Primary methods of visual communications are very important for a graphic design or advertising because visual communications are very necessary. It is only visual medium but works well for any organization. The most important methods are:
- Gestures
- Symbols and Signs
- Paintings or Pictures
- Script
Gestures
It is a expressive movement or action and are the oral sounds created by men. Actions are made by gestures and body movements. Gestures make it easy for audience to grasp and perceive the message. There are two types of gestures:
- Many gestures are spontaneous (for example, mother kissing a child)
- Many gestures are technical (for example, gestures of traffic police)
Gestures can be made using face, hand, body movement and mimicry. The most common gestures are:
- “Namaste” is the gesture of welcome and praying
- “Single Finger” is a gesture of attention
- Vincent Chruchil’s famous gesture during the 2nd World War is “V” for “Victory”
Hand
Hands can be used to show more than 7,00,000 expressions of gesture. It can majorly help in Visual Communication. Shaking hands symbolizing co-operation according to Indian conception. In Christian religion a crossed hands and palm open to chest indicates humble submission to supreme authority.
Face
It has the most important communicative values than other body parts. Happiness, likeliness, sadness etc. gestures can be shown using face. Face can make around 20,000 expressions. Facial expressions play very important role in caricatures.
Body Movement
Movement of shoulders are used for the purpose of communication. Kissing and caressing expresses love. Jumping, singing, dancing shows extreme happiness. For example, facial expressions on a girl’s face in an advertisement of Cadbury chocolate when her friend who is playing cricket hits the ball out of the boundary using his bat. Walking and running also shows a person’s behavior. Even the professor while teaching students, uses his hands and face to communicate.
Pantomime
Pantomime gestures are use in silent play actions. Charlie Chaplin and Laurel Hardy are the world famous actors who used these gestures to create dumbshows and conveyed emotions without using a single word.
In gestures, there are no description, no analysis, no words but only fast interpretation. Emotional expressions appears most spectacularly on face when verbal communication fails all together. However, gestures are superior to words for certain purposes only. Gestures can communicate faster than words in many instances with fine shades of meaning and study of gestures is essential for any communication artist because it is an old symbolic system deeply rooted in our culture, superstitions, rituals and religions.Gestures have definite meanings whether they are consciously or unconsciously designed. Unconscious or spontaneous gestures are sincere and express what words cannot. These type of gestures do not require training. They are expression and accompaniments of feelings or emotions and so natural.Gestures maybe classified or routine or technical which are served as code or sign or signals. For example, folding of hands in Indian style in greetings is “Namaste”. Signs of traffic police, Mudras from classical Indian dances, signals of hand recordists, crane drivers, Air force or Navy signals including those with flags or lights and Army salutes are technical gestures.
Signs and Symbols
Each sign and symbol has a special meaning with a larger meaning in a very small form. Men have invented two types of symbols:
Codified (Deliberately designed)
This type of symbols are made by men. For example, + is considered as a symbol of health or doctor or hospitals / clinics or nursing service etc.
Uncodified
This type of symbols are made by men but they are totally depended upon nature. They are natural. For example, Sun is used for brightness, warm, gold etc
Any symbol communicates meanings or feelings with high degree of reliability because they are actualities, concreate and universal. For example, symbol for traffic police to stop vehicles.
For modern day to day life, we have to use different type of symbols so we need more modified symbols. The term “Symbol” is a generic term that includes all those items linked by a sign, signal, shape, colour, texture, contour, form, sound, mark, token, object, word and any action that conveys meaning.
Combination of form and colour are made to suggest balance, rhythm, harmony of lines and tones, speed, directions etc. Colors play a very important role to create symbols. Each color has its own personality. Below are some examples.
- Red: It conveys strong emotions or ability, excitement, festival, anger, love, fear, cheer etc.
- Yellow: Reach, bright, prosperous, cheerful, sunshine, warm, light, gold etc.
- Blue: Truth, night, sky, space, heaven, distance, cold etc.
- Orange: Warm, flame, lamp, fire, autumn, knowledge etc.
- Green: Hope, coolness, freshness, relaxing,safety, neutral, spring, fertility etc.
- Violet: Depression, authority, respect, dignity, truth, passion, love, violent, depth, mystery etc.
- Pink: Health, happiness, romantic, femininity etc.
- Black: Depression, sorrow, darkness, death, evil etc.
- White: Peace, dignity, purity, cleanliness etc.
- Grey: Dullness, retirement, quickness, soberness etc.
- Golden: Richness etc.
Lines are elements of graphic design and also used in symbols and signs. There are many types of lines with different meanings as under:
- Vertical lines: Dignity, strength, stability, permanence etc.
- Horizontal lines: Clam, repose, quietness, peace, balance, horizon etc.
- Diagonal lines: Dramatic or movement, excitement, restlessness etc.
- Angular lines: Insecurity, confusion, action etc.
- Rectangular lines: Strength, stability, unity etc.
- Radiation lines: Attention, shock etc.
- Radial lines: Freedom, ambition, glory, duty, devotion etc.
- Rhythmic lines: Movement, grace, charm, energetic etc.
- Triangle lines: Performance, security etc.
- Oval lines: Grace, femininity, charm, sincerity, creativity etc.
- Circular lines: Motion, fullness, vastness, quality, determinity etc.
- Formal Divisional lines: Balance, unity, formality, strength, symmetry etc.
- Informal Divisional lines: Excitement, activity, progress, creativity etc.
Pictures or Paintings
Most of the time we restrict ourselves to the pictures when we think about visual communication but it is really more than that. Paintings, illustrations, caricatures, pictographs, photograph, iconography, cartoons etc.
Illustrations
Illustration is an attempt to put literal ideas into visual form. Good illustration must have something to convey. Usually illustrations are used to communicate exactly what the written words or the script is trying to convey. In short, an illustration has to play a role to communicate and supplement the accompanying words.
Caricatures
Caricatures are exaggerated portrayal of a person and used to bring comic effects into the visual. Caricature can be larger, better or worse portrayal of a person or we can say a cartoon of a person alive.
Cartoons
Cartoons are humorous drawings to add fun to the visual.
Comic Strips or Animation Films
Comic strips originally means for the pictorial story form.
Ideographs
Ideograph is like a symbol which indicates some message. Communication through ideograph doesn’t depend upon any language. Ideographs are very simple in writing. Ancient people were communicating through ideographs though they were speaking different languages.
Pictographs
It encompasses all forms of human expression as news.
Photographs
Photographs are widely used element in visual communication these days. Photographs can be conceptual, theme based to convey the subject matter.
Difference between Caricature, Cartoons and Comic Strips
In caricatures, the audience or readers must know the original person whose caricature is made. In cartoon, audience should have the knowledge of the political or social situation to understand the humor. Comic Strip is a pictorial serial of a story that represents history, mythology or contemporary idea.
Scripts
It is also too difficult to communicate everything even by a simplified pictures so scripts were introduced.