Project One: Introduction to [Visual] Rhetoric
Part B: Constructing a Visual
Weight: 5%
Deliverables:
- One visual image.
- A paper documenting/explicating/justifying the rhetorical choices
you made while constructing your visual.
Now that you have had some practice looking at and thinking about images, I would like you to construct one. My recommendation is that you re-design and construct a CD, DVD, or video game cover (front and back), but you are not limited to this. If you have an idea, then run it by me. You have to construct something that uses text and images--those are the rules. Doesn't have to be a lot of text.
When designing and constructing your visual, keep in mind what you have read and what we have talked about in class: you should be paying attention to contrast, color, alignment, balance, proportion, perspective, font choice, etc. You should demonstrate that you are aware of the genre conventions of what you are defining. Finally, you should work with "a purpose": you should know what audience you want to reach and how to reach them. You should be careful to build an ethos that they will trust or offer an identification that they will accept.
This purpose, however, need not be too serious--I encourage you to be adventurous and "mix messages." What if you did a beer commercial in the guise of a toothpaste ad? What are the conventions of a toothpaste ad that you could subvert? This is only one possibility, but those of you familiar with ad busters will know what I am getting at... Remember, this is only an option--I suggest it for those of you who aren't into music or are into satire and irony. My personal favorite reMix site is somethingawful's photoshop phriday: they do theme oriented reMixes. Here's one on "Video Games According to Your Grandmother," here's one on "Making Life More Difficult."
I expect you to construct your image in either Fireworks or Photoshop. Part B--both image and paper--is due Friday by 6:00p.m. While I hope you save your file as either a png or a psd (depending on whether you prefer Fireworks or Photoshop), the final version that you send me should be either a jpeg or a gif. Instructions on creating a PDF are available here.