Chapter III

How Pictures Function in Print

Upon mastering the basic principles of composition, the print journalist is left with the task of applying them to practical problems of visual communication. “Form follows function” is one of the most important rules of modern design, and in determining the compositional form a visual message will take, analysis of message function is an important first step. According to Click and Baird, photographs and other illustrations in magazines usually function primarily in one of five ways. They can (1) attract attention, (2) illustrate a point made in the text, (3) tell a story with the aid of a caption, (4) tell a story in sequence with other illustrations and (5) give visual relief to a design.¹ Any one picture seldom will be classified exclusively in a single functional mode. For example, it is possible to attract attention with a picture that also gives visual relief to a graphic design. The function of a picture influences all aspects of its final printed form, and until the source clearly understands exactly what he or she wants a picture to do, it is impossible to determine which of the rules of visual communication to apply.

Using illustrations to attract attention

Before perception of any message can take place at the conscious level, the attention of the intended receiver of the message must be attracted. Schramm describes the choice of mass communications to which an individual attends as being determined by the “Fraction of Selection,” which is:

Expectation of Reward
_______________________

Effort Required

The fraction means simply that one is more likely to select a given communication if it seems likely to give more reward or require less effort than other communications.² As attractors of attention, illustrations often play an important part in the reader’s unconscious evaluation of the fraction of selection for a message.

A picture used to draw attention to an article most often does so by conveying in visual form the essentials of the verbal message. The illustration in Example 12 functions primarily as an attention-getter for an article titled “The Not-Quite Stepmother,” which describes a study of the relationship between divorced men with children and the women with whom those men become romantically involved.

According to the accompanying article, “The not-quite stepmother is not quite sure where she fits in—and neither is her lover.”³ This uncertainty is conveyed visually both through picture content and through the application of the Gestalt principles of proximity and closure.

At first glance, a reader might perceive the illustration as a snapshot of a typical family group, but some interesting incongruities prompt further examination. The man and the children stand before a forest of tropical trees while the woman is shown in what appears to be a separate snapshot against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Yet the man and the woman are clearly shown clasping hands as if they were part of the same picture. The physical proximity of the man to his children expresses their wholeness as a family unit separate from the woman, but through their similarity of size the man and the woman form another whole separate from the children. In this way, the illustration summarizes in visual form the dilemma of the not-quite stepmother: Her involvement with the man, symbolized by the clasped hands and the similarity of size, conflicts with the man’s relationship with his children, symbolized by the incongruent backgrounds and the groupings based on physical proximity. This visual summary of the article content thus attracts audience attention interest and conveys the essentials of the article while demanding a relatively small expenditure of effort.

Another attention-getting illustration accompanies an article titled “Why Some People Seek Revenge Against Doctors.” (Example 13) 

The illustration’s power to attract attention is probably as great or greater than that of the picture in Example 12, but It also seems probable that the picture compelled at least some readers to avoid the accompanying article on medical malpractice suits because of the eerie feeling of isolation the picture evokes. Dember and Earl warn that the novelty of an attention-getting stimulus should not be so great as to frighten or repel the observer by its abnormality or by the observer’s inability to respond appropriately, nor should the stimulus be so complex as to be beyond the observer’s understanding.⁴ In Example 13, there is an overwhelming sense of lifelessness and inactivity in the picture which is reinforced by the axial balance of visual elements. The use of the color green for the walls, floor and hospital gown contributes a sense of coldness. Converging parallel lines in ceiling and floor combine with the relatively small size of the patient and hospital bed to give the room a cavernous appearance.

If one reads the article accompanying Example 13, one finds little to justify or explain the picture content. Certainly, there is some mention of patient alienation about a third of the way into the article, but other emotions--notably anger-are more heavily emphasized as characteristic of patients who bring malpractice suits. Thus the picture attracts attention but, because of its appearance could repel some readers or perhaps give them an erroneous impression of article content.

Illustrating a point made in the text

A picture used to illustrate a text is intended to enlighten the reader by clarifying points made in that text. Implicit in that use is the assumption that words and pictures can complement each other in print communication. This complementary relationship has as its basis certain differences in the way words and pictures work. “In speaking,” writes William Bowman in Graphic Communication, “one says not only what he wants to say but what his language enables him to say.”⁵ All languages have inherent limitations based on the symbols of the language itself and on how those symbols function. The key to more effective communication in print is understanding the complementary symbolic functions of verbal and visual languages.

Basically, symbols work in either of two ways: analogically or digitally. In analogical systems, the series of symbols is similar in proportions and relations to the thing, idea or event it represents. Analogical symbol systems are continuous and without gaps while digital systems are discontinuous and consist of clearly distinguishable atomic categories that can be defined using other categories from within the same symbol system. Words almost always function digitally while pictures usually function as analogs. A word can be defined using other words, but while pictures can be broken down into discrete elements, it is generally impossible possible to assign precise definitions to those elements, either in terms of other visual elements or in terms of words. This seeming lack of precision should not be equated with an inability to convey meaning, for it is this characteristic of visual language that enables image-makers to convey messages that writers cannot.

“Words,” writes Arthur Koestler, “are a blessing which can turn into a curse. They crystallize thought; they give articulation and precision to vague images and hazy intuitions. But a crystal is no longer a fluid.”⁶ This lack of fluidity is the primary characteristic of words, or indeed of any digital symbol system, that restricts the kinds of meaning digital symbols can convey.

“The greatest power of visual language lies in its immediacy, its spontaneous evidence,” writes Dondis. “Visually, you see content and form simultaneously.”⁷ As Key points out, however, “the total instantaneous perception of the picture is repressed in favor of certain details. All the information and meaning are recorded instantly and totally, but the mind plays what amounts to a trick, permitting only certain details--often what we want to see or what we can identify with--to filter through into conscious awareness.”⁸

Perception of visual symbols appears, then, to operate on two levels simultaneously. On a conscious level, the decoding of a visual message is similar to the decoding of a verbal message in that the visual elements, like words, are sampled across time, classified and duly recorded. While the eye scans the visual field and focuses on specific aspects to be entered into conscious awareness, the unconscious mind accepts and stores a single, instantaneous impression. This instantaneous communications effect of visual symbol systems is unparalleled in verbal systems.

Communication at the unconscious level, while intriguing, is a highly controversial topic. Little is known about how information stored in the unconscious influences conscious attitudes and behavior,⁹ but that the influence is indeed present is no longer widely disputed. At the conscious level, the observer sees only what is necessary for meaning,¹⁰ even though he or she often misinterprets and misunderstands messages because of this tendency to assign meaning immediately. “We cannot say to ourselves, ‘Hold off any interpretation until you collect all the facts.’ As soon as we experience any facts, they will be perceived as organized into some sort of meaningful whole.”¹¹ This organization is referred to by psychologists as “closure,” and one of the goals of the visual communicator is to control closure by providing messages with the right amount of complexity for the audience.

Perhaps the most common example of text illustration with pictures is the use of portraits or “mug shots” of people mentioned in the text. Graphs and charts are also commonly used to clarify text by presenting a visual summary of relationships, thus exemplifying the visual language at its least equivocal. The various visual elements in a graph or chart are clearly understood to represent data and in this sense, such pictures may be said to function digitally in much the same way words to. Their illustrative value lies in their ability to function simultaneously as analogs by instantaneously summarizing the relationships among the digitally presented data as in Example 14, in which factual information is conveyed at the same time relationships and trends are communicated. Note also the use of the mug shot for illustration.

Telling a story with a single picture 

In discussing the use of a single picture to tell a story, Click and Baird write that “the possibility of a single photograph telling a story or making a point without the aid of any words is so rare as to merit elimination from the list of possibilities.”¹² Implicit in this statement is the authors’ ill-conceived denial of the very real tendency of all pictures to convey a message of some kind to anyone who perceives them. Indeed, by defining the word “story” rather broadly, one can safely assert that every picture tells a story, provided the picture’s perceiver believes the picture to be potentially meaningful. 

According to Gordon, “The conscious attempt to create a seemingly ‘sensible’ field around ourselves is probably one of the strongest of our drives.”¹³ Because of this need for meaning, an un-interpreted picture creates a conflict in a perceiver that can be resolved only through his or her interpreting that picture. Ideally, the perceiver’s interpretation of a picture corresponds as closely as possible with the meaning intended by the source, but if a perceiver misunderstands the sender’s intentions, according to Gordon,

the perceiver usually resolves his confusion by searching into his own predispositions to find hidden meanings. He thus introduces his own opinions, prejudices, attitudes and beliefs into an ambiguous field, with the result that he believes that he has cleared up his confusion. He has not. He has simply succeeded in eliminating the psychological tension that in-variably results when an individual faces chaos in his perceptions.¹⁴

It is important to note Gordon’s reference to “an ambiguous field,” for the breadth of audience Interpretation of any message is determined primarily by the degree of ambiguity in that message. Because visual communication is inherently more equivocal than verbal communication, print journalists can effectively narrow the range of interpretations for any one picture by providing their audiences with a supporting verbal message, usually in the form of a caption. The extent to which captions can influence picture interpretation was explored during the 1950s by Kerrick who presented her conclusions in an article for Journalism Quarterly. Kerrick’s research suggested that a caption can modify picture interpretation in ways that can be predicted by the writer of the caption, but a caption that is in obvious conflict with picture content will most often be rejected.¹⁵ Thus, as Kerrick’s findings indicate, words can guide picture interpretation only so long as their message appears to be consistent with the picture’s message.

In some oases, a certain degree of ambiguity may be desirable because an ambiguous picture often attracts the attention of the observer and encourages his or her participation in the communications process through filling in blurred or missing parts. According to John Cataldo, “Distortions are designed to attract the attention of the reader and invite his participation, much in the same manner that a tipped picture on a wall invites the viewer to reestablish its balance.”¹⁶ Thus, if the source wants to encourage reader participation, perhaps at the expense of clarity and specificity, then he or she may select a relatively abstract or ambiguous photograph or drawing as in Example 15, wherein lack of detail, particularly in the family grouping, encourages reader identification with characters in the accompanying story.

The calculated use of ambiguity in visual communication is not to be confused with the ambiguity that results from the source’s inability to express visual ideas clearly. Similarly, ambiguity is not to be equated with lack of detail. In conveying factual information, the mechanical exactness of a photograph may seem ideal, but often a drawing can convey meaning more clearly by presenting only relevant information.¹⁷ It was found, for example,, that realistic photographs of organs did not help students understand a medical lecture while cartoon-like drawings helped significantly.¹⁸ Often it is useful to use both detailed and simple illustrations. In Example 16, photographs show in detail a project’s final appearance while drawings clearly demonstrate how it is to be constructed.

Telling a story in sequence with other pictures

Although a single picture can tell a complete story, its communicative potential is often enhanced when it becomes part of a picture sequence. Perhaps the most common sequential use of pictures is for how-to articles in which a step-by-step process is explained in word and picture form as in Example 17. 

Pictures in sequence also help tell the before-after story of a Texas town’s renovation in Example 18, while in Example 19, a series of three pictures showing a sunrise conveys a symbol of optimism in visual form. 

As these examples show, an individual picture in a sequence has a better chance of being interpreted as the source meant it to be than does that same picture appearing alone because of the tendency of other pictures in the sequence to help clarify the source’s intentions.

Giving visual relief to a design

“The weakest reason for using illustrations,” say Click and Baird, “is for decoration, but there are instances when this motive alone provides adequate justification.” ¹⁹ Masses of type can be forbidding to some readers, so by breaking up solid type areas with appropriate illustrations, editors make articles seem more inviting. Illustrations functioning as decoration need not convey actual information, but they should appear to be in harmony with the message as a whole. The recipe page in Example 20 is decorated with drawings that contribute to the communications effort by making the page more attractive. The informative function of such pictures, however, is minimal.

Summary

How the basic principles of visual communication are to be applied depends primarily on the specific functional goals of the message. Pictures most often function primarily to attract attention, to illustrate a point made in the text, to tell a story with the aid of a caption, to tell a story in sequence with other pictures or to give visual relief to a design.

Notes from Chapter III

¹J. W. Click and Russell N. Baird, Magazine Editing and Production (Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Company, 1979), p. 151.

²Wilbur Schramm, ed., The Process and Effects of Mass Communication (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1961), p. 19.

³Kristine M. Rosenthal and Harry K. Keshet, “The Not-Quite Stepmother,” Psychology Today, 12, No. 2 (July 1978), p. 83.

⁴Vernon, p. 71.

⁵William J. Bowman, Graphic Communication (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1968), p. 3.

⁶Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969), p. 173.

⁷Dondis, p. 106.

⁸Wilson Bryan Key, Subliminal Seduction (New York: Signet, 1973), p. 52.

⁹Ibid., p. 61.

¹⁰Carolyn M. Bloomer, Principles of Visual Perception (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976), p. 44.

¹¹David Krech and Richard S. Crutchfield, “Perceiving the World,” Theory and Problems of Social Psychology (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1948), p. 120.

¹²Click and Baird, p. 155.

¹³Gordon, p. 204.

¹⁴Ibid., p. 218.

¹⁵Jean S. Kerrick, “The Influence of Captions on Picture Interpretation,” Journalism Quarterly, 32:177-182 (1955), p. 182.

¹⁶John W. Cataldo, Graphic Design and Visual Communication (Scranton, PA: International Textbook Company, 1966), p. 42.

¹⁷Arnheim, p. 157.

¹⁸John M. Kennedy, A Psychology of Picture Perception (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1974), p. 145.

¹⁹Click and Baird, p. 155.  

© 1980 by Gretchen Kerry Nesbit