Visual Literacy as the first stop on the COP lecture programme initiated some interesting concepts. Considering one of the most common examples of visual communication, the universal symbol for toilets, it is clear that the role of the visual communicator is to send a message that is based on a shared understanding.
The universality of the toilet symbol proves it is the relationship between the communicator and audience that validates the success of a visual aid, since it is in the accessibility of the imagery to all that makes it function. The designer, or communicator, cannot force their audience to foster a new way of thinking, the communicator must employ visual literacy in a way that constructs discernible meaning. In this sense it appears that visual literacy relies on an awareness of context, audience and message in order to speak volumes. While signage may operate universally, cultures may enable visual language to be used more specifically with more contextual groundings. These altered images may still conform to a certain degree of universal symbolism though.
VISUAL SYNTAX
The way in which visual syntax decodes the message of an image then suggests that universality of a symbol can in fact be challenged by the pictorial structure surrounding it. The organisation of these medical instructions exemplifies the significance of syntax since it is the layout of these elements and the divisions between them that issue their meaning and understanding. If the pictorial elements were to be displayed in a disjointed or jumbled structure, the meaning of the image would be sacrificed and communication flawed.
VISUAL SEMANTICS
Interestingly, visual semantics seem to offer symbolic possibilities to almost any object, with contextual references altering the communicative function of imagery. In line with illustration, visual literacy then seems to work in conjunction with semantics to extend the suitable audience of a work. An image may rely on culturally informed symbols to create a specific narrative, but the designer's consideration of syntax and gesture may assert a universality unemployed my single elements.
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