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2024/2025  BA-BMAKV2003U  Visual Communication

English Title
Visual Communication

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 80
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Market Dynamics and Cultural Analysis
Course coordinator
  • Daniel Barratt - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Marketing
  • Business psychology
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 23-01-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the basic properties of visual communication, and how visual communication differs from linguistic communication.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the basic properties and functions of the human visual system, including how vision potentially connects to the psychological systems involved in action, emotion, and decision making.
  • Have a good understanding of the basic characteristics and building blocks of different types of visual media.
  • Provide illustrative examples of the role that visual communication plays in everyday interactions, and the advertising and marketing of commercial products, political ideas, and social causes.
  • Analyse relevant theories, models, and empirical findings in a coherent and critical way, while observing academic conventions regarding the presentation of arguments and the use of references.
Course prerequisites
No course prerequisites.
Examination
Visual Communication:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Release of assignment The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE) at exam start
Duration 2 weeks to prepare
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Vision is one of the main human senses and visual communication one of the main forms of human communication along with language. Examples of visual media are to be found everywhere we look: they include still images (e.g., drawings, paintings, and photographs), moving images (e.g., film and television), and an ever increasing number of digital images and associated platforms (e.g., computer-generated imagery, internet web pages, video games, and virtual reality). In a business and society context, meanwhile, advertising and marketing can be thought of, first and foremost, as exercises in competing for the visual attention of the user/consumer.

 

Despite the prevalence of the visual in everyday life, visual communication often does not receive the attention that it deserves. One of the reasons for this is that purely visual images lack the symbolic and syntactic devices typically associated with language. As a result, images are less suited to making explicit propositional statements, less assessable in terms of truth and falsity, less easy to legislate for in legal and ethical terms, and less conducive to understanding in general. Research suggests, however, that the human visual system is intimately connected – in both functional and neurobiological terms – to the psychological systems responsible for action, emotion, and various other response tendencies.

 

The primary objective of this elective course is to understand the role of visual communication in everyday interactions, with a particular focus on the perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes of the user/consumer. An additional objective is to understand the role of visual communication in the advertising and marketing of commercial products, political ideas, and social causes.

 

The first, and introductory, part of the course will examine the basic properties of visual communication, with reference to work on communication theory, semiotics, and visual literacy. In particular, the question of how visual communication differs from linguistic communication will be addressed. The second part of the course will give an overview of the basic properties and functions of the human visual system, with reference to research in both cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. It will also give an account of how the human visual system is potentially connected to the psychological systems involved in action, emotion, and decision making.

 

The goal of the third part of the course is to give students an overview of the basic characteristics and building blocks of different types of visual media, including examples of the still images, moving images, and digital images cited above. For example, the basic principles for constructing film sequences (cinematography and editing) will be discussed and recent digital developments will be considered.

Description of the teaching methods
Lecture followed by group discussions and exercises.
Feedback during the teaching period
In preparation for the final exam, students will be given the opportunity to submit a short analysis of a chosen example of visual communication (either individually or as part of a group). Feedback will be given verbally during weekly office hours. Students are also encouraged to attend the weekly office hours for general supervision and guidance regarding the course content.
Student workload
Classes (12 weeks x 3 hours) = 36 hours
Preparation for classes (12 weeks x 7 hours) = 84 hours
Exam (including preparation) = 86 hours
Expected literature

The following list of readings is indicative and based on monographs and edited anthologies. The final list of readings will include specific book chapters and journal articles.

 

 

Communication theory, semiotics, and visual literacy

 

Fiske, J. (2011). Introduction to communication studies (3rd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.

 

Messaris, P. (1994). Visual “literacy”: Image, mind, and reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc.

 

Smith, K., Moriarty, S., Barbatsis, G., & Kenney, K. (Eds.) (2005). Handbook of visual communication: Theory, methods, and media. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

 

 

Understanding visual perception

 

Fodor, J. A. (1983). The modularity of mind: An essay on faculty psychology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

Eysenck, M. W., & Keane, M. T. (2010). Cognitive psychology: A student’s handbook (6th ed.). Selected chapters. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

 

Land, M. F., & Tatler, B. W. (2009). Looking and acting: Vision and eye movements in natural behaviour. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

 

 

Film, television, and visual media

 

Anderson, J. D. (1996). The reality of illusion: An ecological approach to cognitive film theory. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

 

Plantinga, C., & Smith, G. M. (Eds.) (1999). Passionate views: Film, cognition, and emotion. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

Nannicelli, T., & Taberham, P. (Eds.) (2014). AFI film reader in cognitive media theory. New York, NY: Routledge.

 

 

Visual persuasion and visual metaphor

 

Messaris, P. (1997). Visual persuasion: The role of images in advertising. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

 

Forceville, C. (1996). Pictorial metaphor in advertising. London, UK: Routledge.

 

Wedel, M., & Pieters, R. (Eds.) (2008). Visual marketing: From attention to action. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Last updated on 23-01-2024