Commonality Between Verbal and Visual Language, A Suggested Method in Teaching 2D Design

Abstract

The term Visual Language is commonly used in the field of art and design to describe a form of communication that uses visual elements and/or symbols as opposed to formal written language to convey a meaning or an idea. The notion of visual language constantly represents one of the author major concerns, what does it mean and how to be understood, how to study and grasp its structure and grammar, what are the basic elements of this language and how it is used as a powerful method of expressing our emotions and our understanding of the world around us in a different way of communication. As a teacher and a practitioner of art and design, the author concern about visual language led him to investigate the relevance between visual language and verbal language suggesting that both languages have similar and common structures that would enable art and design students to understand the visual language more accurately in accordance to their understanding of the verbal one by applying the same structural concepts. This investigation, which took more than 10 years of research, practice and experimental teaching, resulted in developing a methodology that could implement the communality aspects between visual and verbal language in teaching art and design in the academic arena. This paper endeavours to address the advantages of using the visual language structural potentials in relation to the verbal language as a suggested methodology in teaching 2D design for the foundational stages in art and design institutions. The paper also showcases and analyses some students' works that demonstrate how they applied their understanding of visual language suggested methodology in developing their 2D designing skills.