Visual Communication current issue

Editorial

Triggs, T. — 2009-08-13

Visualizing English: a social semiotic history of a school subject

Bezemer, J., Kress, G. — 2009-08-13

In this article, the authors provide an empirically based, social semiotic account of changes in textbook design between 1930 and the present day. They look at the multimodal design of textbooks rather than at image or any other mode in isolation. Their review of 23 textbooks for secondary education in English shows that profound changes have taken place not just in the use of image but equally in writing, typography and layout. Design is no longer exclusively organized by the principles of the organization of writing, but also, and increasingly so, by graphic, visual principles. They explore what these semiotic changes mean for the social organization of design and knowledge production, asking: What is `English', a subject that supposedly concerns itself with the modes of writing and speech? What has changed in the environment that is set up by the textbook makers for teachers and students to engage in?

Chaos or homogenization? The role of shop signs in transforming urban fabric in Beyoglu, Istanbul

Ertep, H. — 2009-08-13

Istiklal Street, more commonly known as `Beyoglu', is one of the oldest and most prominent areas of the city of Istanbul. It is an area characterized by richness and profundity in terms of its history and cultural background. If asked, perhaps every resident of Istanbul would express fond memories of Beyoglu in days gone by, particularly the older generation. Beyoglu is also one of the most visited and attractive spots of Istanbul in terms of liveliness and nightlife, and can be compared to Piccadilly Circus in London, Times Square in New York, or Ginza in Tokyo. It has always been the business sector of Istanbul, rather than a residential area. Today, it is probably the most popular and exciting part of Istanbul with its shops, restaurants and bars as well as its museums and bookshops. Despite the visual disorder and chaos that such a centre of attraction tends to attract, one would expect Beyoglu to reflect the area's richness and vibrancy in its outdoor signs and billboards. However, recent changes brought in by the local municipality seem to have dimmed and toned down the intrinsic character of this significant district. All shops and stores have been instructed to change their outdoor signs to wooden backgrounds with brass lettering — an attempt to bring back the old, nostalgic look of Istiklal Street in the 1950s and 1960s. However, with all the fascia-boards and signs now looking very much alike, has this standardization procedure actually served its purpose, or has it merely acted as an instrument of visual homogenization? The visual form of many city centres with their highly distinctive neon lights may seem to be rather disordered and chaotic but, on the other hand, does unification of visual identity act as an agent to subdue the very nature of urban fabric? This study is an attempt to investigate the role of outdoor shop signs and fascia-boards in relation to the visual and cultural identity of urban settings. It uses the Beyoglu district as an example and examines views for and against this particular case.

Beyond the screen: visualizing visits to a website as an experience in physical space

Hohl, M. — 2009-08-13

This article describes an applied investigation into a concept of information visualization where data are not rendered as graphs, charts or diagrams on the screen but as a sensual experience beyond the screen in physical space. It introduces predecessors such as calm technologies and ambient displays among a number of poetic and applied examples from related backgrounds to establish the context and relevance for communication design and graphic design, and presents a current research undertaking in which the social activity of visiting a website is visualized in multiple sensorial modalities in real-time in the form of a kinetic and sensual display.

Remote messaging: exploring graphic manifestations of human relationships to the terrain through site markers and cognitive mapping in Ladakh, India

Norwood, A. D. — 2009-08-13

This article explores the role of design in Ladakh, a remote region in northwestern India that was opened to tourism and trade only 35 years ago. The shift in the prevailing socio-economic structure is manifested within the region's forms of visual communication, spanning a continuum from photographic advertising to hand-painted wayfinding systems. One questions the cumulative effects these graphic artifacts have on local people's perception of the region and their identities integrated with it.

Workshops were conducted in which participants were introduced to the abstract visual language of maps then sketched their home villages. Content analysis of these externalized cognitive maps reveals a consistency of visual representation strategies across all participants. References to natural and man-made features reflect reverence for the land and an understanding of agrarian systems. Currently graphic design in Ladakh is in service to profit outside interests. The author seeks a role for design that values the local constituency as well.

Information design and the world that comes before us

McLaughlin, S. — 2009-08-13

Technology or art? The practice of information design occupies an ambiguous position in relation to these very different approaches to making. Heidegger's critique of the metaphysical concepts of being, spatiality and mood provides fertile ground for developing an understanding of the way in which `information design as technology' conceals. The ethical imperative for an alternative conception of information design is explored.

Star City

Nencini, P. — 2009-08-13

ReMark: anecdoted typography of mark

Lavers, K. — 2009-08-13

Letters and cities: reading the urban environment with the help of perception theories

Silva Gouveia, A. P., Lena Farias, P., Souza Gatto, P. — 2009-08-13

When wandering around a city such as São Paulo, we are surrounded by letters, numbers and symbols. These elements form part of an environment full of signs in many shapes and sizes that compete for our attention. Our perception of these elements contributes towards our spatial guidance and sense of place. The idea of `reading' the city, or urban environment, was introduced by Kevin Lynch, for whom reading the urban structure follows on from recognizing or identifying its numerous visual elements, not necessarily verbal ones. Beginning with a brief bibliographic review of perception theories, this article combines concepts from environmental psychology with concerns brought up by the fields of information design and epigraphy studies, setting out the basis of a methodological proposal for the study of typography and lettering in the urban environment.

FishNet: the Great Lakes Craft and Release Project

Ironside, C., Iarocci, A. — 2009-08-18

This visual essay provides an overview of FishNet: The Great Lakes Craft and Release Project, an ecological collaborative art initiative based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which started in 2007 and is currently still active. The project engaged approximately 1,500 elementary school students, teachers, artists, art and government organizations and volunteers in developing an arts-based educational experience and exhibition focusing on the fish of the Great Lakes bio-region.

Exhibition review: BILL VIOLA LOVE/DEATH: The Tristan Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales and St Saviour's Church, Redfern, Sydney, Australia. April 2008

Serisier, G. — 2009-08-13

Book review: TIMOTHY DONALDSON Shapes for Sounds (Cowhouse): Why Alphabets Look Like They Do, What Has Happened to Them Since Printing Was Invented, Why They Won't Ever Change, and How It Might Have Been. New York: Mark Batty Publisher, 2008. 176 pp. ISBN 978-0-9799666-2-0

Jones, P. — 2009-08-13