This Handbook of Visual Communication explores the key theoretical areas in visual communication, and presents the research methods utilized in exploring how people see and how visual communication occurs. With chapters contributed by many of the best-known and respected scholars in visual communication, this volume brings together significant and influential work in the visual communication discipline.
The theory chapters included here define the twelve major theories in visual communication scholarship: aesthetics, perception, representation, visual rhetoric, cognition, semiotics, reception theory, narrative, media aesthetics, ethics, visual literacy, and cultural studies. Each of these theory chapters is followed by exemplar studies in the area, demonstrating the various methods used in visual communication research as well as the research approaches applicable for specific media types.
The Handbook serves as an invaluable reference for visual communication theory as well as a useful resource book of research methods in the discipline. It defines the current state of theory and research in visual communication, and serves as a foundation for future scholarship and study. As such, it is required reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in visual communication, and it will be influential in other disciplines in which the visual component is key, including advertising, persuasion, and media studies. The volume will also be useful to practitioners seeking to understand the visual aspects of their media and the visual processes used by their audiences.
Introduction.
S. Moriarty, G. Barbatsis, From an Oak to a Stand of Aspen: Visual Communication Theory Mapped as Rhizome Analysis.
Part I: Aesthetics.
D. Dake, Aesthetics Theory.
D. Dake, Creative Visualization.
Part II: Perception.
A.M. Barry, Perception Theory.
S. Josephson, Eye Tracking Methodology and the Internet.
K. Smith, Perception and the Newspaper Page: A Critical Analysis.
Part III: Representation.
K. Kenney, Representation Theory.
S. Moriarty, L. Rohe, Cultural Palettes in Print Advertising: Formative Research Design Method.
K. Smith, C. Price, Content Analysis of Representation: Photographic Coverage of Blacks by Nondaily Newspapers.
Part IV: Visual Rhetoric.
S.K. Foss, Theory of Visual Rhetoric.
K. Kenney, A Visual Rhetorical Study of a Virtual University's Promotional Efforts.
S. Kaplan, Visual Metaphors in Print Advertising for Fashion Products.
T. Goodnow, Empowerment Through Shifting Agents: The Rhetoric of the Clothesline Project.
Part V: Cognition.
R. Williams, Cognition Theory.
G. Comuntzis Page, Children's Comprehension of Visual Images in Television.
Part VI: Semiotics.
S. Moriarty, Visual Semiotics Theory.
S. Moriarty, S. Sayre, An Intended-Perceived Study Using Visual Semiotics.
D. Dunleavy, The Image and the Archive: A Semiotic Approach.
Part VII: Reception Theory.
G. Barbatsis, Reception Theory.
G. Barbatsis, A Textual Analysis of Political Television Ads.
M. Brown, Phenomenology and Historical Research.
Part VIII: Narrative.
G. Barbatsis, Narrative Theory.
T. Goodnow, Using Narrative Theory to Understand the Power of News Photographs.
Part IX: Media Aesthetics.
H. Zettl, Aesthetics Theory.
R. Tiemens, A Content Analysis of Political Speeches on Television.
C. Denton, Examining Documentary Photography Using the Creative Method.
Part X: Ethics.
J.H. Newton, Visual Ethics Theory.
S. Reaves, A Survey of Reactions to Photographic Manipulation.
J.H. Newton, Studying Visual Ethics by Applying a Typology of Visual Behavior.
Part XI: Visual Literacy.
P. Messaris, S. Moriarty, Visual Literacy Theory.
L. Burch, Media Literacy, Aesthetics, and Culture.
Part XII: Cultural Studies.
V. O'Donnell, Cultural Studies Theory.
J.C. Harry, A Burkean Analysis of a Television Promotional Advertisement.
V. O'Donnell, A Cultural Analysis of the Unisys "Monitor Head" Television Commercial.
G. Davey, A Historical Approach to Understanding Documentary Photographs: Dialogue, Interpretation, and Method.
