Visual literacy & News Photos

Visual Literacy

Redefining Literacyin a Visual World

93% of communication

Is nonverbal

The brain can

process images 60,000 times

faster than text

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Color Meanings = Red

• Red: energy, war, danger, strength, power, love, passion, courage

• High visibility and energy

• Enhances metabolism, increases respiration and blood pressure

• Energy and heat• Creativity and success• Health, strength and endurance• Increases oxygen to the brain

and stimulates mental activity

Color Meanings = Orange

Color Meanings = Yellow

• Joy, energy, intellect, happiness

• Grabs attention• Stimulates mental

activity and muscle energy

• Too much is overwhelming or unstable and spontaneous

Color Meanings = Green

• Nature• Growth, harmony, fertility,

freshness• Restful and calming• Stability, endurance• Wealth = money

Color Meanings = Blue

• Tranquility/calmness• Sincerity and piety• Intellect, precision• Cleanliness• Masculine• Suppresses appetite

Color Meanings = Purple

• Royalty• Power, ambition, stability,

luxury, wealth• Mystery, magic, wisdom,

independence, creativity• Children prefer

Color Meanings = Black

• Strength and authority• Death, evil, mystery• Formal, elegant, prestigious• Creates contrast and depth• Diminish readability

Color Meanings = White

• Light, goodness, innocence, purity

• Safety, cleanliness, and sterility• Simplicity

• natural, earthy• wholesome• neutral• suggests simplicity, dependability,

health• conveys warmth and honesty• makes good background

Color Meanings = Brown

GUCCI uses blue…

• What emotions does this picture evoke?

Color Harmony and Emotion

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html

3 colors side-by-side on the color wheel

2 colors opposite on color wheel

Video Game

Charles Krupa Photo, Boston Marathon

Colin Brazier – Sky News Reporter – MH17

“UN staff found 4 year-old Marwan crossing desert alone after being separated from family fleeing #Syria"