Media for Communication Artists Evans & Thomas, Chapter 7 Melanie Yanney, Week 9

Objectives  Discuss the different media options available to graphic designers  Explain how graphic communication and media are interrelated  Explain how media can affect the delivery and perception of graphic content  Develop a historical awareness of the evolution of graphic communication and media  Explain how technological advancements have affected media development  Discuss how new and traditional media are combined in graphic communication Page 219 2

What is media? Print Media  Magazines  Books  Billboards  Newspapers  Annual Reports  Brochures  Newsletters Electronic Media  Television  Radio  Film  The Web “A medium is the delivery means or channel for communicating a written, verbal, or visual message” (220). The plural term is media. 3

Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television The Evolution of Media 4

Cave Drawings Prehistoric people painted pictorial representations of animals, humans, and symbolic shapes on the walls of caves thereby giving visual form to verbal content, a process called graphic communication. (220) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 5

Hieroglyphics Crude images evolved into simplified pictorial representations called symbols or hieroglyphics. The type of media used was paint on papyrus, a type of paper. (220) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 6

Pictograms (cuneiform) People later developed their own written language using pictograms called cuneiform, which evolved into more abstract, linear symbols. The type of media used was inscriptions on clay, stone, metal, and other hard materials. (220) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 7

Alphabet Later, the cuneiform script was reduced to a collection of 22 characters, a precursor to today’s alphabet. (222) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 8

Illuminated Manuscripts Early forms of today’s media took shape during the Middle Ages when bibles and psalm books were hand- assembled for the wealthy class. These illuminated manuscripts were penned with a feather quill onto vellum, a thin sheet of calf or sheep skin. (222) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 9

Movable Type Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type and the printing press during the Renaissance, which allowed for mass production of the printed word. Printing was the most common form of media through the industrial revolution through newspapers, books, handbills, and posters. (223) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 10

Lithography During that period, visual communication began to evolve by integrating graphic and fine arts into communication pieces. Lithography allowed artists to reproduce colored imagery by printing from inked stones. (223) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 11

Motion Pictures & Animation At the end of the nineteenth century, mass media shifted to electronic media thanks to the invention of motion pictures. Early animated forms progressed to sound animation and use of Technicolor. (224) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 12

Radio Radio also came into common use in the early 1900s particularly as a news and advertising medium. Its popularity began to replace newspapers and other print media. (224) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 13

Television Television began to replace radio as the broadcast media of choice in the 1930s and proved to be one of the most important advances in media technology. Color television was introduced in the mid 1950s. ( ) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 14

Computer Animation Electronic media and computers allowed for graphic communicators to incorporate computer animation into their designs. (227) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 15

New Media The digital revolution moved people into the age of computers at the end of the twentieth century. New media forms blended graphic design with audio and cinematic media, pushing beyond the two-dimensional realm. New media options include interactive media, the Web, and multimedia. (228) Let’s take a closer look at each. Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 16

Interactive Interactive media allows users to control their media experience. Hypertext and hyperlinks were one of the earliest forms of interactivity. Prior to wide accessibility of the Internet, interactive programs were available on diskette. Technology evolved by allowing more digital information to be stored on interactive technologies like computers and mobile phones, including animation, illustration, photography, sound, text, and video. (228) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 17

The Web The Internet was developed in the 1960s by the US government to facilitate communication in the event of a nuclear attack. In 1982, it was made accessible to research labs and educational institutions. Then in the 1990s, it became available to schools and businesses. 30 million people were online in 1997, and today the Internet has over one billion users. Web designers must think cross-culturally in this new global marketplace. (229) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 18

Multimedia Multimedia technology blends animation, audio, and video with text, imagery, and interactivity. Common multimedia technologies include Web sites, video, and computer games. Interactive technologies that are limited to text and imagery only are not regarded as multimedia. (230) Cave Drawings Hieroglyphics Pictograms (cuneiform) Alphabet Illuminated Manuscripts Movable Type Lithography Motion Pictures & Animation Radio New Media Computer Animation Television 19

Elements, Principles, and New Media The principles of design also apply to multimedia, the Web, and interactive media. Elements like balance, typography, unity, color, and compelling imagery are just as important in Web sites as they are in traditional media. (231) One unique factor designers must consider in new media is time. Content must be easily accessible, streamlined, and simple to navigate. (231) Other design considerations include:  Motion  Web Site Design 20

Motion  Computer technology allows designers to give type movement through animation to support the message  Individual frames are less important than the complete composition over a period of time  Motion design requires plenty of planning through storyboards to develop the piece  Audio/video productions involve even more planning through use of outlines, scripts, hiring actors and illustrators, and development of music and sound effects 21 Pages

Web Site Design  Web sites exist for many reasons  Information source  Entertainment  Promotion of services, products, organizations, events  E-Commerce  Web designers begin with an information architecture identifying how users will be guided through the site  Then a site map is established to show where type and images fall in a way that unifies individual pages as a cohesive whole  Finally, designers create style sheets to ensure that type and layouts will look the same across all types of browsers, screen resolutions, and platforms like mobile devices 22 Pages

The Right Media Choices New Media  Targets a youthful demographic  Takes a grassroots approach to marketing  Provides source for entertainment and information  Facilitates e-commerce Traditional Media  Newspapers and broadcast media reach a wide range of people  Magazines and books narrowcast specialized information to smaller audiences 23 “The best media campaigns use a combination of media to deliver a message” (236) Page 236

Chapter 7 Activity Identify a Web site that incorporates multimedia, and answer the following questions: 1.What multimedia technology (animation, audio, video, games, etc.) is incorporated into the site? 2.How does the interactive design help communicate the intended message? (Why did the designers go to all of this trouble?) 3.Who is the intended audience? How can you tell? Examples:   

Reference Evans, P., & Thomas, M. A. (2008). Exploring the Elements of Design (2 ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning. 25

Image Sources  Cave Drawings:  Hieroglyphics:  Cuneiform:  Alphabet: Udmurt_latin_alphabet_(1931).jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Komi- Udmurt_latin_alphabet_(1931).jpg  Illuminated Manuscript:  Movable Type:  Lithography:  Motion Pictures & Animation:  Radio:  Television:  Computer Animation:  New Media:  Interactive:  The Web:  Multimedia: since-the-original-launched-in-2007/ since-the-original-launched-in-2007/ 26