SYLLABUS (Revised)
Principles of Visual Communication (Comm. 3550-2)
Spring 2013
General
Meeting Days/Time: Mondays & Wednesdays/11:50 am-01:10 pm
Instructor: Paul S. Rose, Ph.D.
Office: LNCO 2734, (801) 581-7844
Office Hours: Business Hours, After Class, By Appointment
Email: paul.rose@utah.edu
Teaching Assistant: Penchan "Pink" Phoborisut
Office: LNCO 2930
Email: penchan.phoborisut@utah.edu
Texts
Required Textbook (available at Bookstore):
Sturken, Marita, & Cartwright, Lisa. Practices of Looking. (Second Edition)
Suggested Textbooks (on reserve, selected chapters on WebCT):
Barry, Ann Marie. Visual Intelligence.
Denton, Craig. Graphics for Visual Communication.
Overview
Historical, physiological, perceptual and cognitive aspects of visual communication will
be studied in this course. Critical analysis methods and ethical implications of electronic
and print media images will be discussed.
Reading Quizzes
Quizzes will be administered for readings in bold on the corresponding dates. Quizzes
are administered at 11:50 each class period and may not be made up. Material from
readings in italics are recommended readings and do not appear in quizzes or exams.
Exams
Exam material comes exclusively from lecture. Lecture slides will be posted on Canvas
within 24 hours.
Scrapbooks
To illustrate engagement with the course, each student will assemble a scrapbook of
examples and comments that will be collected two times (see the calendar below).
Images from the Internet are not allowed, but personal pictures are. The scrapbook
consists of eight parts:
Part #1: Collect four images that illustrate Gestalt principles. Include one image
each for grouping by shape, grouping by proximity, and grouping by color.
Include one image that illustrates continuation and/or closure. Write a short
description of less than 50 words about each image. Indicate how and why items
are grouped, how the continuation works and/or what is “filled in” by closure.
Part #2: Collect five images showing figure-ground relationships. Write a short
description of no more than 50 words about each describing their
interrelationships. Identify the figure and the ground, and one prominent figure
ground characteristic (from lecture material) at work.
Part #3: Collect examples of each of the following: (1) a monochromatic image;
(2) an image that uses color to create three-dimensionality; and (3) an image that
uses enhanced color. Write a short description of no more than 50 words
describing each. Indicate why the author chose or manipulated the color of each
image.
Part #4: Illustrate standard television/movie framing by submitting two pictures
you have taken: a closeup of a person looking at the camera, and a medium shot
of person in profile.
Part #5: Collect a total of five images that demonstrate each of the following
design principles: contrast, harmony, proportion, balance, and movement. Write a
paragraph of no more than 50 words about each describing how the principle
works.
Part #6: Collect two images showing effective visual/verbal integration, and two
more that show ineffective integration. Write a short description of no more than
50 words analyzing how each one succeeds or fails.
Part #7: Collect three images total showing the use of the following signs: iconic,
indexical and symbolic. Write a short description of no more than 50 words about
each explaining how it fits its category.
Part #8: Find examples of a convention, a cliché, and a stereotype. Describe, in
50 words or less, how each becomes “shorthand” for meaning.
Scrapbooks must be submitted in a report cover with your name on the front cover.
Position your description so the image and the description may be viewed at the same
time (that is, without turning pages). Large illustrations may be folded to fit inside the
cover. Do not use plastic page covers. The folder may be used for the final project as
well. Each description must be typewritten. Only “print” media will be accepted.
Term Project
Critically analyze a visual media artifact (a photograph, magazine spread, movie clip,
advertisement, website, etc.) using one of the perspectives learned in class. Write your
analysis in an essay of no more than 1000 words.
Miscellaneous
Students who plagiarize or cheat will be disciplined according to the Student Code.
Submission of an electronic copy of the final project text may be required.
Assignments may be turned in late, but will be penalized one letter grade for each day
late. Exams may be taken at alternate times by prior approval.
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and
activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class,
reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin
Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make
arrangements for accommodations.
All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with
prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.
Extra credit is only offered to students who are struggling in the class (have a “C-“ grade
or less) AND who have an excellent attendance record evidenced by quiz participation.
Grading
Grades will be weighted according to the following breakdown:
15%
Quizzes
40%
Exams
30%
Scrapbook
15%
Term Project
100%
Spring 2013 Calendar (subject to change)
7-Jan
M
9-Jan
W Barry p. 15-16 & 25-35 in Chapter 1 ("Perception and Visual
'Common Sense’”)
14-Jan
M Barry p. 35-40 in Chapter 1 ("Perception and Visual 'Common
Sense’”)
16-Jan
21-Jan
23-Jan
28-Jan
30-Jan
W
M
W
M
W
4-Feb
6-Feb
11-Feb
13-Feb
Denton Chapter 3 ("Visual Perception")
No Class (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
Denton Chapter 7 ("Color")
Barry p. 69-84 in Chapter 2 ("The Nature and Power of Images”)
Barry p. 84-103 in Chapter 2 ("The Nature and Power of
Images”)
M Exam 1
W
M Denton 4 ("Design Principles")
W Sturken Chapter 1 ("Images, Power, and Politics")
18-Feb
20-Feb
25-Feb
27-Feb
M
W
M
W
No Class (Presidents' Day)
Scrapbooks 1-4 Due
Sturken p. 49-56, 69-89 in Chapter 2 ("Viewers Make Meaning")
Sturken Chapter 3 ("Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and
Knowledge")
4-Mar
M Sturken 5 ("Visual Technologies, Image Reproduction and the
Copy"), Barry 3 ("The Language of Images")
6-Mar
W Sturken p. 229-233, 236-247, 250-260 in Chapter 6 ("Media in
Everyday Life"), Barry 7 ("Political Images: Public Relations,
Advertising, and Propaganda")
11-Mar
13-Mar
18-Mar
20-Mar
M
W
M
W
25-Mar
M Sturken p. 289-304 in Chapter 7 ("Advertising, Consumer
Cultures, and Desire")
27-Mar
1-Apr
W Scrapbooks 5-8 Due
M Sturken p. 355-373, 381-384 in Chapter 9 ("Scientific Looking,
Looking at Science"), Barry 4 ("Video's Moving Images"), Barry 5
("Film Logic and Rhetoric)
3-Apr
W Sturken p. 389-407 in Chapter 10 ("The Global Flow of Visual
Culture")
8-Apr
10-Apr
15-Apr
M No Class (BEA/NAB)
W No Class (BEA/NAB)
M Sturken p. 407-426 in Chapter 10 ("The Global Flow of Visual
Culture")
17-Apr
22-Apr
24-Apr
W Final Project due
M
W Exam 3
No Class (Spring Break)
No Class (Spring Break)
Exam 2
Sturken p. 265-289 in Chapter 7 ("Advertising, Consumer
Cultures, and Desire")