Course syllabus
COMMS 302 - Visual Communication
SEMESTER 2, 2019
15 points
Course Convenor:
Laurence Simmons - l.simmons@auckland.ac.nz
Course delivery format:
(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)
Summary of Course Description:
Visual culture is not just part of our everyday lives it is our everyday lives. This course introduces students to the practices, technologies and knowledges through which visual imagery is constructed. It aims to provide students with the tools for analysing and communicating with various kinds of visual images and objects. These may include brands, logos, informational graphics, photographs, advertisements, promos, paintings, cartoons, comics, emoji, films, maps, architecture and architectural diagrams. The course begins with the physiology of seeing and the way our brains process visual images. We then move on to examine the different theories of visual communication (gestalt, constructivist, ecological, semiotics and cognitive theory) and principles of visual composition. We also consider how important seeing is for truth and knowledge and why and how we get pleasure from seeing. The second half of the course looks at different ‘regimes’ of the image: painting and photography, film and television, comics, digital images and advertising. Overall, the course encourages students to interrogate their culturally specific visual competencies and refine their skills in visual literacy while addressing issues of visual textuality and composition, identity, ethnicity, nation, class, gender and communicative inter-relationships more generally.
Course goals:
- Gain an understanding of the physiological and cognitive aspects of seeing.
- Learn theories scholars have developed to explain visual communication.
- Learn to analyse and critique visual messages.
- Develop skills in producing visual messages.
Course Outline
Assessment Summary:
Weekly Topics:
Prescribed Texts:
See Weekly Reading Lists under Modules
Recommended Texts:
See attached Bibliography
Workload and deadlines for submission of coursework:
The University of Auckland's expectation is that students spend 10 hours per week on a 15-point course, including time in class and personal study. Students should manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Deadlines for coursework are set by course convenors and will be advertised in course material. You should submit your work on time. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you may be required to provide supporting information before the assignment is due. Late assignments without a pre-approved extension may be penalised by loss of marks – check course information for details.
Course summary:
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