This Handbook of Visual Communication explores the key theoretical areas and research methods of visual communication. With chapters contributed by many of the best-known and respected scholars in visual communication, this volume brings together significant and influential work in the discipline. The second edition of this already-classic text has been completely revised to reflect the metamorphosis of communication in the last 15 years and the ubiquity of visual communication in our modern mediated lifestyle. Thriteen major theories of communication are defined by the top experts in their fields: perception, cognition, aesthetics, visual rhetoric, semiotics, cultural studies, ethnography, narrative, media aesthetics, digital media, intertextuality, ethics, and visual literacy. Each of these theory chapters is followed by an exemplar study or two in the area, demonstrating the various methods used in visual communication research as well as the research approaches applicable for specific media types. The Handbook of Visual Communication is a theoretical and methodological handbook for visual communication researchers and a compilation for much of the theoretical background necessary to understand visual communication. It is required reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in visual communication, and it will be influential in other disciplines such as advertising, persuasion, and media studies. The volume will also be essential to media practitioners seeking to understand the visual aspects of how audiences use media to contribute to more effective use of each specific medium.

This Handbook of Visual Communication explores the key theoretical areas in visual communication, and presents the research methods utilized in exploring how people see and how visual communication occurs. With chapters contributed by many of the best-known and respected scholars in visual communication, this volume brings together significant and influential work in the visual communication discipline. The theory chapters included here define the twelve major theories in visual communication scholarship: aesthetics, perception, representation, visual rhetoric, cognition, semiotics, reception theory, narrative, media aesthetics, ethics, visual literacy, and cultural studies. Each of these theory chapters is followed by exemplar studies in the area, demonstrating the various methods used in visual communication research as well as the research approaches applicable for specific media types. The Handbook serves as an invaluable reference for visual communication theory as well as a useful resource book of research methods in the discipline. It defines the current state of theory and research in visual communication, and serves as a foundation for future scholarship and study. As such, it is required reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in visual communication, and it will be influential in other disciplines in which the visual component is key, including advertising, persuasion, and media studies. The volume will also be useful to practitioners seeking to understand the visual aspects of their media and the visual processes used by their audiences.

The Handbook of Visual Analysis is a rich methodological resource for students, academics, researchers and professionals interested in investigating the visual representation of socially significant issues. The Handbook: Offers a wide-range of methods for visual analysis: content analysis, historical analysis, structuralist analysis, iconography, psychoanalysis, social semiotic analysis, film analysis and ethnomethodology Shows how each method can be applied for the purposes of specific research projects Exemplifies each approach through detailed analyses of a variety of data, including, newspaper images, family photos, drawings, art works and cartoons Includes examples from the authors' own research and professional practice The Handbook of Visual Analysis, which demonstrates the importance of visual data within the social sciences offers an essential guide to those working in a range of disciplines including: media and communication studies, sociology, anthropology, education, psychoanalysis, and health studies.

Visual Communication Research Designs provides a step-by-step guide for designing research involving visuals relevant to communications media. This volume explains the process from conceptualization to research questions, instrumentation, analysis, and reliability and validity checks. It also addresses the lack of sufficient methods to answer theoretical questions attending visual communication. This resource has been developed in response to the circumstance in which, in many cases, the methodologies used for verbal and textual communications are inappropriate or ineffective when applied or adapted for the study of visual communications. Additionally, research articles from ethnography, action research, rhetoric, semiotics, psychology, cultural studies, and critical theory often do not use examples appropriate to visual communication readers. To address these issues, this book explains in clear and straightforward language key research designs, including new methodologies, that are appropriate for scholars and students conducting visual communication research. Organized into three parts -- production, analysis, and effects of visuals – this research text provides guidance in using, interpreting and measuring the effects of visual images. It addresses such topics as: producing photographs and video that can be used as research data; interpreting images that already exist; measuring the effects of visuals and to understand their use by different groups. Ethical issues are included, as well as a discussion of the advantages and limitations of each method. "War stories" are provided by experienced researchers, who discuss a particular research project and explain pitfalls to avoid, as well as what to do when problems occur. The primary audiences are scholars, researchers, and students conducting research on motion pictures, video, television, photographs, illustrations, graphics, typography, political cartoons, comic books, animation, and other media with a visual component. Individuals will use this text whenever they need to conduct research that involves visuals in the media. The book will be a required text for advanced courses in visual culture, seminars on visual communication research, and other research methods courses integrating a visual component.

The primary goal of the volume on "Visual Communication" is to provide a collection of high quality, accessible papers that offer an overview of the different academic approaches to Visual Communication, the different theoretical perspectives on which they are based, the methods of analysis used and the different media and genre that have come under analysis. There is no such existing volume that draws together this range of closely related material generally found in much less related areas of research, including semiotics, art history, design, and new media theory. The volume has a total of 34 individual chapters that are organized into two sections: theories and methods, and areas of visual analysis. The chapters are all written by quality theorists and researchers, with a view that the research should be accessible to non-specialists in their own field while at the same time maintaining a high quality of work. The volume contains an introduction, which plots and locates the different approaches contained in it within broader developments and history of approaches to visual communication across different disciplines as each has attempted to define its terrain sometimes through unique concepts and methods sometimes through those borrowed and modified from others.

The Essential Guide to Visual Communication is a concise introduction to the evolution, theory, and principles of visual communication in contemporary society. This guide helps students develop the skills they need to become critical consumers of visual media by examining images through the lens of visual rhetoric. Students see how images influence and persuade audiences, and how iconic images can be repurposed to communicate particular messages. Images selected and discussed throughout the text highlight examples of visual communication from earlier generations and the current digital environment that students encounter in their everyday lives.

VISCOMM has been developed by experienced and knowledgeable teachers who understand what works in the Visual Communication Design classroom, to offer a complete and flexible resource package for the new study design. Contemporary design practise and trends are showcased along with examples of student work and both local and global designers to demonstrate current skills, methods and techniques at a variety of levels. Step-by-step visual guides and instructional diagrams cater for visual learners and help students understand and apply design elements and principles. Assessment tasks include a wide variety of individual, group work and extended tasks. These tasks can be matched to the outcomes of the study design, cater to different learning styles and provide opportunities to build up assessable folios. A strong focus on historical and contemporary typographic practice ensures a comprehensive coverage of the new study design. Many chapters rely on minimal prior knowledge, allowing for a flexible course structure that suits the needs and interests of teachers and students. If you order this product you will receive the following components: Print Textbook: delivered in full colour print. PDF Textbook: a downloadable PDF version of the student text that enables students to take notes and bookmark pages. The PDF textbook can be used in class or as a reference at home. To access the PDF textbook, simply register for a Cambridge GO account and enter the 16 character access code found in the front inside cover of your textbook.