Reading 2: The Mechanics of Communication
"Communication is the very glue that binds human societies together."
Communication: the creation and exchange of meaning as a social activity. There are many different forms, both verbal and nonverbal. Good, successful communication is the goal of illustration.
Schools:
Process School: the use of separate individual and related elements that are used and identified in communicating something through an image. This also focuses on how a message is put forth so it can be understood.
Semiotic School: this one is text based and the social context that the audience and the message is based in. It utilizes a knowledge of signs and symbols to decode the message.
The Communication Process:
1) You: the creator of the message: the communicator.
The 10 core things that makes up "you": age, personality, education, family group, dominant
culture, interest, social context, habitat, time and the place where you live.
2) Message: the "thought to be encoded by you and the code used to encapsulate that thought."
Signifier + Signified = Sign
3) Channel/Medium: the means and media (physical and otherwise) that your message/code is
carried/put out in.
This requires and understanding of the needs of the medium you're using for a particular project.
This allows you to best utilize the medium and achieve the best results for your message.
4) Destination: the intended destination where the message/code is received and interpreted.
Success at this point shows that you knew and understood your audience, resulting in successful
communication.
Key Elements within Iconic Visual Systems:
- Setting: the space inhabited by characters and location it takes place
- Character: recognizable types of people
- Composition: formal arrangement of key characters
- Color: semiotic value
- Properties: object belonging characters
- Body Language: facial expressions and physical gestures
- Drama: actions that take place or situations that people find themselves in
- Sequential Narrative: employs more than one image
- Metaphor: many forms of communication to draw comparison between different images
- Allegory: makes the message more palatable and accessible to audience
- Humor: physical mishap, comedy or wit
