Visual Literacy and Analysis

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In-Class Assignment Sheet: Visual Literacy & Analysis 

Assignment by Dilara Avci, Bedford New Scholar 2022

In this module, the main project is to create a digital poster. Meaning is created through images, illustrations, text and design in a digital poster (Lycke et al., 2021). You will conduct a visual analysis of an advertisement or an image to understand how meaning is created in visual texts. For this in-class assignment, you will:

• Consider and evaluate how to persuade with visuals
• Consider how certain visual strategies or techniques (design choices, areas of emphasis, symbolic representation, and so forth) work to construct meaning. 

Search, Analyze and Post 

Find and upload an advertisement on the Padlet Wall. Analyze and explain its purpose, the target audience, what makes it a powerful visual, how certain visual strategies or techniques are used and your reason for choosing this image. Post your image and analysis on the Padlet Wall. Here is a brief example:

Sample Visual Analysis:

Purpose: to sell a product.

Audience: People watching TV, teenagers or young adults

What makes it a powerful image: the use of color red makes people feel hungry, the image is appetizing, a famous person (Katy Perry) is involved. The image presents chips as healthy products (not causing you to put on weight.) We can see the “contrast” and “focus” as the main visual strategies in this image. It uses strong visual contrasts, lights and darks; red, black and white. The celebrity is the focus of the image. 

I chose this image because many ads are using very similar strategies and they know how to manipulate their audience with the help of images/visuals.

Reply and Reflect

When your analysis is completed, please read your friends’ posts and reply to their analysis. What did you especially like in their post? Have you realized a different visual strategy or technique in their analysis?

Student Responses on Padlet