MIL - LESSON 4 (TEXT AND VISUAL DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA)

(TEXT AND VISUAL DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA)

TEXT

• A simple and flexible format of presenting information or conveying ideas whether hand-written, printed or displayed on-screen made to look like news at all (e.g. memes, tweets, videos, etc.)

FORMAL AND INFORMAL

TWO CATEGORIES OF TEXT

FORMAL

•  _______ text-based materials are created and distributed by established institutions (such as publishing companies, news agencies, etc.) and go through a rigorous process of editing or evaluation and are usually governed by censorship of the state.

INFORMAL

•  Informal text-based materials, on the other hand, come from personal opinions or views on different issues, processes, etc.

• Example of these are:

  blogs, personal e-mails, SMS or text messages, online messengers, social media platforms, etc.

TEXT

can be as short such as a single sentence or phrase, or they can be as lengthy as news articles or investigative reporting. No matter how brief or lengthy, however, a text is always carefully written with the intent of sending a very specific message to the target audience.

CONSUMER

As a __________, these are the questions that you need to ask with regards to the content of text media and information:

• Who or what institution is sending this message?

• What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?

• What is the language used by the writer?

• What views are represented? Are they balanced?

• What is omitted, slurred or added in the message?

PRODUCER

As a _________ of text media and information, we need to review the media and information design framework: target audience, author or sender, key content, purpose, form/style and format.

TYPEFACE

• also called font, font type, or type) refers to the representation or style of a text in the digital format.

• usually comprised of alphabets, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols and other special characters. 

SERIF, SANS-SERIF, SLAB-SERIF, SCRIPT, DECORATIVE

TYPES OF TYPEFACES

SERIF

connotes formality and readability in large amount of texts. This font is usually used for the body text of books, newspapers, magazines and research publication. Also, serif fonts give a classic or elegant look when used for title or heading.

Examples: Times New Roman, Garamond, Baskerville

SANS SERIF

brings a clean or minimalist look to the text. This font is used for clear and direct meaning of text such as road signage, building directory or nutrition facts in food packages. Also, sans serif fonts give a modern look and is used primarily in webpage design.

Examples: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana, Calibri

SLAB SERIF

carries a solid or heavy look to text. This font can be used for large advertising sign on billboards.

Examples: Rockwell, Playbill, Blackoak

SCRIPT

draws much attention to itself because of its brush-like strokes. This must be used sparingly and not to be used in large body text. This font is usually used in wedding invitation cards or other formal events.

Examples: Edwardian, Vladimir, Kunstler

DECORATIVE

caters to a wide variety of emotions (such as celebration, fear, horror, etc.) or themes (such as cowboys, circus, holidays, summer, kiddie, etc

Examples: Chiller, Jokerman, Curlz MT

EMPHASIS, APPROPRIATENESS, PROXIMITY, ALIGNMENT, ORGANIZATION, REPETITION, AND CONTRAST

DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND ELEMENTS

EMPHASIS

• refers to the importance or value given to a part of the text-based content.

• When trying to make a point or highlighting a message, you can make the text bold, italicized, have a heavier weight, darkened or lightened (depending on your background color) or enlarged.

APPROPRIATENESS

• refers to how fitting or suitable the text is used for a specific audience, purpose or event.

• In the creation of text-based content, make sure that the selection criteria (tone, style, purpose, clarity) is followed.

• As for the choice of typefaces to be used, refer to the discussion of the characteristics of the fonts. When it comes to large body text, the font should be clear enough to read.

PROXIMITY

• refers to how near or how far are the text elements from each other.

• When two things are closely related, we bring them close together. Otherwise, we put text elements far from each other.

• For example, the main title and subtitle are usually placed close to each other.

ALIGNMENT

• refers to how the text is positioned in the page. This can be left, right, center or justified.

ORGANIZATION

• refers to a conscious effort to organize the different text elements in a page.

• ensures that while some text elements are separated from each other (based on the principle of proximity), they are still somehow connected with the rest of the elements in the page.

• When there are many elements needed to fit in a page, start by creating a framework or a compartment for the elements.

REPETITION

• concerns consistency of elements and the unity of the entire design.

• encourages the use of repeating some typefaces within the page.

• When several typefaces are used on a page, it might distract the audience and fail to communicate what you want them to get from the content. To strike a balance, do not also use just a single typeface for a visual design product.

CONTRAST

• creates visual interest to text elements. Contrast is achieved when two elements are different from each other.