Hey folks, welcome back to my blog! Last week, we went over how to build your own audience and the importance of research communities. This week, we're going to discuss the ways in which you can use color and shapes to appeal to the audience you're attempting to appeal to. For that, we're going to be using Ramage's Conducting Visual Arguments, Hock's Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments, and Dr.Tucker Steffen's Visual Rhetoric Lecture presentation.
Certain colors & shapes can invoke certain emotions. Think about how traffic signs are used to control and manage cars on the road. A red, hexagonal sign with a capitalized "STOP" will grab the attention of a driver as opposed to a blue, circular sign with a lowercase "stop." When an audience interacts with your blog, podcast, or social media profile, they're going to be influenced by the overall design of your creation. According to Ramage, "Visuals can enhance the logos, pathos, and ethos of an argument by supporting or clarifying an argument's logical core, moving audiences imaginatively and emotionally, or enhancing the writer's credibility and authority." Think of using visual rhetoric as a means of persuading and enticing your audience through the overall aesthetic(feeling/mood) of your design!
So what are some strategies you can employ to improve your visual rhetoric? Firstly, you should identify what audience you're appealing to. Is it a community of gamers, movie-goers, or sports junkies? By identifying your audience, you can create the manner in which the readers are allowed to engage in digital info and the means by which you, the author create a rhetoric that wants, supports, or even deters different types of participation for said readers(Hocks, 2003). A magazine about gaming wouldn't want the readers to think they're reading a magazine for the latest fashion, or vice versa. Learning what type of audience you're appealing to can help you pick the best shapes, colors, and layout for your design.
When you use imagery, shapes, and colors in your design, you invoke a selection of emotions depending on color choice, authenticity, and what they express to the reader(Steffen, 2023). Less dynamic visuals might work for a relaxed audience(Think gardening, fishing, or even sewing) while more dynamic visuals might excel with a more excitable audience(Think sports, gaming, and action movies). According to Dr.Tucker Steffen, "Writers and Designers use shapes to connect and separate information, symbolize different ideas, create movement, texture, and depth, and convey mood and emotion." Rather than go over what each color and shape means, I'd implore you to take inspiration from popular designs such as Twitter, Instagram, and other popular websites you may know about. What makes them popular, why do people gravitate to their design? You may find that these websites all share the same ways in which they use visual rhetoric to grab the reader's attention! Anyways, that's all for this week's blog. As always,
See you next week!
-MH
Works Cited:
Hocks, M. E. (2003). Understanding visual rhetoric in digital writing environments. College Composition and Communication, 54(4), 629. https://doi.org/10.2307/3594188
Ramage, J. D. (n.d.). Ramage’s Conducting Visual Arguments.
Steffen, T. (2023). Visual Rhetoric Lecture.
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