About this blog

What is visual literacy?

Despite the title of this blog, visual literacy is about more than just ‘reading’ pictures. In short, visual literacy is having the ability to comprehend, interpret, and produce visual texts for communication and authentic learning. Although visual-based skills are particularly relevant in the technology-age (where a variety of new media and images bombard us each day), they are not limited to multimedia but concern everyday practices of viewing, processing and creating visual information.

The definition of visual literacy in the English syllabus is as follows:
“ The ability to decode, interpret, create, question, challenge and evaluate texts that communicate with visual images as well as, or rather than words. Visually literate people can read the intended meaning in a visual text such as an advertisement or a film shot, interpret the purpose and intended meaning, and evaluate the form, structure and features of the text. They can also use images in a creative and appropriate way to express meaning.”

Why study visual literacy?

David Gray (2008) explains it best when he states:

‘…the three R’s are no longer enough. Our world is changing fast- faster than we can keep up with our historical modes of thinking and communicating. Visual literacy- the ability to both read and write visual information; the ability to learn visually; to think and solve problems in the visual domain- will, as the information revolution evolves, become a requirement for success in business and in life”.

Types of Visual Texts

Although it is difficult to compile an exhaustive list, these items will give you some understanding of how visual texts engulf us in our daily lives.
- Facial expressions
- Picture books
- Body language
- Comics
- Photography
- Film
- Drawing
- Still & motion images
- Painting
- DVD/CD covers
- Sculpture (& fine arts)
- Product packaging
- Sign language
- Web/computer graphics
- Road signs
- SMS
- Billboards
- Emoticon
- Brochures
- Virtual environments
- Magazines (articles and advertisements)
- Hieroglyphs
- Television programs
- Calendars
- Television advertisements
- Musical staves
- Internet articles, banners, pop ups, graphics
- Graphic organisers/charts
- Maps
- Logos & emblems
- Graphs
- Graffiti
- Tables
- Bumper stickers
- Architectural plans
- X-rays
- Cartoons
- Costumes
- Gaming
- Clothing
- Posters
- Jewellery
- Signs
- Theatrical productions
- Symbols
- Layout of books
- Hyperlinks
- Web design & layout
- Font types & styles
- Signatures & watermarks