Introduction to Study in Higher Education (ISHE/PU001240)
“How have the Context & Theories lectures dealt with relationships between texts and images?”
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
After three months at LCC, studying context and theorical studies have made me think and see that graphic design has moved beyond it’s disciplines. Especially with graphic design, there is so much more then just the superficial definitions of the use of colours or forms. To better understand graphic design, there is the need grasp the language of graphic design. And this is where Context & Theories Lectures have helped, in the knowledge of texts and images and how they behave with each other. In any communication mediums, as graphic designers we bring texts and images together to create visual-verbal messages to communicate. (Meggs, P. 1989) Creating visual-verbal messages, requires two aspects of strong consideration. One is the visual organisation of the elements on a page, texts and images, which is the aesthetic presentation of the two. Usually involving the use of grids, talked in one of the lectures called The Debate (Baines, J. Hartnet, JB. 2015) by JB and Jess, and also the notion of layouts art direction mention in the lecture, Kays Catalogue, Modernism and Fashion Persuasion (Hauer, G. October, D. 2015) by Greta and Dene. Second is the challenge of message making. How do we make use of the two different communication means of verbalising and visualising, texts and images, come together to amplify the meaning it creates? At the same time, we have to grasp that texts and images differ in their modes of signifying. This is associated with semiotic studies, the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communications (Homer, N. Slatter, a. 2015) mentioned in Typography and Language lecture. To keep the confusion between the relationship of the two to a minimum, I decided to focus on the challenge of message making. To first introduce the strong relationship between text and image and how we perceive the two. Then we look at how in texts, it’s words can become an image and vice versa.
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
The relationship between text and image is crucial, something we have always been trying to define and create. John Berger had once mention, “we never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.” (Berger, 1973) A painting series called “The key of dreams” done by René Magritte in Figure 1. (René Magritte 1930) is one key example, that explores how we perceive text and image, by unconsciously linking the two.
Figure 1: The Key of Dreams (René Magritte 1930)
In this particular painting, Magritte shows how texts and images are sharing a frame, however their connotation is entirely different. The meaning of the text differs from the understanding of the object. Example, he painted an image of a horse and the text beneath it, was written as“The door”. People’s initial responses were perturbed, as we all tend to look at text and image together, making a connection between the two. And when it does not happen, we view that the painting is “wrong” — text itself is powerful enough to change the meaning of an image and the way we interpret it then changes too. (Courses.washington. edu, n.d.) Nonetheless, in my opinion this clearly demonstrate how image and text have a strong connection with each other in our minds, as we start to question the “wrong”, when the two are not relevant with each other. Although text and image are different, they do coexist with in a tight relationship, working hand in hand together. With that being said, when text and image are in union, it has the power to creates a visual-verbal synergy that amplifies the message it carries. (Meggs, P. 1989) A rational evidence is in the context of headlines and titles, on tabloid newspapers, where it often work with the image to clarify, modify or extend their meanings.
Figure 2: Presentation Slide (Hauer, G. October, D. 2015)
Words used to dominate and image was then utilise to illustrate the meaning of the word. However, an interest point said during the Kays Catalogue, Modernism and Fashion Persuasion’s lecture, that this has changed over a period of time. In the twentieth century, with industrial revolution, society’s pace was quicken which altered the previous relationship between words and image, where words used to dominate. In Figure 2 (Hauer, G. October, D. 2015) is an image taken from a presentation slide from the lecture by Greta and Dene. It depicts the transitional change of the two relationship, the stark contrast from the 1900 to 1936, in which one was overloaded with chaotic communication, advertising with posters and to the other, in which advertising posters has become simpler, much more direct and quicker to process in our minds. As a result to the steep increase and need for fast communication, designers have then revolutionised the use of text and image, juxtaposing and combining type and image to enable a quicker response. Simultaneously changing the way we design that is new and unexpected.
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Figure 3: Families Logotype (Herb Lubalin 1980)
Text are no longer seen as just words, it advances with a duo role, in which it can become an image as well, blurring the relationship between text and image. Some of the examples mention in the Typography and Language lecture was Herb Lubalin’s logotype work and Lewis Carroll’s Typographic image. (Homer, N. Slatter, a. 2015) Figure 3 (Herb Lubalin 1980) is a “Families” Logotype designed for a Reader’s Digest Publication by Lubalin. It is seen as a wit sense in logo design, with the incorporation of an image of a family of three in the word. Such juxtaposition helps to reinforcing the meaning of the logotype physically and emotionally. Could be considered as a perfect depiction of the wording. Also in Figure 4 (Lewis Carroll 1866), a typographic image by Lewis, is a clear example on how text has been treated as an image. The text here depicts an resemblance of a path way, relevant to the context of the book which is called Alice’s Adventures in wonderland. These two examples, clearly shows that has been a gravitational pull towards the use of words as image. That words isn’t attached to it’s conventional means of communication, now they can be a duo role. With the perception of text as image , comes the introduction to semiotics. Mentioned in Typography and language lecture, there have been many debates among the notion that texts or words should not be mutated into an image form and kept transparent (Warde, B. 1955), as it is deviating from it’s original existence and purpose, of being a carrier of the meaning that is being translated. In my opinion, this further complicates the situation, even within just the definition of using words, what more the relationship between text and image.
Figure 4: Typographic Image (Lewis Carroll 1866)
Possibilities that an image can become a word is also made conceivable in present day. Whereby text and image are combined together, to create a visual communication. In Figure 5 (Herb Lubalin 1961) “Once Upon a Treasure Hunt”, is an image of a spread design for the editorial: The Saturday Evening Post by Lubalin. Here the image of the two shovels acts as the substitute for the letter “U” in the words “treasure” and “hunt”. Automatically transforming the entire text “once upon a treasure hunt” to an image-like. The use of an image as a text here, helps to amplify the message in this context. The notion of a treasure hunt is reinforced with the visual of the shovels, that is part of the context here. Producing a sense of visual-verbal synergy, that is easy to also comprehend.
Figure 5: Once Upon A Treasure Hunt (Herb Lubalin 1961)
This re-examines the utilization of the two, in the literal form and also the radical way. It is interesting to know that the two could act as an substitude of each other. Therefore, in the relationship between text and image, is one where they are interdependent but at the same they can also overlap, which could complicated the relationship. Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Our Context and Theories lectures consist of many other broader range of studies, some that I haven’t mention, are “What is wrong with Graphic Design?” and “First things First”, which examines the role of design in today’s context where many other social issues have evolved with time. Such as inequality in the industry (Ingham, M. Sykes, R. 2015) and also the social values of a designer where we question our own roles as part of the community. (Glavey, P. Eysler, A. 2015) However to conclude, in regards to how Context and Theories Lectures have dealt with the relationship between texts and image, I believed it has helped me gain a better insight, better knowledge of and the exposure of the complex relationship between the two, primarily in message making, that isn’t a singular problem to solve. Especially with the introduction of semiotic studies. It can be difficult to define the contrasting roles or relationship between text and image. The two are like different countries that speaks their individual language, however they do have some form of history with each other such as mutual migration, cultural exchange and other forms of intercourse. (Mitchell, W.J.T, n.d) Because after all they are different but they do coexist together. Bruno Munari has once said “To accept, to know and to use them is to express oneself in the language of today which was made for the man of today” (Munari and Creagh, 2008). Commonly in today’s culture and context, the interplay of text and image is even more volatile, intricate and pervasive. (Mitchell, W.J.T, n.d) It’s crucial to continually grasp this essential understanding of the relationship of text and image, in which was introduced to me through the Context and Theories Lectures.
(1,414 Words)
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Reference List Baines, J. Hartnet, JB. (2015) The Debate [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 9 November. Berger, J. (1973). Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp. Courses.washington.edu, (n.d.). Words in Images: Magritte. [online] Available at: https://courses.washington.edu/hypertxt/cgi-bin/book/ wordsinimages/magritte.html [Accessed 3 Dec. 2015]. Glavey, P. Eysler, A. (2015) First Things First [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 30 November. Hauer, G. October, D. (2015) Kays Catalogue, Modernism and Fashion Persuasion [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 23 November. Herb Lubalin (1961) Once Upon a Treasure Hunt. [ONLINE], Available at http://www.spd.org/2014/10/herb-lubalin-redesigns-thesat.php [Accessed 06 December 15] Herb Lubalin (1980) Families Logotype [ONLINE]. Available at http://logolog.co/herb-lubalin/ [Accessed 05 December 15] Homer, N. Slatter, a. (2015) Typography and Language [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 26 October. Ingham, M. Sykes, R. (2015) What is Wrong with Graphic Design? [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 12 October. Lewis Carroll (1866) Typographic Image [ONLINE], Available at https://dominiquedesigns.wordpress.com/tag/surrealism/ [Accessed 04 December 15]
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Reference List Meggs, P. (1989). Type & image. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Mitchell, W.J.T (n.d) Word and Image Munari, B. and Creagh, P. (2008). Design as art. London: Penguin. Rene Magritte, (1930), The Key of Dreams [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/ files/2013/10/04/7900134bbd1839c7801a0060373d3507.jpg [Accessed 03 December 15] Warde, B. (1955) The Crystal Goblet. London: Sylvan Press
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Bibliography Baines, J. Hartnet, JB. (2015) The Debate [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 9 November. Bateman, J. (n.d.). Text and image. Berger, J. (1973). Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp. Courses.washington.edu, (n.d.). Words in Images: Magritte. [online] Available at: https://courses.washington.edu/hypertxt/cgi-bin/book/ wordsinimages/magritte.html [Accessed 3 Dec. 2015]. Glavey, P. Eysler, A. (2015) First Things First [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 30 November. Gunther Kress & Theo van Leeuwen (1996) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. Psychology Press. Hauer, G. October, D. (2015) Kays Catalogue, Modernism and Fashion Persuasion [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 23 November. Hawkes, T. (1977) Structuralism and Semiotics. London: MethuenFile Herb Lubalin (1961) Once Upon a Treasure Hunt. [ONLINE], Available at http://www.spd.org/2014/10/herb-lubalin-redesigns-thesat.php [Accessed 06 December 15] Herb Lubalin (1980) Families Logotype [ONLINE]. Available at http://logolog.co/herb-lubalin/ [Accessed 05 December 15] Homer, N. Slatter, a. (2015) Typography and Language [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 26 October. Ingham, M. Sykes, R. (2015) What is Wrong with Graphic Design? [Lecture to GMD Students Year 1], ISHE: . University of the Arts London. 12 October. Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346
Words & Pictures: Cataloguing GMD & CTS 07.12.15
Bibliography Lewis Carroll (1866) Typographic Image [ONLINE], Available at https://dominiquedesigns.wordpress.com/tag/surrealism/ [Accessed 04 December 15] Meggs, P. (1989). Type & image. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Mitchell, W.J.T (n.d) Word and Image Munari, B. and Creagh, P. (2008). Design as art. London: Penguin. Rene Magritte, (1930), The Key of Dreams [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/ files/2013/10/04/7900134bbd1839c7801a0060373d3507.jpg [Accessed 03 December 15] Warde, B. (1955) The Crystal Goblet. London: Sylvan Press
Azelia (Wei Zhen) Ng | Group Z NG_15467346