I am constantly responding to verbal and nonverbal communication–any moment when I am awake and conscious I am communicating in some way, shape, or form. I talk on the phone. I text. I interact with people face-to-face. I communicate verbally in person with others as well as through audio communication at work, school, and just in everyday face-to-face interactions with other human beings.
I communicate visually through the use of signs and symbols that I have in my frame of reference. For example, when driving I know that at a stop light red means stop, yellow means slow down, and green means go. I also am able to communicate with others through my tone of voice, the language and literal words that we speak, and also through facial expressions and body language. I was just walking up the stairs at my house just now while my boyfriend was on the couch with his headphones on and I waved to him. I just communicated "hello" to him without verbally saying a single word.
For visual communication, I think that the necessary tool that determines what is considered good visual communication from bad communication is that the visual image needs to look aesthetically pleasing to the eye while still getting its message across (Thank you COM 215!). I find that simplicity is often the key in visual communication.
Artistic fonts are sometimes illegible to understand upon first reading, and often times an artistic font may take away from the image as a whole. Also, images that use too many colors can make the image cluttered and take away from what the the image is trying to convey. A person needs to look at an image and have the ability to make assumptions and connections to that image right in that very moment. Communicators and viewers need to look at an image and have that ‘aha' moment where they understand the significance and overall dynamics of what the image is set out to convey.
Apple is a company that is known for its sleek, simple, and successful design of both of its products as well as its packaging, website, and software. The Apple logo is very iconic due to the logo being an apple with what looks like a bite taken out of the right side of it.
Another company that does a fantastic job communicating visually is Target. Target's classic bulls-eye logo also uses simplicity in color by the logo being only in red and white. Target's iconic bulls-eye target symbol is symbolic in that the company logo symbolizes the actual name of the company. Its website and packaging are always consistent and reflect one another.
Another company that has great visual communication is the company Nike. Nike has its classic iconic swoosh logo that distinguishes it from its competitors. Nike is simplistic in its graphic design by presenting its symbolic Nike swoosh or its trademark Nike font, which is only to be their classic orange or black and white. When you see the swoosh logo or the font, viewers are immediately able to connect "oh, this is Nike!" to the vessel of the image whether that be a magazine article, television commercial or online advertisement.
