lation. In fact, it is critical to our survival as self-aware, self-determining individ-
uals — and to the survival of our planet — that we learn to reverse the effects of
these messages of consumerism on the psyche. We can learn to reverse the
subsequent, unbridled development of the consumer culture that is itself con-
suming our self-identities, our resources, and our environment.

Third, whatever your professional aspirations may be, learning to respect the
power of visual communication to affect behavior is essential. To be ethically
based, that respect must be well grounded in full knowledge of potential conse-
quences of message forms and content on individuals and society. The better
you understand how media images affect you on a personal level, the better pre-
pared you will be to create and disseminate socially responsible media images.

To this end, any process that helps integrate the whole mind toward greater
awareness of personal values, beliefs, and motivations is worth pursuing. PIA
is one such instrument, and it was developed for these purposes. PIA inte-
grates the work of Freud and Jung on the unconscious mind with contempo-
rary media theory, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. It addresses media
ecology issues relating to visual meaning, media learning, and the effects of
media. Individuals report that PIA helps them understand more about their
motivations and actions, particularly in relation to media effects.
We believe that individuals and groups can also use PIA to reverse the manipu-
lative impact of media messages. By using the information in those very mes-

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 Creative 13
sages to gain intrapersonal insights. Increasing social awareness and active
response to imagery also can help societies develop balanced and sustainable
educational, scientific, economic, and cultural systems for living.

How to Begin
This exercises applies the PIA process to a print advertising image. Note the
publication name and date and the page number for the ad. Note any credits
supplied for photographer, design, model, and so forth. Below we have listed
the seven steps in the PIA process with a brief explanation of how to complete
each step. The steps may seem linear and tedious at first, but remember, these
steps trace a pathway to the unconscious through intuitive, as well as rational,
means. Reaching the unconscious mind with a conscious process is not always
simple. Even Jung suggested there were only two primary ways: dreams and
meditations. Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists are using functional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography to observe
brain responses to media images. We believe that PIA offers a particularly rele-
vant and readily available way for anyone to access his or her own noncon-
scious responses to visual media. This in turn can help you assess your con-
temporary visual culture and its potential effects on you and your life.
Remember to read the instructions all the way through and to do a creative
activity that helps you relax before you begin.

The Seven Steps of Personal Impact Assessment

1. Choose and View the Image. Select an advertisement to assess from a news-
paper or magazine published in the last 3 months. Note publication name,
date, ad page number, and any available credits. Spend a few minutes just
looking at the image and letting your eye and mind wander around the differ-
ent parts. Notice the light, its direction, contrast, and feel. Notice the primary
points of interest and where they are placed. Notice lines, curves, and basic
design elements, and how they help or hinder your eye movement. Notice the
grain structure. Notice the range of tones and colors and how they affect your
feelings. Notice how the image makes you feel. Does it draw you in or keep
you out? Does it tell a clear story or does it stimulate your imagination to
develop your own ideas or stories?

2. List Primary Words. List a single word that describes each of the significant
parts of the image that seem significant to you — characters, places, things,
colors/tone, feelings, and so on — in a column at the left side of a blank sheet
of paper. Leave enough space around each word on the list to write a number
of other words.

3. List Associative Words. Look at each of the primary words you have written,
one at a time. Start with the first word and, beside or in a circle around that

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 325

 word, write other words (word associations that come into your mind as you
think about the first word). Finish all of the associations for the first word
before you move on to the next word. We suggest that you list at least three
associative words for each primary word. Listing more words is fine.

4. Select the Most Significant Associative Word. When you have completed the
list of word associations, go back to the first primary word and mull its associa-
tive words over in your mind. Again, start with the first primary word and its
associative words and go down the list. Try to intuit which is the most signifi-
cant associative word for each primary word and draw a circle around it or
underline it.

Do not overthink this; just say the associative words to yourself until one
seems most significant. Do this for each group of associative words you have
listed, one at a time. There are no right or wrong answers. Simply pick the
word that seems most appropriate to you as you read the words. If more than
one word seems correct, then circle both.

5. Make a list of the most significant associative words. Reflect on the associative
words and relate each to an inner part of yourself. Look at each word in the “sig-
nificant word association” list and consider what part of your inner self that word
represents or symbolizes. Write that part of yourself to the right of the “signifi-
cant word association.” To identify the inner parts of yourself, it may be helpful to
say “my inner______ self,” for example, my inner vulnerable self, my inner trust-
ing self, my inner fantasy self. Again, there are no right or wrong answers for
these Inner Symbols of your self. This is your personal interpretation.

6. Review the Inner Symbols. Look over these word symbols of your inner self
and see if there is some clear connection or story that arises about yourself
from the interaction of the inner symbols from the image. This story, connec-
tion, or meaning may be simply a feeling, or it may come to you in a flash, or
as an ah-haaa-type response. It will often reveal the inner conflicts, emotions,
values, or feelings that are behind your personal, intuitive creation of or attrac-
tion to the image.

7. Write down the story or insight. Think about how it applies to your attrac-
tion to the image, or how it offers insights about your own life relative to
the image. Also consider how associating the product or service advertised
in the image with fulfillment of these inner desires and values might estab-
lish unconscious biases and motivations. Consider how these unconscious
motivations might influence your desire for the product or for things the
image associates with the product (for example, a sexual relationship, physi-
cal perfection, love, freedom, or luxury) and how this desire might influence
you to adapt your behavior in some way. As usual, conclude the exercise
with an overall assessment of your experiences.

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 Creative 13
The Exercise
! Read the instructions carefully, all the way through.
! Spend time relaxing before you start.
! Choose a print advertising image that attracts you.
! Note publication name, date, ad page number, and any available credits.
! Analyze the ad using Personal Impact Assessment as described above.
! Take your time completing the exercise. Remember to pause and
relax into an integrative state before beginning.
! Complete the PIA by writing a story using the feelings and self under-
standings revealed through the process.
! Write an assessment explaining how this process worked for you and
what you learned about the image and about yourself. Explain how you
might use this information for self-awareness, personal growth, and
more informed use of media images.

Example PIA of Jovan Musk Ad

Step 1. The Image
This example examines the Jovan Musk Ad at the beginning of this exercise.

2. Primary Words
BLACK WHITE

GRAY SEXY

KISSING BODIES

LIPS SOFT

PERSONAL TOUCHING

CLOSENESS SKIN

HAIR TASTE

SMELL EMBRACE

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 327

 3. Primary Words with Associative Words

romantic revealing
dark BLACK contrast light WHITE contrast

dream-like longing
fantasy GRAY shadows desire SEXY beauty

soft warmth
passionate KISSING intimate naked BODIES closeness
wonderful

soft warmth
luscious LIPS tender content SOFT skin
big

closeness desire
content PERSONAL private excitement TOUCHING warmth
trust closeness

warmth soft
caress CLOSENESS love naked SKIN smooth
relationship

sexy passion
messy HAIR long, flowing lips TASTE desire
soft tongue love

happy closeness
animalistic SMELL desire desire EMBRACE warm
scent closeness love

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 Creative 13

4. Most Significant Associative Words

romantic revealing
dark BLACK contrast light WHITE contrast

dream-like longing
fantasy GRAY shadows desire SEXY beauty

soft warmth
passionate KISSING intimate naked BODIES closeness
wonderful

soft warmth
luscious LIPS tender content SOFT skin
big

closeness desire
content PERSONAL private excitement TOUCHING warmth
trust closeness

warmth soft
caress CLOSENESS love naked SKIN smooth
relationship

sexy passion
messy HAIR long, flowing lips TASTE desire
soft tongue love

happy closeness
animalistic SMELL desire desire EMBRACE warm
scent closeness love

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 329

 5. Significant Inner-self
Associations Associations

Dark Inner-self
Contrast Fantasy self
Dream-like Fantasy self
Fantasy Make-believe self
Beauty Feminine self
Desire Wanting self
Intimate Vulnerable Self
Naked Vulnerable Self
Tender Maternalistic, loving self
Skin Naked, exposed self
Trust Trusting Self
Excitement Wild, impulsive self
Warmth Loving, content self
Smooth Extreme sensitive self
Messy Impulsive self
Flowing Feminine self
Desire Intimate, sexual self
Tongues Highly sensitive self
Animalistic Sexual, wanting self
Closeness Content, trusting self

6 and 7. Story

I think this ad drew me in immediately because it had aspects that

appealed to me. It looks like a dream or a fantasy and I wanted, for a second, for
that fantasy to be me. I envisioned myself in the bed with the handsome man
kissing gently, then more passionately. It appealed to my vulnerable, gentle, trust-
ing, loving self and to my impulsive, wild, animal-like, desired self. I felt all of
those feelings at once. At the same time the woman radiates beauty, femininity,
and sexiness all at once. I would love to look like her just for that one moment in
my dream [emphasis added].

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 Creative 13
Comments on Example PIA
In the student’s story, we underlined all of the words that are also found in the
Significant Associations and Inner-self Associations lists. This comparison
makes clear not only what exists below the surface of the obvious sexual
attraction implicit in the ad but also how persuasive messages can resonate
deeply with an individual’s inner sense of self needs and values.

Most individuals can take a quick look at the image and logically reject the idea
that using the product will fulfill their sexual desires as suggested in the ad.
Through this sense of logical understanding, the viewer may feel he/she has
not only understood but also countered the effect of the ad. The viewer may
never be aware of how the image has seduced them on deep personal and
emotional levels through the visual system. The image and its associated feel-
ings and desires become part of the viewer’s nonconscious memory and intu-
itive decision-making process. However, when a person spends time reflecting,
using a process such as PIA, he/she can become aware that the initial rational
analysis neither revealed the ad’s effects nor provided any real defense against
its eloquent seduction. With deep reflection, one can begin to comprehend the
potential for repeated viewing of persuasive media images to affect one’s atti-
tudes and behaviors.

The PIA process is designed to help unmask a sophisticated intuitive messag-

ing system that, on nonconscious cognitive levels, associates product use with
the fulfillment of deeply held personal and primal needs, desires, and values.
The student in this example associated the ad’s carefully constructed visual
elements fulfillment of her needs for love, tenderness, contentment, beauty,
trust, relationship, maternalism, sensitivity, and vulnerability, as well as her
desire for passion, fantasy, impulsiveness, animalistic expression, sexuality,
and wildness.

With this new understanding of the self, an understanding that reveals some of
the innermost desires, values, and needs of the individual, this viewer is now
armed to reverse the manipulative intent of the original message by using the
new information for self awareness and self direction. She can consider what
actions she might take in her life to address her needs in ways that are real,
enriching, and supportive.

The ethical media professional can use PIA to become aware of the need to
discontinue using powerfully persuasive messages to encourage external
product consumption as a false fulfillment of deep human needs. Persuasive
messages can use socially responsible design to encourage authentic, sustain-
able living in 21st-century culture.

Reflect deeply — then act.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 331

 Figure 14.1. Bird Girl, by Rick Williams. Note how motion is implied in the frame
through the visual vectors from the woman’s hands, the girl’s eyes, and the birds’ flight paths.
The movement of the girl’s hair and the wings of the birds was frozen
with a relatively fast shutter speed, though the blur of one bird’s wing (far left)
indicates the wing was moving faster than the camera’s shutter.

332 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Images That Move and Sound

O
ur discussion of images that move — and images that move us —
begins with the first creatures of the earth, or perhaps even earlier, as
light and fire, wind and water moved in their own ways in their own
time. As best we know, the first entities that moved of their own volition were
microorganisms deep within the seas of the earth. One has only to view the
exquisite flowing beauty and variety of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Living Art”
exhibit of tiny jellyfish to envision an endless array of moving beings — living
images — constantly shifting the stillness of time and space.

From there, we must leap to our primary concern in this book — humans, who
have worked to extend their multiple dimensions beyond body through tools
of their own design since they first could think, act, and create. Today, some 6
million years later, we have yet to replicate completely the multiple, commu-
nicative capacities of the body. If a medium is anything that conveys stimuli,
and if multi refers to more than one, then the body is the core multimedia form
among living entities. One living cell, for example, can start a chain of action
that can literally result in the life or death of an organism. That one living cell
can replicate itself, merge with another cell, or transmit a message that will rip-
ple throughout the body. Combined with other cells, it is part of the multimedia
system of any creature, making possible the movement of chemical substances
along neural pathways that ultimately result in moving parts of the body or
producing aural and visual stimuli to be perceived by other creatures.

Moving Media: Transcending Time and Space

In the last chapter, we dealt with the human ability to stop time and bind space
through the frames of different still media. In this chapter, we focus on moving
images, again difficult to describe and categorize discretely. We first must bow
to quantum physics, a field in which discoverers have led us to understand the
constant activity of all things — even when they appear to be still. We neces-
sarily move beyond physics to discuss observable action, movement that we
can perceive through our eyes or other senses in space and time. This category

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 333

 Figure 14.2. Jellyfish, Boston Aquarium. © iStockphoto.com/Xianstudio, llc.
Jellyfish are pulsing, moving images entire to themselves.

of the perceptible moving image then includes not only such media forms as
film and television but also gesture, dance, theater, music making, digital
imaging, and the basic moving properties of light and material forms.

Our bases for selecting media for this category are these:

• the object itself m ay m ov e by its own or external power.

• or its c o n t e n t s m ay m ov e .
• the object may be t wo - o r m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l .
• the object may take m a t e r i a l o r i m m a t e r i a l form.

Vocabulary learned in discussions of still images in chapter 13 carry over into

discussions of moving images, especially in terms of basic design elements
and principles and basic typography and layout. We consider a number of
moving image forms, apply terms and concepts from still images where appro-
priate, and build on that understanding by adding information that is key to the
study of moving media. We discuss moving images in similar ways: formats,

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 Chapter 14
terms, underlying structure, strategies, and effects. We start with moving ele-
ments of earth and space, the body, and finally mass media.

The formats of the earth and the universe around us are the most basic struc-
tures of all: the spheres of planets, moons, stars, orbits; the spiral of the wob-
bling sun through time and space; the concentric circles created by a stone
breaking the surface of a smooth lake; the line of a shooting star or comet
through the sky; the arcs and peaks of ocean waves; the line of the horizon
meeting the sky; the symmetry of an ovum or of a snowflake. Their motion is
sometimes obvious; sometimes hidden; sometimes caused by wind or water;
sometimes the result of being a growing, living thing.

Watch the patterns of leaves and branches blowing against a dusky sky or the
swirling of a whirlpool at the foot of a waterfall. Heraclites said we cannot step
into the same river twice. What a beautiful, amazing thought, with both literal
and metaphorical implications. Sit still, holding your own body motionless for
a time, and watch a river flowing by, completely unaware — and unconcerned
— by your presence.

Artist Andy Goldsworthy is a master of visual commentary on the organic pat-

terns and textures of natural land- and waterscapes. One of his works, docu-
mented in a panoramic photograph exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, is a cone titled “Ice left by the tide/Stacked and frozen/Worked
quickly before the tide, 1999.” Other works celebrate a line of poppies that
“became windy” or a chain of hazel leaves “gently pulled by the river /Out of a
rock pool” (Roland Collection). One gallery commentary on Goldsworthy’s
artistic process explained that he “works one on one with nature, using nature
as both the canvas and the medium. His work is as impermanent as nature’s
moods; wind, sun, or rain can scatter, melt, or dissolve Goldsworthy's natural
masterpieces”(Sweet Briar, npn). Goldsworthy himself said,

Movement, change, light, growth and decay are the lifeblood of

nature, the energies that I try to tap through my work. I need
the shock of touch, the resistance of place, materials and weath-
er, the earth as my source. Nature is in a state of change and
that change is the key to understanding. I want my art to be
sensitive and alert to changes in material, season and weather.
Each work grows, stays, decays. Process and decay are implicit.
Transience in my work reflects what I find in nature. (Center for
Global Environmental Education, npn)

The significance of Goldsworthy’s work to our current discussion lies in his

sense of a transitory aesthetic, a way of perceiving the constantly changing
environmental elements of the earth. We have learned through time and expe-
rience that the media of nature change: roses grow from tiny buds into full

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 335

 blossoms whose leaves ultimately drop to the ground, the brightness of day and
the darkness of night come and go and affect our daily rhythms, rain falls and
forms tiny rivers on a hillside. We accept these phenomena, yet it often takes a
painting, poem, or film to call them to our attention for a few preciously aware
moments. Media images, on the other hand, constantly vie for our attention,
with color, sound, movement, visual effects, and words to turn our heads.

Many of us moving quickly through our time here on 21st-century Earth are
caught within the pulsing stimuli of media life in a global culture. Humans liv-
ing earlier in this millennium appear to have integrated the natural world in
their daily lives. Consider the ancient Maya, who constructed the Caracol, an
observatory in the spiral shape of a conch shell, with windows placed in rela-
tion to astronomical events. At Chichén Itzá, site of a once-thriving Mayan city
in the Yucatan, people still gather to view a Mayan moving image: At the equi-
nox, light from the sun gradually shines on stairs of a great pyramid, creating
the effect of a slithering serpent.

Living a hemisphere away from Plato’s metaphorical cave, the Maya created
other moving images by building their own caves (a format) with openings
(frames) designed to observe astrological events related to the Sun, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. After careful study of Mayan inscriptions and astro-
nomical phenomena, Aveni and Hotaling concluded that some structures likely
“were intended to mark staged celebratory events that required the proper
astronomical backdrop, such as Venus high in the sky, morning star returning
toward the sun, or Jupiter in retrograde” (p. 364). The authors also suggest that
“royalty may well have programmed” key dramatic events in public plazas to
coincide with “major sky events” (p. 364). Was this an early form of media
framing intended to enhance public association of royalty with the power of
the gods? The Maya developed a sophisticated culture, including an accurate
annual calendar and a written language, dating from about 2600 BCE. Six mil-
lion Mayan people continue cultural traditions today.

Consider also the fact that archeologists now realize the remarkable images
painted on cave walls some 30,000 years ago could only be seen by natural
light entering openings in the cave or via torches stationed near by or carried
along the cave path, or by the flickering flames of firelight, which would be
joined by the shadows of people and animals. Either source provided its own
shifting aesthetic of movement to viewing the images.

The Body as Moving Image

One of the first moving media forms was the body itself. Facial expressions
and gestures express 80 to 90% of the message when humans communicate
face to face. The fluidity of some facial expressions can be so subtle that they
are not consciously detected in day-to-day conversation. Yet, like the subtle

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 Chapter 14

Figure 14.3. Self-Portrait Series, photographs and contact sheet

made with 8x10 enlarger by Kristine Wolf.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 337

 Figure 14.4. Dancing at Lane, by Rick Williams.

intonations of voice, the minute movements of face and body can communi-
cate so powerfully and quickly that another person will alter his response
instantaneously.

Think also about how you visually recognize someone you know well from
afar. Before you can make out his facial features and details of his body, you
can pick him out quickly from among a group of people by his movements, by
the way he carries his body, gestures, and gait. Add to those almost subliminal
communications from another person the more overt signs, such as clothing
and hair, which they use to distinguish themselves (or not) from others. As
mentioned in the previous chapter, archeologists now believe they have evi-
dence that our ancestors ground natural materials such as ochre to make a
powder they could use to decorate their bodies as early as 350,000 years ago.
We still enjoy donning elaborate costumes for theatrical, dance, or operatic

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 Chapter 14
performances, and tattooing and body piercing have become more popular
than ever.

These human media forms emphasize the point that media do not have to take
the forms of mass news or entertainment. Our bodies also are media through
which we visually communicate our sense of self, our moods, feelings, needs,
and desires. Media are not entities without connection to human organisms.
Media of all kinds have roots in the organic processing of human rational and
intuitive thought, as well as in human action — that is how media come to be.
An us/them mentality about mass media disconnects us from sources of
media, which begin with people. We create media. We use them. We pay for
them. We choose them. But we need to fully understand media on rational and
intuitive levels to create, choose, and use them appropriately and in ways that
bring a healthy balance to our lives.

The ultimate extension of the idea of body as medium may well be cosmetic
surgery. Brought to popular culture via the premier in 2004 of such television
programs as The Swan, a production chronicling what is, in essence, a
redesign of 16 self-described ugly ducklings into swans. After 3 months of cos-
metic surgery, dental work, dieting, exercise, and self-esteem therapy, each
redesigned woman emerged to compete for a spot in a beauty pageant, at
which one woman would be crowned The Swan.

French artist Orlan puts a different twist on body as medium (see Figure 15.28).
She has for years videotaped performances of a surgeon physically altering
her facial structure: “I can observe my own body cut open, without suffering!,”
Orlan said in her “Carnal Art Manifesto.” “I see myself all the way down to my
entrails; a new mirror stage” (npn).

Ultrasound has been recording the movements of fetuses in the womb for
some time, and physicians regularly use endoscopy, colonoscopy, and other
specific techniques to diagnose medical problems they could not detect other-
wise. Medical technologies using tiny video cameras extending increasingly
high-quality probing eyes into the body. One of the latest inventions is a wire-
less color video camera that is placed in a capsule and swallowed by the
patient so examiners can study “video capsule movies” to detect disease
(Sadovsky).

Beyond the body, early moving media included horses for carrying people and
mules for carrying objects, then wagons, then cars and trucks, airplanes, space
shuttles, and robotized space probes. Recent probes have beamed back images
of new planets and solar systems, extending our perspective on the earth and
the place of humans in the universe. And — though we forget they are there —
surveillance satellites orbiting the earth have cameras so powerful that they
can read the newspaper over your shoulder. In fact, Chicago plans to use

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 339

 motion-sensing software and 2,000 remote-control cameras throughout the
city to watch for suspicious activity. As Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said,
“Cameras are the equivalent of hundreds of sets of eyes. They are the next
best thing to having police officers stationed at every potential trouble spot”
(Howlett, npn).

All of these media extend the body beyond its physical time and space. As
McLuhan suggested, they help us create a “global village” by extending our-
selves to places far away and by bringing the sights and sounds and experi-
ences of those places home to us. Whether those experiences are generated in
the Middle East or in an advertising agency or TV studio in New York, media
machines we have created extend and link our bodies to real and virtual times
and spaces. We have learned how to make machine media produce images
that are as real to us as bodily experiences. In fact, we extend our bodily expe-
riences through the very media we have created. When we add motion and
sound to media images, we enhance the likelihood that we will experience
those images the way we experience real life.

Technological History
Although scholars still disagree about whether human symbolic communica-
tion originated through gesture or through verbal language, a bit of history
about the development of the moving image technologies will help explain
how these technologies have integrated such elements as gesture, voice, and
light into the sophisticated mass media that affect our perceptions of what is
real, important, and normal. We discussed the development of written lan-
guage, paper, print publications, photography, and art forms in previous chap-
ters. Now we discuss a few highlights about the development of moving image
technologies as a basis for understanding how and why we engage respond
deeply to forms of moving images.

Among the earliest forms of moving images created by humans were “intri-
cately perforated and painted” leather shadow puppets. These were lit from
behind, manipulated by rods, and viewed through a translucent screen
(National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, para. 4). Historians often
cite a 17th-century device known as a magic lantern as the earliest slide pro-
jector. In one tabletop mechanism, glass slides were mounted on a circular
disk, then turned in front of a light to give the illusion of movement. By the
late 18th century, more complicated setups entertained audiences looking
through a large rectangular window onto painted scenes moved with pulleys
and enhanced with lighting and sound effects. Called the Eidophusikon and
described as “Moving Pictures, representing Phenomena of Nature,”the open-

Figure 14.5. Early Javanese shadow puppet.

Photograph by Julianne Newton.

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 Chapter 14

Figure 14.6. The Eidophusikon of Phillippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, ca. 1782, watercolor by Edward
Francis Burney (original in color). © The Trustees of the British Museum.

ing season featuring a sunrise, as well as a storm and shipwreck (Yale, 2005,
para. 2). Burney’s watercolor of the Eidophusikon in Figure 14.6 illustrates a
production of Milton’s Paradise Lost. “The scene depicted Satan arraying his
troops on the banks of the fiery lake, with the rising of Pandemonium” (Yale,
2005, para. 3).

During the early 19th century, Daguerre, whom we discussed in chapter 10 in

relation to the invention of photography, developed these techniques into the
diorama — complete with a revolving floor, three stages, and huge rectangular
canvases. The canvases were painted with scenes on both sides that appeared
to dissolve into one another through the manipulation of light. “Parisians were
treated to the sight of an Alpine village before and after an avalanche, or

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 341

 Figure 14.7. Chronophotograph made on moving film consisting of twelve frames showing a cat falling,
by Étienne-Jules Marey, 1893. National Museum of Photography/Science and Society Picture Library.

Midnight Mass from inside and outside the cathedral, accompanied by candles
and the smell of incense,” wrote contemporary historian Adatto (p. 7).

Optical toys such as the kaleidoscope and the thaumatrope, a painted double-
sided disk controlled with strings, entertained viewers with moving images.
Others experimented with point of view, even hauling large cameras into bal-
loons to photograph cities from above. Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon), who
made the first photograph from a balloon in 1853, was among a number of
photographers and scientists exploring the idea of motion by combining a
series of still images. Nadar made portraits of himself rotating from back to
front and back again (Lucassen, 2004).

One of the most significant investigators of movement in the 19th century was
Étienne-Jules Marey, a French physician whose early studies, which included
tracking the movement of
blood through the body
and the movement of the
heart muscle, led him to
invent and improve tools
for tracking and record-
ing motion. Marey
advanced development
of the sphygmographe,
an instrument for record-
ing the pulse. He also
invented a method for
visually tracing the beat-
ing of an insect’s wing
and for optically tracking
the flight of a wasp in a
figure eight. And he

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 Chapter 14

Figures 14.9-10. Geométrie 1 and 2, Figure géométrique engendrée par vibration, chronophotographie
sur plaque fixe, vers 1890, Etienne-Jules Marey, Musée Marey-Beaune. © J. Cl. Couvals.

advanced chronophotography, a method for recording moments of movement

on one surface. “Once he had explained the internal movements of the body,”
wrote historians Mannoni and Rollet, “Marey extended his investigations to the
motion of the body as a whole: a walking human being, a flying dragonfly, a
swimming ray, a falling cat. . . . Tireless, this brilliant visionary stopped the pas-
sage of time, accelerated it, slowed it down to ‘see the invisible,’ and re-created
life through images and machines” (npn). Marey also experimented with traces
of human motion; the movement of
smoke; and geometric forms
achieved with black backgrounds,
light, points, lines, and curves.

Marey’s observations of motion led

him to theorize in an 1873 book that a
galloping horse lifted all four hooves
off the ground at the same time.
Although scholars challenged his the-
ory, a former governor of California,
Leland Stanford, hired photographer

Figure 14.8. Saut de l’homme en blanc (The

man doing the broad jump), chronophotographie
sur plaque fixe, vers 1887, Étienne-Jules Marey,
Musée Marey-Beaune. © J. Cl. Couval.

343
 Figure 14.11. The Transverse-Gallop: one stride. From Animals in Motion. Photograph, 1887, by
Eadweard Muybridge. Image Select / Art Resource, NY.

Eadweard Muybridge to test the idea. In a form of not-so-instant replay,

Muybridge set up an elaborate 12-camera system to produce the images that
made the theory fact (see Figure 14.11). Marey and Muybridge later met and col-
laborated on their studies of motion and uses of multiple cameras and lenses.

Basic Elements of Moving Images

Now let’s take a look at the basics of producing and interpreting moving images
as we work through key issues regarding contemporary film and video. Noting
that content is fundamental, media scholar Herb Zettl believes the aesthetic
factors of a medium (described below) are the primary encoding influences

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 Chapter 14
that create and structure meaning in moving image messages. “Because the
process of clarification, intensification, and interpretation of events is based on
selection and a specific use of aesthetic elements, the recipient’s perceptions
are indirectly and, more often, directly manipulated,” Zettl wrote (p. 15).

Zettl identified five aesthetic image elements of video and film:

1) light and color

2) two-dimensional space
3) three-dimensional space
4) time/motion
5) sound

You may want to review the discussion of light and color, as well as the basic visu-
al elements and principles of design outlined in chapters 10 and 11, before moving
on in this section. The discussion that follows builds on those discussions.

And what does sound have to do with images that move? Not much, if you’re
watching the gentle dance of jellyfish through an aquarium frame. But a lot, if
you’re watching film and video. Hearing is based on the physical movement of
soundwaves, which ears sense and translate into electrical signals for your brain to
interpret. Sound accompanying images — even a series of still photographs — can
dramatically alter the way we interpret the meaning of the images and the way the
images affect us.

Light and Color

Although light is defined as the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum,
what we usually see is the result of light being reflected from a surface or
transmitted through something. This is especially important for understanding
the use of lighting equipment, whether in still photography, film, video. As Zettl
said, “Lighting is the deliberate control of light and shadows” (p. 20). Refer
back to the section on “Photography and Light” in Chapter 10 for basic infor-
mation on contrast, direction, and color. Two additional terms especially useful
in film and video work are chiaroscuro lighting, which uses dramatic contrast
of light and shadows to enhance visual appeal, and flat lighting, which seeks to
produce even tones with minimal shadows to enhance visibility.

Television cameras and some digital cameras must be adjusted to the light in a
shooting situation. This is called white balancing, a process in which you give
the camera a reference for a true white in the lighting environment in which
you are working. Although some video cameras have an automatic white-bal-
ance function, professional video cameras usually have manual white-balance
buttons. Balance is achieved by filling about 80% of the viewing frame with a
true-white subject, such as a white card, setting appropriate exposure and

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 345

 focus, and activating the white-balance function on your camera. Your color tel-
evision set or computer monitor also vary according to different standards for
color temperature.

Two-Dimensional Space
Television and film images are defined by screen space, the horizontal and verti-
cal frame surrounding the area on which images are projected. Screen space is
determined by aspect ratio, the relationship of the width of the screen to the
height. Remember that in still images, the frame has variable shape, size, and
direction (see chapter 13). Television and film screens typically are manufactured
with a horizontal orientation, which, as Zettl noted, is similar to the human view
of the world. Traditional film and television screens use a 4:3 aspect ratio, or 4
units wide to 3 units high. Film has widened the horizontal dimension, shifting
the aspect ratio more dramatically toward a wide format. High-definition televi-
sion compromises with wider-screen film formats by using a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The differences affect not only the viewing of wide-screen films on television
sets but also the ways in which camera angles portray content within the frame,
particularly with close-ups and environmental shots.

Other factors about the screen directly relate to many of the things you learned
about basic design and still images. The moving content within the frame often
gives the effect of magnifying principles of the gestalt. Visual vectors, for
example, take on increased visual power through camera movement.
Figure/ground principles can be shifted for dramatic effects.

Three-Dimensional Space
Those who work with film and video have created a number of techniques for
giving the illusion of extending the frame of the screen beyond two dimen-
sions. One technique is to portray people as if they are looking outside the

Figure 14.12. Three common screen aspect ratios expressed in two ways.
Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

346 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14
screen. When images from multiple cameras are edited together, this can give
the viewer the impression that he is looking at more than one dimension.

Another technique is working with z axis vectors, achieved by giving the view-
er the sense that she is looking directly toward or directly away from the cam-
era. To envision the z axis, think about the x axis as the horizontal dimension or
width of the screen, and the y axis as the vertical dimension or height of the
screen. The z axis identifies the illusion of depth, typically giving us the sense
that we are perceiving visual elements moving away from the screen, yet with-
in the two-dimensional plane of the screen. This is a similar effect to the tech-
niques of drawing linear perspective within a two-dimensional frame. The
effects of moving the camera above or below the subject area; changing the
angle of view (or focal length) of the lenses used; overlapping or layering of
visual elements and type in figure-ground combinations through use of fore-
ground, middle ground, and background; and including frames within frames
are all intensified when the camera and lens are recording stimuli in motion,
rather than completely stopping time and space within the frame. Critical in
moving image production, however, is to control the placement of visual ele-
ments along the z axis, a process called blocking.

Figure 14.13. The illusion of a third dimension, called the Z axis, is achieved in film and television by
recording motion toward or away from the viewer. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 347

 Time and Motion
Along with the challenges of portraying long periods of time through construc-
tion and editing of moving images, come complex decisions about the variety
of ways moving images can show us the world. Establishing an effective narra-
tive with film and video techniques can require careful visualization of scenes
through multiple still frames or drawings, a process called story-boarding. Zettl
wrote,

We do not know what time is. All we really know is how to

experience time in the form of duration, recurring phenomena,
cycles, rhythm, and motion. We can measure it. We live, love,
have children, suffer, and die with it and through it, but we do
not exactly know what it is. . . . The philosopher gives us one
set of answers, the physicist another. . . . Artists may be con-
cerned only with the aspect of time that best suits them in their
quest to clarify and intensify experience within a specific medi-
um.” (p. 225)

As we noted in chapters 10 and 11, photographers, designers and other visual

artists can give the sense of stopping time by using a fast shutter speed to
freeze action or by drawing a specific pose and expression. With moving
images, however, time passes as the viewer watches. Whether it is a 15-second
television commercial or a 3-hour movie, the image demands the viewer’s
attention for a particular length of time to be perceived. Zettl distinguished
among objective time, which he defined as measurable, clock time; subjective
time, or felt, psychological time; and biological time, a kind of internal clock
that regulates behavior. The degree to which an event or production involves
us in these different kinds of time via projected images, whether live or record-
ed, is determined not only by content but also by the structure of the medium
and the artists’ production choices and knowledge of the power of media.
Production techniques for conveying time and motion include lengths of shots
and scenes, pacing and rhythm, camera motion and zooms, cuts from one shot
to another, dissolves and fades, and special effects.

Establishing continuity through attention to vectors, camera placement, and

color during the editing of moving images helps viewers make sense of what
they see through mental mapping (Zettl, p. 285). One way to maintain continu-
ity through camera placement and subsequent editing is to establish an index
vector following the converging lines of sight of individuals in the scene. This
vector line is variously called the 180-degree rule, the line of conversion or
action, or the line. Figure 14.16 illustrates appropriate placement of three cam-
eras in relation to the index vector established by two individuals. Figure 14.15
illustrates potential visual effects achieved when following the 180-degree
guideline properly and improperly.

348 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14

Figure 14.14. The index vector line or 180-Degree Rule. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

Complexity editing, on the other hand, uses such techniques as montage,

through which separate images are juxtaposed to intensify the communication
and evoke viewer emotion. Complexity editing might cut quickly from an
image of a china-and-silver-embellished dining table loaded with luscious
foods to one of a bare wooden tabletop bearing a loaf of bread to contrast
wealth and poverty — or ostentation with simple elegance, depending on visu-
al details, narrative context, and point of view.

Film and video convey motion through an illusionary phenomenon of human

perception called stroboscopic or apparent motion. Early theorists believed the
phenomenon, which results in our perceiving the content of multiple, rapidly
moving but separate image frames as movement, was the result of an after-
image being burned into the retina. Though we still do not have a definitive
description of the phenomenon, contemporary theorists believe the brain does
not differentiate the gaps “between the film’s frames” (p. 17). In other words,
we perceive “an illusion of apparent movement,” which is known as the phi
phenomenon (Winston, p. 17). When Gestalt theorists produced the illusion of
movement by flashing “side-by-side light sources . . . at a particular interval”
(Zettl, personal communication), they evolved the foundation for their ideas:

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 349

 Figures 14.15. Top: Attending to the line of action so viewers can easily follow cuts from one person to
another. Middle: An appropriate continuation of the sequence, adhering to the 180-degree rule. Bottom:
Violating the 180-degree rule — note that in the final frame at right, Henry faces away from Sophia
rather than toward her. In this series, the scene moves inductively from the specific closeup of Henry
through the general medium shot of Henry and Sophia together. Scenes also can progress deductively
from the general to the specific. Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

“that the key to perception lay in relationship — in something different from

what is found in separate sensations” (Barry, pp. 43–44). Today’s films show us
24 still frames every single second. Because of the phi phenomenon the brain
perceives these frames as moving images.

Television, on the other hand, is created by electron beams that are constantly
changing. “Because the mosaiclike dots of the color television screen light up
only temporarily and change their brightness according to how hard they are
hit by the electron beams, the television image is never complete. While some
of the screen dots are lighting up, others are already decaying,” Zettl wrote (p.

350 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14

Figure 14.16. Diagram of appropriate camera placement, as well as inappropriate camera placement for
one closeup of Henry (upper right). Illustration by Janet Halvorsen.

230). The complete television frame is created as the electron beams scan two
fields of alternating lines that interlace in a constant, repeated pattern on the
screen. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and plasma displays operate by activat-
ing many pixels with an electric charge or ultraviolet light. As a result, they dis-
play a “relatively stable picture” until “something moves,” when “the various
dots light up and decay in rapid order similar to that of the television image.”

In all cases, the size of the frame — the screen — affects the way we perceive
the images. Screen size not only affects the intensity of our responses, affect-
ing our attention, arousal and memory but also influences how real we per-
ceive the image content to be (Grabe, Lombard, Reich, Bracken, and Ditton).
The larger the screen, the more real the images seem to us (Aiken & Bracken).

We also have learned that such aesthetic effects as slow motion, achieved by
increasing the number of frames per second in film but decreasing the number
of frames scanned in television, affect our judgment of image content. A con-
trolled experiment measuring viewer response to slow motion and standard

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 351

 speed news footage indicated
three findings: a) viewers are
more likely to blame suspects
shown in slow motion than those
shown in standard speed motion;
b) slow motion video makes news
stories seem less fair, less inform-
ative, and more sensational; and
c) slow motion video magnifies
already negative news stories,
making viewer experiences of bad
news feel worse (Barnett &
Grabe). And remember:
Perceptions affect behavior.
Consider the case of Rodney King,
whose beating by Los Angeles
police was videotaped by a civil-
ian who happened to witness
King’s arrest. Watching the video-
tape in real time, or as it actually
unfolded, leaves little doubt about
the viciousness of the beating. Yet
when prosecutors slowed down
the video and froze frames for
jurors during the trial, a different
perception of the event resulted,
Figure 14.17. Cover of The Daily Show host one which probably contributed to
Jon Stewart’s book America. the verdict of an acquittal for the
Cover design by Pentagram. police officers who were charged
Courtesy of D. J. Stout. with the beating.

Sound
Sound communicates on both rational and intuitive levels. Voice, for example,
uses pacing, tone, and inflection to create mental images and draw on memo-
ries in the mind’s eye. In addition to voice, music and sound intensify the per-
ceptual experience of visual stimuli, enhancing both the emotional involve-
ment and the visual imagination of the viewer/listener. Music also can bring
structure to what otherwise might appear to be unrelated visual images.

Zettl distinguished sound from noise: although both “are audible vibrations
(oscillations) of the air or other material,” sound is purposefully organized, and
noise is random (p. 327). Early films were made before including recorded
sound was technologically possible. The result was a form of acting that exag-
gerated gesture to emphasize the intention of the visual communication. Live

352 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14
musicians in an orchestra pit below the screen stage played complex scores
composed specifically to “supply a rhythm to the loosely sequenced visual
images” and to enhance emotional response (Zettl, personal communication).
If you’ve not experienced this unique phenomenon, we recommend it. Hearing
and sensing the presence of live musicians interacting with visuals through the
cues of a gesturing director adds a degree of spontaneous energy that shifts
the entire perception. Early filmmakers even considered sound detrimental to
the visual communication and artistic creation of a film. Even today, the audio
component of a film is handled separately and merged during the final edit.

Television, on the other hand, quickly established the practice of simultaneous-

ly recording, processing, and broadcasting sound and images. This critical tech-
nological difference underlies our perception of the medium of film as primari-
ly visual and the medium of television as audiovisual. Such technological
advances as surround sound and large-screen film — balanced to some extent
by high-definition video, larger screens, and high-definition audio in television
— have increased attention to sound quality in both media.
Interestingly, sound has its own form of semiotics, carrying meaning through
audio signifiers. For example, literal sounds, also called diegetic sounds, refer to
specific sources, such as conversation, vehicles, and nature. Nonliteral sounds,
called nondiegetic sounds, are not connected with a specific, identifiable source.
These are used to convey the energy of a scene and to evoke feelings in the
viewer. Examples of nondiegetic sounds are music and sound effects.

Sound has five basic elements:

1. p i t ch — the frequency, or vibrations per second, of a sound indicated

through highness or lowness relative to an agreed-upon scale
2. t i m b r e — tone quality or color of a sound, created through overtones,
which are frequencies vibrating in addition to a particular pitch
3. d u r a t i o n — how long the sound lasts
4. l o u d n e s s — the dynamic strength of a sound
5. a tt a ck / d e c ay — how fast a sound rises to a level of loudness (attack
or crescendo), how long the level is sustained, and how fast the level
declines (decay or diminuendo). The sound envelope refers to the
entire process of attack, duration, decay, and final release.

Zettl stressed the importance of matching the historical/geographical, thematic,

tonal, and structural effects of both pictures and sounds to create a reinforcing,
synergistic communication.

This overview of technical aspects introduces principal terms and concepts you
can use for analysis and to begin creating your own moving media. To deepen
your understanding, we suggest you study a key resource such as Zettl’s Sight,
Sound, Motion. To really learn, you must do.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 353

 Figure 14.18. Levels of understanding an event. Illustration by Jan Halvorsen,
adapted from Zettl (1973).

Returning to Content
It should be clear to you at this point that the technical and aesthetic character-
istics of moving media forms convey content in ways that both parallel and
exceed the techniques of still media. They accomplish this through conventions
of communication that have become “our air,” or that are so familiar to us that
we do not notice how they operate — or even that they are operating. We per-
ceive their communication through intuitive processing using visual, aural,
bodily kinesthetic, and psychological intelligences.

At the same time, what the media convey through these means has a level of
content directly related to the purposeful communication of ideas. We perceive
some of these ideas through attention to a story or narrative, to violent or sex-
ual behavior, to humorous or tragic experiences, or through informative, enter-
taining, and artistic formats. A great deal of scholarly and popular literature
about media, whether still or moving, focuses on rational critique and decon-

354 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14
struction of manifest content (denotative meaning) and latent motivations
(connotative meaning). We have tried to focus attention on the inherent proper-
ties of particular media — characteristics that operate through intuitive com-
munication.

This communication occurs through continual shifts in our perceptions, a mov-

ing aesthetic in constant flux, dynamically affecting us, as we create and affect it.
Figure 14.17 is one way to envision the filters through which a report of even the
simplest event must pass on its way to becoming part of your memory. We talk
more about this shifting aesthetic and about new media in chapters 15 and 16.

Especially significant are moving media whose overt function is to report reali-
ty — information about local and world events that we call news. Each medium
has its own way of packaging news for dissemination in mass form. Broadcast
news historically has been viewed as a credible source of immediate informa-
tion about breaking and ongoing events. Increasingly blurred boundaries
between news and entertainment media, accentuated by economic pressures
to maintain large audiences, underscore the challenges of communicating
actual occurrences. Cinema scholar Bill Nichols described the problem well:

Inevitably, the distinction between fact and fiction blurs when

claims about reality get cast as narratives. We enter a zone
where the world put before us lies between one not our own
and one that very well might be between a world we may rec-
ognize as a fragment of our own and one that may seem fabri-
cated from such fragments, between indexical (authentic) signs
of reality and cinematic (invented) interpretations of this reali-
ty....Studies offer structure; they organize and order the flux of
events; they confer meaning and value. But stories are not a
phenomenon occurring naturally. They are themselves a product
of history and culture....The occurrence does not announce its
own beginning or end, its predecessors or consequences, its
implications or significance. Only those who look back upon it
can provide such things, and inevitably, more than one tale can
be told for any one occurrence” (p. ix).

When television news workers use archived video from past events to illustrate
new events and hold viewers’ attention, they cross a reality line that is even
more significant than the 180-degree line of action. The nonconscious mind of
the viewer does not stop to consider whether the moving images on the screen
actually relate to the words the anchor reads. The nonconscious mind per-
ceives and stores the images as if they are current and real.

Television producers monitor research about viewer attention and memory to

determine effective advertising and entertainment programming. The informed

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 355

 viewer should do the same. With as many as 30 billion cumulative viewers
taking in such events as the 2006 World Cup (Roxborough), the stakes are high.
Not only is economic profit at stake but also the perceptions and behavior of
people across the globe.

More than 160 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his Democracy in
America, “Nothing but a newspaper can drop the same thought into a thou-
sand minds at the same moment.”

What would de Tocqueville say now?

356 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 14

Figure 14.19. Watching television in the 1950s. NMPFT/Daily Herald Archive.

A coin-operated television receiver was displayed for the first time in New York City in 1946,
and this was also the first time that most people viewing it had seen a television.
This photograph was probably taken in the early 1940s or early 1950s in order to promote
television use in Britain. © Science and Society Picture Library.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 357

 1 5

2 6

3 7

4 8
Figure C14.1. Scene storyboard, by Colin Elliot. Can you guess the film Colin analyzed?

358 Williams and Newton

CREATIVE FOURTEEN
Film Clip Analysis

The Goal: Understanding How Moving Images Communicate

Creative 14 is designed to extend your understanding of basic design elements
and principles from still images to moving images. The idea is to watch a film
and analyze a scene in rational and intuitive ways.

How to Begin
1. Choose and view a film. You may select any kind of film you wish as long as
you can replay the film at will. Watch the entire film, looking at the images and
letting your eyes, mind, and heart wander around and through the movie.

2. Write a summary of the overall film. A brief paragraph of four to five lines
will be sufficient. Do not, however, copy a synopsis from the Internet.

3. After at least 24 hours, watch the movie again, this time taking notes. Start
and stop the video as needed, replaying scenes to make notes. Describe:

• direction, contrast, and feel of the light in various settings

• how lines, curves, and basic design elements help or hinder your eye
movement
• camera movement and cuts from one image to another
• how the range of tones and colors affects your feelings
• how the images in different scenes make you feel (for example, do they
draw you in or make you feel afraid?)
• how the music and dialogue affect you at different times in the movie
• how close-ups and wide shots are used
• how scene settings are communicated.

4. From the movie, select one scene on which to concentrate. The best way to
do this is simply to think of what moment in the film first comes to your mind

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 359

 when you think about the film. For example, if the film is Fight Club, you might
select the scene when the skyscrapers collapse. Select a manageable moment
from the film: a short, containable fraction of time that can be broken down
into a few key visual frames for you to draw and study.

5. Briefly describe the scene in words.

6. Pause to relax and shift into a creative mode.

7. Sketch a storyboard of the key images/concepts in that scene. As with draw-

ing thumbnails of advertisements, drawing a storyboard will help you analyze
the film scene. Doing this from memory is the easiest way to help you isolate
the critical frames. Draw six to eight panels that communicate the essential
moments of the scene. Drawing in stick figures is fine as long as they convey
the key visual communication moments of the scene.

8. Briefly describe and analyze visual techniques used in the scene. Refer to
chapter 14 to help you recall and select techniques to discuss. Write several
lines about how each of Zettl’s five basic aesthetic elements (light and color,
two-dimensional space, three-dimensional space, time/motion, and sound)
is applied in the scene. Address how the elements help communicate the con-
tent of the scene within the context of the overall film.

9. Begin a Personal Impact Assessment of the scene. Analyze the scene as you
did the ad for Creative 13.

List Primary Words: List significant parts of the scene on a clean

sheet of paper, leaving two or three lines between the words.
Each significant part should be described by a single word.
Examples of significant parts are people, places, things,
colors/tones, and feelings. List the words in one or two columns
on the page, leaving two or three spaces between each word.

List Associative Words: Go back over the list. For each primary
term, list other words the primary term makes you think of
(associative words). Look at each original descriptive term —
the parts of the scene — you have written, one at a time. Start
with the first term and, in a circle around that term, write other
words (word associations that come into your mind as you
think about the first word). Finish all of the associations for the
first word before you move on to the second, and so forth.

Select the Most Significant Associative Words: When you have

completed the list of word associations, go back over the list
again and intuitively select and circle (or underline) a key asso-

360 Williams and Newton

 Creative 14
ciative word for each of the original terms. Again, start with the
first descriptive word and its associative words and go down
the list. As you go back through the list, mull over the associa-
tive words in your mind. Try to intuit which is the most signifi-
cant associative word for each original term and draw a circle
around it. Do not overthink this; simply say the associative
words to yourself until one seems most significant. Do this for
each group of associative words you have listed, one at a time.
There are no right or wrong answers. Simply pick the word that
seems most appropriate to you as you read the words.

List the Most Significant Associative Words: On a clean sheet of

paper, list the circled or underlined associative words in a col-
umn in the order in which they appear in the first list.

Relate Associative Words to an Inner Part of Yourself: On the

same sheet of paper, make a second column in which you write
a word that stands for a part of your inner self. Look at each
word in the “significant word association” list and consider
what part of your inner self that word represents. Write that
part of yourself to the right of the “significant word associa-
tion.” To determine the inner parts of yourself, it may be helpful
to say “my ______ self” (for example, my “vulnerable self,” my
“trusting self,” my “fantasy self”).

•Review the Inner Symbols: Go back over the two columns

looking for related themes, feelings, and concepts. Look over
these symbols of your inner self and see if there is some clear
connection that arises about yourself from the interaction of the
symbols from the scene. This story, connection, or meaning will
often come to you in a flash or in an “ah-haaa” response. It will
often represent the inner conflicts or emotions or feelings that
are behind your attraction to the scene. Consider how the con-
nections among these symbols offer insights about your own
life relative to the scene.

•Write the Story/Interpretation: On a new page, write what this

means to you. Write down the story or connection and see how
it applies to your attraction to the moving images or how it
offers insight about your own life.

10. Evaluate your experience. Reflect on your experiences completing the exer-
cise and write an assessment of them. How did the exercise help you under-
stand techniques, terms, and ideas about moving images. Explain how you can
use what you learned to enhance self-awareness.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 361

 The Exercise
! Read the instructions carefully
! Choose and view a film. Write a synopsis of the film.
! After at least 24 hours, watch the movie again, taking notes this time.
! Select one scene from the movie and briefly describe the scene in words.
! Pause for a while to relax and shift into a creative mode.
! Sketch a storyboard of the scene (six to eight panels).
! Describe how Zettl’s five basic aesthetic elements are used in the scene
and how they help communicate the content of the scene and the film.
! Do a Personal Impact Assessment of the scene.
! Write an assessment about your experiences completing the exercise.

Figure C14.2. PIA Parts 2-4, by Colin Elliot.

362 Williams and Newton

Figure C14.3. Ion Implanter, Applied Materials clean room. Photograph by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 363

 Figures 15.1-2. Brighton Boat, by Jeremy Wood (original in color). Location: Brighton and Hove, East
Sussex, UK. Created by riding a bicycle 67.7 km and using Global Positioning System (GPS) Drawing.
Wood and Hugh Pryor have developed the new form of drawing, which uses satellite navigation
technology, by “treating travel like a geodetic pencil or a cartographic crayon.”
They use GPS receivers to track their journeys.

364 Williams and Newton

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Living at the Speed of Mind:
Old Media–New Media

Student: Oh, Professor McLuhan, I have the perfect title

for this show!
McLuhan: What is it?
Student: Learning to live at the speed of light!
McLuhan: Oh no! No! No! That's too slow!
Student: What do you mean?
McLuhan: It's learning to live at the speed of the mind!
It's the speed of the mind that counts.

S
o went a scenario at the University of California at Irvine between Marshall
McLuhan and a student excited about the possibility of a new student tele-
vision show (© Matie Molinaro, personal communication, June 7, 2004).

The conversation took place more than 25 years ago. McLuhan would be able
to say, “I told you so,” were he still living today.

Science has advanced our understanding of the brain a great deal, particularly
in the last 20 years. We even know that the speed of mind operates on a scale
of milliseconds — in other words, mental speed is measured in thousandths of
a second. In fact, it takes 300 milliseconds longer for a signal to travel from the
thalamus and to the neocortex than to reach the amygdala, where an emotion-
al response is generated. The brain works so fast that 300 milliseconds is
enough time for the amygdala to synthesize that information and generate a
response before the rational brain receives the signal.

Researchers are now harnessing this knowledge to create new forms of media
systems that use electrical impulses of the brain to move devices outside the
body. The systems work by translating brain signals from either an internal
sensor implant the size of a baby aspirin or a conductive skull screw that
records surface signals into such actions as moving a cursor on a computer
screen. Neurobiologists hope their work training rhesus monkeys to control

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 365

 Figures 15.3-5. To left: To celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2001, the Chaos Computer Club turned the
"Haus des Lehrers" (house of the teacher) office building at Berlin Alexanderplatz into a giant interactive
computer display. Called Project Blinkenlights, organizers arranged 144 computer-controlled lamps in
the windows to produce a “matrix of 18 times 8 pixels.” Mobile phone users could play Pong and display
loveletters on the building. Photograph by Dorit Günter and Nadja Hannaske. Top middle: How the
building looked in the context of the city. Photograph by Tim Pritlove. Top right: In fall 2002, the group
transformed Tower T2 of the Biliothéque Nationale de France into a matrix of 20 x 26 windows display-
ing computer games, pictures, and animations. Photograph by Dorit Günter and Nadja Hannaske.

robotic arms with their thought signals will work with humans. One study
recently approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration is testing the sys-
tem with five quadriplegics (Warner).

So much is happening in all the fields related to visual communication that

each day seems to bring news of a discovery. Consider these examples:

— Within a decade, you will be able to wear a tie-clip-sized personal life

recorder (PLR) containing a microphone and camera lens to record everything
you do 24/7 (Maney). Using magnetic random access memory (MRAM), the
device is based on controlling and reading the spin of electrons.

— Project Blinkenlights created a giant public message board and interactive

display by using a computer to control lamps in eight floors of windows in a
Berlin building. People used their mobile phones to play Pong and send love
letters via the building. The building display produced images through a matrix
of blinking windows equivalent to 18 times 8 pixels (window-sized).

— A new type of video game, The Sims 2 from Electronic Arts, allows players
to develop relationships with characters whose behavior emerges in an
unscripted fashion, based on their own artificial intelligence and histories.

— Due in part to new technology, the U.S. softball team won its third straight
gold medal in the 2004 Olympics with “an almost flawless romp” that was
“just a blink from perfection” (Associated Press). Mike Bonaventura, a Chicago
physician, developed equipment to train the players’ eyes to see speeding soft-
balls better than the average person. Bonaventura explains that eye muscles
“are the same types as in your fingers, arms and hands“ and can be trained

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 Chapter 15
(Sanders, para. 5). After learning to see the color of ink and the number on the
side of a tennis ball coming at them at 150 miles per hour, team members
reported that no matter how fast a ball comes at them, they can now mentally
slow it down, see the seams and the rotation — just like ink color and numbers
on the tennis ball” (Sanders, para. 8). The result is much improved hand–eye
coordination — and better softball.

— You can use a USB Web cam and an Eye Games system to project yourself
into a sports or adventure game and control the action with your body (Eye
Games).

— Animated media are becoming increasingly successful as technology and

art catch up with the sophistication of human capacity to appreciate humor,
multiple meanings, and diverse cultural environments. Media watchers note
“the tendency of animated characters to speak the unspeakable” about such
topics as alcoholism, bigotry, profanity, and politics, in part because animated
media “seem so unthreatening” (Carr).

— Researchers have determined that humans remember the details of an

event witnessed via a video recording more accurately than an event wit-
nessed live (Ihlebaek, Love, Eilertsen, & Magnussen).

Figure 15.6. A laser (beam at middle left of photo) scans a skull into 3D digital format for archeological
research at The University of Texas at Austin. Photograph by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 367

 Figure 15.7. Dog Video Drawing, by Hugh Pryor and Jeremy Wood with Boris and Jemma,
Cutteslowe Park, Oxford, 2006 (original in color). The lines were created by using video
motion tracking data of the tennis ball and Boris's tail, and the background collage was created
using GPS tracking data for alignment. Notice the parabolic trajectory of the tennis ball.
“Boris is really enthusiastic about using his tail as a paintbrush,” Pryor reported.

— A new breed of cattle carrying a genetic mutation allows their muscles to

grow without bodybuilding exercise. Known as Belgian Blues, the “bovine cari-
catures of Arnold Schwarzenegger” do not effectively use the growth-blocking
substance myostatin (Kristof). Physiologists believe injecting myostatin-block-
ing genes into humans will help people who have neuromuscular diseases
such as muscular dystrophy as well as the muscle loss associated with aging.
Experiments show the gene therapy works with mice (Pennsylvania Muscle
Institute). Kristof worried that athletes will turn to gene therapy, rather than
drugs, to improve their bodies’ abilities to compete. “The standard human
shape would become different, and anyone with money could look like a body
builder,” Kristof wrote. If you happen to be interested in improving a herd of
cattle, check out the British Belgian Blue Cattle Society’s Bull Book to select a
British Bred Semen Sire. The society’s chairperson describes the cattle as
“being fine boned, heavily muscled, docile animals with tremendous growth
potential, leading to a very high percentage of saleable meat” (Barber)

— Interior design researcher Nancy Kwallek investigates the effects of color on

workspaces ranging from everyday offices to space stations (University of
Texas Austin). If you want to be more productive in your office, use the right
colors. If you are able to “screen out or ignore” your environment, you are
likely to work better in a red room. If you are a “low screener,” go with blue-
green. Kwallek determined that, although “workers made more errors in white
rooms, regardless of their screening abilities,” all-white environments do not

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affect performance over time. “The optimal work environment is a combina-
tion of the two color extremes — a soft blue-green separated by wainscoting
over a soft red,” Kwallek said.

— Satellite signals using global positioning system (GPS) technology make it

possible for emergency workers to locate people who have dialed 911 on their
cell phones (Kanellos). The same technology makes it possible for bosses to
track their employees via “’geofences’ technology” on their cell phones
(Charny). But that’s not all. Using the 24 satellites of the GPS network, two
British artists are creating art by tracking their journeys by foot, bicycle, car,
boat, and airplane with GPS receivers. They draw by “treating travel like a geo-
detic pencil or a cartographic crayon” (Wood).

— Astronomers, using a powerful radio telescope covering about 20 acres, at

the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico have started collecting information in a
new project to map the galaxy (Griffiths). An instrument “that is essentially a
camera for making radio pictures of the sky” was installed above Arecibo’s 20-
acre reflector disk, making it possible for astronomers to gather information
about seven times more quickly than before (Brand). Information on everything
from pulsars to black holes will be compiled in a database available to scien-

Figure 15.8. Spiral Galaxy M81. Spitzer Space Telescope/IRAC, NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Willner
(Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), ssc2003-06c.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 369

 Figure 15.9. IPod viewing of “Zenmobile,” a video by Don Barth. To view a clip from “Zenmobile,”
which was selected for a mobicapping (Mobile Image Capture for the New Century) international juried
competition, go to http://www.mobicapping.com/index.htm. Photograph by James Henderson.

tists throughout the world via the Internet. The Arecibo Observatory also moni-
tors star systems for extraterrestrial signals (National Astronomy and
Ionosphere Center).

— iPods, camera phones, and other personal electronic media have quickly
become pervasive technology. Their proliferation has prompted new formats,
such as low-resolution movies uploaded to the Internet and podcasting.

— Hip 8-year-olds are “done with Barbies” (La Ferla). The new generation of
multiracial dolls are “anatomically advanced” and “ethnically diverse”
“avatars of urban chic with platform boots,” “exploded hair, inflated lips,” and
“wardrobes that speak to the aspirations of a nation of third-grade J.Lo and
Beyoncé worshippers.” Mattel’s Flava line of dolls is billed as “the first reality-
based fashion doll brand that celebrates today’s teen culture through authentic

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style, attitude, and values. Mattel has
created a hot hip-hop themed line that
allows girls to express their own per-
sonal flava” (Mattel).

— A digital bookmobile is putting free

books into the hands of children who
have never read, much less owned a
book (Dean). Anywhere Books, a non-
profit organization, sends a van to such
areas as the Buikwe region in Uganda.
The van is equipped with a computer,
printer, cutter, and bookbinder to print
such classics as Peter Rabbit as well as
children’s own stories.

— Astronomers announced they had

photographed “what appears to be a
planet orbiting another star . . . the first
confirmed picture of a world beyond
our solar system” (Britt). The new sys-
tem is 230 light-years away.

— Déjà vu is not a “Twilight Zone” phe- Figure 15.10. An autoradiograph of the first genetic fingerprint pre-
nomenon. When we experience the dis- pared by Alec Jeffreys at Leicester University, September 19, 1984.
comfiting feeling that we have seen Jeffreys was the first to discover a series of probes to hypervariable
something before, we probably have. DNA sequences. These regions of DNA consist of many repeats of the
Experiments have proven that informa- same sequence (tandem repeats). Since hypervariable DNA differs
tion recorded by the unconscious mind markedly from individual to individual, the presence of common
— regardless of whether the source of bands between individuals indicates a relationship. In conjunction
the information is one’s own imagina- with the technique of ‘Southern blotting’ (named after Ed Southern,
tion, a novel, or real-life scenarios — its developer), Jeffreys developed a method of analysis by which he
can emerge later as an uncanny sense could look at these sequences and observe differences between individ-
of familiarity with things not conscious- uals in a population. This technique has wide applications in foren-
ly remembered (Carey). sic science. Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

— Our right ears hear differently than our left ears. Researchers now know that
the right ear is better at processing speech and the left ear is better at process-
ing music (O’Connor). This is an excellent example of how ideas once thought
to be “facts” — such as the assumption that both ears process sounds in the
same ways later turn out to be incorrect.

— The ultimate new medium may be cloning. Although highly controversial,

embryonic stem cells, which can now be derived from clone embryos, offer
keys to managing such diseases as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 371

 Figure 15.11. With 135-miles-per-hour winds, Hurricane Katrina
pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast early on August 29, 2005. NASA.

And then consider the following points, which perhaps confirm the truism that
for every step forward we take as a society, we take at least one step backward:

— Such corporations as McDonald’s, Disney, and General Mills spend some

$15 billion a year on immersive advertising, through which they sponsor video
games embedded with ads aimed at children (Ha, 2004). One game Web site,
neopets.com, has 23 million registered users, and 60% are females.

— Technological advances could neither predict nor prevent the earthquake

and ensuing Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 150,000 people on
December 26, 2004. Many parts of the world do not have communication sys-
tems in place. Those that do are changing. Even hurricanes, which take time to
grow and travel, have forces that transcend any rational process or technology.
Although meteorologists, media, and public officials warned residents of the
New Orleans area to flee Hurricane Katrina, systems were not in place to facili-
tate evacuation, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 people. As
Hurricane Ivan made its way through the Caribbean in fall 2004, meteorologists
used satellite images, as well as readings gathered from the storm’s eye by
diving aircraft — along with pencils and an eraser — to correct their projec-

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 Chapter 15
tions of the storm’s path. “This is the state of hurricane science in the new cen-
tury,” New York Times science writer Revking noted, “a mix of growing skill
and persistent uncertainty, of intuition and algorithms, satellites and erasers.”

What Does All This Mean?

First, let’s relate a few of the terms we’ve used to describe still and moving
images, the primary visual elements and formats, to new media.

In new media, points are pixels — individual bits of information we use to

build digital images — and electrons — tiny bits of energy that form the basis
of wireless communication. Although living organisms are “old media,” the
idea of living organisms as forms of media is an unconventional idea in design
and visual communication studies. So, let’s include the cells of living things in

Figure 15.12. Taking cues from local building materials, Rogers Marvel Architects designed "nogo" sculp-
tures to provide seating and congregating places for pedestrians as well as protecting the Wall Street area
from truck bombs. Graeme Waitzkin, designer for Rogers Marvel, believes security and design should and
can be integrated into welcoming structures that fit their surroundings. Photograph by Richard Ramsey.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 373

 Figure 15.13. Blue Poles, by Jackson Pollock, 1952. Using computer algorithms and graphics software,
Richard Taylor and his colleagues determined that the fundamental design underlying Pollock’s drip
paintings is composed of fractals. Taylor theorizes that Pollock, who was captivated by the natural world,
moved in an intuitive manner as he created his art. To learn more about fractals and how the physicists
analyzed Pollock’s paintings, turn to Figures 15.14-17. To view Blue Poles in color, as Pollock created it,
see the Color Plate section in this book. © 2006 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York. The National Gallery of Australia.

our description expansion of points. Think of cells as living equivalents of pix-

els in the new media of the body.

In mechanical new media, lines as visual elements are streams of pixels and
electrons forming paths of data, energy, and synapses. Shapes leave the limit-
ing traditions of rectangles and ovals to become forms as infinitely varied as
fractals. Volume, the visual element that is hardest to represent in two-dimen-
sional media, flourishes through multidimensional digital and holographic lay-
ers and projections of objects and organisms. And frames have become both
binding and amorphous containers as tiny as quarks — the fundamental com-
ponents of neutrons and protons — and as expansive as the universe. Just as
Copernicus and Galileo changed our perception of the earth’s relationship to

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the sun, contemporary astronomers and physicists shift our
perceptions of the universe with discoveries in both planetary
and nuclear science.

In the body as new media, specialized cells transmit percep-

tual information to the neuron cells of the brain. Visual stim-
uli create visual images by repeatedly firing neurons across
the layers of the primary visual cortex. Studies with Macaque
monkeys show a remarkable similarity between a seen shape
and the shape of the neural activity in the visual cortex, as
shown by Damasio. Thus, a parallel exists between the way
pixels and electrons make up images on a monitor or televi-
sion screen and the way the brain creates visual images in
the visual cortex. When this is extended to behavior the body
actually becomes a form of electronic media. For instance, an
image from television associates a particular product with a
particular lifestyle, A Nike Swoosh, for example, may be
associated with a buff body seen repeatedly and recorded in
the brain as nonconscious cognitive memory system. Later,
when something stimulates those same nonconscious visual
associations with the unconscious desire to have that buff
body, the individual is prompted to purchase Nike to help ful-
fill this fantasy. Through this process the body assimilates
and transforms media messages into human behavior.
Furthermore, when the individual wears his new Nike prod-
uct, he extends the original media image, potentially evoking similar noncon-
scious associations in other people.

The idea of formats in new media often focuses on such new technologies as
digital imaging, the Internet, and wireless transmission. If we want to under-
stand visual communication, however, new media must be inclusive. MRIs,
dolls, fashion, surgery, global positioning systems, DNA, and the human body
all are part of the new media field.

Our bases for selecting new media for this category are these:

• the medium applies technology (including the technology of the body)

via a n e w f o r m or the medium uses an o l d f o r m i n a n e w w a y
• the medium s h i f t s the way a living entity i n t e r f a c e s with an object or
the medium expresses or f a c i l i t a t e s a n e w u n d e r s t a n d i n g of self,
other, and world
• the medium can be either m a t e r i a l o r i m m a t e r i a l in form
• the medium often is transitory or in a constant s t a t e o f f l u x
• the medium often makes possible s i m u l t a n e o u s participation in multi-
ple realities

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 375

 Figures 15.14-18. Many patterns, such as the mountain
and waves in the above photographs, are fractals, the
intricate shapes that build the natural world. Fractals
recur repeatedly when magnified, as illustrated at right
in the two sets of tree-branch images (one set from a real
tree, the other a simplified drawing of the patterns). The
grids at far right show how Richard Taylor and his col-
leagues analyzed one of Pollock’s paintings using com-
puter software to detect fractal patterns.
Photographs and illustrations by Richard Taylor.

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Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 377
 The individual who wants to learn to create, use, and interpret these multiple
forms of communicating will do well to practice the exercises in this book. In
some ways, this process is similar to learning to crawl and then walk — it
helps to learn to do one before the other. At the same time, it is important that
creative thinkers not be restricted by traditions of art, communication media,
and science. Remember, for example, that there was a time when great
painters knew nothing about perspective drawing. The inverted pyramid, jour-
nalism’s tradition of putting the most important information in the first para-
graph of a news story, was developed to meet the problems of telegraphing
information during the days when only a few words or sentences made it
through. We’re reminded of the old story about the woman who always
trimmed the ends off a ham before baking it. She had learned the technique
from her mother and thought it was the secret to cooking a delicious ham.
When she finally asked her mother why she cooked hams that way, the mother
replied that she didn’t know — but her mother had always cooked hams that
way. When the mother asked the grandmother why, the older woman said it
was simply so a large ham would fit in the pan she had. Visual design and pat-
terns of communicating have developed because they work, and some “ways
of doing” will always be useful to us. That does not mean, however, that we
should avoid exploring new ways of thinking, creating, and working, as well as
new ways to understand all media.

What Do We Know?
As new forms of media develop and old forms evolve, we are learning how to
create, use, and interpret them better. One of the most useful new research
projects is Eyetrack III, a preliminary study of online use of news sites, a format
that has existed about 10 years. Researchers studied the movement of people’s
eyes as they viewed and read prototype news Web sites in this joint effort of
The Poynter Institute, a program dedicated to improving journalism; Estlow
International Center for Journalism & New Media at the University of Denver;
and Eyetools, a commercial company that grew out of a Stanford University’s
eye-movement and human–computer interface project.

“It's like getting inside of a person’s head and watching what they see—with
the advantage that a computer is recording every eye movement and fixation
for later compilation and analysis” reported the Poynter Institute (2004).
Though the researchers stressed that the study examined reading patterns of
only 46 people in the San Francisco area and focused on news sites, their find-
ings are helpful for thinking about how to design for the Internet. More impor-
tant perhaps is that they encourage us to question whether practices that work
with one medium, such as print newspapers, are effective in another medium,
such as Internet news sites. Here are a few of the key findings of the Eyetrack
III project:

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Figure 15.19. Maggie Macnab’s opening page for her design web site.

Figures 15.20-21. July 17, 2006, USA Today on-line. Because Internet design facilitates instant design,
USA Today could update information throughout the day.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 379

 Layout
—People go to the upper left of a page, peruse the top of the page, and then
look down the page.
—Dominant headlines get attention first.
—People go to text first and spend more time looking at text. Eyetracking
research on print newspapers indicated the opposite — photos ruled.
—Viewers spend more time reading smaller type and tend to scan lighter type.
—Keeping blurbs, which are short summary statements used with headlines,
the same type size as the headlines works best.
—The first two words of both headlines and blurbs are most important and
determine whether people read on.
—A reader spends less than a second on a headline.
—Though people do scroll down a page, they tend to scan lower sections for
something that grabs their attention.
—Navigation elements work best at the top of a home page.
—Article paragraphs should be short—one to two sentences.
—Using one column for articles works best.
—Using introductory, well-written paragraphs with articles is best. People will
read them, but they will not necessarily encourage further reading.

Images
—Use larger photos (500x300 pixels or at least 210x230 pixels).
—Use faces—and more than one face—in photos when possible.
—Use well-cropped photos with strong centers of interest.
—Make images link to larger or more images, or to an article related to the
photo.
—Content can be more important to reading than format when viewers are
interested in the content.

Ads
—Ads draw more attention when placed on the left side of the page.
—Visual barriers such as white space or borders between ads and articles tend
to stop viewers from looking at ads.
—When ads look more like article content (visual bleed), people look at them
more.
—Common ad types are text, skyscrapers (ads that are narrow and tall), inset,
mouse-over, and pop-ups.
—Text ads attract viewers.
—Larger ads draw more intense viewing.
—Inset ads (ads notched into the text of article) tend to work best.
—Ads that expand when the mouse runs over them (mouse-over ads) work
better than other banner ads.
—Ads closer to top left work better.

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 Chapter 15
—People quickly look at pop-up ads and close them or ignore them, spending a
total of 1 second, on average, looking at the ad.
—Compelling ad quality and content draw viewers.

Multimedia
—Include audio-narrated slide shows, video, interactive graphics, animation.
—Use text to increase recall of names, places, and facts.
—Use animated graphics and well-written accompanying text to inform about
an unfamiliar process or procedure.
—When graphics, audio, and text conflict, recall may decrease.
—People reread shocking information.

Although the researchers stressed that they need to do more research to verify
their findings, these guidelines point to design issues when communicating on
the Internet. The complexity of the results from this preliminary study of only
one type of new media — online news sites — also illustrates the challenge of

Figure 15.22. Different media, ranging from gelatin silver photographs to digital page design were
involved in producing this book in the authors’ workspace. Photograph by Rick Williams.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 381

 understanding increasingly complex
media. That is one of the main rea-
sons — if not the main reason —
research about the brain and visual
communication is only now begin-
ning to make significant progress.

New media — computer processing,

functional magnetic resonance imag-
ing and other medical technologies,
electron microscopy, and radio tele-
scopes — have made possible
exploring our world in all its forms.
Yet, as with fine art and effective writ-
ing, mastery of any medium or form
of communication takes practice and
study. Using both intuitive and
rational intelligences in concert facili-
tates mastery. This is an exciting time
to be living, learning, and creating.

Reconceptualizing Media Studies

Past chapters focused on still and
moving media. It is time to move
beyond such traditional media cate-
Figure 15.23. Scanogram, by Justin Abbott. Making scanograms, an gories as print and video to recon-
assignment in Julianne Newton’s introductory photojournalism class, ceptualize our study of media. Print
combines wet-lab photogram techniques with digital flatbed scanning. and moving media in familiar forms
probably will continue, but we can-
not foresee all the changes to come. In the final chapter of this book, we dis-
cuss what you can do about this. However, at this point in our discussion, we
want to delineate a few characteristics of new media as we see them.

First, new media quickly become old media. When Brazilians meet people
who seem like someone they have known all their lives, they use the phrase:
“new old friends.” Contemporary “new media” are similar. Though they
incorporate old media practices, in other ways, they are indeed new. Five
years ago, few of us would have believed we could play a game in the win-
dows of a building by using our cell phones — or that we could swallow a
capsule video camera rather than go through an endoscopy. But think back on
how quickly you have become accustomed to using e-mail, doing research by
“googling,” talking on the phone with a friend while you’re sitting in rush-
hour traffic, or feeling comfortable in a sports bar with 30 television sets in
front of you. In the industrialized world, our abilities to adapt to new forms of

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Top: Figure 15.24. Food Force, a game distributed free by

the United Nations World Food Programme, helps 8- to-13-year-olds
learn about world hunger, where food originates, how emergency teams deliver food,
and how long-term food security helps community development.
Above: Figure 15.25. Food Force characters, from left:
Carlos Sanchez, emergency team manager; Rachel Scott, logistics officer;
and Joe Zaki, nutritional expert.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 383

 Figure 15.26. The image of FAT-T was
conceived and created by Marta
Makarushka and Kim Lindquist
for Blues Blaster, a prototype interactive
multimedia computer program designed
to prevent depression in incarcerated/
adjudicated youth. The final product,
under development at the Oregon Center
for Applied Science with funding from the
National Institute of Mental Health, will
target all youth ages 11-14. © 2003-2005
Oregon Center for Applied Science.

communicating and expressing ourselves are accelerating to the point that we

cannot imagine a time when we lived without such forms.

Second, our conscious sense of aesthetics can be as transitory as new media.

Aesthetics generally refers to theories of art and responses to art. The term is
often associated with beauty or judgment of what is considered beautiful or
aesthetically pleasing. This judgment traditionally has carried with it a power
to determine what is acceptable, beautiful, or even what art is. New forms of
media challenge perceptions about art as well as perceptions about what is
beautiful or what is acceptable. The range of expression on the Internet alone
validates the idea that “anything goes,” as long as people want to share their
ideas or images with others and other people respond to those expressive
forms. As discussed in past chapters, design, still images, and moving media
have cultivated standards for creative formats based on visual elements, color,
composition, sound, technical concerns, performance issues, cultural issues,
political economic issues, and ethics. The “new aesthetic” embraces an appre-
ciation for visual forms varying from traditional approaches to an “anti-aes-
thetic.” Art critic Arthur Danto wrote, “It is the mark of our period that every-
thing can be regarded as a work of art and seen in textual terms. . . .
Contemporary art replaces beauty, everywhere threatened, with meaning” (p.
xxx). This is what allows us to view women undergoing plastic surgery as a
form of performance while also being able to enjoy the unique beauty of a
sunset. As McLuhan and McLuhan wrote, “The etymology of all human tech-
nologies is to be found in the human body itself: they are, as it were, prosthetic
devices, mutations, metaphors of the body or its parts.”

Third, new media are our environment. They are more than receiving and
transmission devices of mass media. They are more than multimodal attempts
to extend the human organism. They are a kind of living, constantly evolving
ambience, much like the body itself, both surrounding and affecting life.

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Figures 15.27-29. PeaceMaker: A Video Game to Promote Peace by

ImpactGames, which was founded by Eric Brown and Asi Burak
while they attended Carnegie Mellon University.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 385

 Figure 15.30. Orlan. The cover image of the French performance artist’s 2004 book, Orlan: Carnal Art,
conveys her assertion that her performance “transforms the body into language” (2006, para. 4).
Orlan wrote, “Carnal Art loves mockery and the baroque, the grotesque and other neglected styles
since it opposes itself to social pressures the burden of which
is carried by both the human body and the work of art” (2006, para. 9).

Fourth, new media are at once personal and impersonal. They are tailored to
individual needs and preferences while also meeting (or creating) the needs
and preferences of every human in a world that is simultaneously known and
anonymous.

Fifth, new media are at once connected and disconnected. They facilitate rapid
communication with an increasingly wide array of people and sources. Yet
they also isolate the body within spaces of aloneness.

Sixth, the real new (and old) medium is the self. As an evolving entity influ-
enced by biology and culture, each of us moves through life creating and

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responding to the many forms of media we encounter, including other
humans. In that process, those of us who can see, speak, hear, smell, touch,
and taste, form our truths and our sense of ourselves as we go. The mind is
indeed the ultimate medium.

Seventh, new media are increasingly reflexive. That means two things: a) they
encourage us to become more self-aware, even as they encourage us to reach
beyond ourselves, sometimes to become someone else; and b) they are self-
referential, meaning they play games on themselves — and on us. As evi-
dence, consider the increasingly self-referential character of comedy. As New
York Times media critic David Carr, wrote,

There are cartoons about movies — and movie producers, with

Robert Evans doing the voice for his own mini-me in a forth-
coming Showtime series called ”Kid Notorious“ — cartoons
about television shows, and cartoons about cartoons.
Everybody, including the characters, is in on the jokes, which
sometimes even poke fun at animation’s hoariest clichés. In . . .
Shrek 2, a conniving feline interlopes on the relationship
between the ogre and his trusty donkey sidekick. “I’m sorry, the
position of annoying talking animal has already been taken,”
the donkey explains. (npn)

Eighth, our ability to perceive the world visually is increasing exponentially.

Contrary to many educators and media critics, we believe children and young
adults are more sophisticated than previous generations precisely because of
their exposure to and use of the many new forms of external media available
to their incredible internal communication systems. Each generation may think
the succeeding generation is “going to the dogs,” or hopelessly lost within the
moral abyss of changing cultures and societies. We believe the divide between
older and new generations we currently are experiencing is indeed larger than
that faced by previous generations — change is occurring faster and with more
dramatic effects. Our challenge, however, is not to revert to 15th-century
modes of educating the young — modes based on linear thinking and mastery
of the written and spoken word. Our challenge is to face a world that has
always been diverse and multifaceted, but that now is aware of itself. In their
classic book, The Global Village, McLuhan and Powers addressed these chal-
lenges as 21st-century transformations that required acknowledgment of
simultaneous, multidimensional ways of knowing and living.

Only by embracing these changes as equal and complementary ways of know-

ing and being will we learn to use them appropriately to build sustainable
communities for the future.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 387

 Figure C15.1. Cover Design by D.J. Stout, Pentagram.

388 Williams & Newton

 Creative 15

CREATIVE FIFTEEN
Communicating the Story of a Person

Goal: To tell a story visually with supporting words.

Your task is to produce a picture and word package communicating about a
person. You and another person must photograph each other for this exercise.
If you are in a class or workshop, a classmate or colleague is ideal for the
assignment.

Photographing and being photographed are integral to the assignment. Make

at least 48 images each.

Your goal is to communicate — in pictures and in words — the most authentic

view of a person that you can. Doing this creative is excellent practice for a
career in journalism and communication, as well as other creative media. The
personality or human-interest story is one of the most fascinating and fre-
quently published features in newspapers, magazines, television broadcasts,
Internet publications, newsletters, and other media forms. If you do this exer-
cise well, you also will have an excellent example of your work to use in your
professional and personal portfolio.

Read these instructions all the way through before you begin.

What You Need to Begin

1. Time to interview and photograph your photo partner and to produce your
picture/word package.

Planning is especially critical to the success of this creative exercise. You must
plan your time to meet for interviews and photo shoots. You also must allow
time to download your images or have your film developed, edit your photo-
graphs, prepare prints to turn in, and prepare text and layout material to
accompany the pictures.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 389

 2. Camera. Any camera you know how to use is fine, including a cardboard
throwaway camera you can buy at any photo or drug store, a digital point-and-
shoot (must use at least 3.3 megapixels), or a fine professional camera.
Camera phones generally do not produce adequate quality for this creative.

Note: You may do this assignment as a video and prepare it for distribution via
the Internet or a personal display device if you have the equipment and expertise.
Although the instructions detail how to prepare materials for a print publication,
the basic process is much the same for various media. This is a great opportuni-
ty to practice preparing a multimedia package with images, text, and audio.

3. Film (if using film): If you are not shooting digitally, use any brand of color
print film (not slide/transparency film unless you are experienced with it and
have knowledge and means for scanning and printing) that has at least 24
exposures. Any speed or ASA/ISO is fine, although we suggest ASA/ISO 200 or
ASA/ISO 400. You may use black and white if you can make prints or have
them made.

4. A note about film processing: Two-hour turn around for colo- negative film
processing and printing is available in most communities. However, BEFORE
you leave your film with a commercial processor, be sure you know exactly
when your prints will be ready and what the final product will be (number and
size of prints, scanned to CD, proof sheet).

5. Allow extra time for things to go wrong. When working with camera equip-
ment, film, commercial processors, computer equipment, labs, and so forth,
the number of problems you may have to solve increases.

You will work with many variables — including another person, technical
processes, camera equipment, computer equipment and software, and possi-
bly a commercial business. All of these factors can affect the result, quality and
timing of your project.

Notes about Picture Editing and Writing Captions

Picture editing occurs before, during and after a photo shoot. Beforehand, you
can envision where you will photograph your subject, the time of day, the
light, the background, the environment, how close you will get to the person,
how you might pose the person, how he/she might pose herself/himself.
Drawing thumbnail sketches can help you plan. Plan time for talking with your
photo partner, getting to know him/her better, so you can make more authentic
extended portraits of one another.

During the shoot, you will make choices, which are a form of editing. Do you
include a tree in the frame? Do you move in very close to photograph just the

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 Creative 15
face, or do you stay back a bit so you include head and shoulders? When do
you press the shutter? What is the subject doing when you press the shutter?
Are you and the person interacting well, or are you tense and awkward with
each other? What can you do to help ease the tension? Each of these factors
—and others — will affect the content and quality of your resulting photographs.

After the shoot, you have a final opportunity to shape the story you will tell
about your subject. Will your story be flattering, negative, fun or sad, or “just the
way you saw the person”? Will you pick the happy-looking closeup or the sad
one? What does the environment included in the pictures say about your sub-
ject? Do the posed shots look posed, or will most viewers think they are candid?
In what order will you place the photographs? You can tell “the story” of your
photo partner in a number of ways, depending on which photographs you select
for your final edit and on the order in which you place the photographs.

Part I. Photographing
Tell the story of a person through pictures. By "story," we mean that you
should communicate to those of us who do not know your subject what that
person is like. Interview the person about his or her life, activities, major, and
goals. Remember: everyone has a story and has interesting things to say and
tell you — if you give them time, are genuinely interested, and listen well.

When you are photographing, include the following:

— Close-up portrait
— Full-body portrait
— Environmental portrait (one that shows the person doing something in
surroundings that tell us something important about the person)
— Photographer-posed portrait (you tell the person what to do)
— Subject-posed portrait (the person decides what to do)
— Free shoot (whatever works and is fun and creative!)

Part II. Editing

Select the six best shots — one for each of the above categories — and
arrange them so they tell a story. You should have more good photos than you
can use. This is exactly what you want. National Geographic photographers
shoot as many as 30,000 shots in order to get the 10- to-15 extraordinary
images they and editors will select to publish with an article. We’re not asking
you to shoot 30,000 — just 48 (though you may shoot more). Then select the
six best from among those. Mark the selected shots on your proof sheet.

Determine an order of presentation for the six photos. Think about beginning,
middle, and end. There will be a number of ways to arrange the photos in

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 391

 order to tell your story. It's often a good idea to begin and end with one of
your strongest shots. You might begin your sequence, for example, with a
close-up portrait that introduces the person visually. You might end the
sequence with a full-body shot of the person walking away.

The images you do not use are called your outtakes. You also will submit all of
these. If you shoot digitally, submit them in on a CD, along with proof sheets. If
you shoot film, submit all your film, prints, and proof sheets.

Part III. Writing

DO NOT make up information and quotes. The captions and text must be true
and accurate information.

Write captions for each edited photograph and a brief feature story about your
classmate. Telling your story in pictures is more important to this assignment
than telling your story in words. You do need to add words, however, in order
to insure that we, as your viewers and readers, clearly understand how to read
the pictures. Words, in the form of headlines, captions, and story text, usually
accompany photographs in media presentations. The great LIFE magazine pic-
ture editor Wilson Hicks used to say that, when pictures and words were put
together on a page, they brought about a third effect, a kind of communication
that neither words nor pictures can accomplish alone. This is the Gestalt per-
ceptual principle of perception at work.

Write a 2-3-line caption for each of the six (or more) photographs. Each caption
should tell us something we cannot determine from the photos, such as the per-
son's name, age and other relevant details not communicated by the pictures.
Write so that captions are not redundant but build on each other to enhance the
story with more information. Include some of the person's own words as direct
and indirect quotes. Tell us where the person is in the photograph, and add bits
and pieces of information about his/her background, job, and interests as you
work your way through the picture story.

Don’t write the obvious, however. For example, DO NOT tell us the person
“smiles at the photographer while posing in the park.” DO tell us, for example,
that your classmate just found out she won a scholarship to attend UO next
year, or that he is struggling to finish the term because he’s burned out on
school and working two part-time jobs.

Next, write a short feature story about your classmate. This should be 300 to
500 words in which you flesh out details you could not include in the captions.
This is where you go into more depth, including full direct quotations and par-
aphrased quotes. Tell us what is unique about your classmate — the “story
behind the story.” In other words, tell us more than is readily obvious.

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 Creative 15
Part IV. Designing
Plan a professional presentation of the photographs and captions. Your goal
here is to design a magazine spread, a newspaper picture page, a small book,
a video, web site, or some other form of publication or distributed package that
presents your photographs and words in a polished, professional manner.

Follow these steps:

1. Draw thumbnail layouts of your design. Try different layout designs. Vary the
size in which you use the photographs. Which is your dominant, or lead image?
How do the images work together? Think about the style and size of type that
will best communicate your headline, subheads, captions, byline and text.

2. Review your picture edit. Have you selected the best photos to tell the story
visually and to work in the layout? You may need to discard some of your choic-
es and select other images in order to communicate the story most effectively.

3. Review your captions and text. Have you included sufficient quotations and
pertinent details to complement the photos and flesh out the story?

4. Type out all of your captions and your story text so you can import them
into your digital layout.

5. Scan your images or prepare your digital images for importing into your
digital layout.

6. Translate your selected thumbnail design into a digital layout using a com-
puter software program such as InDesign or Quark Xpress. If necessary, an
adequately professional layout can be designed using Microsoft Word.

7. Import your image scans and text into your layout.

8. Adjust spacing, sizing, and type as necessary to polish your layout. Do you
want to use a rule line around the image? What other changes need to be
made to make the presentation look professional?

9. Print out a proof.

10. Proofread your type, check the details of your design, make corrections to
the text and captions, and adjust the design where necessary.

11. Print out your final version. Be sure you include variety in your final edit. If
you do not use the six required poses in your layout, include a labeled print for
each pose not included. You may more images if they are really good. You need
not follow this order determine the best order as you edit and do your layout.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 393

 Part V. Assessment
Write 1-2 pages discussing the following:

• What challenges did you encounter during the exercise?

• How did you overcome practical problems in completing the exercise?

• How and what do your photos communicate about the person?

• Why did you select the shots you did for your best six?

• What is your best photograph? This should be one of your best six. Why do
you consider it your best shot?

• What is the most authentic, most representative photograph of your partner?

In other words, which one photo would you pick as communicating the most
truthfully what your subject is like? This should be one of your six best pho-
tographs.

• What is the least authentic, least representative photograph? Which one

photo communicates the least truthfully what your subject is like? This may
or may not be one of your five best shots. For example, you may have cap-
tured a hilarious but uncharacteristic shot of your subject in an awkward posi-
tion. Or perhaps you posed, or the subject posed herself, himself, in a way
that is completely an act.

• Which one photograph best communicates symbolically? In other words,

which photo tells us more than the obvious? Which photo does more than
visually describe the person? Which photo makes you feel you really under-
stand something about the person when you look at it?

• How did you feel photographing your classmate?

• How did you feel being photographed?

• How might your feelings apply to subjects of media photography?

• How did the process of selecting images, choosing words, and designing
your layout affect the final story?

• What might you do differently next time?

• What additional reflections do you have about your experiences?

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 Creative 15
The Exercise
! Select a person to photograph, someone who also will photograph you.
! Plan time for completing all aspects of the project.
! Conduct interviews and photograph the person in different settings/times.
! Process the images.
! Edit the images.
! Write the story and captions.
! Draw thumbnail designs and produce the layout.
! Prepare the completed picture/word story for submission or presentation.
The options are as varied as your imagination, as long as the result is pro-
fessionally executed and presented.
! Answer the above questions in a short essay.
! Assess your overall experience completing this creative.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 395

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Thousand-Year Project

W
e began our journey through this book with a parable about a scien-
tist, a theologian, and a shaman who had different interpretations
about how a mother bear nurtures her cubs. We want to begin your
journey beyond the pages of this book by telling you another parable.

The story begins with the same protagonists, but within another setting. A sci-
entist, a theologian, and a shaman gather around the bedside of a dying
patient. Each has known the person well throughout her life. As they stand
respectfully beside their friend, they watch her labored breathing, knowing
each rise of her lungs may be her last.

The woman is conscious, aware that her friends are with her, and moves her
gaze slowly from one to the other, lingering for a moment to look deeply into
the eyes of each. Finally, she shifts her gaze to look beyond the three, far
beyond through the window at the foot of her bed, into the blue summer sky
outside. Her chest continues its slow, deliberate rise and fall with each breath.

Then, in an instant, the rhythm stops. Her eyes continue to stare, but they do
not move, not even to blink. All is still.

The scientist looks at the theologian, who looks at the shaman, who looks at
the scientist. Each knows what he has observed: A friend has just died. They
can sense the absence of her life, no longer emanating through her body.

Yet, only seconds earlier, she was alive. In their grief, they try to explain to one
another what has just happened.

“The biochemical processes of her brain ceased to function,” says the scientist.

“Her soul has gone to heaven,” says the theologian.

Figure 16.1. Untitled, by Jerry Uelsmann.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 397

 “What was, is no more,” says the shaman. She joins our ancestors in memory
and being.

Just as the parable of the She-Bear used symbolism to communicate the sig-
nificance of balancing rational and intuitive processing, so this parable uses a
real-life story to communicate approaches to understanding the nature of life
and death. We have spent a great many of the pages of this book discussing
cognitive neuroscience, the study of how the brain creates the mind. We also
have spent a great many pages on different forms of visual communication so
that you can both create and interpret visual images. We do not pretend to
have all the answers. What we do hope is that you have learned a few of the
most important scientific and artistic approaches to the primary ways of know-
ing that we call visual communication. Even more important is our hope that
by working through the creative exercises, you have learned more about your
own unique interaction with the world around you as well as about tendencies
you share with others.

It is not critical that you fully understand the intricate workings of the brain —
even neuroscientists will readily tell you they know relatively little about the 1 bil-
lion neurons that make the brain what it is, much less about how they all work.

Design theorist John Chris Jones, a founder of ergonomic design, supports the
idea of intuitive/rational integration. Jones stressed the importance of design-
ing “whole systems or environments” through “an educational discipline that
unites art and science and perhaps can go further than either.” Jones’s idea of
going further means “designing ‘without a product,’” as a process or way of
living in itself.” Holder of the Lifetime Achievement Award from England’s
Design Research Society, he believes the future of design rests in two ideas: 1)
that “in the end [design] will be done by everyone” and 2) that we learn “to
become ecologically viable human societies.” Jones stressed that we are “very
unready at present” for that future.

The key to bringing that future to life begins by drawing on visual communica-
tion to balance both rational and intuitive abilities across disciplines and prac-
tices. Like the square peg in the round hole, integrating cognitive modalities
combines science and art into an ecologically sound, whole-mind experience.
We believe this generates more balanced individuals and thus more balanced
and viable human societies.

Although scientists have not yet determined exactly how humans began to
think on symbolic levels, they are beginning to realize that the answers to
the future of our species lie in the integration of knowledge rather than in
specific kinds of knowledge. Increasingly, those in disciplines across art and
science realize the necessity for working together to contribute pieces to
the giant puzzle of human knowing.

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 Chapter 16

Figure 16.2. Coffee House, by Ave Bonar.

Synthesis
Although there is so much more to tell you, we conclude our book journey
now with a proposal for the future. We have suggested that the pervasiveness
of visual and intuitive illiteracy throughout our culture empowers the predomi-
nantly visual media to become the predominant educational force of our lives.
Ultimately, this leads to a question: How can we change an educational system
that produces an intuitively illiterate culture, one that supports unbalanced,
rationally biased, corporate, economic, and political systems?

As educators and practitioners of communication and art, we believe most

educators strive to teach students of art, media, marketing, mass communica-
tion, design, photography, and journalism the appropriate roles of media in a
society based on free expression. They teach about media effects, critical theo-
ries of mass communication, ethics, race and gender politics, and subjective
reality. They know that students will need an increasingly sophisticated variety
of skills in art, science, communication, and economics.

Yet, in all of this, students seem to emerge only half prepared. So entrenched
have we become in facilitating the role of rational intelligence, logic, and theo-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 399

400
 Chapter 16
ry in education that we have neglected to fully develop intuitive intelligence.
This intuitive intelligence guides the creative, relational, and ethical problem-
solving and decision-making processes that generate balance between quality
and quantity in our culture. So, as educators teach from a predominately
rational perspective, they also support the rational bias of global corporate
culture, which emphasizes quantity as the primary goal of work and life. The
few relatively unsophisticated abilities we develop through our innate visual
intelligence are like intuitive pebbles tossed randomly into a rational sea. They
develop little, if any, defense against the “seduction of eloquence” that entices,
persuades, and manipulates us using highly integrative media techniques.

The Larger Problem

The basic problem of illiteracy in all its forms is larger than just the media, or
even than global corporations. It would be ludicrous to suggest that we do
away with honing rational intelligence — just as ludicrous as to assume that
intuitive intelligence is unworthy of at least equal development and mainte-
nance as rational intelligence. Without the analytical power of the rational
processes, we would be little more advanced than Jaynes’s bicameral human,
existing without conscious choice. An intuitively biased world would surely be
as undesirably imbalanced as our rationally biased world is now.

To correct this imbalance, integrative mind theory proposes we begin with two
traditional sources of enlightenment — the individual and formal education. An
integral part of the solution to the rational bias is found in the teaching of intu-
itive intelligence as a complementary and equivalent companion to the teach-
ing of rational intelligence. Such a holistic educational system has the potential
to help fill the intuitive void, diminish intuitive illiteracy, fulfill the need for cog-

From top left: Figure 16.3. Ordinary map of the world. Roughly speaking, on a map like this, the
sizes of the countries of the world are in proportion to their actual sizes on the surface of the planet
and their shapes are the same as their actual shapes. The tones in this and the three cartograms
below remain relatively consistent to help you identify countries where shapes change a great deal.
Figure 16.4. Population cartogram of the world. Cartograms portray geographic or social data by
making the sizes countries bigger or smaller to represent a statistic. Here, the cartogram shows coun-
try sizes proportionally to represent the human population of a countries in relation to other coun-
tries. A country with 20 million people, for example, appears twice as large as country with 10 mil-
lion people. Compare the relative sizes of India and China, in which a third of the world’s people
live, with Canada and Russia, which have smaller populations but are the world’s two largest coun-
tries by land mass. Longitude and latitude lines are distorted by the growing and shrinking coun-
tries. Figure 16.5. Cartogram of child mortality in the world. Figure 16.6. Cartogram of greenhouse
gas emissions. Population data are from the International Center for Earth Science at Columbia
University. Other cartogram data are from the United Nations Statistics Division and from World
Health Organization databases. © 2006 M. E. J. Newman, Department of Physics and Center for
the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 401

 nitive balance, disarm media manipulation, develop individuals with holistical-
ly functional minds, and ultimately benefit humanity and the planet as a more
sustainable, holistic ecosystem.

To learn how the visual media operate and to develop defenses against manip-
ulation, we must cultivate both intuitive wisdom and a sense of responsibility
about images intended for mass consumption. The intuitive mind creates our
perceptions of reality and guides our behavior. Developing it taps the potential
of the nonconscious mind to live fully in a world of endless images. By explor-
ing visual abilities through visual note taking and drawing, through examining
dreams, and through cultivating creative writing and photography, you can
develop your own mind as a powerful instrument of communication — both as
sender and receiver. You can learn to use mediated messages to gain insight
into your own life.

From Ulysses to Artificial Intelligence

It is neither reason nor intuition alone, but a synthesis of both, that has estab-
lished the dream as a symbol of our quest for freedom, dignity and equality in
both our individual and our communal lives.

The dream is an inner vision, a visual voice from the core of our being. From
the free-form chaos of our interior unconscious, the dream emerges as an
admonitory symbol, a guiding message.

Dreams, the essence of visions, are the inner messengers of the primal,
ancient mind of Ulysses, Abraham, and Sitting Bull. They are the origin of the
hallucinatory and inner voices of the bicameral mind and the voice of the gods
to the Mycenaean people. They represent the intuitive mind that guided all
human behavior before the Greek Age of Reason.

Before the logical imperative for scientific proof dominated knowing, dreams
expressed reality. After the age of Reason, unfeeling reason severed from reali-
ty the validity of the unconscious experience, exchanging the creative quality
of vision for the assumed safety and surety of quantification. Imagination
became subservient to those phenomena that could be proven, repeated,
quantified, and analyzed.

Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am.

The call of reason over the imagination meant the triumph of rationality over
the intuition of vision. Ulysses stood on the rocks before the sea, the great
symbol of the unconscious, and proclaimed the supremacy of his logic, but the
meaning of dreams as he knew them is now lost.

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 Chapter 16
Jung and Freud knew that the nightmare is never literal but instead is a sym-
bolic insight into the ever-emerging unconscious life of the dreamer. And with
the age of neuroscience, their ideas have taken on new significance.

Roger Sperry and Joseph Bogen provided evidence that the mind is double,
that reason and intuition are twin brother and sister. From their early efforts
and the ideas of Jaynes, Edwards, Barry, Ornstein, Capra, Gardner, LeDoux,
Wolfe, and Damasio, to mention only a few, we have made progress toward a
clearer understanding of our cognitive abilities and hence of our lives.

That complementary cognitive processes, one rational/logical and one synthe-

sistic/global, are integrated and equally significant to the whole mind experi-
ence is clear. That the logical is more verbal and the intuitive more visual is

Figure 16.7. Japanese Ulysses. Legend of the grand minister Yuriwaka. Kyoto, Japan, 17th century. MS
2468 Schøyen Collection, Oslo.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 403

 Figure 16.8. Texas Wildflowers, by Ave Bonar.

well established. And it is just beginning to become clear what the effects of ration-
al bias have been on individuals and on society. We are just beginning to explore
and understand how we might learn to balance our cognitive perspective.

As a part of this effort, we have introduced integrative mind theory, omnipha-

sic thinking, and creative exercises as a model to nurture and develop cogni-
tive balance within educational systems and, by extension, into our cultures.

We live in an amazing world of exciting and powerful imagery and imagina-

tion. We are surrounded by images that can enrich our lives and fulfill our
needs for quality cognitive experiences of a visually synthesistic, intuitive
nature. We have extraordinary advantages and opportunities for visual experi-
ences available to us at a moment’s notice. We live in cities and towns full of
art museums and galleries, spectacular architecture, gardens and parks, public
art, theaters that offer both moving pictures and live productions, bookstores
and libraries full of books of photographs and art, and musical spectaculars
that are both aural and visual feasts. And of course, we can draw and produce
art, write literature and poetry, play music and dance, and meditate and dream
in self-guided intuitive experiences. We can sit on a hill and watch the first light

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 Chapter 16

Figure 16.9. Boys Reading, Italy,1999, by Andrew Z. Glickman.

From the series “At the Mall.”

or the mist rise like breath breathed from the water. We can turn inward
through meditation, dreams, and other processes to seek guidance from our
own inner voices.

We are surrounded, without and within, by intuitive, visual opportunities that

can enrich our experience of life and impart a sense of wholeness and fulfill-
ment in a way that perhaps nothing else can. And all we have to do is, with
self-directed intention, choose to seek out and nurture the intuitive.

The Other Side of the Problem

In direct competition with and in opposition to our self-directed intuitive,
visual experiences are the most powerful and pervasive cultural and econom-
ic forces of all of history. Mass media, dominated by advertising and corpo-
rate agendas and values, work relentlessly to attract, seduce, and direct us,
shaping our perceptions, and thereby our lives and our cultures. They offer
us, at every turn of the dial, on every street corner, in every facet of life, an
alternative to self-directed intuitive experience.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 405

 Figure 16.10. Sandra’s Birthday, by Julianne Newton.

406 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 16
But it is an alternative without a qualitative sense of wholeness and fulfillment.
It is hollow and counterfeit. Commercially mediated people and lifestyles are
based in fantasy. They are not attainable and offer no internal fulfillment.
Though they appeal to our raw emotions, mediated emotions such as those
created by advertising suggest that an external solution can fulfill an internal
need. This helps create a society based on lies, false emotion, and counterfeit
values rather than on personal completeness, security, and fulfillment.

We need to recognize that our intuitive cognitive processes represent at least

half of our consciousness, half of our cognitive abilities, and half of our human
experience. It is the half that connects us to a reality larger than ourselves, that
is concerned with a global perspective, integrity, caring, nurturing, mystery,
creativity, sustainability, and the quality of our lives. Our intuitive intelligence
facilitates holistic, powerful cognitive processing that rapidly synthesizes infor-
mation across space and time. It is more rapid and complex than our logical
process. It helps us quickly grasp “the big picture” of a problem and respond
creatively before and beyond the slower process of reason. Nonconscious cog-
nitive processes are at the core of creativity, problem solving, and decision
making. It taps into our deepest, primal emotions and value systems with the
power to transform our perceptions and thus to direct our actions without the
need for reason.

Many would argue here that lack of reason causes these problems. Yet, to teach
children to successfully negotiate our rational educational and cultural sys-
tems, we spend the first 20-odd years of their lives teaching them how to use
their minds and their linear talents in areas such as writing, reading, math, phi-
losophy, and science. Allowing for some overlap in the rational/intuitive cogni-
tive paradigm, this educates perhaps 60% of our known cognitive functions,
but with a strong linear bias toward logic and toward reasoning processes and
systems rather than toward creative problem solving.

Does it not make logical sense that we should give equal attention to the other
half of our cognitive abilities? Would we not benefit from such a cognitive bal-
ance that enhances creativity, problem solving, and decision making intelli-
gences? We don’t know how anyone could answer this question with a nega-
tive response. We can only anticipate a resounding response of, ”How do we
do that?” And that IS the question: How do we nurture and develop our intu-
itive intelligence in a system that has been and, for the most part still is, hostile
to even the concept of intuitive intelligence?

The Plan
First, we must focus on the positive aspects of such an endeavor. The enrich-
ment of our individual and communal lives. The fulfillment of our holistic
natures. The balanced development of our minds and of the individual and cul-

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 407

 tural relationships and systems we develop with them. The enhancement of our
creativity and our abilities to solve problems and make decisions in new, excit-
ing, and sustainable ways. The disarming of the media in terms of their ability to
exploit our intuitive naiveté. Within this we must also recognize the significance
of the rational mind and that a society unbalanced toward intuitive initiatives
would still be unbalanced and no more desirable than the current state of affairs.

Second, we must take individual initiative to nurture and develop our own intu-
itive intelligences by choosing and practicing those intuitive processes that
inspire and enrich our lives and cultures. We must redirect our efforts to
include, as an integral part of our lives and education, those things that cele-
brate and nurture the quality of our lives as art — the passion of drawing, cre-
ative writing, music, dance, photography, meditation, dream interpretation,
and many others that are being discovered or rediscovered daily. There is clear-
ly evidence that those who participate in arts processes enhance their intelli-
gence, improve their academic and professional performance across disci-
plines, and improve the quality of their lives. Intuitive cognitive processes rep-
resent the cognitive core of creativity and problem solving. Arts practices
enhance those cognitive abilities. When you participate in art processes,
according to Eliot Eisner, you:

• Enhance your creativity

• Learn to transform creativity into a functional, finite form
• Learn to evaluate your work
• Learn to communicate about your thought processes and work

These are life skills that are core to the ability to creatively solve problems and
make decisions that are both qualitatively and quantitatively valuable to the
individual and to culture. We believe that the practices of intuitive processes
through art and other applications will enhance overall intelligence and per-
formance in a more balanced way.

Third we must begin to integrate, into our educational system, omniphasic

(balanced) courses that blend the teaching of both the rational and intuitive
aspects of the mind through visual communication and art practices. From this
base, we expand the integration of intuitive teaching practices that can enrich
all learning experiences. First, into the disciplines that welcome them, like
architecture, art, literature, photography, film, drama, home economics, anthro-
pology and sociology, mathematics, and physics . . . and then into the more
traditionally linear areas of study in business, natural sciences, engineering,
and technology.

Through this effort toward holistic cognitive integration, it is imperative that our
actions be based on integrative rational and intuitive intelligences. Through the
ebb and flow of cognition and life experiences, we will invariably and desirably

408 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 16

Figure 16.11. The Human Store, Arpin, Arkansas. Photograph by Frank Armstrong.

learn to apply the appropriate mind process to the appropriate task, with logic
leading at one turn and intuition at another; logic directing the technical
aspects of photography, dance and math; intuition facilitating the creative and
aesthetically transcendent quality of the experience. We must remember that
together we are whole. To educate the whole mind, we must avoid oppressing
either the rational or the intuitive. If we do not, we lose the essential quality of
life as a unified creative experience and an expression of wholeness. Howard
Gardner (1993) said it well:

Dissatisfaction with the concept of IQ and with unitary views of

intelligence is fairly widespread. . . . The whole concept has to
be challenged; in fact, it has to be replaced. I would like to pres-
ent an alternative vision — one that yields a very different view
of school. It is a pluralistic view of mind, recognizing many dif-
ferent and discrete facets of cognition. (pp. 6–7)

The techniques we have described in this book are a beginning. According to

thousands of our past students, they work. This new approach requires the

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 409

 contributions of many other educators and scholars to fulfill its potential
through development, integration, and maintenance of omniphasic practices. It
is our hope that, over time, these ideas and techniques will be incorporated
into virtually every course of study to prepare students to become more bal-
anced, fully educated, self-determining individuals, who are less susceptible to
manipulative media influence and better prepared to apply classroom experi-
ence to life experience in ways that will holistically benefit both the individual
and society.

Table 15 summarizes the key ideas of this book.

Table 15. Key Ideas

• There are many different ways to learn and many different intelligences to teach.

• Intuitive/synthetic and rational/analytical are two major learning modes.

• It is possible to make a clear correlation between intuitive/synthetic intelligences

and between rational/analytical intelligences.

• Rational mode is the dominant learning mode in our schooling and therefore is
the predominant tactical tool in our society. This leaves an intuitive void in our
intellectual, psychological, and life experiences.

• The dominance of the rational mode sets up a type of rational hegemony that
diminishes the expansion of our cognitive abilities and the structuring and
enrichment of society.

• Profit-motivated mass media, owned by multinational corporations, have

effectively filled the intuitive void through advertising and programming,
exploiting our intuitive intelligence toward their own ends.

• It is possible to develop holistic, omniphasic approaches to learning, teaching,

and living that equally include all known intelligences and all people. In doing
so, we can embrace the whole of our potential as humans to build a
balanced society.

• The integration of intuitive and rational intelligences into an educational model

for the whole mind can provide balance within the academic world, the lives of
our graduates, and the societies that they create.

410 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 16
An Eye to the Future
If we do it right, 1,000 years from now, people will look back on this era as a
great equalizer, as we do when we look back on the time of Gutenberg in the
15th century. By Gutenberg’s time, writing by hand had been going on at least
2,000 years. Yet most people in Europe still could not read or write in the 15th
century. Most people depended on those in power—royalty or religious lead-
ers—to record and recite ideas deemed worthy of the time-consuming and
skilled process of writing and printing. People could hear and use the words,
but they could not give them permanency. With Gutenberg’s press came speed
and multiple, exact copies.

The next giant step toward creating a literate and more democratic world came
with the hand-held camera. When George Eastman put an easy means of
recording the visual world into the hands of nonphotographers, he began a
movement toward democratizing visual communication that would have even
greater impact on the control of ideas than the printing press. Previously, only
the wealthy could afford to have a skilled artist paint their portraits or make
real-life renderings of the material world. The spread of photography in the
early part of the 20th century led the Bauhaus artist Moholy Nagy to predict,
”The illiterate of the future will be ignorant of pen and camera alike” (p. 54).
The proliferation of the still camera led to the proliferation of the video camera,
and with it, the possibility that anyone with a camera could impact both culture
and history.

The third technological innovation to disseminate the power to control ideas

was digitization and the computer. Visionaries such as communication scholar
Wayne Danielson foresaw in the 1970s that ”there would be a computer in
every living room“ within a few decades. Now, because of digital cameras and
the Internet, amateur documentaries can instantaneously inform the global
society. Such was the case of photos from Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq that
informed the world of acts of torture in 2004. Because of visual technology, we
can see the rings of Saturn.

Six billion people populate 21st-century Earth. Of these, close to 1 billion

adults do not know how to read or write. But, as we have discussed, 21st-cen-
tury literacy means more than knowing how to read and write. According to
World Literacy of Canada (WLC), literacy goes beyond reading, writing, and
numeracy, to include meeting the basic needs for quality of life. “Illiteracy is
linked to poverty, disadvantage and exclusion,” notes the WLC Web site,
adding, “Literacy is an essential element in the struggle for justice, human dig-
nity and equality” (para. 2). Today, therefore, we must talk about different
kinds of literacy: the traditional verbal literacy of being able to read and write
words and handle numbers well enough to function in an economically based
world and the visual literacy of being able to interpret and create images,

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 411

412 Williams and Newton
 Chapter 16
media literacy, emotional literacy, cultural literacy, and now, intuitive literacy.
Jacques Delors, former president of the UNESCO Task Force on Education for
the Twenty-first Century, asserted that life is based on four pillars: learning to
live together, learning to know, learning to do, and learning to be (pp. 20–21).
The ability to learn translates into power. As futurist Alvin Toffler predicted,
those who can communicate well in various ways are those who will hold
power in society.

Our goal with this book has been to empower you to understand, respond, and
communicate with your whole mind. You have been taught to read and write
words and to handle numbers. You have responded to, and to a less sophisti-
cated extent understood and used, visual images all of your life. Yet most of
you have not been taught to integrate the verbal and visual mental-processing
abilities in the sophisticated ways you need to help you navigate a complex
world.

We want to conclude with several important points about literacy in general:

• Literacy can be culturally relative. We cannot assume that a lack of knowledge

of one type of literacy means illiteracy in general. Many Haitians, for example,
cannot read or write words, but most can tell and understand stories with
graphic pictures on fences throughout their communities.

• Literacy has a cumulative effect. The more diverse a person’s literacies, the
more effective he/she can be as a communicator. Consider the power of know-
ing multiple verbal languages, for example. European children grow up being
able to communicate in a number of languages, whereas most U.S. children
grow up knowing only one or two. Which children can more easily navigate the
world?

• Literacy does not equal wisdom or ethics. A person can be a skilled visual
artist and an articulate speaker without possessing wisdom. A person who
speaks multiple languages can misuse the power.

• Increased literacy does not guarantee a decreased gap between those who
know and those who do not. You probably have heard the term ”digital divide“
or ”knowledge gap.” This gap is growing wider as those who have access to
computer technology gain power.

• Literacy continues to be misunderstood and misapplied. True literacy includes

the ability to both understand and create in the communication forms of one’s
culture and society.

Figure 16.12. The Storyteller, by Julianne Newton.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 413

 Figure 16.13. Mammatus Clouds, by Ave Bonar.

The future is your responsibility. We have the means today to spread integra-
tive literacy to anyone. Literacy can be a tool for good or ill. Literacy can be an
equalizer or a divider. It’s up to the communicators of the future.

Conclusion
Critical changes in education and culture are about more than words and pic-
tures. They are about thinking, ways of knowing and doing. The shift from an
oral tradition has changed the way we tell stories, for example. In centuries
past, the storytellers conveyed information through a dynamic, person-to-per-
son process. With the written and printed word, storytelling shifted into a lin-

414 Williams and Newton

 Chapter 16
ear, more static process. At the same time, the power of the storyteller to
weave emotion and mystery into the tale through creative voices and gestures
shifted to media use of highly realistic images capable of manipulating those
who watch and listen. As researcher George Gerbner noted, media have
replaced our village storytellers, conveying values along with information.
Gerbner rightly pointed out that the media constructed ”instant history“ with
their coverage of the 1992 war in Iraq, determining what and how people in the
United States would remember the war. Media professionals, in turn, point out
that government control of press activities largely constructed the war the
press was allowed to portray. During the second war in Iraq, U.S. viewers
again saw what mainstream media and government officials wanted them to
see — unless they made use of the Internet and other alternative sources for
information. Whether our politics are conservative or liberal, we must learn to
challenge what we see and hear — whatever the source — and realize the
magnitude of media power.

This book has sought to strengthen visual communication abilities as the pri-
mary route to intuitive literacy, the fundamental ability of the mind to integrate
different ways of processing and conveying information, to solve problems,
and make wise decisions. In some ways, human beings have come full circle,
moving from a visual age to a verbal age back to a visual age. Yet we also have
evolved from the oral, largely intuitive culture of prehistory humans to the
verbal, logical age of Aristotle, and now to an age in which we need to balance
intuition with logic and pictures with words to communicate in effective ways
as a globally literate culture. We are now in a virtual age, an age in which
knowledge is so confounded with illusion that it is hard to know what is real.
Yet discerning what is authentic is what really matters in this world.

And that’s what living at the speed of mind is all about.

We have shown you how to do just that, to take you beyond visual and media
literacy to show you how visual information, which directly and powerfully
feeds your subconscious mind, guides your thoughts, your dreams, and your
actions. By cultivating both rational and intuitive mental processing toward
integrative mind, you can become a more powerful communicator and a more
integrated and balanced individual.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 415

 Figure A.1. Paradise, by Ave Bonar.

416 Williams and Newton

AFTERWORD
Ecology in Paradise

Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as

first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.
Plato

M
oving toward an ecology of the visual, as Julianne Newton calls it, is
the primary and most immediate route to developing integrated sys-
tems of knowing and understanding ourselves and our world. Better
understanding of how the human brain — operating from complex, functional-
ly specific, but integrated cognitive modalities — creates a unified mind is like-
ly to be the most significant contribution that scholars make in this age of the
brain. It is no wonder that we grapple with theory, method, and meaning as we
strive to understand the cognitive and intelligence functions of the visual as
they construct meaning and guide our lives.

The study of the visual is one of the most interdisciplinary of modern scholarly
endeavors, drawing from art, communication, media, and anthropology, cogni-
tive neuroscience, psychology, physics, biology, and mathematics. Such tech-
nologies as functional MRIs and PET scans unveil and summon the powers of
the unconscious, synthesistic, intuitive mind and intelligences to position the
visual, with other intuitive processes, as the first-level cognitive informant of
knowledge, understanding, and behavioral motivation.

Ironically, all of this new information and empirical evidence about uncon-
scious intuitive intelligence systems is built on models of logic and rationality
that, for millennia, have marginalized the unconscious mind and intuitive cog-
nitive synthesis. How do we reconcile that the very science based on reason
now suggests that nonrational cognitive functions are the primary source of
creativity and advantageous problem solving and decision making?

In a broader sense, the quest for a unified theory to explain the origins and
workings of the universe focuses today on this quest to understand and apply

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 417

 integrative mind. It is as old as time uncounted or time measured in cycles of
moon and sun and tide.

Through Homer, Odysseus brought to life the dominant mind of the Gods over
the mind of logic. Plato reversed the order and subjugated the mind of divine
passions to divine reason and behavior to bring about the Greek Golden Age
of Reason. Descartes separated the mind’s modalities into the dominance of
reason over feeling to fuel the ages of industry, science, and technology.

Today, the quest for mind drives art and science to embrace the ecological
whole of being. Mathematical equations for fractals predict structures that may
represent the underlying logic of the biological and subatomic universe, just as
they underlie the intuitive structure of Jackson Pollack’s paint splatters on huge
canvases. Physicists predict 11 or more dimensions of reality as parallel uni-
verses that unify mechanical and quantum physics. Transitory subatomic struc-
tures of invisible, vibrating strings of energy that can only be imagined are pro-
posed as the structure of reality itself. Through nanotechnology bioengineers
work on molecular and subatomic scales, shifting the balance of grace and
power in the human body and shaping the physical and political world at large.

Scientists and mystics alike celebrate the power of intuitive intelligence and
the self-aware universe that creative artists have heralded and represented in
handprints on cave walls, impressionistic art, and mass media. We stand at the
vortex of the integration and balance of creativity and intellect, poised to know
and understand the unity of all things seen and imagined.

Because as much as 75% of all of the information that enters the brain is visu-
al, and because all intelligences have significant visual components, both cog-
nitively and functionally, visual theory and applications can be used to under-
stand and enhance the integrative human mind. To deny the cognitive role and
power of unconscious, visual knowing as intelligent nonverbal thought is to
deny the full power of our creativity and our ability to solve problems in new
and fully human ways that are sustainable.

In this age, when the study of the brain melds art and science, it is time for
scholars of all disciplines to join forces to solve the integrative puzzle of knowl-
edge and understanding. No matter how we describe it, whether we call it
omniphasic or multimodal, unified theory or holistic thinking, rational and intu-
itive, or integrative mind, we must acknowledge that this is not an “either or”
but rather a “both/and” paradigm of the rational and intuitive modalities.

Essentially, our success as scholars turns not on our credentials or our posi-
tions but on our willingness to recognize and embrace our own power and wis-
dom as part of the integrative whole of knowledge and humanity.

418 Williams and Newton

 Afterword
Visual and verbal, rational and intuitive represent highly complex cognitive
modalities that operate in distinct, independent ways to create perceptions of
reality and guide behavior. It is critical that we understand how essential and
equal components of whole mind cognition contribute to the kind of creativity
and decision-making that can lead us beyond the traditional scientific para-
digm to a new ecological worldview. Ultimately, it is the imperceptibly seam-
less and integrative work of the human brain that can unite us all.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 419

 Contributors

CONTRIBUTORS
We gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of the individual artists,
scholars, educators, and students, as well as institution and company represen-
tatives, who made this book a truly integrated visual/word creation by helping
us to obtain mages and granting us permission to include their work:

Justin Abbott, alumnus, University of Oregon.

Adbusters Media Foundation.

Collin Andrew , photographer based in Eugene, OR.

Frank Armstrong, fine arts photographer based in West Boylston, MA., and teacher of
photography at Clark University.

Artists Rights Society of New York. Marisa Young, rights administrator.

Art Resource Inc., New York. NY. Tricia Smith and Eric Lessing.

Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München, Germany. Angelika Grandi, Dr. Nina Gockerell.

BBDO Advertising, Denver, CO.

Ave Bonar, who embraced the "narrative documentary" tradition of photography early
in her career, is a photographer based in Austin, TX.

Marta Braun, author of Picturing Time: The Work of Etienne Jules Marey, and teacher of
art history, photographic history, and film theory, Ryerson University School of Image
Arts, Toronto, Canada.

The Trustees of The British Museum. Axelle Russo.

Robert Roy Britt, managing editor, LiveScience, www.LiveScience.com and senior sci-
ence writer, SPACE.com, Imaginova Companies.

Ally Burguieres, artist, photographer and doctoral student at Georgetown University.

Beau Cease, graduate student at the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY., and
founder of the Obediah Dogberry Society.

J. B. Colson, professor emeritus and founder of the Photojournalism Program, UT

Austin School of Journalism andCommunication.

Randy Cox, director of visuals, The Oregonian, Portland, OR.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 421

 Don Barth, assistant professor, Department of Art at the University of South Carolina.
His computer-based art explores virtual interactive landscapes.

Michael Broschart, graphic designer, Media Services, The Valley Library.

Brett Crosse, visual and aural storyteller, alumnus of the University of Oregon School of
Journalism and Communication, and “dedicated to an unflinching exploration of life.”

Binh Danh, who created a process for making unique “chlorophyll prints,” was born in
Vietnam in 1977, the year his family immigrated to the United States. He is represented
by the Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

Prof. Philip J. Davis, Brown University, and Reuben Hersh, University of Minnesota, co-
authors of Descartes’ Dream.

Mary Lee Edwards, Austin, TX, photographer/poet before her death in 2001.

Colin Elliot, University of Oregon student.

Kristine Wolff Fiskum, free-lance editorial and commercial photographer based in

Chicago, Ill.

Roy Flukinger, senior curator of photography and film, and Linda Briscoe Myers, assis-
tant curator of photography, Harry Ransom Center, U T Austin.

Bonnie Fournier, digital fine art painter and photographer in St. Paul, MN.

Andrew Z. Glickman, Bethesda, MD., photographer.

The Global Children's Art Gallery, created in 1997 by Jason Hunt, as part of The Natural
Child Project (NCP), Jan Hunt, director.

Grant. Artist, Houston, Texas

Adam Grosowski, instructor of art, Lane Community College, Eugene, OR. His work is
represented by Karin Clark Gallery, Eugene.

Janet Halvorsen, designer and artist, teaches at Lane Community college, Eugene, OR.

Germán Herrera, fine art photographer whose images are “felt, not thought.”

Amir Hetsroni , senior lecturer, Department of Communication, Yezreel Valley College.

Hitachi America, Ltd. Kenji Nakamura, General Manager / Executive Vice President, and
Daniel Lee, Vice President, Marketing, Ubiquitous Platform Systems, Hitachi.

ImpactGames, co-founded by Eric Brown, chief executive officer, and Asi Burak, chief
creative officer / executive producer, to explore social and political issues affecting the
world.

John Chris Jones,Welsh design theorist, a founder of ergonomic design, and author of
Design Methods.

Tim Jordan, art director, Oregon Quarterly alumni magazine, and designer for Creative
Publishing, UO.

Igloolik Isuma Productions, Katarina Soukup and Anne Paré.

422 Williams and Newton

 Contributors
iStockphoto.com/Xianstudio, llc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The Lambesis Agency, a full-service brand development company headquartered in San

Diego, CA. Chad Farmer, President; Vicki Hoekstra, COO, Executive Media Director;
Victoria Kudirka, Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Research; Janna Ekholm,
Senior Account Supervisor.

Library of Congress Prints and Publications Division. National Archives.

Maggie Macnab, who teaches logo design and “symbols as visual literacy for design-
ers” at the University of New Mexico.

Rogers Marvel Architects, PLLC. Tim Fryatt, Jonathan Marvel, Richard Ramsey, Robert
Rogers, and Graeme Waitzkin.

Matie Molinaro, founder of the Canadian Speakers’ and Writers’ Service Ltd, Canada’s
first literary agency, and co-editor, with Corinne McLuhan and William Toye, of the
Letters of Marshall McLuhan.

Morse Library, Beloit College, Beloit, WI.

National Park Service, National Archives and Records Administration.

Musée Marey–Beaune, Marion Leuba and Delphine Cornuché.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Connie Moore.

Matthew Newton, systems engineer, Micromenders, San Francisco, CA., holds a degree
in religious studies from University of California, Berkeley.

Nur, 9, and Abd Al-Rahman, 13, the Sudan. Courtesy of Human Rights Watch, 2005.

Oregon Center for Applied Science, a research-based company creates interactive

multimedia programs designed to enhance lives. Carol Horne, senior staff writer; Marta
Makarushka, behavioral researcher; Kim Lindquist, graphic artist, musician, and
videographer.

Orlan, scholar in residence, Getty Research Institute, Angeles. Professor, National Art
School at Cergy, France, and teaches at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.,
www.orlan.net

Erik Palmer, Portland, OR,scholar and artist who examines the relationship between
comic book superheroes and other forms of cultural expression.

Nora Paul, Institute for New Media Studies, School of Journalism and Mass
Communication, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; and Laura Ruel, Assistant
Professor, Visual Communication and Multimedia, School of Journalism and Mass
Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Digital Storytelling
Effects Lab, a joint project of the University of Minnesota and the University of North
Carolina.

Nancy Pobanz, Eugene artist, combines “the influence of the Oregon high dessert with
concealed journal writing” and her own hand-made pigments, papers, and inks to pro-
duce one-of-a-kind books, wallpieces, and sculpture.

Project Blinkenlights, an online gallery of public interactive installations, Chaos

Computer Club. Photographers Dorit Günter, Nadja Hannaske, and Tim Pritlove.

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 423

 Hugh Pryor, Graphic Designer and Digital Artist, Oxford, UK., started GPS Drawing with
Jeremy Wood.

Luis Salazar, director of communications, Zamorano, a private international university

in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. www.zamorano.edu

Andrea Schneider, student, University of Oregon.

Science & Society Picture Library, National Museum of Science & Industry, London,
England. Natasha Mulder, image sales coordinator.

Slim Films, New York-based company specializing in covers, illustrations, and anima-
tions. Andy Christie.

The Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway, a private collection comprising 13,540 manu-
script items from throughout the world and spanning more than 5,000 years. Martin
Schøyen, owner, and Elizabeth Gano Sorenssen, librarian.

Maggie Steber, international photojournalist and documentarian.

D.J. Stout, graphic designer and partner, Pentagram, Inc., Austin, TX.

Former students who gave us permission to publish their work: Allison Hibbs, Patrick
Healy, T. Adams, M. Chrissy, D.A., Michael Stevens, Jaci Sonnenberg, A. Megan, Abel,
Beason, Fowell & Harrell, Almeida & Jackson, and Stu Holdren.

Melissa Szalkowski, freelance editorial digital illustration artist in New York.

Maggie Taylor, digital image artist and photographer working in Gainesville, FL.

Richard Taylor, associate professor of physics, psychology, and art, Department of

Physics, University of Oregon.

Mike Tsukamoto, Page One photo editor, and Dixie Vereen, USA Today.

Jerry Uelsmann, photographer and artist and retired graduate research professor of art
at the University of Florida.

Joshua Williams, director of commercial sales, Alamo Title Company, Austin, TX., holds
a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Texas at Austin.

Bill Westheimer, photographer, New York.

Russel Wong, free-lance photographer based in Singapore.

World Food Programme, Rome, Italy. Silke Buhr, Communications Division.

The Worldmapper Team and the Sheffield Group. Mark Newman, professor, Department
of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan. Danny
Dorling, professor of human geography, University of Sheffield, UK.

Herb Zettl, professor emeritus, San Francisco State University, and author of Sight,
Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics.

Rebecca Zimmerman, promotions/marketing coordinator, Publications Department,The

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York, NY.

424 Williams and Newton

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436 Williams and Newton

INDEX OF TERMS BY CHAPTER/CREATIVE
Preface Integrative mind theory 16, 18, 19
Intuitive & rational cognitive processes18, 20
Balanced life in complex world xix
Conscious evolution of education xix
Creative One
Effect of media imagery xv
Imagery as guide to behavior xv Creative visualization 23
Integrative mind, rational and Inner vision 23
intuitive intelligence xvi Integrative visual/meditative state
Intuitive illiteracy xvii of consciousness 23
Intuitive intelligence xvi Meditation 23
Knowing before words xv Visualization 23
Media imagery interpreted unconsciously
as real life xv Chapter Two
Media messages of persuasion highly intuitive xviii
Media values xviii Abu 35
Shaping perceptions of reality xviii Perceptual and conceptual integration 35, 39
Shaping public mind and behavior xvii Personal symbol 44, 45
Shaping values, guiding behavior xviii Visual symbol 39, 40
Sustainability xx
Unconscious intuitive communication xv Creative Two
Visual and Media Literacy xvi Dream symbol 48
Visual intelligence central to understanding xv Meditate/visualize 46
Whole mind communication xv Personal symbolic portrait 45
Rational representation 45
Introduction Universal breath 47
Bodily kinesthetic Intelligence 54 Chapter Three
Cognition 6, 18
Cognitive 5 Art & integrative mind 57
Cognitive processes 18, Art and personal development 53
Complementary cognition 6 Art and personality development 57
Integrative mind 3 Art and problem solving 58
Intuitive 5, 6, 18 Art and the integrated individual 54
Intuitive intelligence 6 Art, creativity 53
Knowing 18, Art, creativity and decision making 58
Musical intelligence 8 Bodily kinesthetic intelligence 54
Naturalistic intelligence 6 Cane, Florence 55, 56, 57, 89
Physiological intelligence 8 Childhood artistic development stages 54, 59
Preconscious 7 Drawing 53
Psychological intelligence 8 Drawing as omniphasic 54
Rational intelligence 6 Drawing, gender differences 64
Rational 5, 6, 18 Drawing, primal skill 53
Synthesis, 6 Hill, Edward 55, 57,
Visual intelligence 7 Integrative arts learning 58
Jung, Carl 57
Chapter One Jung, Carl 57
Lark-Horowitz, Betty 55, 57, 59
She bear 13 Lewis, Hilda 57
Integrative mind, key terms 18, key ideas 19 Lowenfeld, Viktor 54, 59, 89
Integrating visual and verbal 13, 15 Luca, Mark 57
Omniphasism/Omniphasic 16, 18, 19 Pairs of opposites balance, Cane 57

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 437

 Piaget, Jean 54 Half-headed education 104
Pre-schematic stage 60 Hemispheric specialization 5, 101, 102, 103
Rabkin, Nick 58 Important questions 104
Rational bias 53, Integrative Mind 102
Realism stage 64 Intuitive mind, historical 99
Schema 60 Jaynes, Julian 99, 114
Schematic stage 60 Levy, Jerre 103
Schematic/rational symbol system 60 Origin of consciousness 101
Scribbling stage 59 Plato and Aristotle 101
Self criticism 65 Rational Bias 101
Think in pictures/describe in words 59 Rational bias, origin 101
Unconscious fantasies 57 Right hemisphere bias 103
Visual culture 66 Right hemisphere, subjugation to left 101
Visual kinesthetic thinking 59 Sea sprite 98
Visual verbal thinking 59 Sperry 5, 102, 103, 114
Sustainable future 104
Creative Three Ulysses 99

Art and creative decision making 69 Creative Five

Drawing 69
Perceptual to conceptual leap 69 Associational seeing 107
Drawing the figure 107
Chapter Four Drawing what you see 107
Operational seeing 107
Accessing the whole mind 73 Pure seeing 107-108
Camera obscura 73 Weissman, Donald 107
Camera obscura 74
Cognitive neuroscience 75 Chapter Six
Complementary ways of knowing 76
Consciousness, the second nature 79 Amygdala 117
Creative aesthetic experience 80 Analytical cognition 113
Intuitive illiteracy, overcoming 73 Barry, Ann Marie 119, 120, 121
Mood lifter 72 Bechara, Antoine 116-117
Nicolaîdes, Kimon 73, 74 Both/and thinking 113
Omniphasic practice 81 Capra, Fritjof 123
Perception techniques 73 Complementary/Parallel systems
Problem solving/decision making 76 of knowing, table 124
Rational Bias and visual response 78 Damasio, Antonio 115-117, 121
Repetition techniques 73 Dual visual cognitive pathways 118
Right/left brain 74-75 Dualistic/parallel organizational systems 113
Seeing upside down 73 Ecological world-view 123
Transcend technique 80 Gardner, Howard 113-115
Visual intelligence 77 Goleman, Daniel 121
Visual stimuli 77 Grow, Gerald 114
Hemispheric specialization 125
Holistic cognition 114
Creative Four Intelligence bodily kinesthetic 120
Adams, Ansel 97 Intelligence defined 113
Completing the circle 93 Intelligence, interpersonal 118
Contour drawing 85-90 Intelligence, intrapersonal 116
Global skill 81 Intelligence, musical 121
Integrating seeing and knowing 85 Intelligence, naturalistic 122
Rick’s eye 86 Intelligence, visual/spatial 115
Schema/Schematic system 88 Intuitive mind, contemporary 113
Yin/Yang of drawing 85, 93 Iowa gambling test 116
LeDoux, Joseph 118, 119, 121
Chapter Five Logically, linguistically testable intelligences 113
McLuhan, Marshall 123-125
Admonitory, divine mind 99 Multiple Intelligence and Integrative
Bicameral rind 99 Mind compared 114
Bogen, Joseph 5, 102, 114 Multiple Intelligences 113
Corpus callosum 102 Nonconscious mind & behavior 115
Distinctive cognitive processing, 102 Non-logically, linguistically testable
Dual cognitive processes 10 intelligences 113
Gods and Goddesses 99 Ornstein, Robert 122
Greek Golden Age of Reason 100 Powers, Bruce 123

438 Williams and Newton

 Index of Terms by Chapter/Creative
Pre-frontal lobes 117 Language, sounds and signs 164-170
Principle cognitive system 113 Language, sounds of words 172-174
Rational bias 114 Language, written, history of 163
Synthesistic cognition 113 Language/Words as omniphasic 170
Systems of knowing, Logan, Robert 165
complementary and parallel 124 McLuhan, Marshall 165
Thalamus 117 Miller, Henry 173
Unconscious bias 116-117 Musical notation, oldest known on stone 172
Visual cortex 117 Neolithic tokens 164
Visual processing, dual pathways 119 Oracle bones 167
Poet’s house 158
Creative Six Schmandt-Besserat, Denise 163-164
Sound and children’s learning
Drawing and cognitive balance 129 Visual symbols 164-169
Drawing for real 129 Voice visions 159
Results of cognitive balance 129 Words as rational and intuitive 164-169

Chapter Seven Creative Eight

Barry, Ann Marie 146-147 Bulman Ledger, Cheyenne 179
Berger, Arthur Asa 144 Vision to voice 177
Bogen, Joseph, 134 Visual word 177
Dondis, Donis A. 141-142
Education 133
Chapter Nine
Education and intuitive intelligence 13
Elkins, James 144 Insight out 181
Gardner, Howard 137 Archetypes 190
Gardner, Howard 144 Aristotle 181
Intuitive cultivation 141 Capra, Fritjof 181
Jewitt, Carey 146 Cervantes Miguel de 186, 187
Jung, Carl 144 Chojnowski, Peter 186
Just do it 134 Coolidge 191-193
Kekule 144 Coolidge, Frank 192
Kress, Gunther 146 Dali, Salvador 194
Lester, Paul 143-144 Damasio, Antonio 193, 194
Messaris, Paul 142-143 Damasio, Antonio, and dreams 194
Multimodal literacy 144 Davis, Phillip J., 184
O’Sullivan, Edmund 133, 147 Descartes, Rene, and dreams 184-186
Rees, Sir Martin 139 Dreaming, neurobiological map 193
Square peg/round Hole 133 Dreams and neuroscience 193
Theories Relevant to Omniphasism 151 Dreams and nonconscious mind 181
Van Harken 134-136 Dreams and science 188
Visual literacy 136 Dreams, and personality 184
Visual literacy, contemporary 137 Dreams, and scientific method 186
Visual literacy, omniphasic 147 Dreams, as knowledge 184
Visual literacy, beyond 148 Dreams, as memory processing 193
Visual literacy, integrative 145 Dreams, historical foundations 189-193
Visual literacy, Intuitive 144 Dreams, mediated images and
Visual literacy, rational 141 unconscious memory 193
Dreams, understanding self and other 194
Creative Seven Estes, Clarissa Pinkola 191
Concepts in visual form 153 Freud, Sigmund 189
Designing shapes 153 Hersh, Reuben 184
Hippocampus, prefrontal lobes, and dreams 194
Jacob 181
Chapter Eight
Jung, and archetypes 190, 191
Altmann, G.T.M. 160, 162 Jung, Carl 181, 189
Bulla envelope 164 Kunuk, Zacharias, 188
Churinga 2, 165, 166 LeDoux, Joseph, and dreams 193-194
Cuneiform 168, Babylonian 173 Measurement and repeatability 182
Cursive Script 169 Nelson, Willie 183
Illuminated liturgical book 171 Picasso, Pablo 187
Joyce, James 173 Pseudoscience 181
Language and children 160 Quantity and quality, balance of 183
Language and infants 160 Quixote, Don 186-187
Language and intuitive mind 159-163 Rational bias 181

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 439

 Sitting Bull 181 Designing, for meaning 241
Wild woman 192 Dondis, Donis A., 242
Winson, Jonathan 193,194 Figure/Ground 250
Frame 246
Creative Nine Gestalt 260
Golden ratio, mean, section, rectangle 254
Cave dream 198 Kress, Gunther 242
Dream interpretation 198-201 Light and color 258
Dreams as mental imagery, understanding 197 Line 243
Dreams as symbols 197 Movement 156
Perspective 258
Chapter Ten Plane/Shape 244
Aperture 224 Point 243
Basic daylight exposure system 215 Proportion 252
Cartier-Bresson, Henri 211 Rhythm 252
Color 222 Rule of thirds 257
Color Temperature 222 Scale 257
Composition 208 Spatiality 257
Contrast 221 Stebbing, Peter 241
Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandé 205 Tone or color 244, 234
Decisive Moment 211 Unity 260
Direction 222 Van Leeuwen, Theo 242
f/Stop 224, 225 Visual element 242
Film speed and digital ratings 315 Visual grammar 242
Gernsheim, Helmut 205 Visual literacy 242
Lenses 227 Volume 244
Light and Motion 224
Niépce, Joseph 203, 205 Creative Eleven
Photographic techniques 212 Graphic visions 263
Photographic truth 208 Looking for Meaning 263
Photography, and light 221 Understanding the frame 263
Photography, omniphasic medium 210, 212
Photography, still cameras 214
Chapter Twelve
Point of view 208
Rejlander, Oscar 206 Advertising, money spent 274
Salgado, Sebastião 211 Association 284
Shutter Speed 224 Babbie, Earl 278
Strobes and adding light 230 Berger, Arthur Asa 284
Telephoto lens 228 Categorical imperative 288
Tripods 231 Cause and effect 278
Uelsmann 207 Chandler, Daniel 284
Wide-angle lens 228 Code 284
Working shutter speed and f/stop together 226 Content analysis 278, 279
Zoom lens 228 Critical perspective 289
Cultural perspective 289
Creative Ten Culture and vision 275
Decoding 284
Image insights 233 Deontological 288
Preparing work for presentation 234 Digital story telling 279
Reflection and writing 235 Discourse analysis 282
Seeing and creating photographs 234 Embedded meaning 273
Seeing and creating word images 234 Encoding 284
Seeing into images 233 Ethical perspective 288
Experimental design 278, 279
Chapter Eleven
Eye tracking 279
Arrangement 245-247 Field research 278, 280
Balance 252 Focus group 282
Center of interest 256 Golden mean 289
Context 259 Golden rule 289
Contrast 252 Hall, Stuart 285
Cultural Biases 260 Hedonism 289
Design 242 Historical perspective 288
Design elements 243 Historical/comparative analysis 278, 280
Design principles 252 Icon 284
Design/Graphic structure Index 284

440 Williams and Newton

 Index of Terms by Chapter/Creative
Intuitive literacy 274 Line length 311
Lester, Paul 288 Lowercase 310
Media images, number seen 274, 275 Novelty 318
Media literacy 274 Pica 311
Metaphor 284 Point 310
Milgram, Stanley 279 Public as art and image 295
Moriarty, Sandra 284 Ragged left 312
Nielsen ratings 278 Ragged right 312
Peirce, Sanders 282 Roman 314
Personal perspective 288 San serif 315
Plato, The Cave 281 Script or Cursive 317
Projected interviewing 282 Serif 310
Psychoanalysis 282 Size 310
Reasonable truth, Newton 279 Square serif 317
Reliability 278 Still media 297
Rhetorical analysis 281 Stopping time 297
Rose, Gillian 282 Stroke 310
Saussure, Ferdinand de 282 Text wrap 312
Semiology 282 Tracking 311
Semiotics 284 Type characteristics 309
Sign 284 Type Groups 314
Signified 284 Uppercase 310
Signifier 284 x-height 310
Simile 284
Six Perspectives, Lester, Paul 288 Creative Thirteen
Smith, Zoe 282
Stroop task 278 Ethical media professional 331
Survey research 278 Image understanding, intuitive and rational 323
Symbol 284 Personal Impact Assessment,
Technical perspective 288 Williams, Rick 323-331
Teleological 288 Still media, understanding meaning 323-331
Utilitarianism 288 Williams, Rick 323
Validity 278
Veil of ignorance 289 Chapter Fourteen
Visual semiotics 284 Attack/Decay 353
Visual studies, other Body as medium 339
Visual Studies, traditional 278 Body as moving image 336
Duration 353
Creative Twelve Goldsworthy, Andy 335
Field research exercise 293 Images that move and sound 332
Self-assessment 294 Light and color 345
Semiotic evaluation 293 Line or axis of action 349
Six-perspective analysis 293 Loudness 353
Systematic visual thinking 293 McLuhan, global village 340
Movement in still images 342-344
Moving Image technological history 340
Chapter Thirteen
Moving image, content 354
Agate 311 Nichols, Bill 355
Ascender 310 Pitch 353
Blackletter or Text 314 Sound 352
Bowl 310 Space, two-dimensional 346
Centered 312 Timbre 353
Counter 310 Time and motion 34
Descender 310 Time and space, transcending 333
Em 311 Ultrasound 339
En 311 Zettl, Herb 346-353
Flush left 312
Flush right 312 Creative Fourteen
Frame formats 301
Frame, designing well within 305 Film clip analysis 359
Framing space 297 Moving images, understanding 359
Justified 312 Personal Impact Assessment,
Kerning 311 moving image 359-362
Leading 311 Storyboard 358, 360
Letterforms 310 Zettl, basic aesthetic elements 360

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 441

 Chapter Fifteen
Fractals 374
Media meaning 373
Media Studies, media literacy,
reconceptualizing 382
Media, old and new 365-373
Mind, living at the speed of 365
New media ads 378
New media images 378
New media layout 378
New media multimedia 379
New media studies 378
Transitory aesthetics 384

Creative Fifteen
Editing 391
Photographing 391
Story of a person, communicating 389

Chapter Sixteen
Cognition, creative and art 408
Cognitive integration 408
Creativity, cognitive core 408
Educational system, transformation 408
Enrichment, personal and community 407
Eye to the Future 411
Illiteracy, the larger problem 401
Initiative, individual 408
Jones, John Chris 398
Mass media, the other side of the problem 405
Problem solving, cognitive core 408
Proposal for the future 399
Speed of mind 415
Story of a person, communicating 389
Synthesis 399
Thousand-year project 397
Ulysses, and artificial intelligence 402

Afterword
Ecological whole 418
Ecological worldview 419
Ecology in paradise 417
Ecology of the Visual, Newton, Julianne 417
Holistic cognition 419
Integrative theory-reason based 417
Newton, Julianne 417
Visual Ecology, Newton, Julianne, 417

442 Williams and Newton

ALPHABETICAL INDEX
Abu 35 Centered 312
Accessing the whole mind 73 Cervantes Miguel de 186, 187
Adams, Angel 97 Chandler, Daniel 284
Admonitory, divine mind 99 Childhood artistic development stages 54, 59
Advertising, money spent 274 Chojnowski, Peter 186
Agate 311 Churinga 165
Altmann, G.T.M. 160, 162 Churinga 2, 166
Amygdala 117 Code 284
Analytical cognition 113 Cognition 6, 18
Aperture 224 Cognition, creativity and art 408
Archetypes 190 Cognitive 5
Aristotle 181 Cognitive integration 408
Arrangement 245-247 Cognitive neuroscience 75
Art & integrative mind 57 Cognitive processes 18
Art and creative decision-making 69 Color 222
Art and personal development 53 Color temperature 222
Art and personality development 57 Complementary cognition 6
Art and problem solving 58 Complementary ways of knowing 76
Art and the integrated individual 54 Complementary/Parallel systems of knowing,
Art, creativity 53 table 124
Art, creativity and decision-making 58 Completing the circle 93
Ascender 310 Composition 208
Association 284 Concepts in visual form 153
Associational seeing 107 Conscious evolution of education xix
Attack/Decay 353 Consciousness, the second nature 79
Babbie, Earl 278 Content analysis 278 279
Balance 252 Context 259
Balanced life in complex world xix Contour drawing 85-90
Barry, Ann Marie 119, 120, 121,146-147 Contrast 221
Basic daylight exposure system 215 Contrast 252
Bechara, Antoine 116-117 Coolidge 191-193
Berger, Arthur Asa 144, 284 Coolidge, Frank 192
Bicameral mind 99 Corpus callosum 102
Blackletter or Text 314 Counter 310
Bodily kinesthetic intelligence 54, 120 Creative aesthetic experience 80
Body as medium 339 Creative visualization 23,
Body as moving image 336 Creativity, cognitive core 408
Bogen Critical perspective 289
Bogen, Joseph 5, 102, 114, 134 Cultural Biases 260
Both/and thinking 113 Cultural perspective 289
Bowl 310 Culture and vision 275
Bulla envelope 164 Cuneiform 168
Bulman Ledger, Cheyenne 179 Cuneiform, Babylonian 173
Camera obscura 73, 74 Cursive Script 169
Cane, Florence 55, 56, 57, 89 Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandé 205
Capra, Fritjof 123, 181 Dali, Salvador 194
Cartier-Bresson, Henri 211 Damasio, Antonio 115-117, 121, 193, 194
Categorical imperative 288 Damasio, Antonio, and dreams 194
Cause and effect 278 Davis, Phillip J., 184
Cave dream 198 Descartes, Rene, and dreams 184-186
Center of interest 256 Decisive Moment 211

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 443

 Decoding 284 Figure/Ground 250
Deontological 288 Film clip analysis 359
Descender 310 Film speed and digital ratings 315
Design 242 Flush left 312
Design elements 243 Flush right 312
Design principles 252 Focus group 282
Design/Graphic structure Fractals 374
Designing shapes 153 Frame 246
Designing, for meaning 241 Frame formats 301
Digital story telling 279 Frame, designing well within 305
Direction 222 Framing space 297
Discourse analysis 282 Freud, Sigmund 189
Distinctive cognitive processing, 102 Gardner, Howard 113-115, 137, 144
Dondis, Donis A. 141-142, 242 Gernsheim, Helmut 205
Drawing 53, 69 Gestalt 260
Drawing and cognitive balance 129 Global skill 81
Drawing as omniphasic 54 Gods and Goddesses 99
Drawing for real 129 Golden mean 289
Drawing the figure 107 Golden ratio, mean, section, rectangle 254
Drawing what you see 107 Golden rule 289
Drawing, gender differences 64 Goldsworthy, Andy 335
Drawing, primal skill 53 Goleman Daniel 121
Dream interpretation 198-201 Greek golden age of reason 100
Dream symbol 48 Grow, Gerald 114
Dreaming, neurobiological map 193 Half-headed education 104
Dreams and neuroscience 193 Hall, Stuart 285
Dreams and nonconscious mind 181 Hedonism 289
Dreams and science 188 Hemispheric specialization 5, 101-105, 125
Dreams as mental imagery, understanding 197 Hersh, Reuben 184
Dreams as symbols 197 Hill, Edward 55, 57
Dreams, and personality 184 Historical perspective 288
Dreams, and scientific method 186 Historical/comparative analysis 278, 280
Dreams, as knowledge 184 Holistic cognition 114
Dreams, as memory processing 193 Holistic cognition 419
Dreams, historical foundations 189-193 Hippocampus, prefrontal lobes, and dreams 194
Dreams, in understanding self and other 194 Icon 284
Dreams, mediated images and Illiteracy, the larger problem 401
unconscious memory 193 Illuminated liturgical book 171
Dual cognitive processes 10 Image understanding, intuitive and rational 323
Dual visual cognitive pathways 118 Imagery as guide to behavior xv
Dualistic/parallel organizational systems 113 Images that move and sound 332
Duration 353 Important questions 104
Ecological whole 418 Index 284
Ecological world-view 123, 419 Initiative, individual 408
Ecology in paradise 417 Inner vision 23
Ecology of the Visual, Newton, Julianne 417 Insight out 181
Education 133 Integrating seeing and knowing 85
Education and intuitive intelligence 13 Integrating visual and verbal 13, 15
Educational system, transformation 408 Integrative arts learning 58
Effect of media imagery xv Integrative Mind 102
Elkins, James 144 Integrative mind 3
Em 311 Integrative mind theory 16, 18, 19
Embedded meaning 273 Integrative mind, rational and
En 311 intuitive intelligence xvi
Encoding 284 Integrative theory-reason based 417
Enrichment, personal and community 407 Integrative visual/meditative state
Estes, Clarissa Pinkola 191 of consciousness 23
Ethical media professional 331 Intelligence bodily kinesthetic 54, 120
Ethical perspective 288 Intelligence defined 113
Experimental design 278, 279 Intelligence, emotional 121
Eye to the Future 411 Intelligence, interpersonal 118
Eye tracking 279 Intelligence, intrapersonal 116
F/Stop 224, 225 Intelligence, musical 8, 121
Field research 278, 280 Intelligence, naturalistic 6, 122
Field Research exercise 293 Intelligence, visual/spatial 7, 77, 115

444 Williams and Newton

 Alphabetical Index
Interpersonal intelligence 118 Media meaning 373
Intrapersonal intelligence 116 Media messages of persuasion highly intuitive xviii
Intuitive and rational cognitive processes 18, 20 Media Studies, media literacy,
Intuitive 5, 6, 18 reconceptualizing 382
Intuitive cultivation 141 Media values xviii
Intuitive illiteracy xvii Media, old and new 365-373
Intuitive illiteracy, overcoming 73 Meditate/visualize 23, 46
Intuitive intelligence 6 Meditation 23
Intuitive intelligence xvi Messaris, Paul 142-143
Intuitive literacy 274 Metaphor 284
Intuitive mind, contemporary 113 Milgram, Stanley 279
Intuitive mind, historical 99 Miller, Henry 173
Iowa gambling test 116 Mind, living at the speed of 365
Jacob 181 Mood lifter 72
Jaynes, Julian 99, 114 Moriarty, Sandra 284
Jewitt, Carey 146 Movement 156
Jones, John Chris 398 Movement in still images 342-344
Joyce, James 173 Moving image, content 354
Jung, and archetypes 190, 191 Moving Image, technological history 340
Jung, Carl 57, 144, 181, 189 Moving images, understanding 359
Just do it 134 Multimodal literacy 144
Justified 312 Multiple Intelligence and Integrative Mind
Kekule 144 compared 114
Kerning 311 Multiple Intelligences 113
Key ideas of integrative mind 19 Musical intelligence 8, 121
Key terms of integrative mind 18 Musical notation-oldest known on stone 172
Knowing 18, Naturalistic intelligence 6, 122
Knowing before words xv Nelson, Willie 183
Kress, Gunther 146, 242 Neolithic tokens 164
Kunuk, Zacharias, 188 New media ads 378
Language and infants 160 New media images 378
Language and intuitive mind 159-163 New media layout 378
Language, sounds and signs 164-170 New media multimedia 379
Language, sounds of words 172-174 New media studies 378
Language, written, history of 163 Newton, Julianne 417
Language/Words as omniphasic balance 170 Nichols, Bill 355
Lark-Horowitz, Betty 55, 57, 59 Nicolaides, Kimon 71
Leading 311 Nielsen ratings 278
LeDoux, Joseph 118, 119, 121 Niépce, Joseph 203. 2-5
LeDoux, Joseph, and dreams 193-194 Nonconscious mind & behavior 115
Lenses 227 Non-logically, linguistically testable
Lester, Paul 143-144, 288 intelligences 113
Letterforms 310 Novelty 318
Levy, Jerre 103 O’Sullivan, Edmund 133, 147
Lewis, Hilda 57 Omniphasic practice 81
Light and color 258 Omniphasism/Omniphasic 16, 18, 19
Light and color 345 Operational seeing 107
Light and Motion 224 Oracle bones 167
Line 243 Origin of consciousness 101
Line length 311 Ornstein, Robert 122
Line or axis of action 349 Pairs of opposites balance, Cane 57
Logan, Robert 165 Peirce, Sanders 282
Logically, linguistically testable intelligences 113 Perception techniques 73
Loudness 353 Perceptual and conceptual integration 35, 39
Lowenfeld, Viktor 54, 59, 89 Perceptual to conceptual leap 69
Lowercase 310 Personal Impact Assessment,
Luca, Mark 57 moving image 359-362
Mass media, the other side of the problem 405 Personal Impact Assessment,
McLuhan, global village 340 Williams, Rick 323-331
McLuhan, Marshall 123, 125, 165 Personal perspective 288
Measurement and repeatability 182 Personal symbol 44, 45
Media imagery interpreted unconsciously Personal symbolic portrait 45
as real life xv Perspective 258
Media images, number seen 274, 275 Photographic techniques 212
Media literacy 274 Photographic truth 208

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 445

 Photography, and light 221 Scribbling stage 59
Photography, omniphasic medium 210, 212 Script or Cursive 317
Photography, still cameras 214 Sea sprite 98
Physiological intelligence 8 Seeing upside down 73
Piaget, Jean 54 Self-Assessment 294
Pica 311 Self-criticism 65
Picasso, Pablo 187 Semiology 282
Pitch 353 Semiotic evaluation 293
Plane/Shape 244 Semiotics 284
Plato, The Cave 281 Serif 310
Plato and Aristotle 101 Shaping perceptions of reality xviii
Poet’s house 158 Shaping public mind and behavior xvii
Point 243, 310 Shaping values, guiding behavior xviii
Point of view 208 She Bear 13,
Powers, Bruce 123 Shutter Speed 224
Preconscious 7 Sign 284
Pre-frontal lobes 117 Signified 284
Pre-schematic stage 60 Signifier 284
Principle cognitive system 113 Simile 284
Problem solving, cognitive core 408 Sitting Bull 181
Problem solving/decision making 76 Six-perspective analysis 293
Projected interviewing 282 Six Perspectives, Lester, Paul 288
Proportion 252 Size 310
Proposal for the future 399 Smith, Zoe 282
Pseudoscience 181 Sound 352
Psychoanalysis 282 Sound and children’s learning
Psychological intelligence 8 Space, two-dimensional 346
Public as art and image 295 Spatiality 257
Pure seeing 107-108 Speed of mind 415
Quantity and quality, balance of 183 Sperry 5, 102, 103, 114
Quixote, Don 186-187 Square peg/round hole 133
Rabkin Nick 58 Square serif 317
Ragged left 312 Stebbing, Peter 241
Ragged right 312 Still media 297
Rational Bias 53, 101, 114, 181 Still media, understanding meaning 323-331
Rational Bias and visual response 78 Stopping time 297
Rational bias, origin 101 Story of a person, communicating 389
Rational intelligence 6 Strobes and adding light 230
Rational representation 45 Stroke 310
Rational, 5, 6, 18, Stroop task 278
Realism stage 64 Survey research 278
Reasonable truth, Newton 279 Sustainability xx
Rees, Sir Martin 139 Sustainable future 104
Rejlander, Oscar 206 Symbol 284
Reliability 278 Synthesis 399
Repetition techniques 73 Synthesis, 6
Results of cognitive balance 129 Synthesistic cognition 113
Rhetorical analysis 281 Systematic visual thinking 293
Rhythm 252 Systems of knowing, complementary
Rick’s eye 86 and parallel 124
Right hemisphere bias 103 Technical perspective 288
Right hemisphere, subjugation to left 101 Teleological 288
Right/left brain 74-75 Telephoto lens 228
Roman 314 Text wrap 312
Rose, Gillian 282 Thalamus 117
Rule of thirds 257 Theories Relevant to Omniphasism 151
Salgado, Sebastião 211 Think in pictures/describe in words 59
San serif 315 Thousand-year project 397
Saussure, Ferdinand de 282 Timbre 353
Scale 257 Time and motion 34
Schema 60 Time and space, transcending 333
Schema/Schematic system 88 Tone or color 244, 234
Schematic stage 60 Tracking 311
Schematic/rational symbol system 60 Transcend technique 80
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise 163-164 Transitory aesthetics 384

446 Williams and Newton

 Alphabetical Index
Tripods 231
Type characteristics 309
Type groups 314
Uelsmann, Jerry 207
Ultrasound 339
Ulysses 99
Ulysses, and artificial intelligence 402
Unconscious bias 116-117
Unconscious fantasies 57
Unconscious intuitive communication xv
Unity 260
Universal breath 47
Uppercase 310
Utilitarianism 288
Validity 278
Van Harken 134-136
Van Leeuwen, Theo 242
Veil of ignorance 289
Vision to voice 177
Visual and Media Literacy xvi
Visual cortex 117
Visual culture 66
Visual Ecology, Newton, Julianne 417
Visual element 242
Visual grammar 242
Visual intelligence 7, 77, 115
Visual intelligence central to understanding xv
Visual kinesthetic thinking 59
Visual literacy 136, 242
Visual literacy contemporary 137
Visual literacy omniphasic 147
Visual literacy, beyond 148
Visual literacy, integrative 145
Visual literacy, intuitive 144
Visual literacy, rational 141
Visual processing, dual pathways 119
Visual semiotics 284
Visual stimuli 77
Visual Studies, traditional 278
Visual symbol 39, 40
Visual symbols 164-169
Visual verbal thinking 59
Visual word 177
Visualization 23,
Voice visions 159
Volume 244
Weissman, Donald 107
Whole mind communication xv
Wide-angle lens 228
Wild woman 192
Williams, Rick 323
Winson, Jonathan 193,194
Words as rational and intuitive 164-169
Working shutter speed and f/stop together 226
x-height 310
Yin/Yang of drawing 85, 93
Zettl, Herb 346-353
Zoom lens 228

Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science 447

 What got you here will get you out of here.
Joe Garagiola

448
Color Plate 1. El veinte de noviembre, Zaragoza, Coahuila, Mexico.
Cibachrome print. Photograph by Julianne Newton.
Color Plate 2. Dancing galaxies captured by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Blue areas are the cores of
two merging galaxies, called NGC 2207 and IC 2163, which are twirling around each other.
Image courtesy of NASA, ESA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/D. Elmegreen.

Color Plate 3. Winter Oak, composed of 75 photographs, by Bonnie Fournier.

Color Plate 4. Selective Memories, by Nancy Pobanz 2003. All natural fibers and pigments. The strings
are rolled pieces of paper on which thoughts have been written.
 Color Plates 5-8. Clockwise from top left: Sesh, Hieroglyph of
“Scribe.” Deir-el-Medina, Western Tebes, 1307-1070 B.C.E.
Autograph and self portrait of an artist who decorated tombs in
the Valley of the Kings and Queens. MS 1695. ABECEDARY,
Greece, ca. 800 B.C.E. From the oldest writing tablets, which
were made of copper and strung together to fold like a concerti-
na, described as “an . . . amazing preservation of students’
learning of the Greek alphabet at the very inception of its use”
MS 108. Gift from the “high and mighty of Adab to the high
priestess on the occasion of her election to the temple.” Sumer,
26th century B.C.E. MS 3029. Phra Malai; Thai Buddhist
visions of heaven and hell, Thailand, ca. 1800, MS 2478. All
from The Schøyen Collection , Oslo.
Color Plates 9-13. Clockwise from left: Hvitebjørn Kong Valemon,
William Lunden, Asbjørnsen and Moe: Norwegian folk tales, 1936,
MS 2774. Pablo Beaumont: Cronica de Mechoacan, Mexico City,
ca. 1820-1830, MS 1072. Apache pictographs and symbols.
Southern Plains, USA, MS 4604. Cheyenne drawings. Kansas,
1878-1879, MS 2956/1. Suryaprajnapti Sutra, astronomy, India,
ca. 1500, MS 5297. All from The Schøyen Collection, Oslo.
 Color Plate 14. The Sower, 1988, by Vincent Van Gogh. Rijksmuseum Kroeller-Mueller, Otterlo, The
Netherlands. Photograph by Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY.

Color Plate 16. A Schematic of Scale, the most prevalent photographs in 9 histories of photography, by
Bleu Cease. The image of Photography Until Now is used without the dust jacket.
Color Plate 15. The Potato Eaters, 1885, by Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands. Photograph courtesy of Art Resource, NY.
 Right: Color Plate 17.
Beware of Red, 1940, by
Paul Klee. © 2006
Artists Rights Society
(ARS),
New York /
VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn;
Erich Lessing/Art
Resource, New York.
Below: Color Plate 18.
Blue Poles, by Jackson
Pollock. © 2006 The
Pollock-Krasner
Foundation / Artists
Rights Society (ARS),
New York.
Top: Color Plate 19. Young Woman Drawing, by
Pablo Picasso. © 2006 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists
Rights Society (ARS), NY; Scala/Arts Resource NY.
Left: Color Plate 20. Kaufbeuren, Allgäu (Southern
Bavaria), 1981, by Herb Zettl. Courtesy the artist.
Above: Color Plate 21. Scout, by Josh Williams (from
photograph of Scout take just after he had grabbed a
rack of ribs off the barbecue grill). Courtesy the artist.
 Color Plates 22-25. Representations of U.S. Voting Patterns in 2004 Presidential Election, by Mark Newman. Blue =
Democrat. Red = Republican. From top left: Map by states, cartogram bypopulation.
Above from left: Map by county, cartogram by county.

Above: Color Plates 26-29. Logodesign for

the Heart Hospital of New Mexico
by Maggie Macnab.
Right: Electromagnetic spectrum,
illustration by Janet Halvorsen.
Top Right: Poster showing cartogram of
world toy imports, with U.S. in blue, by
Danny Dorling and Mark Newman,
The Worldmapper Team.
Far Right: Corporate logo flag, Adbusters.
Color Plates 30-31. Top: The Director, Photograph by Russell Lee, digital image by J. B. Colson. Above:
Found Portraits Collection: from the Cambodian Killing Fields at Tuol Sleng, 2003, by Binh Danh,
chlorophyll print and resin, courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery, San Francisco.
Color Plates 32-33. Top: Peinándose, photograph
by Julianne Newton. Right: Dreamstate, double
exposure photograph, by Brett Crosse.
Color Plates 34-37. Stills from video advertisement for Hitachi plasma high-definition televisions,
by the Lambesis Agency. © 2006 Hitachi.
Color Plates 38-40. Top: Thai Silk, oil pastel,
by YodKwan P., age 7, Krabi Province,
Thailand. Above: Jake’s Garden, finger paint,
by Jake L., age 1, California, USA (both from
Natural Child Project). Right: Multimedia
Mind Show, by Slim Films.