Discovering the essence of visuals

What we can learn about visual language from Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0

I watched the VizThink webinar yesterday, How is visual thinking related to e-learning? where Tony Karrer was asking Dave Gray questions. (The recording is now available here). A couple of things jumped out at me. First Dave talked about drawing pictures in his classes in high school. He was already making sense of the world through drawing, and finding value in being able to go to the teacher and ask if his depiction was correct.

I too was drawing all over my papers in high school, but I was drawing elaborate patterns in the margins. My images reflected what the topic ‘felt’ like. The common thread is we were using drawing as a means to process information early, and doing it a lot. The difference is Dave was drawing things that were more literally descriptive, where I was capturing essence. Which makes sense, I went on to study textile design, and have focused on using visuals as a process and connector.

The other thing that jumped out is how frustrating this visual stuff can be for people. Tony is a highly respected e-learning professional who knows the value of visuals. I could really hear the frustration in not being able to make the leap from where he is to where he wants to be in producing visuals to enhance his messages.

What does web 1.0 versus 2.0 look like?

Tony mentioned he has been struggling with illustrating how the world is shifting relative to e-learning. He referred to his chart of e-learning 1.0, 1.3, 2.0.

Here is a screencast where I describe an image I created using the VisualsSpeak ImageSet. For the purpose of illustrating my point, I made an image based on how I understand the transition that is happening from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, which is similar to what Tony mentioned as an example. This will help you see how you can discover some of the essential qualities of visual language that will make your visuals more effective.

(Left- Web 1.0 transitioning to Web 2.0 on right)

So What? How does that help me create a visual?

My description of the collage in the screencast reveals my impressions, my story of how I see the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. In this kind of process you can discover a lot of the content you want to get across.

But there is another story in the visual language that can unlock the essence of what you want to communicate visually. You can look at the overall arrangement of the images. The left side that describes Web 1.0 is more gridded and ordered. The edges of the images are aligned to each other. When you move into web 2.0 the images are fanning out from each other.

Next you can look at the lines and shapes in the images themselves.

Notice the type of shapes held within the images I selected to depict Web 1.0. There are a lot of squares or grids like those in an orderly table or spreadsheet. There are also lines much like those used in a graph.

The shapes common in my Web 2.0 depiction are circular, radiating in or out depending on your perspective, and vertical zig-zags. To me, Web 2.0 takes on the form of not being so linearly organized. How do you see the transition? Do you have a different way of visualizing it?

So what do I do with that?

Well, if you are selecting a photograph or clip art to illustrate these concepts, you can use these visual elements to guide your selection. You might search for a structured grid or a surrounded web (such as the spiderweb picture) for Web 1.0. In contrast, you might search for an image that had lines radiating from a circular form for Web 2.0.

You can also begin to develop an illustration from the patterns.

(In this sketch I used the Web 1.0 concepts of grids and graphs to transition into the more radiating form of Web 2.0)

This is just a quick overview, intended to show a process that might be used to generate ideas for effective visuals. Creating a finished visual is more complex, and does take a certain time investment. However, if you can identify some of the essence of what you are looking for, you can also hand it off to a graphic designer or illustrator to develop the ideas more fully.

Do you have some additional input for developing visuals? Or would you like me to elaborate on anything I said in this post? Let me know.