Visual Communication Research Research Articles

Image types revisited. A texto-material approach for creating image types

In visual communication research there are already several methodological approaches for creating image types. These approaches work with creating typologies based on the representational features of visuals / image motifs, reducing the complexity of extensive visual material. However, we argue that in everyday visual communication, the meaning of images depends largely on the practices in which they are embedded and not on the motif. This paper’s aim is to propose a methodological design for an image type analysis that considers both the representational and the artifact-related component of images, following a texto-material understanding of images. We illustrate the procedure step by step through an empirical study that explores visuals in couple relationships in Switzerland. The method enables a qualitative analysis of a large number of visuals that combines a) the creation of image types and b) a dynamic approach to in-depth visual analysis. Image types resulting from this procedure are more heterogeneous in motifs compared to previous traditions of image type analysis but allow for considering both the visual and the material dimensions of visuals, e.g., practices in which images are embedded. The approach builds on existing methods and contributes to the advancements of methods within visual communication research.

Images, clusters and types – Making sense of (large) image corpora and related practices in and with digital media

In November 2021, the Visual Communication Division of the German Communication Association (DGPuK) celebrated its 20th anniversary at the University of Trier with a one-year pandemic delay. Marion G. Müller, Katharina Christ and Christof Barth organized an excellent conference to mark the occasion and to reflect on past and current trends, topics, and challenges in visual communication research. Resuming the thematic scope of the division’s first conference held in Hamburg in 2000, the conference focused on “The power of images – Images of power. On visual political communication in digital contexts.” While analyses of press photography in the tradition of political iconology were the main approaches twenty years ago, the program of the anniversary conference demonstrated diversified thematic foci and methodological approaches. The presentations examined a broad range of visual digital media and visual communication exerted by various actors ranging from the press to politicians to activists and citizens. Concurrently, we also saw a considerable diversity concerning methodological approaches and a rising influence of computational methods for analyzing the increasingly large numbers of images in digital media environments. With the panel “Image type / image cluster analysis as an approach to analyzing large numbers of images in online environments,” a discussion on diverse methodological approaches and their potentials and challenges among our members started. After the conference, we decided to open up our internal discussion and reach out to international colleagues working on similar questions. The long-term result is this Thematic Section on diverse methods for structuring image data corpora drawing on different traditions of visual analysis.

Visual political communication research: A literature review from 2012 to 2022

More than ten years ago, Schill’s (2012) review article was published on the visual aspects of political communication aiming to increase research in this field. It seems that scholars have reacted to this call in the last decade. The present article argues that in the last ten years, visual political communication (VPC) has been affected by technological advances, and with the proliferation of the internet and social media, political communication has become even more visual. As Schill’s (2012) article predated this period, a new review seems to be timely. To that end, a combination of a systematic and narrative review is provided to highlight the results and developments in this area. Findings suggest that the rise of social media has brought changes to VPC, which have been reflected in the literature by focusing on key concepts in contemporary political communication: personalization, populism, gender-related issues, and the effects of VPC on citizens, separately on social media and in television.

Politics through machine eyes: What computer vision allows us to see

Computer vision techniques have recently burst onto the scene in visual political communication research, dramatically extending the scope of digital image and video analysis. Over the last five years, in particular, papers featuring computational methods have grown in frequency and breadth, appearing in a variety of journals across different disciplines, ranging from the digital humanities and social semiotics to political communication and data science. Topics have been equally expansive and include large scale examinations of political protest, candidate self-presentation style and partisan symbolism, affective polarization, gender stereotypes, debate performances and voter impression formation, public policy, electoral fraud, and topics outside of conventional politics such as extremist propaganda. In this article, each of these areas of investigation are briefly reviewed for the insights they are revealing about political visuals as well as the tools and techniques employed. Ethical considerations are also explored to highlight some of the tradeoffs inherent in research involving computational analysis of political visuals.

The use of visual methods to support communication with older adults with cognitive impairment: A scoping review

Older adults with cognitive impairment often face difficulties with comprehension and communication, which can impact other cognitive processes such as decision-making. This scoping review investigates how visual methods can support older adults with cognitive impairment. The review involved querying four databases. From these databases, eleven articles fit inclusion criteria. This paper examines the purposes, use contexts, types, and effectiveness of the visual methods described in each study. The two major use contexts were elicitation of thoughts, feelings, and preferences in everyday life and health/healthcare related uses. Studies that used visual methods for eliciting preferences generally employed static visualizations. Health-related contexts employed more complex and interactive visualizations. Three studies used visual tools to support older adults in understanding; six, communication; and three, decision-making. None addressed all three outcomes of interest. This study provides recommendations and future directions for visual communication research with older adults with cognitive impairment.

Virtual Reconstruction of Visually Conveyed Images under Multimedia Intelligent Sensor Network Node Layout

In this paper, multimedia intelligent sensing technology is applied to the virtual reconstruction of images to construct or restore images to the communication media for visual communication. This paper proposes image virtual reconstruction theory based on visual communication research, treats image virtual reconstruction content as open data links and customized domain ontology, establishes an interdisciplinary interactive research framework through the technical means of visual communication, solves the problem of data heterogeneity brought by image virtual reconstruction, and finally establishes a three-dimensional visualization research method and principle of visual communication. The research firstly visual communication cuts into the existing conservation principles and proposes the necessity of image virtual reconstruction from the perspective of visual communication; secondly, the thinking mode of digital technology is different from human thinking mode, and the process of calculation ignores the emotional and spiritual values, but the realization of value rationality must be premised on instrumental rationality. This requires a content judgment and self-examination of the technical dimensional model of image virtual reconstruction on top of comprehensive literature and empirical evidence. In response to the research difficulties such as the constructivity of visual communication, the solution of image virtual reconstruction of visual communication is proposed based on the data collection method and literature characteristics. The process of introducing the tools of computer science into humanity research needs to be placed in a continuous critical theory system due to the uncontrollable and subjective nature of visual content, and finally, based on the construction of information models for image virtual reconstruction, the ontology and semantics of information modeling are thoroughly investigated, and the problems related to them, such as interpretation, wholeness, and interactivity, are analyzed and solved one by one. The transparency of image virtual reconstruction is enhanced through the introduction of interactive metadata, and this theoretical system of virtual restoration is put into practice in the Dunhuang digital display design project.

Innovative Mode of Visual Communication Design Practice Teaching Based on Big Data

With the advent of the era of big data, big data has affected all walks of life, and to a certain extent some questions have been raised about the logical way of teaching visual communication design courses. Therefore, there are serious problems in the teaching of visual communication design courses. This article introduces some innovations and practices in practical teaching of creative visual communication design courses, and uses these methods to conduct a series of research and discussion on creative visual communication design courses. Universities in our country must reform their teaching and training methods and cultivate talents who can meet the needs of the development society in the era of big data. Especially some undergraduate colleges that have just entered the undergraduate stage should teach in the course of visual communication design innovation. This path has undergone positive changes. In order to cultivate students’ cultural, creative awareness and technology, visual communication design has a close relationship with the development of creative industries. In the education process, the integration of technology and aesthetics should be emphasized. In the era of mobile media, artistic creation results should be combined with H5, video, illustration, and virtual. Due to the comprehensive effect of reality and other factors, talent training not only possesses the cultural heritage, design power and new technology required by the creative industry. Therefore, innovation and practice of education and teaching for this course are imperative. At present, our country is establishing a dynamic scientific visual communication curriculum education and research system focusing on the development of visual communication symbols and language research. Visual communication design refers to the design of using visual symbol language to convey information. In China, the change of modern design concepts is a new vocabulary that has gradually been accepted by people in the past 10 years and has become an important part of the integration of university design education and traditional design fields. The content and direction can include all educational courses with visual information as the main content. The professional direction is gradually recognized and used in domestic design schools. Experimental research results show that in the current era of big data, the innovative trend of practical teaching of visual communication design is inevitable, and there is an urgent need to reform and innovate teaching methods.

Advancing Visual Health Communication Research to Improve Infodemic Response

ABSTRACT During public health crises like the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, there is a need to amplify and improve critical health communication messages. This need is due to pandemics producing infodemic conditions, meaning the public information environment is oversaturated with information of questionable accuracy and utility. The strategic use of visuals can be leveraged to improve the quality of health communication during public health crises and lessen the unintended effects of infodemic conditions. In this essay, we review previous visual communication theorizing and research that provide insights for effective and efficient use of graphical (e.g., data visualizations) and illustrative (e.g., photos, illustrations, and content features) visuals. We also discuss and advocate for more systematic research on visual misinformation and visual narratives, as there are significant gaps in the literature about how people interpret, act on, and engage with these visual content types. More systematic research about these areas of visual health communication research will improve public communication during future public health crises.

Hybrid repertoires of photo sharing: exploring the complexities of young adults’ photo-sharing practices

Photo sharing has become a routine everyday practice and an object of increasing scholarly interest in visual communication research. Previous studies focused on single photo-sharing practices and on how particular photo-sharing services or devices are used. This article, in contrast, highlights the merits of a repertoire-oriented approach to better understand the complexity and entanglement of photo-sharing practices across various channels in diversified media environments. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews that are combined with creative visual methods, the present study explores the everyday photo-sharing practices of eight young adults. It examines how they decide and reflect on which pictures are shared with whom and via which communication channel. The analysis shows that photo-sharing repertoires are not just the mere sum of the different platforms used for sending and distributing pictures, but rather a meaningfully structured composition of practices. Sharing repertoires and practices are structured by decisions and considerations based on (1) the imagined affordances of platforms and their expected audiences as well as on (2) interpersonal coordination and matching practices. These decisions require multi-layered media literacy skills that include knowledge of technical aspects of visual media usage, knowledge of platform-specific affordances and norms, as well as knowledge of communication habits, preferences and attitudes of the communication partners. On the methodological level, the study underlines two aspects. First, practices of ‘smartphone photography’ are manifold. They go beyond photo sharing and also include the use of apps as camera tools and photographic software. This needs to be taken into account when examining and discussing the usage of specific apps or platforms. Second, the study highlights that visual creative methods and elicitation techniques can make a fruitful contribution to the methodological repertoire of communication research as they help to explore the complexities of everyday media use.

Visually Hypothesising in Scientific Paper Writing: Confirming and Refuting Qualitative Research Hypotheses Using Diagrams

Qualitative research involves scientific narratives and the analysis and interpretation of textual or numerical data (or both), mostly from conversations and discussions, to uncover meaningful patterns that describe a particular phenomenon. It is important to know other ways of framing and explaining these nuanced scientific narratives so that they can convey scientific knowledge. A qualitative hypothesis can play this role. The testing of hypotheses in qualitative research—which does not strictly mean the same thing as testing of hypotheses in quantitative research—always comes with challenges that provoke concerns. The questions that scholars, especially undergraduate and postgraduate students, have had to deal with are: Is it possible to “test” hypotheses using a qualitative method? If it is possible, how can this be done? This study deconstructs the concept, notion, and use of the hypotheses. It presents the “how-to” aspect of hypothesising (in qualitative research and inquiries) by using creative diagramming within post-positivist research, and also contributes to the literature on visual communication and qualitative research. The study is a guide to early career scholars (including undergraduate and post-graduate students) on how to formulate and “test” hypotheses qualitatively using visual or diagrammatical approaches.

Graphic Cipher of Nostradamus

Under the cover of a foggy predictive text, Nostradamus created a large graphic cipher, wherein the position of words and letters carries information about image elements. Approximate methods for recovering encrypted images were proposed, and mostly drawings of human faces, made in a style reminiscent of surrealism, were discovered. The results obtained need to be independently verified. Finding more appropriate methods to recover encrypted images is a non-trivial mathematical task. The complexity of the problem at this stage shifts it from historical field to the field of visual communication research, applied research on pattern recognition, reconstruction and image processing with a low signal-to-noise ratio. The obtained results are essential for the history of steganography and shed a fundamentally new light on the work of Nostradamus.

Introducing the Meaning of Batik through Game and Appearance in Virtual Reality

Batik is not just visually but also philosophically enticing. a brief history in 1755, in the era of “Keraton Surakarta” and “Keraton yogyakarta”, each kingdom has developed their own style including motif and coloring. Making a Batik is not just simply decorating, it is also form a repository of beliefs and values. youth or young one, need to examine and understand Batik with spesific meet their ways. A digital native generations. Visual communication research design offers a case study and visual etnography or visual decoding to describe, to compare, and to evaluate the pattern, beliefs and values. Overall, analysis of findings would clearly indicate that most of the target audiences are not interested to know what the meaning of Batik meaning, but they relay on smartphone gaming as daily activity. the like to know things through 2 dimesional game.

New Visualities of Space and Place: Mapping Theories, Concepts and Methodology of Visual Communication Research on Locative Media and Geomedia

The integration of geolocative data and locative photography generates a new way of seeing: what is called ‘emplaced visuality’. This article explores the features and the research advancements in the direction of the visual aspects of locative media and geomedia to expand on the understanding of what appears to be a new visual regime. To do this, the text explores the developments of locative media and geomedia to link them to a series of disciplinary ‘turns’ that bridge areas of interdisciplinary thought within the knowledge ecosystem: from the spatial and mobility turns to the (visual) algorithmic turn. The paper points to current research strands in the field as a way of grasping the visual regime emerging from adding location to imaging. Exploring these features assists in mapping the expanding field of geomedia and visuality while also opening more opportunities for further research.

Storied Lives on Instagram: Factors Associated With the Need for Personal-Visual Identity

This research explores how sharing photos on social networking sites contributes to an individual's identity expression. A mixed-methods survey was conducted with Instagram users to understand how they frame, annotate, and share their lives with others through digital photography. Results from a serial multiple mediator model reveal that the frequency with which individuals post on Instagram predicts their need for personal-visual identity and this relationship is mediated by self-objectification and self-confidence. Previous research supports the positive association between frequent posting of photographs on social networking sites and visual identity expression. The current study provides evidence for mechanisms that enable this relationship. Implications for impression management theory and visual communication research are discussed.

Visual Expressions of Black Identity: African American and African Museum Websites

This qualitative and quantitative content analysis examines 46 African and African American museum websites. Merelman's cultural projection concept serves as a foundation to explain the societal importance of Black cultural expression. The analysis reviews how the African- and African American-centric organizations communicate Black and organizational identities on their digital platforms. Described are images, sound, and visual dynamism. The findings add to the literature on counterstereotypes and digital cultural expression, linking visual communication research with intercultural communication and strategic communication.

Research on spatial features of streets under the influence of immersion communication technology brought by new media

The rapid development of new media has exacerbated the complexity of urban street space’s information interaction. With the influence of the immersion communication, the streetscape has constructed a special scene like ‘media convergence’, which has brought a huge challenge for maintaining the urban streetscape order. The Spatial Visual Communication Research Method which should break the limitation of the traditional aesthetic space research, can provide a brand new prospect for this phenomenon research. This study aims to analyze and summarize the communication characteristics of new media and its context, which will be helpful for understanding the social meaning within the order change of the street’s spatial and physical environment.

Book Review: Visual communication theory and research. A mass communication perspective

Book Review: Visual communication theory and research. A mass communication perspective

Putting the Image Back Into the Frame: Modeling the Linkage Between Visual Communication and Frame-Processing Theory

Given the rising use of visual and multimodal information, text-oriented framing research is at risk of losing traction with current media reality. We propose applying frame processing theory as a general framework for understanding how coherent meaning is constructed from complex stimuli, regardless of their modality: Both visual and textual information processing follow a recursive sequence of (a) selective perception/structuring, (b) decoding, (c) the construction of relations, and (d) their integration into coherent meaning. The specifics of visual and textual modalities provide varying degrees of structuring and salience within a fundamentally unified information processing process. Integrating advances from framing and visual communication research, we discuss implications for the empirical analysis of multimodal news contents, and sketch an agenda for research.

Conceptualizing Visual Detail: Message Structure as a Predictor of Preferential Processing

The research reported here integrates traditions of cognitive information processing and visual communication research by offering a new conceptual definition of item centrality and a methodological tool for measuring it. Using developments in information processing research about effects of visual production features on attention and memory, this article advances the proposition that these features influence the perception of some objects as central or peripheral to the information presented in a specific visual scene. These structural features were combined here to develop and test a structural indicator of item centrality. The results show that such elements as size, proximity to other objects, brightness, motion, contrast, and position on screen account for a great deal of judgment-driven evaluations about objects’ centrality. Moreover, the central and peripheral details identified using the structure-based measure replicated the same pattern of results produced in studies using a judgment-based definition. These findings suggest that structural features associated with an object are valid predictors of whether the object is perceived as central or whether it is perceived as peripheral.

Vom „home mode“ zum „image stream“? Domestizierungstheoretische Überlegungen zum Wandel privater Bildpraxis

This paper draws on the domestication approach and applies central thoughts to the emerging field of visual communication and mediatization research. A guiding premise is that people strive after continuity and security in their everyday lives. Already in the age of ‘Kodak Culture’, private photography was important for the social construction and reproduction of ‘home’. This social function remains significant in networked and digital media environments. However, modes and forms changed of what people experience as home as well as how they use visuals to maintain security and stability. The use of photos for remembering and as keepsakes of social relationships and events is partly substituted by following and producing image streams. In a way, private picture practice shifts from the visual (re)presentation of stability to the stability of visual (re)presentation. By drawing on past and present research in the fields of domestication as well as the appropriation of pictures, this thesis is argued in four steps. The paper ends with a critical discussion of the presented argumentation.