Visual Literacy Notes

Brian Kennedy

Visual literacy needs to to be taught as a fundamental set of skills.

This set of skills is:
  • universal
  • digital-age
  • multi-modal
  • multi-disciplinary
  • interdisciplinary

For Teachers of Younger Students... use C.A.R.P.!

  1. BALANCE – Balance in design is similar to balance in physics. A large shape close to the center can be balanced by a small shape close to the edge. Balance provides stability and structure to a design. It’s the weight distributed in the design by the placement of your elements.
  2. PROXIMITY – Proximity creates relationship between elements. It provides a focal point. Proximity doesn’t mean that elements have to be placed together, it means they should be visually connected in someway.
  3. ALIGNMENT – Allows us to create order and organisation. Aligning elements allows them to create a visual connection with each other.
  4. REPETITION – Repetition strengthens a design by tying together individual elements. It helps to create association and consistency. Repetition can create rhythm (a feeling of organized movement).
  5. CONTRAST – Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements (opposite colours on the colour wheel, or value light / dark, or direction – horizontal / vertical). Contrast allows us to emphasize or highlight key elements in your design.
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​6. SPACE – Space in art refers to the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within elements. Both positive and negative space are important factors to be considered in every design.
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SOURCE: http://www.j6design.com.au/6-principles-of-design/
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Link to a workshop I run (resources and tips here)
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Link to Visual Literacy Bootcamp Workshop (resources and tips here)
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Click me!

Incredible free resources I found through the Sakura Medal Book Trailer Contest 

Free Colour Scheme Support

Sites available to help you make sure your get it right.

Typeface Selection

Consider the images you are using.
Are they tall and thin or short and chunky?
Are they angular or have a wavy quality?
Fonts too have visual impact. Take the time to choose a font that matches your look and feel. Consideration of your audience is also important when selecting images, fonts and layout. A corporation presentation should be wildly different from a class in an elementary school in terms of layout not just content.

How C.R.A.P is your design?
Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity

To get your head around the c.r.a.p. principles let me tell you a true story aptly named The Joshua Tree from Robin Williams book, the Non Designers Type Book.

Once upon a time, Robin received a tree identifying book where you could match a tree up with its name by looking at its picture. Robin decided to go out and identify the trees in the neighborhood. Before she went out, she read through part of the book.The first tree in the book was the Joshua tree because it only took two clues to identify it.

Now the Joshua tree is a really weird-looking tree and she looked at that picture and said to herself "Oh, we don’t have that kind of tree in Northern California. That is a weird-looking tree. I would know if I saw that tree, and I’ve never seen one before.
So she took the book and went outside. Her parents lived in a cul-de-sac of six homes. Four of those homes had Joshua trees in the front yard. She had lived in that house for thirteen years, and she had never seen a Joshua tree.

She took a walk around the block – at least 80 percent of the homes had Joshua trees in the front yards. And she had sworn she had never seen one before!

The moral of the story? Once Robin was conscious of the tree, once she could name it, she saw could see it everywhere. Which is exactly my point. Once you can name something, you’re conscious of it. You have power over it. You own it. You’re in control.
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The Google Art Project

As introduced by Jim Sills
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I am a firm believer that we should be making our own creations but we can take inspiration from the work of others.

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Rule of Thirds image: Flickr cc photo by AngryBeth