New Media One: Perspectives
Visual Iconography
Exercise 4
Part 1: Collection and Identification
For this exercise you will be working with both traditional forms of media and new forms. You will also be using the language of visual iconography as it is used and explained by Scott McCloud in his book Understanding Comics. One goal here would be to identify and apply different forms, variations, and degrees of the icon using the “pictorial vocabulary” (McCloud 51) of comics.
First, use newspapers, magazines, textbooks, appliance or game “feelies” to assemble and group icons used by these “texts,” including the use of strips, logos, graphs, and other visuals. You may use non-pictorial and pictorial icons for this assignment. Describe where these icons fall on McCloud’s version of the picture plane (52-53) and how the icons are used in their context to shape narrative or a meaningful sequence of ideas or concepts. You should address at least three examples of a range of icons. (Minimum of nine icons).
Secondly, take your show on the web or to other digital texts, such as cellphone/iPod/Zune displays, and do the same for these, assembling and grouping icons according to the same criteria as in part one.
For collection use: scissors, box cutters, cameras, screen captures, Diigo.
Part 2: Application
In comic book format, use both pictorial and non-pictorial (but no words) icons to teach a person how to make a hot cup of tea on the stovetop. This person, for some reason, is from a place where tea and technology and alphabetic reading are not common.
For both Parts 1 and 2, you may team up with a partner and develop a collaborative work. You may be called upon to present this work to the class, so be sure you are prepared to make your audience understand what you have done and why.
5 Comments
Here’s how I understand part one:
1. Go out and find a bunch of icons (no fewer than nine) in the non-digital world and place them on McCloud’s plane.
2. Take at least three of them and “Describe where these icons fall on McCloud’s version of the picture plane (52-53)”
3. Repeat for the digital texts.
I know there’s no right or wrong, so am I understanding this good or bad?
I think you have it, B. But note that we want a range of icons, not just a bunch of findings that all fit on the far left. This wont demonstrate your understanding of the issue of progressions.
ok i sorta understand what you are referring to as far as part 1 goes; however, part 2 is a little sketchy..do u want us to draw it out or?
Drawing would be a very good idea. But you could also use clipart, photographs of tea bags (which, when placed in a certain sequence would become icons), and whatever other icons might be of service.
It will be interesting to see what you come up with.
Use what you know and have learned.
Here’s my submission