Forum: visual arguments are everywhere

[benmiller314]

For homework after lesson 10, I'm asking you to find and screenshot (if online) or photograph (if offline) an example of an argument being made through graphic or visual design. Then you'll post it here, along with answers to the questions below.

To be clear:

• By "design," I mean that some person made an active choice in its arrangement. A heap of clothes on the floor may have a lot of artistic potential to a photographer, but it's not yet designed.
  • By "in the wild," I mean that I expect you to come across some in the course of your routine travels around the web – or around your surroundings, if you're in a place where you get out into your surroundings. That said, if you need to search more actively, so be it; for one thing, you may need to pay more attention to ads that you've trained yourself to ignore.
  • By "argument," I mean there should be an idea beyond the pure visual layout. The argument could be explicit or implicit; it could be serious or a joke. (Some claims are just X is like Y.) Often both kinds of claims will exist in the same artifact, and will interact. But you should be able to put it in words.

Once you've found a visual argument, post a picture of it here, and tell us more about the image:

• What is the argument it's making?
• How does the design function in terms of dominance and hierarchy, positive and negative space, or rhythm and movement?
• Would you say the artifact is effectively designed for making the argument you've identified? In other words: does the design enhance or support the argument, or undercut it? (Or do they just sort of sit alongside each other, not speaking?) This last bullet may be tricky to answer quickly, but we should be able to talk about some of these in class.

[LDib]

I think that this picture is making an argument about the psychological effects of weight on a person, although the specifics of the argument aren't completely clear. I think that, on its own, the picture is a little bit up to interpretation: is the scale telling the person not to ask? Who is being told not to ask, exactly, and why? When I first saw it, I assumed it was going to be about a person struggling with their weight in one way or another, and not wanting to know what the scale said. (Interestingly, the article Nina Santucci wrote that the picture is associated with further limits how the picture can be interpreted, and not in the way that I originally thought. I don't know if that means that the picture makes a poor visual argument, however, because it was always intended to be consumed with the Pitt News article).

I think the most dominant thing in the picture is the text saying "Don't ask." It is large, and placed at the top, where a header typically is, so I think that our eyes are drawn to it. Additionally, rhythmically, the narrowing legs ending in feet that point upward also draws the eye to that text, I think. As far as negative space goes, I think that the blue border and simple white square create a fair amount of negative space while still queuing the viewer in on what is happening, that being that there is a scale on a floor.

I think that the artifact is effectively designed insofar as the context that it was intended to be seen in. If someone saw it in TPN's weekly newsletter, I think the ambiguity and subject matter along with the headline could act as a hook for someone to want to read the article, and paired with the article, the argument makes sense. However, on its own, it doesn't make as much sense, although I don't know if that matters. With the article, I interpret it as the scale telling us (the viewer) not to ask or comment on the weight of the person who is standing on the scale, because that's not appropriate. I think it's unlikely that, if someone saw the image on its own, they would come to that interpretation.

[AlexaSpaventa]

I saw this image on Instagram. It is pretty clearly making an argument about how the amount of plastic waste being produced is higher as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Based on this context I’m assuming the intent of the author was to encourage people to buy reusable masks as opposed to disposable ones.

So starting with the idea of positive and negative space, I think the white text on black background helps it to stand out from the rest of the image so this helps the viewer be drawn to it. Additionally, the space between the fish, glove, and mask is relatively empty which also helps them to be easy to spot. The artist also used color and size well to make the fish, mask, and glove stand out. While the mask and glove are only slightly different colored then their background the fish are bright orange which helps to draw the viewer to them (dominance/hierarchy).

Finally, I think the artist also created some level of rhythm and movement in this image. Having the fish mirroring/facing each other was a good way the artist used rhythm by using repetition. The artist also used a pretty consistent color scheme which helped to give the image a degree of visual unity. The bubbles around the fish as well as them appearing to want to move towards one another or escape the trash they are trapped in help to create a sense of movement in the image despite it being still. This is also done rather subtly in the waves of the water in the background. Overall I think this image did a pretty good job of using the mentioned design elements to help to better convey their argument and to draw the viewer's eyes to the correct elements.

[kevdliedel]

This ad for Absolut Vodka is pretty straightforward in the sense that there aren't many things to draw attention away from the product itself. It makes the argument that it is "Absolut Perfection" through the text at the bottom, and they reinforce this in an interesting way by putting a halo above the bottle. In terms of positive and negative space, everything surrounding the bottle is negative space, with a literal spotlight drawing your attention toward the bottle as positive space, specifically drawing your eyes toward the branding in the middle. The large white text at the bottom is also emphasized with positive and negative space. The bottle itself is very large and dominates the ad with the large white text under it, making one pay little attention to the informational text at the bottom. The dark blue branding on the bottle establishes dominance through a unique color, and the white text stands out against it's background. In regard to rhythm, using the same font for the branding and the large text establishes repetition and uniformity. There's a lot of visual unity due to a largely black and white color scheme, with just a bit of navy blue standing out. There are also repeating circles in the form of the white spotlight and the white halo. I think that this ad does a good job of emphasizing the brand and making a clever point by using a halo to reinforce their slogan.

[Maials268]

The visual design I'm presenting is the back of a box of Sundried Tomato Wheat Thins. In this example, there were several observations I noticed initially. In terms of dominance and hierarchy, I noted that different words/phrases varied in size. The “Sundried Tomato” is the largest phrase in this design, therefore, I found that my eyes were immediately drawn to it. Then I observed the continued variations in font, color, and style. I would say there’s maybe about 3-4 different styles of font utilized. Additionally, there is the use of bolding, specifically for the word “Basil”. The design also contains different symbols in the stylization of certain words in order to attract the audience’s attention. Moreover, I’m not sure if this would be a considered utilizing positive and negative space but I think how the word “tantalizing” is designed can possibly be seen as an absence color within the banner which is probably another factor that is meant to capture the audience's attention as it is a different “color” then other words in the design. That line of thinking also brings me to the design’s color palette which I would just like to point out is very simple with the color of the entire box being yellow, and the words on the actual design being just blue and red. In terms of rhythm and movement, I think the variation in size from the top of the page to the bottom is meant to draw the audience into the idea of looking at the design from top to bottom. You first see the large font size of “Sundried Tomato” and then your eyes slowly move down to see the smaller text of “Duo of Delicious flavors”. Overall, there are a lot of different visible components occurring in this design and I personally believe that fact actually harms the design more than helps it. It’s almost to the point where there is so much going on that eyes aren’t really drawn to one thing. Sure, the large font and positioning of Sundried Tomato can be effective in drawing attention but because there are so many other elements in the design everything just ends up blending together. Nothing really stands out because it appears as if everything's meant to. Due to the different fonts and symbols, the design appears to be “clutter”.Perhaps they could revise the design by keeping the different font sizes and color palette but lessen the amount of font stylization and symbols. I think having something more simple and clean could overall be more effective.

[leiawerner]

The visual design I found was a voting ad for Pennsylvania. After doing the readings, this advertisement stood out to me for a number of reasons. The main argument is its asking people if they are ready to vote in the 2020 election, meaning do you have a plan/are you registered. This argument was made pretty clear. This ad does a good job of utilizing negative space to draw our eyes to the focal point of the ad which is the words "ready to vote." The background is all white, making the letters stand out. Other than the "ready to vote" phrase, the VotesPA.com stands out because even though it is a bit smaller, it is in a contrasting color from the rest of the advertisement, making it another focal point. This is important because this is probably the most useful part of the advertisement - as this is the website people can go too if they want to learn more about voting in PA. This ad also does a good job using the 3 steps of hierarchy. The words are stacked on top of one another, getting smaller and smaller. In addition, this advertisement has great movement. As a viewer, my eyes followed the ad from top to bottom easily. It felt natural, and I was able to retain the information with ease. I would say that this graphic is designed effectively for the message. It is not busy, it has great flow, and the message is clear. The design used all the techniques discussed in the readings to its benefit. People will not retain/pay attention to a message if it is not displayed clearly. This advertisement is simply but very functional.

[KyleMaxwell1224]

One visual design that really caught my eye lately was an advertisement for the new PlayStation 5. This ad uses a lot of negative space as a black background, with only text and a bit of positive light around a controller in the middle. In this ad, they use white text to share their message: PlayStation is the future of gaming. One thing that is cleverly used in this ad is the futuristic design of the PS5 controller. They brilliantly outline the controller with some light and blue LEDS, and the PlayStation button logo fading into the light. I think the design is very simple, but also very telling. The hierarchy of this advertisement clearly draws the viewer to two places: the text in a positive light, and the controller. The PlayStation logo is ethos by itself; they have one of the biggest consoles every generation. They use this logo and positive light to communicate this.

[heh44]

I found this image in a YouTube video. The ad makes the argument that the Landcruiser's 4 wheel drive feature is state of the art and is extremely capable. It makes this argument by showing the vehicle overhanging a cliffside. It uses negative space to suggest that the vehicle can support itself in a physics-breaking way. The contrast of the positive space of the vehicle with the blank white negative space draws the viewer's eyes to the center of the ad. The center of the ad shows the vehicle. Hierarchy is also used to direct the viewer's eyes. Due to the dominance of the vehicle, my eyes were drawn there first. I glanced at the vehicle overhanging the cliff and then read the text above and below the vehicle. The ad wants the viewer to see the vehicle and its 4WD feature first and then read the message. After the larger texts were read, my eyes finally moved towards the Toyota symbol. The ad uses rhythm to reveal the brand of the car last. I interpreted this choice as a plan to present the impressive features of the vehicle before the manufacturer of the vehicle in an effort to surprise the viewer.

I think that this ad is effective in making an argument. The argument is funny and includes the brand's symbol as well as their logo/catchphrase. The ad flows well and presents its message concisely. The contrast of the black bold font and the white negative space background adds a sense of urgency. I liked how the ad used the cliffside to introduce negative space. If a background was added, the image would look crowded.

[shreyababu]

The visual argument I found is from an Instagram account that posts visuals depicting reasons why you should vote. This post was made the day after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week. It prominently features a black and white photo of RBG as one of the focal points, with the words "vote" and "because" on either side of her in yellow, and the phrase "we owe it to her" in the center of the screen in the color white. The argument here is clearly explicit: vote because we owe it to her. The graphic is pretty simple and therefore is very easy to visually digest. The words "vote because" take up a lot of the negative space around RBG, and draws your eye right to them because they are yellow, taking dominance through color. Everything else in the image is in the black & white scale. Furthermore, they are also dominant in terms of size as they are scaled up to the size of RBG in the picture (height). I think the rhythm in this image works to create visual unity. This visual stood out to me because the message itself is very unifying, as well as it being carefully crafted from an aesthetic standpoint. Using this black & white photo really emphasizes the sadness we all feel after losing RBG, and kind of makes a memorial to her while also including a call to action.

[LLP37]

My image is the Pitt Program Council Toon-In event social media post. Being a director for PPC, I see a lot of different posts as we have one for every event we host so these have become commonplace in my environment. I think that the goal (or argument) of this post is to serve as an advertisement to encourage you to come to the event. The Pitt Program Council logo is featured in the top-left hand corner which tells you who is hosting this event (it is also revealed by the "Pitt Program Council presents...." at the top, though this is much smaller). The title of the event is in purple font surrounded by a yellow oval (just above center of page) and this font is the largest on the page as this is the name of the event and they want it to catch your attention. Both the yellow and purple are taking dominance through color as they both are very bright colors which when layered on top of each other draw your attention even more. Then in white below that you have what the event actually is (if the name and cartoon image in the background didn't give it away) and who is interacting it. Below that is the date/time of the event, which is in slightly bigger font that the description and surrounded by a black box, probably to make it stand out more as it is harder to know when/where events are happening in the virtual environment. Lastly, I think that background that contains comic books is supposed to help your brain create a link to cartooning (kind of like "Oh, if you like comics maybe you'll like trying to draw your own cartoons" type of thing). Overall, I think the way the words appear on the page (hierarchy) make it very easy to digest as it simply goes title, description, where and doesn't have lots of other information that would take away from the necessities. In terms of rhythm, the repetition of the same font for the title, description, and "where" sections give it somewhat of a cohesive rhythm. In terms of positive and negative space, I think this graphic doesn't really have that since it isn't layered on top of a solid background it is put over a "photo" of a comic. Though, I do think that the spaces to the left and right. of the "where" section are the closest thing to negative space as they are the biggest patches without words/graphics that were layered over top of the photo. Lastly, dominance is seen throughout with color and shapes. Circles/boxes are put behind important event information" (to make it easier to see on top of photo) which helped clarify that this is an important part of the image to pay attention to. Bright colors are also used either for the background of the words or the words themselves, which also draws your attention and makes it appear dominant.

[carlystanford]

The visual argument image I found was from an advertisement for Morning Star's new line of products called Incogmeato. This image reads 100% plant-based, 0% like a salad, followed by pictures of some of their product line's offerings. The argument of the image is that even though Incogmeato's products are fully plant-based and vegan, they don't taste the same as what one might think of as stereotypical vegan food such as a salad- they're better. The first place my eye was drawn to in this image was the text across the top. It extends wider into the side margins of the image, and is a contrasting color to the dark green background, giving it a sense of dominance despite taking up less space in the image than the pictures of the product. The text at the top is also slightly less dense then the overlapping images below it, giving the viewer's eye a comfortable place to start when viewing the image. The design creates movement by arranging the text and the product images in a way that draw's the viewers eye downward. The text at the top starts out as the widest component of the image, then every component underneath gets slightly narrower. This creates an inverted triangle sort of shape that assists the viewer's eye in moving downward across the image.

[csk32]

Recently, a lot of people have been trying to spread more awareness about human trafficking, so this was something that I saw posted on an Instagram story. This graphic is making an argument to put an end to trafficking. When it says “break the silence”, it’s because this issue is not talked about as often as it should be and honestly it can be an uncomfortable topic. “Break the chains” I feel like is up for interpretation, but I see it as a way of saying these people are stuck in this nasty cycle and we need to help get them out of it. As far as layout, the artist did a good job of finding a balance between the negative and positive space. As mentioned in the article, all of the negative space does not need to be filled and it actually helps viewers to focus more on the information at hand. Additionally, this is an asymmetrical work which makes it even more engaging. Additionally, we see different aspects of dominance and hierarchy. We see different color, size, and font used in this design. In my opinion, the white sticks out the most, but then the viewer is quickly led to the words in black with “Human” enlarged. I beleive the author used the technique of creating movement rather than visual unity. This especially happened with the use of a visual of a chain being broken by the words. The chain also crosses at the top which creates the effect of movement as well, but it is still repeating the same links. Overall, I think this artifact effectively made the argument that we need to stop human trafficking. It is easy to get the overall message, but it might have helped to add more statistical facts because a lot of people are uneducated on this topic. I think a lot of viewers would be very surprised and taken back by some of the numbers that come with trafficking. The design of this specific visual, however, supports the main argument.

[trinitymccool]

This graphic design image is relatively simple, but gets its message across in a super effective way. The message of this piece is pretty explicit; it is bringing attention to global warming and climate change, particularly the issue of the polar ice caps continuing to melt more and more each year, causing a dangerous rise in sea level. Just as ice cream melts when it is faced with increased temperatures, the polar ice caps are doing the same, which is why they pictured Earth melting on an ice cream cone. I think it is a very effective and creative metaphor.

The artist utilizes a great balance of positive and negative space. The ice cream cone and Earth are front and center on the image, and very enlarged, so it is the first thing that attracts the eye. This is contrasted nicely with the stark white background, and it really makes the image of the melting Earth pop. Speaking of contrast, the text underneath the ice cream Earth pops nicely as well, it is the second thing that the eyes go to. It is a complete contrast of the white background, as it is bold, black text. Once these things get our attention, our eyes then move to the smaller text underneath the main text. The single sentence is a call-to-action, and it is simple enough to be effective, get people motivated, and easy to understand.

I think this image is extremely effective in what it sets out to do-- bring action and attention to global warming and climate change. It is playful, creative, simple, and visually appealing. It is effective enough to the point where the audience would be compelled to research the topic more without bombarding the audience with a lot of statistics and factual information.

[raisedDeadWizard]

What is the argument it's making? The argument the piece is making, is for people to socially distance on order to stop the spread of covid-19. More realistically though it is making the argument that staying six feet apart helps to combat the spread of covid-19.

How does the design function in terms of dominance and hierarchy, positive and negative space, or rhythm and movement? In terms of dominance and hierarchy, the most prominent thing in the image is "6ft". This refers to the distance people should be standing apart, and is the idea they want to drive home. The distinct colors of the mask also draw the viewer's eyes to tem, reminding subtly people should be wearing masks. In terms of positive and negative space, the space left between the two people in the graphic serve to distinguish them, draw attention to the space, and be a reminder of the argument, that people should be having space between them at all times where possible. In terms of rhythm and movement, the only real pattern I notice the the dots between the arrow in the middle. Other than that the designs are uniform of each person apart from color differences in clothing and skin tone.

Would you say the artifact is effectively designed for making the argument you've identified? In other words: does the design enhance or support the argument, or undercut it? (Or do they just sort of sit alongside each other, not speaking?) This last bullet may be tricky to answer quickly, but we should be able to talk about some of these in class.

I would say that the graphic effectively communicates the argument in a simple and memorable way. It gets the point accorss in a quick glance, but leaves room for the viewer to explore more in links and images in the corners.

[jkomalley]

I found this visual argument from Pitt while scrolling through twitter. Mental health is a topic many people I know including myself consider important. Pitt is trying to let students know that mental health awareness month is in October in order to spread awareness of its effects and help options available to students. The phrase at the top "You matter" is letting the reader know that Pitt cares about you and your mental health, and they're inviting you to a virtual event where you will be able to hear and talk about mental health with professionals.

Whoever designed this poster really knows how to use negative space/dominance well. Your eyes are drawn right to the big bold letters of "Mental Health" right away, letting the reader know straight away what this is all about. They still leave plenty of breathing room around the text though, making sure to no make it too big. Unlike most Pitt advertisements this one is free from too much clutter that would distract the user from the main point, by only using minimal accent lines, and only using three main colors in their image.

I believe this graphic does a good job of getting its argument across if that argument is letting students know its mental health awareness month and there is a virtual event you can go to to learn more.

[bschatz17]

I discovered this graphic on my instagram page as a suggested advertisement. This Heinz ad is making a claim about their product, Ketchup. The claim or argument created by Heinz is speaking on the fact of their fresh tomato ingredients. Metaphorically, the image shows that their ketchup is such a genuine tomato that there is no difference between a sliced up Heinz bottle and a sliced tomato. The most dominant aspect of the image is the bottle itself, finding a way to stand out even on the similar color background. Everything in the image is red like a tomato. However, even though the foreground and background are the same color, the literal tomato bottle stands out and pops.

The statement at the bottom in combination with the entire negative space creates a visually appealing graphic. "No one grows ketchup like Heinz" adds to the illusion of fresh tomatoes by insinuating that there is no artificial process involved with the creation of their tomato sauce. Also, it implies that no other ketchup brand is as great as Heinz. The negative space forces the eye towards the sliced up ketchup tomato and the tomato stem on top. The texture of the bottle looks like a tomato as well, instead of a glossy glass bottle. Even though the label is partially sliced up, the consumer can still easily make out the Heinz brand name.

[briansostek]

I think this is a great example of a visual argument, and this is genius advertisement. The main ideas that this advertisement display are:

1. Lego is so recognizable it doesn't even need a brand
2. The possibilities with legos are endless.

The ad shows that with just a couple of lego blocks, the builder was able to create something that resembled a dinosaur and a boat. If they were able to do that with a couple of blocks, imagine what one could create with thousands of blocks. The final thing that this ad might subliminally achieve is bringing back memories from childhood of adults viewing the ad. Maybe the adults who view the ad will want their children to have the same experience that they did, and to incite their imagination.

[peekssezin]

The graphic chosen was received from the cover of an issue of Time Magazine, from February 17th, 2020. This was before the coronavirus pandemic was out in full swing.

The contrast of the image gives the image its impact. The image comes off as a standard propaganda-esque poster, but with a face mask put over Xi Jinping's mouth. Because of the contrast, the viewers are inclined to focus in on the mask and the text located on it. The mask could be used to portray the danger of this virus, but it could also be used to portray the silence and censorship that China put in place to hide information of the virus in its beginning stages.

This graphic conveys the idea of the looming danger of coronavirus very well. The image links the areas of politics and science, and show that the disease could potentially be something very significant in recent history.

[JTH74]

The graphic I chose was one I found of a kid picking up the ocean and seeing trash all under it. The main idea of this image is to show through rhetoric that pollution is a problem. This takes a childlike approach with the harmlessness of the curiosity of a child and brings in the dark truth of pollution in the ocean. The graphic shows this hidden danger as something just below the surface level.

[hjo6]

The graphic that I've chosen is the cover of the double issue for September 21 and 28 of 2020. I was scrolling through my Facebook when I encountered this picture and I thought it was perfect for this assignment. The negative space created by the black background causes the text in white to pop off the page, and the gray text is also highlighted, though it's not as much.

The 200,000 is where the eyes are immediately drawn for several reasons. For one, it's completely white against the black background. Additionally, the 200,000 is made up of the other words on the page, using a flowing rhythm to create the unique design (the letters included in the 200,000 are a larger font size and fill up much more space). Finally, the visual unity of the words in the background set against the 200,000 make it pop out.

The other part of the graphic that pops out is the title in red at the bottom of the page: "An American Failure." The title is very small, but it is in red text against a black background causing it to stand out. The choice of the color red was no accident: the red could very well be interpreted as the color of blood, as the graphic obviously has to do with death, but at the very minimum, it is a very striking color to put against the black and white tone of the rest of the image (creating a sense of dominance against the rest of the image).

The hierarchy is split in 3 or 4 rectangular regions stacked on top of each other, with the number of deaths taking up 2/3 to 3/4 of the top of the image, and the words "An American Failure" with the authors names at the bottom of the image. I think this was done to really drill into the reader's head just how large of a number 200,000 is.

I think that the argument being made here is that the United State's national response to the coronavirus was a complete and utter failure, and people should be angry about it. Regardless of political affiliation, our government should have been looking out for the people from the very start of all of this, but our leaders continued to argue and disagree on the science of the pandemic causing mass, unnecessary death. I also think that most people don't fully comprehend how large of a number 200,000 is, and so a part of the argument is showing how the deaths continued to rise day by day until it accumulated to the point where we are now. 200,000 is far too many lives lost to a virus that most other first world countries have been able to combat with far smaller death rates, thus why the response has been an American failure. I think the graphic did a great job in making its argument because it's visually appealing and accentuates the right aspects of the images in order to "explain" what it's trying to say.