Anatomy of a visual message

We express and receive visual messages on three levels: Representational, Abstract, and Symbolic
The representational visual information is the most effective level to utilize in the strong, direct reporting of the visual details of the environment. The representationality, the realistic report of what is seen, is natural to the camera. Beyond a realistic 3D model, the closest thing to actually seeing a bird in direct experience would be a carefully exposed and focused photograph in full and natural color.

The representational visual information is the most effective level to utilize in the strong, direct reporting of the visual details of the environment. The representationality, the realistic report of what is seen, is natural to the camera. Beyond a realistic 3D model, the closest thing to actually seeing a bird in direct experience would be a carefully exposed and focused photograph in full and natural color.

A bird then can be fixed in time and space through a photograph. A highly realistic painting or drawing can come close the accomplishing the same thing.

The photograph can be judged as more closely life like, but the artist's work can be clearer in detail because he can control and manipulate them. This can be considered as the beginning of abstraction the removal of

extraneous detail, the emphasis of distinguishing features. The process of

abstraction is one of distillation, the reduction of multiple factors to only the essential and most typical features of what is being represented.

If the movement of the bird is to be emphasized, static, complete details, like the head or the eyes can be ignored. The final form follows the

Leonardo Da Vinci, Bird in Flight, sketch

The final form follows the communication needs.

Otto Aicher, Lufthansa, 1962.

In the process of abstraction, with the simplification and reduction of visual forms, the basic compositional elements get exposed. The visual relationship between the basic elements and the visual forces that they create, powerfully convey the meaning. This can be observed in Picasso's paintings. In time he abandoned what is familiar in favor of space, form, tone, color and texture.

Pablo Picasso, self-portrait, 1896

Pablo Picasso, self-portrait, 1907

Pablo Picasso, portrait, 1969

Pablo Picasso, portrait, 1969

Representational / abstract / symbolic

 Abstraction toward symbolism requires ultimate simplicity, the

reduction of visual detail to the irreducible minimum. A symbol is an arbitrary sign to which a meaning is attached. Symbols have meaning only because it is pinned on them. They are information-packed visual units usually universal in meaning and in order to be effective, they must not only be seen and recognized, but also remembered and reproduced.

The advantage of a symbol is that it communicates very fast. On the other hand, if the viewer is not familiar with the symbol beforehand, interpreting its meaning is almost impossible. The more abstract a symbol, the more education is necessary for the symbol to penetrate in people's mind.

From top left to bottom right: Anarchist

symbol; Infinity; Hands of God;

Flower of Life.

All these levels of information retrieval are interconnected and overlapping, but can be sufficiently distinguished from each other that they can be analyzed both as a tactic for message making and as to their value in the process of seeing. In graphic design, all these levels of visual representation representational, abstract and symbolic, are used in the creation of visual marks. They can be more precisely classified as pictograms,

ideograms, and logograms (a.k.a pictograph, ideograph, logograph).

A pictogram is a picture which resembles the thing it signifies. There is a one-to-one relationship between a pictogram and what it represents. The prehistoric drawings can be considered as early pictograms. The descriptive and representational quality of these visual marks help to convey valuable knowledge about the practices and activities of thousand years old civilizations to our day.

In time, in addition to pictographs, visual marks that represented abstract concepts or ideas started to being used. The Lascaux Cave, 17000 BC

The Ancient Egypt hieroglyphs consisted pictographs (e.g. man, woman), ideographs (e.g. circle/light/time), and phonetic symbols. But writing just with phonetic symbols (i.e. alphabet) was to be invented by Phoenicians around 1000 BC.

The advantages of pictographic communication was studied with a systematic approach for first time by Otto Neurath in 1920s. Parallel with his motto 'words divide, pictures unite', Neurath introduced ISOTYPE (International System of Typographic Picture Education) in 1936. Isotype was designed to be an alternative to written script and it consisted of pictographic characters used "to create narrative visual material."

ISOTYPE that was originally intended to be used for the education of young children, influenced modern public signage, statistical graphics, and information graphics. The 'stick man' which is an inseparable part of our everyday life owes to Neurath's Isotype

ISO7001 (International Organization for Standardization), Public Information Symbols.

Lance Wyman, Mexico 68 - Olympic Games, logotype and sign system.

 An ideogram is a picture that represents a concept or an idea. It consists of

an identifiable image, but that image, beyond its descriptive value, signifies an idea (usually agreed upon through social conventions).

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Bruce Zahor, Womens Writing Guild.

Icon

Icons are they pictorial signs. primarily used to communicate message in a fun way and therefore enjoy much greater freedom of design. Icons have increasingly undergone a shift in character from informative to entertaining.

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This pictorial sign has an illustrative and therefore direct visual relation to the fire extinguisher it designates. The photo faithfully reproduces the extinguisher in all details.

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A logogram is basically a letter

that is at the same time a word. In English language, the ampersand '&' is a single character that stands for the word 'and'. The below Kanji character represents the word 'Forest'.
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Ryuichi Yamashiro, Hayashi (forest), poster, 1955.

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In graphic design practice, when a visual mark represents a company, product or service, it is usually referred as symbol. The typographic word treatment that accompanies the symbol is called a logotype. The visual identity can also be a combination of symbol and logotype, in which case it can be referred as a combination mark.

A corporate symbol must be an

effective visual cue representing the core attributes of the organization. They are expected to be unique, distinctive and capable of communicating with the desired audience. The corporate marks are protected by laws and legislations (see: trademark). Also, their consistency and standard are protected by a set of 'corporate identity guidelines'. These guidelines are prepared by designers, and the aim is to govern how the identity is applied and confirm approved colors, typefaces, page layouts and other such methods of maintaining visual continuity. E.g. Daimler Identity Manual, Mosaic Identity Manual.

Herb Lubalin, Families, 1980.

For the most part, a corporate symbol & logo is used without the slightest alteration. But, 'kinetic'
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identities are also possible. Such

identities involve 'constants and variations' for which the designer sets the parameters.

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Agnew Mayer Smith, Pittsburgh Childrens Museum.

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Carbone Smolan Associates, Chicago Orchestra Hall.

 List of References: Dondis, Donis A. A Primer of Visual Literacy. MIT Press, 1973. Meggs, Philip B. Type & Image: The Language of Graphic Design. NY: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1989. Thomas, Gregory. How to Design Logos, Symbols and Icons. North Light Books, 2000.