In class, we discussed Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics," which is really the seminal work in well, understanding comics.  McCloud discusses just about every, and any aspect of comics that can be conceived, and our discussion on 'gutters' was interesting, as I hadn't read "Understanding Comics" in some ten years.

As an avid comics fan (buff?), I had always been told that Neal Adams was one of the genre-defining comics-book artists of his day (which happened to precede me by some 15 years).  As you can see in the examples to the right, his use of panel arrangement was completely "outside-the-box," to coin a phrase that came up in class.  That is not the interesting part, however.

What is interesting about the two examples presented here is that they do not conform to the most-often-used transition cited by McCloud, the "Action-to-Action."  Instead, these particular panels, and their arrangement, necessitate a "Moment-to-Moment" reading.  This is interesting, because there is no shortage of action in these panels.  And in McCloud's admittedly small sampling of Western comics, "Action-to-Action" panels dominate.

There is an underlying philosophy in the way stories are told, which is probably all the more exacerbated by the comics medium (65% "Action-to-Action!"), and it is the concept of agency.  McCloud touches on this a little bit in his book, but I prefer Lera Boroditsky's thought that Western (particularly American) readers are much more likely to "assign agency" when describing events.  "John hit Bob," as opposed to "Bob was hit by John."  Or "David broke the glass," as opposed to "the glass was broken." This way of constructing narratives and describing events comes out in our visual language as well, and those artists who break free of that paradigm (like Neal Adams) are to be commended.
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In class, we discussed Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics," which is really the seminal work in well, understanding comics.

Trap. The combination of the genres of trance and rap usually through sound mixing and editing, has become a staple of parties and festival shows. They share similar use of synth, heavy base and spoken words to create music.

Arguably one of the most recognizable symbols in the Western cultural lexicon, or even that of Eastern cultures, is the silhouette of Mickey Mouse.

The above comic by Robert Berry appears in his Ulysses “Seen” adaptation of the James Joyce novel Ulysses.

We watched "The Machine is Us/ing Us" and had an interesting class discussion on whether it was a scholarly work or not. It was not, perhaps, “scholarly”; but it was an argument, and it made me think about the sociology of internet communication.

During our in-class discussion of Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art," the composer brought up gutters, the space in between frames of a comic (or newspaper, cartoon or other media).

When we talked in class about usability and the internet, it sounded like the conclusion as to what makes a usable website is simplicity. Creating a website to serve a very obvious purpose is the key to usability.

In Vitaly Friedman's article "10 Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of," the first item listed is  problematic hidden login links on websites.

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Of the recent readings for this course, I feel most compelled to comment on the writings of Jakob Nielsen. I had heard of him before, touted as the leading expert of usability.

Professor John Logie teaches us that comics have a place in academia. He teaches it in Visual Rhetoric. Why not? Comics are visual and they are graphic and they are certainly full of rhetoric. Comics teach us to engage ourselves with the comic we are viewing, on our own time, in our own space.

As of 2013, most people have encountered or used PowerPoint in a business or academic setting. Anyone who has sat through a PowerPoint presentation can most likely recall an instance when it was ineffective, i.e. too little or too much information; watered-down content; reliance on poor visual aids.

Many product images and icons with the color combinations red, white and black have been constructed throughout modern history: The Target bulls-eye, Coca-Cola and Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger are just a few examples.

Every day we are faced with multiple typefaces: the good, the bad and the ugly. Some help us to read faster and more clearly, some to invoke a specific feeling or emotion, all the while persuading us to do something (or buy something).

The very same day after we discussed Edward Tufte's "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint", I was subjected to a PowerPoint presentation in which the student committed many of the mistakes this comedian points out in the video "How NOT to use powerpoint".

Web site usability

While discussing web design and website usability, the websites that were deemed “most usable,” all had one common trait, and that was simplicity. Simple web designs allow the visitor of the website to be in total control over the page.

... and how clashing implications continue to shape our reactions to these colors.

Depending on the region and cultural upbringing, one may have different connotations associated with the colors black, white, and red.

In our recent discussions of usability of websites, I can’t help but want to critique the website of Pine Lake Pastures, where I take horse riding lessons.

For the previous two assignments, I have analyzed typography, which has proved very interesting to me. However, this is the last blog, so I thought I would try a different media.

This is an advertisement from a non-profit organization in reference to second hand smoke.

I think that one of the flaws in data display is the lack of devotion to showing the visual verbal interdependence of the Cognate Strategies. (Kostelnick 326) There is so much data is in this world to display.

When talking about the ethics and rhetoric of data displays in class, I brought up the example of geographic information system (GIS) and their technique of interpolation.

"The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" makes the assertion that:

The core ideas of teaching- explanation, reasoning, finding

things out, questioning, content, evidence, credible authority not patronizing

authoritarianism-are contrary to the cognitive style of PowerPoint.

When I first pulled out Tufte's packet on Power Point, it looked like one of the most boring texts on the planet. 30 pages on the style of Power Point? But as I read, I started to see his point and even found myself laughing at certain parts (talking about the “stupefied audience”).

Maybe it's just me, but as I read Tufte's "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint," I couldn't help but feel that it was directed at me, especially between the ages of eleven and fifteen.

VISUAL ARGUMENTS BLOG  (Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments.)

Mary E.

Updating your company's logo: prepare to hit or miss

In Richard and Davis's article " "Decorative Color as a Rhetorical Enhancement on the World Wide Web", the authors say "Omnipresent on the World Wide Web, decorative logos appeal both to ethos and pathos because they attempt to generate a positiv

Posters featuring the slogan Keep Calm and Carry On, once distributed throughout London during World War II, have seen resurgence in popularity. The iconic design is recognized by its recognized by the capital lettering set against a bold red backdrop with a crown atop the text.

April 8th, 2013

To Display, or Not Display, Data that is the Question?

When choosing to represent data in graphical form there are many options one has at hand. There are pie charts, Gantt charts, bar charts, line graphs, linear regressions, normal distributions, and countless others; the list really is endless.

In "Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments," Hocks discusses the importance of transparency when creating digital and visual documents.

Since media technology has advanced past the typewriter, the capabilities of visual, and eventually digital, rhetoric using images have grown exponentially. By appealing to different human attitudes and emotions, digital images have the ability of persuasion and gaining compliance alike.

After reading the article “The rhetoric of black, white and red: Responsibility and aesthetics to persuade with color” by Jose Luis Caivano and Mabel A. Lopez the section on ritual and religious persuasion and intimidation stood out the most.

Despite my better judgment I watched the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards show on CBS last night. The band Little Big Town performed their “Your Side of the Bed” song with interesting theatrics.

The song is a slow-moving traditional ballad with predictable lyrics.

Often referred to as graffiti, tagging, or more negatively as vandalism, street-art has been around for 40ish years as it was birthed in the 70 but only gained a real popularity in the mid-80’s.

The colors black, white, and red have been associated with human feelings since the beginning of time.

I couldn't help but wonder, when the class was viewing those videos on Wednesday and debating what counts as being scholarly, if we aren't a bit biased.

Edward Tufte’s The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint lobbies some legitimate criticisms. The medium of visual presentations has always been one that I have found difficult to approach, execute, or understand.

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