Visual Communication Strategies Research Articles

Does Active or Informative Messaging Result in Greater Conservation Engagement?

Strategic communication can motivate target audiences to take conservation action. Yet, whether audiences are motivated by more information or more influential visuals is unclear. Using online surveys, we compared different visual communication strategies using text, graphics, and photographs for encouraging parrotfish-friendly conservation behaviors to see which one yields greater emotion, interest, and intended action. Experiment 1 explored whether a scientific-oriented poster would be more or less effective in promoting conservation behaviors than a graphical poster using social marketing techniques. Experiment 2 contrasted the two posters with a photograph and graphic icons without text against a blank control. Results revealed how engaging visuals can inspire reactions and behavioral intentions. The posters both elicited positive reactions, but with less text and content to process, the social marketing poster more efficiently inspired the desired reactions. This work highlights that conservation communications can strategically use psychology and graphics to efficiently inspire desired actions.

Lipstick as a Female Student’s Visual Communication Strategy

Symbolism through coloring is commonly used in various social communications because color is significant for representing ideas, feelings, emotions, beliefs, and spirituality. Color gives character to objects and aboutness, including the color of lipstick on someone’s lips. This descriptive-qualitative study using in-depth interviews explored how female students at the Al-Azhar University of Indonesia (UAI) represented certain meanings through their choice of lipstick colors. This study was conducted objectively and avoided gender bias. The research found that even though they semiotically did not know the associative or connotative meaning of certain colors, the informants admitted to using lipstick for various reasons, namely, for the face to look bright and fresh, being more confident and prettier, showing their natural beauty, and displaying a cheerful impression. However, the analysis proved that after taking a closer look at the 10 lipstick color choices that have been reviewed, the subconscious message they want to convey is quite complex, ranging from optimism, cheerfulness, joy, modesty, warmth, wanting to be the center of attention, femininity, passion and love, and sensuality.

THE ROLE OF FINE ARTS IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN INDUSTRIAL AND GRAPHIC DESIGN: A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

In contemporary design discourse, the intersection of fine arts with industrial and graphic design emerges as a pivotal avenue for promoting sustainability. This paper explores the evolving relationship between fine arts and design disciplines, highlighting their collaborative potential in addressing environmental challenges. By adopting a cross-disciplinary approach, it investigates how incorporating principles of fine arts into industrial and graphic design practices can foster sustainable solutions. The paper begins by contextualizing the current environmental crisis and the imperative for sustainable design interventions. It then delves into the fundamental principles of fine arts, emphasizing its emphasis on creativity, expression, and aesthetic sensibility. Through a comparative analysis, it elucidates how these principles can complement the technical aspects of industrial and graphic design to imbue products and visuals with sustainability-driven narratives. Furthermore, the paper examines case studies and examples where fine arts techniques and philosophies have been integrated into design processes to enhance sustainability. These include practices such as upcycling, biomimicry, and eco-conscious visual communication strategies. Additionally, it explores the role of fine arts education in nurturing a mindset that prioritizes environmental stewardship within design professionals. The findings suggest that by embracing a cross-disciplinary approach that embraces fine arts principles, designers can transcend traditional boundaries to create innovative, sustainable solutions. This synthesis of art and design not only enriches the aesthetic appeal of products and visuals but also instills a deeper consciousness of environmental responsibility. Ultimately, this paper advocates for a holistic integration of fine arts within industrial and graphic design practices as a means to promote sustainability in the face of global challenges.
 Keywords: Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Cross-Disciplinary, Industrial, Sustainability, Reviews.

Personalization of politics through visuals: Interplay of identity, ideology, and gender in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly Election Campaign

Visual messaging is a cornerstone of campaign strategies of political parties and candidates that can complement and amplify the effects of the written/spoken word. Through a thematic analysis of the Facebook ads of the two main political parties during the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections in India, this paper shows the interplay of identity, ideology, and gender in the visual communication strategies of political parties on Facebook as they tried to mobilize voters in an intensely polarized context. Both the incumbent and the opposition parties framed issues in their visual campaigns that were culturally situated; these issues centered around identity and ideology while simultaneously emphasizing strong leadership with gendered rhetoric. Our findings contribute to the advancement of theoretical understanding of political personalization, highlighting the intricate interplay between gender, ideological inclinations, and cultural identity, all of which profoundly influence the personalization process in the context of an intensely polarized election campaign.

Exploring the Influence of Visual Elements in Corporate Communication: A Case Study of the Luxury Brand Industry

This study investigates the impact of visual elements in corporate communication, with a specific focus on the luxury brand industry. The research aims to understand how visual design elements influence the effectiveness of corporate communication. The study begins with a comprehensive literature review, analyzing works by prominent scholars in the field, including Meggs, Bakker, Shirai, Marsh, Wheeler, Budelmann, Farrelly, and Nakanishi. The literature review explores the significance of visual design concepts, such as logos, colors, typography, and visual style, in creating a strong brand identity. It also examines the use of visual hierarchy and color psychology to enhance communication effectiveness. Furthermore, the research delves into various brand communication strategies employed by luxury brands, including storytelling, experiential marketing, influencer partnerships, personalization, and digital marketing. The study highlights the role of visual elements in conveying exclusivity, elegance, and aspiration associated with luxury brands. Based on the literature review, the study draws conclusions regarding the importance of visual elements in luxury brand communication. Effective visual design and communication strategies can enhance brand recognition, foster consumer loyalty, and create a lasting impression in a competitive market.

Design psychology and visual communication on consumers’ social anxiety disorder

BackgroundConsumer social anxiety disorder is a common psychological problem that affects consumers’ social behavior and purchase decisions, and in severe cases, affects patients’ social circle and quality of life. This research is to study the effects of cultural and creative design and visual communication strategies on consumer social anxiety disorder from the perspective of design psychology and to provide effective intervention tools and strategies.Subjects and Methods200 consumers with social anxiety disorder were selected as the experimental group, and another 200 consumers with anxiety were selected as the control group. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale was used to evaluate the two groups. In each cycle, the two groups of consumers were tested for social anxiety disorder scores until the end of three courses.ResultsThe mean scores of the experimental and control groups were 18 and 17, respectively, after one course of treatment and 13 and 18 after three courses. After receiving the intervention of cultural and creative design and visual communication, the anxiety level was significantly reduced, the social ability was improved, and the performance in daily social scenes was more confident. However, anxiety levels and sociability did not change significantly in the control group.ConclusionsCreative design and visual communication strategies based on the perspective of design psychology have a positive impact on consumer social anxiety disorder. It provides directions for the provision of effective intervention strategies and tools, offering an important theoretical and practical value for the design industry and psychological therapy.

Nurse engagement in antibiotic time-outs: The collaborative process of leveraging design to disseminate research findings.

Research findings and knowledge translation are typically disseminated via presentations at professional meetings and publication in peer-review journals. However, other opportunities to translate research evidence into practice exist, including the use of visual cues. The aim of this paper is to describe the collaborative process of translating key research findings into a clear and compelling visual communication tool. As part of a multimodal research dissemination strategy, the researchers partnered with the University Health Communication Design Program faculty to develop a visual communication strategy to promote the use of antibiotic time-outs by nurses in a health system. An environmental poster was identified as an appropriate mode of communication for its potential to convey a message quickly, impactfully, and economically. Five-step systematic approach, including feedback from end-users. To augment our research dissemination strategy, an action-oriented visual communication tool in the form of a 36x48 inch poster was created within four weeks and placed in the work environment. Unit nursing leaders and staff decided on poster locations for maximum nurse engagement with the message. Creating visual communication to display scientific information is an important skill, but most nurse researchers never receive any formal training that encourages participation in collaborative development of visual communication tools. Our collaboration, was iterative, reflective, and provided a unique opportunity for shared learning. Partnering with health communication designers to expand research reach and impact is invaluable and should be considered as part of a dissemination strategy. Clinical nurses' benefit from 'seeing' the science narrowed to a simple message in order to spark dialogue or remind them what they need to 'do'.

Lipstick as Female Students Visual Communication Strategy

Symbolism through colouring is commonly used in various social communications because colour is significant for representing ideas, feelings, emotions, beliefs, as well as spirituality. Colour gives character to objects as well as aboutness, including the colour of lipstick on someone's lips. This descriptive-qualitative study using in-depth interviews explored how female students at the Al-Azhar University of Indonesia (UAI) represented particular meanings through their choice of lipstick colours. This research was conducted objectively and avoided gender bias. The research found that even though semiotically not know the associative or connotative meaning of certain colours, the informants admitted to using lipstick for various reasons, namely for the face to look bright and fresh, being more confident and prettier, showing their natural beauty, and displaying the cheerful impression. However, the analysis proved that after taking a closer look at the ten lipstick colour choices that have been reviewed, the subconscious message they want to convey is quite complex, ranging from optimism, cheerfulness, joy, modesty, warm, wanting to be the centre of attention, femininity, passion and love, to sensuality.

Climate change communication in India: A study on climate change imageries on Instagram

The rising accessibility of mobile phones and the proliferation of social media have revolutionized the way climate change has been communicated. Yet, the inherent invisibility and temporal complexities of climate change pose challenges when trying to communicate it on visual media platforms. This study employs visual content analysis to investigate how environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) in India address these limitations on their Instagram pages. Four environmental NGOs based in India were selected, and their thirty most recent Instagram posts related to climate change were analyzed based on imagery type, subject, context and themes. The findings revealed that these NGOs employed a diverse range of climate change imageries, often accompanied by overlaying texts, to traverse the lack of standardized visual tropes. Moreover, it is noted that a significant majority of analyzed Instagram imageries following the visual principles advocated by Climate Outreach emerged from one single NGO account, suggesting potential variations in the visual communication strategies among different NGOs.

Analisis Bentuk Dan Makna Visual pada Film Animasi Pacu Baluluak (Tinjauan Semiotika)

This research aimed to describe visual meaning in animation movie Pacu Baluluak. study used qualitative descriptive method. This research problem on visual analysis (colour, gesture, and character), with a little review about Pacu Baluluak animation. In order to analyze the data, the researcher used semiotics review by Roland Barthes to define three meaning levels (denotative, connotative, and myth) on some scenes and visual (colour, gesture, and character) in Pacu Baluluak animation documented by the researcher. From the research result, it can be concluded that Pacu Baluluak animation has a good visual communication strategy in creating character, in a form of gesture, colour, and character so that it illustrates a strong character. The moral value in this animation is arranged well with a simple illustration, so that we can easily follow and understand the storyline.

An educational visual resource to support understanding of liquid-liquid phase separation.

In collaboration with educators and researchers, we created an online resource called Phase Separation 101 to help undergraduate students understand the basics of liquid-liquid phase separation, an emerging and complex concept in cell biology for which visual resources are still scarce. This work presents the workflow and visual communication strategies that we followed to build scientifically accurate visualizations of dynamic processes.

“[A] time / Of pell-mell havoc and confusion”: Shakespeare and the 2016 Paris Protests

Abstract: This article looks at several graffiti based on translated quotations from Shakespeare’s plays which appeared on the walls of Paris in the spring of 2016, during the many protests against the government’s proposed labor law. After a discussion of Shakespeare’s own sense of the importance of visual communication strategies and painterly media in times of insurrection, it then moves on to the particularly tense political context in which these French graffiti were staged on the city surfaces. Based on detailed descriptive coding of these acts of writing, this article analyzes them as a modality of radical performance, showing that these words from The Tempest or Romeo and Juliet were staged as part of a visual political theater, and thereby allowing audiences to rediscover the full affective power and scope of such graffiti. The article finally turns to a close reading of the translated quotations in order to better grasp their time/site-specificity and topical relevance. Considering the parallel occupation of Paris’s main theaters at the time, it reassesses the growing gap between theater and protest as well as between performance and drama, while trying to account for Shakespeare’s ubiquitous presence in such contemporary discussions.

Advocating for a dementia-inclusive visual communication.

This study examines the underlying visual communication strategies found in existing images of dementia in the public domain. By delineating how experiences of dementia are visualized and their consequent social interpretations, we aim to inform and advocate for a dementia-inclusive visual communication, that is, visual depictions that cultivate and represent a dementia-inclusive society. The visuals were analyzed by employing the Visual Discourses of Disability (ViDD) framework that juxtaposes the "perspectivizing-personizing" cline with the "enabling-disabling" continuum. The data studied comprise a total of 432 images sourced from three domains, namely (1) The Star, a Malaysian mainstream English newspaper (2012-2021); (2) Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) website (2019-2021); and (3) the Ministry of Health Malaysia (2019-2021) website. Findings from the visual analyses were corroborated by four representatives of ADFM in a group interview. There is a predominance of stigmatized images, constructing dementia as a loss and deficit, thus depicting individuals in distanced suffering. Generic representations of people through stock images, a unique focus on the hands, representations of brain degeneration through abstractions and missing puzzle pieces are also prevalent. Despite these, the interview data confirmed that the perspectivizing aspect may be necessary to educate the public on what dementia entails. While personizing images that depict personhood and actual persons living with dementia are ideal, the use of stock images may be necessary if there is a need to maintain confidentiality and observe sensitivities. Similarly, images with positive emotions are encouraged but disabling ones are equally important to reflect reality and inculcate empathy. When capturing, selecting and publishing images of dementia, organizations should deliberate on different visual elements which evoke empowerment, advocacy, handicapping and othering implications as outlined in the ViDD framework. Any decision should only be made after considering the purposes of publications and implications such images have on the intended audiences.

Food discourse: ethics and aesthetics on Instagram

PurposeThe aim of the study is threefold: understanding the interconnections amongst visual and verbal multimodal communication strategies used in food discourse; identifying the themes of celebrity chef's food discourse with respect to pro-environmental behaviour; and providing a methodological framework to visually analyse food-themed videos.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses mise-en-scène and critical discourse and multimodal analyses to gain insights on food discourse from 20 videos shared by a Michelin starred chef on social media platforms.FindingsResults show that a pro-environmental cooking philosophy challenges the normative discourse on food and educates general audiences and foodies alike. Mise-en-scène and discourse analyses of Instagram visual content reveal that leftovers are central to the ethical message and are intertwined – through the aesthetic of the videos-with concepts of inclusivity, diversity and nourishment.Practical implicationsChefs, and restaurants, are encouraged to recognise their responsibility as role models, thus able to influence the societal production of food discourse.Originality/valueThe findings provide new insights into the role of a celebrity chef in promoting sustainable food preparation and consumption.

Issue-networks as omitted publics in the construction of #rarediseaseday discourse

Background: Over 450 million people worldwide have a rare disease. Yet despite healthcare policy rhetoric placing an onus on inclusive public engagement, rare disease publics are often engaged as data sources or product/service consumers. Meanwhile, various rare disease actors congregate around ‘Rare Disease Day’ each year – a global event with various online and offline talks, workshops, and sessions. In 2021, ~4.3 million tweets marked Twitter as a locus of exchange for the event. Methods: To examine public discourse around the event, the paper draws on social network and qualitative analyses of 40,366 Twitter tweets/retweets about rare disease day 2021 posted between 10-Feb-2021 and 10-Mar-2021, analysing them through a controversy theory lens. After identifying particularly influential Twitter users and groups, the paper examines their textual and visual communication strategies. Results: It funds three distinct orientations to rare disease discourse on Twitter (mission, awareness, and actor). In doing so, the paper locates a gap in direct engagement between medical authority and patients. Conclusions: It suggests that each orientation towards the discourse around rare disease day 2021 might be used by policymakers and researchers to engage with rare disease publics on social media in a more inclusive way as a pathway to better healthcare provision.

Determinants of paying attention to the logos of online travel agencies

A logo is an important part of brand image and a key visual element that has an impact on cognitive, emotional and behavioural reactions. This article examines how often tourists consciously pay attention to the logos of online travel agencies and brand name types in the context of their demographic characteristics and tourism behaviour. There were a total of 170 participants in the study. Empirical data was collected using two research techniques: a survey questionnaire and click tracking. Data analysis was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, it was assessed whether there is a relationship between the demographic characteristics and tourism behaviour of the respondents and their perception of the logos of online travel agencies. In the second stage, correspondence analysis (CA) was performed to obtain information on the relationship between the frequency with which the respondents pay attention to logos and their preferred type of logo. The study showed that the frequency with which the respondents pay attention to the logos of online travel agencies varies with their education, tourism expenditure, and the number of tourism trips they make in a year. The perception of logos as regards the type of brand name they include varies depending on the frequency of tourism trips and the preferred type of travel arrangements. This study provides important guidance on the design of logos and visual communication strategies, thus helping to facilitate the brand value creation process.

Gender, Islam and nativism in populist radical-right posters: visualizing ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’

ABSTRACT Sayan-Cengiz and Tekin explore the visual communication strategies of Western European populist radical-right (PRR) parties in disseminating nativist, anti-migrant and Islamophobic agendas through gendered visual representations. It is widely argued that the PRR homogenizes and dichotomizes both ‘native’ and Muslim migrant cultures through an ostensibly liberal discourse of respect for women’s rights and freedoms in order to mainstream their exclusionary position towards Muslim migrant communities. However, there is a void in the literature in terms of accounting for how visual communication strategies are used in this process. The authors here argue that looking into the visual representations of Muslim migrant and ‘native’ bodies in the PRR parties’ visual communication materials is crucial for understanding the PRR’s gendered cultural constructions of both Muslim migrant ‘outsiders’ and native ‘insiders’. Focusing on the campaign posters for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany, the Rassemblement National (RN) in France, and the Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) in the Netherlands using a social semiotic approach, their study suggests that Muslim migrants are represented as alien Others, but that there is also a significant difference between representations of migrant women as ‘victims’ and men as ‘aggressors’. On the other hand, ‘native’ women are represented as the embodiment of authentic national identities, as either reproducers or defenders of the nation. ‘Native’, heterosexual men do not often appear in the posters, pointing to the position of power that they hold in the PRR’s imagination. That is, they are the designated spectators and addressees of visual communication materials, rather than objects of representation.

Faces in the pre-Hispanic rock art of Colombia: Semiotic strategies, visual semiospheres, and gestures

This article analyses the sign systems or semiotic models that make up the meaning of a double face or mask drawing in the pre-Columbian rock art of Colombia, also discussing two human figures with depicted faces associated with the main picture. The sample of rock art was detected on the walls of the Chicamocha Canyon at the Mirador de Bárcenas site in the Santander Department in Northeast Colombia. Its origin is attributed to the Guane chiefdom. We hold as a central argument that this face and its gestures were part of a sign system or visual semiosphere that spread along the banks of the Chicamocha Canyon. However, the image shared some semiotic models and visual communication strategies with societies that inhabited areas in central Colombia located hundreds of kilometers away from the site studied. We support this claim because the forms, the use of the space in the images, and the gestures of a hieratic character appear both in the faces of the petroglyphs of the Huila Department as well as in some pre-Hispanic gold masks from the Cundinamarca region.
 The images of the rock art faces were analysed using a visual semiotic model based on the suggestions of the Mu group and analyses by Félix Thürleman and Jean Marie Floch. The analysis was complemented by Jacques Fontanille’s proposal for the levels of semiotic relevance, with Juri Lotman’s concept of the semiosphere employed as a key concept.

Transitioning flip books: creating visual communication strategies to communicate the transitioning of transgender and gender diverse people

ABSTRACT This paper presents the case study of the author’s creation of a flip book, a creative writing and visual communication design strategy used to assist children and teenagers, their family and loved ones, when communicating transgender transitioning to others. The experiences of transgender people during the recognition, coming out and transitioning process are greatly impacted by the roles and reactions of family, friends, peers and others. Research describing or demonstrating transgender and family perspectives during this time is scant. This practice-based research, using an autoethnographic lens, addresses the need to support family and friends of transgender people who are required to communicate a challenging process succinctly and clearly to a broader audience. Working with careful folding and cut paper, I present a way to communicate both the perceptions of the person transitioning aligned with the definitions and language of the process of transitioning. As a simple action of ensuring inclusion, this innovative design and writing strategy demonstrates the power of creative practices to mobilise new knowledge and support a minority group of community members. Further research is required to identify ways to expand the project to other gender diverse groups.

(Dis)play: Paper Showrooms of Soviet Labor

This article analyzes how the avant‐garde display techniques of the early Soviet period were remediated into the book format to transform visual literacy into production skills. Illustrated children's books adopted multi‐media visual techniques originally found in exhibitions to transform the printed page into a dynamic tool for teaching children how to become the workers of the future. In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet displays were unrivaled propaganda tools, capable of activating and mobilizing visitors as much as modern media such as cinema and radio. Because of their reliance on a combination of tactile, visual, auditory and physical communication strategies, exhibitions offered Soviet authors and illustrators a set of formal and narrative strategies that responded to new theories of child‐reader perception in the field of Soviet pedagogy. By analyzing the representational language of At the Exhibition against the background of El’ Lissitzky's demonstration room, I show that thematic and formal aspects of exhibition display transform the book into a visual template and a road‐map that gradually leads the reader from observing to making Soviet things. Similarly, in analyzing the role of text and image in the preschool picture book Our Review I show how curatorial strategies typical of dioramas are embedded in the book medium and transform it into an interactive display. Radically transformed into a portable diorama, the book becomes a training device directs the child‐reader to inscribe his or her actions into a system of collectively enforced social practices. Through the book‐turned‐display, Soviet children were trained into new visual practices that promised to transform them into producers, organizers and surveyors of their own culture.