This week's assignment was an interesting approach to visual literacy. The videos we were assigned to watch allowed us to see the importance of visuals in our lives, but more importantly, how we interpret those visuals and use them in our everyday lives.
The first video attempted to answer the "What if we weren't visually literate" question. Without street signs, parking notices, signage for commercial businesses and restaurants, sports paraphernalia, and bathrooms, our lives would come to a halt. These signs are integral to our routines because they allow us to associate a visual cue with a location, direction, or brand.
I enjoyed the Dove advertisement. In today's society, citizens are bombarded with images of “perfect” models. Watching that "Evolution" video made me realize how much work goes in to creating an advertisement by turning an average looking girl into a perfect model or cover girl.
The third video showed the evolution in several people and showed how technicians using Photoshop change things like background, luminosity, and hair color and polish blemishes and make-up. I liked that this video showed multiple changes from different ethnic groups and ages.
The article was short but well written. I think it is important to share their definition of visual literacy, "Visual literacy is defined as the ability to understand communications composed of visual images as well as being able to use visual imagery to communicate to others. Students become visually literate by the practice of visual encoding (expressing their thoughts and ideas in visual form) and visual decoding (translating and understanding the meaning of visual imagery)" (Oakland Museum of California). I like that they used the definitions of visual encoding and visual decoding because visual literacy is a one-two-punch kind of topic.
In my job a news reporter, I hope to be a role model for my viewers. I have to be able to portray a sense of self-confidence and belief in my abilities. I need to feel comfortable in my own skin and be able to encourage viewers to be happy with who they are. So many magazines force women to believe that they have to be a perfect size zero to be happy and well liked, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. The media decides what is newsworthy and how to cover it. With that being said, ads like the Dove "Evolution" and the Photoshop "Makeover", reporters have a platform to encourage women to talk about what it really means to be beautiful because
Link to Article:
http://www.popeater.com/2009/08/07/kelly-clarkson-slim-photoshopped-self-magazine-2009-cover/
While popeater.com may not be the most reliable news source, this article does bring about an interesting point. Kelly Clarkson is a talented singer that won over the hearts of millions of Americans on American Idol. The magazine cover shows the star looking happy and healthy. Oddly enough though, Self magazine is being accused of altering the photo to make Kelly look more appealing to readers. While this is certainly not the first or last altered photo on a magazine cover, it is important for Americans (especially teen girls) to keep in mind the great lengths companies go to create a product.
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