Tutorials on Reading Visuals

Introduction
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Chapter 3. test

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Tutorials on Reading Visuals
Reading Visuals: Contrast
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Reading Visuals: Contrast

Authors:

Cheryl E. Ball, Wayne State University, and Kristin L. Arola, Michigan Technological University

Activity Objective:

In this tutorial, you will explore how color, size, placement, shape, and content can all be used to create contrast.

Click the forward and backward arrows to navigate through the slides. You may also click the above outline button to skip to certain slides.

© 2018 Macmillan Learning

An illustration shows two black circles against a white background.

Contrast is the difference between elements that enables the combination of those elements to make one element stand out from another. Contrast can be determined by comparing elements in a text. Color, size, placement, shape, and content can all be used to create contrast in a text.

Here you see contrasting size and color—a large circle against a small one and black against white.

An illustration shows a small orange triangle and a large blue square.

Here you see contrast in color, shape, and size.

A photo shows a trash can filled with garbage placed in the middle of a beach. The text written on the bin reads, Please leave only your footprints.

Credit: sdominick/Getty Images

Contrast can exist not only in color, shape, and size, but also in the messages conveyed by different elements. In this photograph, the contrast is between the message, “Please leave only your footprints,” and the strewn-about garbage.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

In this clip from a video, “Call for Papers,” created for an undergraduate journal, the contrast is between the retro 1960s-era cartoon and the futuristic computer-simulated voiceover.

The word 'dream' written in black font.

When you think about contrast between elements that share one thing in common, you want to consider points of difference. Think about what connotations the word “dream” creates.

A photo shows a cloud in a blue sky with the word 'dream' written under it.

Credit: Liu Sol/Shutterstock

How does the word “dream” contrast against a background like this cloud? Think about how the font and colors carry their own connotations that change how you might read the literal, dictionary definition of “dream.”

The word 'dream' is printed in all caps against a blood red and shadowy black background.

How does this background and font treatment change how you experience the word “dream”? How do the word and background contrast? How does the meaning change when compared to the background of the cloud or to the word by itself? Which stands out more?

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Credit: © Will Burdette

As you work through the following questions, you’ll be analyzing how elements connect and contrast using the video “Call for Papers,” from The Journal of Undergraduate Multimedia Projects (The JUMP).

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

Watch 0:22–0:36 of The JUMP’s “Call for Papers.” Notice the words, the gray box, the cartoon background, and the sound. Do you think any of these elements contrast? If so, which ones and how so (specifically, what makes them different from one another)? What effects do you think this use of contrast has on the audience and the purpose? Consider how the text’s effectiveness might change if these elements did not contrast.
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

Now watch 0:55–1:08 of The JUMP’s “Call for Papers.” Notice how this is similar to the clip from question 1, yet the background no longer includes the cartoon. First, describe what elements are contrasting. Next, explain why you think the cartoon background was deleted from this section. What happens to the contrast now that the background is black? Which element is now the most emphasized, and how do you think this helps convey the purpose of the text?
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

Imagine you’ve been asked to design a flyer to post around your campus advertising The JUMP. What would the flyer look like? Which element(s) would contrast and to what effect?
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Congratulations! You have completed this activity.

Total Score: out of (%)

You have received a provisional score for your essay answers, which have been submitted to your instructor.