Visual Communication

Rick Williams is Chair of the Division of the Arts at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR. Julianne Newton is Associate Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon.

“An intelligent and beautifully illustrated book on how visual communication helps us achieve intellectual and intuitive literacy. A well-researched treatise that instantly shows what Omniphasism and Integrative Mind are all about. What Fritjof Capra tired to do in the Tao of Physics three decades ago, the authors have accomplished here: to bring rational and intuitive intelligences into balance and to help us reconcile our inner and outer vision for a higher state of awareness and a richer state of life.” -- Herb Zettl, San Francisco State University“Drawing on their extensive experience as visual artists, educators, 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, University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School of Communication“This is an important and truly beautiful book, one that is personally and professionally useful, as well as theoretically advanced. In it, 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.” — Ann Marie Barry, Boston College"Rick Williams and Juliana Newton are two of the most accomplished theorists in the wide field of visual communication. Their years of experience as educators and photographers combine in a well developed and important theory of intuitive intelligence. 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 communication and visual literacy in the liberal arts curriculum. Especially valuable are the examples and historical review of the intersections between science and art as performed in the highly mediated culture in which we live and learn. All of us have something to learn from this text." -- Diane S. Hope, William A. Kern Professor in Communications, Rochester Institute of Technology“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 communication 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 knowing, both rational and intuitive. Visual Communication breaks new ground in textbook writing by bringing alive the creative and mind-stretching classroom 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.” — Sandra Moriarty, University of Colorado

• PREFACE. Knowing Before WordsACKNOWLEDGMENTSINTRODUCTION. The Integrative MindClarifying TermsVisual IntelligenceMusical IntelligencePsychological IntelligencePhysiological IntelligenceUnderstanding a Key PointPART I. Vision and Intelligence.Understanding Intelligence as Intuitive and RationalCHAPTER ONE. Seeking Dynamic Balance: The Shaman, The Scientist, and the TheologianShe-Bear: The Power of Integrating Visual and Verbal CommunicationA Theory of Integrative MindTable 1. Key TermsTable 2. Key IdeasTable 3. Primary Intuitive & Rational Cognitive ProcessesCREATIVE ONE. The Intimate Eye: Accessing Your Inner Vision Through Creative VisualizationThe Goal: Enhancing Your Creative AbilitiesCHAPTER TWO. Abu Rocks: Integrating Perceptual and Conceptual RealitiesCREATIVE TWO. Visualizing a Personal Symbolic PortraitThe Goal: Creative Problem SolvingCHAPTER THREE. Art and Personal Development: The Quest for BalanceArt and the Integrated IndividualThe Stages of Artistic DevelopmentCREATIVE THREE. The Perceptual to Conceptual Leap: First DrawingsThe Goal: Creative Decision MakingCHAPTER FOUR. Overcoming Intuitive Illiteracy: Accessing Your Whole MindRepetition Techniques & PerceptionRational Bias & Visual ResponseThe Second Nature of ConsciousnessCREATIVE FOUR. The Yin/Yang of Drawing: Drawing Contours, Not FeaturesThe Goal: Integrating Ways of Seeing and KnowingCHAPTER FIVE. Ulysses in His Right Mind: The Historical Intuitive MindJulian Jaynes: The Bicameral Mind & the Ancient Intuitive MindBogen & Sperry and Distinctive Cognitive ProcessingCREATIVE FIVE. Drawing the Figure: One Contour, One Space at a TimeThe Goal: Drawing What You SeeCHAPTER SIX. Multiple Intelligences and Nonconscious Biases: The Contemporary Intuitive MindHoward Gardner:Multiple Intelligence TheoryTable 4. Comparison of Integrative Mind and Gardner’s Multiple IntelligencesThe Nature of Holistic ProcessingDamasio: Nonconscious Mind and BehaviorTable 5. Visual/Spatial IntelligenceTable 6. Intrapersonal IntelligenceTable 7. Interpersonal IntelligencesTable 8. Bodily Kinesthetic IntelligenceTable 9. Musical IntelligenceTable 10. Naturalist IntelligenceTable 11. Complementary/Parallel Systems of KnowingBringing It All TogetherCREATIVE SIX. Bringing It All Together: Drawing for RealThe Goal: Seeing Results of Cognitive BalancePART II. Visual Illiteracy and Education. What We Don’t LearnCHAPTER SEVEN. The Square Peg and the Round Hole: Education and Intuitive IntelligenceThe Contemporary VisionCultivating the IntuitiveThe Rational Side of Visual LiteracyThe Intuitive Side of Visual LiteracyThe Need for an Integrative New ApproachTable 12. Omniphasic Visual LiteracyBeyond Visual Literacy: A Holistic Approach to Being, Seeing, Knowing, and CreatingIn ConclusionTable 13. Summary of Theories Relevant to OmniphasismCREATIVE SEVEN. Designing Shapes: Concept in Visual FormThe Goal: Communicating Concepts VisuallyCHAPTER EIGHT. Visions in Voice: Language and the Intuitive Mind Visions in VoiceWritten LanguageOn Sounds and SignsWords as Balanced Ways of KnowingThe Sounds of WordsThe Form of the PresentationConclusionCREATIVE EIGHT . The Visual Word: Giving Vision to VoiceThe Goal: Integrating Visual and VerbalCHAPTER NINE. Insight Out: Dreams and the Nonconscious MindAn ExampleThe Role of Dreams in Human KnowingMiguel de Cervantes: Another Great DreamerWhat Science Has to SayHistorical Foundations of DreamsContemporary Research about DreamsCREATIVE NINE. Dream Visions: Insight OutThe Goal: Understanding Mental ImageryCHAPTER TEN. Sharing the Vision:Photography as a Medium of BalancePhotographic TruthTechnique in PhotographyThe Still CameraFilm, Film Speed, and Digital RatingsPhotography and LightContrastDirectionColorCamera ControlsShutter Speed Controls Light and MotionF/Stop Controls Light and Depth of FieldWorking Shutter Speed and F/Stop TogetherLensesAdding LightTripodsConstantly Changing TechnologyCREATIVE TEN. Image Insights: Photography from the Inside OutThe Goal: Translating Seeing into ImagesCHAPTER ELEVEN. Designing for MeaningThe Basic ElementsPointLinePlane/ShapeVolumeFrameSummary of Key PointsThe Core PrinciplesContrastRhythmBalanceProportionAdditional Terms of Graphic StructureMovementCenter of InterestRule of ThirdsScaleSpatialityPerspectiveLight and ColorContextTying it All TogetherPrinciples of the GestaltUnityCultural BiasesCREATIVE ELEVEN. Graphic Visions: Looking for MeaningThe Goal: Understanding the FrameCHAPTER TWELVE. Embedded Meanings: Learning to Look Behind the Mirrors and Beyond the WindowsCulture and Making Sense of What We SeeTraditional Ways to Study VisualsOther Methods to Study VisualsSix PerspectivesConclusionCREATIVE TWELVE. Thinking Systematically about ImagesThe Goal: Focusing on the RationalPART III. The Public as Art and Image. The Academy, The Media, and Visual PersuasionCHAPTER THIRTEEN. Stopping Time and Framing SpaceStill Media DefinedFormats of the FrameDesigning Well Within the FrameCharacteristics of TypeParts of a LetterformType GroupsOther TermsPractical Guidelines for Effective DesignMore than AppearancesCREATIVE THIRTEEN. Personal Impact Assessment: Understanding Images from Intuitive and Rational PerspectivesThe Goal: Understanding How Still Images CommunicateCHAPTER FOURTEEN. Images That Move and SoundMoving Media: Transcending Time & SpaceThe Body as Moving ImageTechnological HistoryBasic Elements of Moving ImagesLight and ColorTwo-Dimensional SpaceThree-Dimensional SpaceTime and MotionSoundReturning to ContentCREATIVE FOURTEEN. Film Clip AnalysisThe Goal: Understanding How Moving Images CommunicateCHAPTER FIFTEEN. Living at the Speed of Mind: Old Media–New MediaWhat Does All This Mean?What Do We Know?LayoutImagesAdsMultimediaReconceptualizing Media StudiesCREATIVE FIFTEEN. Communicating the Story of a PersonThe Goal: To tell a story visually with supporting wordsCHAPTER SIXTEEN. The Thousand Year ProjectSynthesisThe Larger ProblemFrom Ulysses to Artificial IntelligenceThe Other Side of the ProblemThe PlanTable 14: The Key IdeasAn Eye to the FutureConclusionAFTERWORD. Ecology in ParadiseCONTRIBUTORSREFERENCESSUGGESTED READINGSINDEX OF TERMS BY CHAPTER/CREATIVEALPHABETICAL INDEXCOLOR PLATES