1. Visual Literacy
A Primer

2. A definition?
 Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and
make meaning from information presented in the form
of an image. Visual literacy is based on the idea that
pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be
communicated through a process of reading.
 The term “visual literacy” (VL) is credited to John
Debes, who in 1969 offered a tentative definition of the
concept: “Visual literacy refers to a group of vision
competencies a human being can develop by seeing
and at the same time having and integrating other
sensory experiences.”

3. Why and How
 We live in an increasingly visual culture.
 We are surrounded by images everywhere in our
lives.
 Studying visual imagery helps better understand the
complexities of their world.
 Visual Literacy is based on…
 Encoding (expressing their thoughts and ideas in
visual form)
 Decoding (translating and understanding the
meaning of visual imagery).

4. A lack of definition?
Because multiple disciplines such as
education, art history and criticism,
rhetoric, semiotics, philosophy,
information design, and graphic design
make use of the term visual literacy,
arriving at a common definition of visual
literacy has been contested since its
first appearance in professional
publications.

5. The Multimodal Perspective
 Scholars stress the necessity of accepting
the co-presence of linguistic literacies and
visual literacies as interacting and interlacing
modalities which complement one another in
the meaning making process.

6. Some examples
Visual literacy is not limited to modern mass media
and new technologies. Even though the name visual
literacy itself as a label dates to the 1960s, the
concept of reading signs and symbols is prehistoric.
 Animal Drawings
 Signs and Symbols
 Brands and Logos
 Graphic Novel And Comics

7. Uses
 Example - An image can be used to show what an idea might
look like. The picture may be used to illustrate a concept that is
being described within a text or strengthen a point of which the
author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
 Evidence - An image can be used to add new information.
The picture may be used to represent data that is being
described within a text or highlight one aspect of an argument
of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
 Expression - An image can be used to express a feeling or
attitude. The picture may be used to stylize information that is
being described within a text or make an ironic or emotional
comment on the point of which the author is trying to persuade
his or her audience.

8. Structural Elements
 Similarity and Difference

9. Structural Elements
 Foreground - the part of the picture that is
nearest to the viewer

10. Structural Elements
 Background - the scenery behind something
(usually whatever is in the foreground)

11. Structural Elements
 Symmetry - an exact correspondence of form on
two sides of a plane resulting in balance

12. Structural Elements
 Asymmetry - lack of balance or symmetry

13. Structural Elements
 Tone - the intensity of light and dark

14. Structural Elements
 Shape - the basic geometric shapes, such as
triangles, squares, and circles, that are apparent in
a visual image's composition

15. Structural Elements
 Motion - the illusion of motion within a visual
image