![]() ![]() ![]() Inversely, font size had only a small impact on the participants to recall information from a text. It was also shown that fonts played a role in the better understanding and comprehension of the materials read. ![]() Introduction: Low-quality text passages require more attention to comprehend, thereby reducing resources towards concentration. Using 2016 presidential campaign logos and slogans as branding case studies, this research identifies content and embedded messages of individual campaigns through quantitative and qualitative methods, guided by the following research questions: What specific messages are conveyed through presidential candidates’ graphic design decisions? Do these messages align with the constituencies they appeal to and the stances they uphold? How can voters become critical consumers of these messages? The thesis concludes with a resource for voters to critically view a political entity’s visual messaging strategies to formulate informed opinions. This interdisciplinary study combines the research behind political branding and visual communication of graphic design through the lens of semiotic theory. Further, the digital age has provided a new environment for political entities to create professionalized brand images. Research and discussion of modern political communication has glossed over the messaging strategies afforded to political campaigns by graphic design. This research quantitatively investigates the connotative value of a set of four typefaces in the context of the Competence–Credibility–Charisma–Compassion Scale-or C4 Scale (Buck & Viera, 2001) as a method to understand the impact typefaces can have in presidential campaigns. Visual dissonance (Soslo, 1996) an adaption of cognitive dissonance, is the mental stress produced by such contradiction, it is a factor known to hinder the possibilities of influencing attitudes and compliance gaining (Gass & Seiter, 2013). Given the potential influence that typefaces can exert on people’s attitudes, visual communications designers must understand the impact the messages they craft may have on their audiences, and avoid possible contradictions between how the message is presented and what was expected of the message. The implication of this finding is that emotional responses to visual stimuli are already triggered by the time we get to think through them, thus influencing conscious attitudes and behavior. Research has demonstrated that images travel first from the eye to the thalamus and the amygdala, before a second signal is sent to the neocortex (Seward, 1997). Harrison and Morris (1967) suggested that typefaces can connotatively reinforce the textual content of a message, provide new and independent meaning for words, offer neutral or minimal connotation, or create a conflict between the connotation and denotation of the words. The fact that typefaces can non-verbally communicate is an intriguing fact due to the relevance of its textual signification and high usage in daily routine. The same way clothing can suggest fragments of the persona of who wears them, it has been suggested that typefaces carry connotative value. Since the invention of movable type, letters and characters of the Western alphabet have worn many different typefaces. ![]() How then do these choices, when applied to the promotional materials of political campaigns, affect the stylistic impressions made by printed materials, such as posters, bumper stickers, lawn signs, and buttons? By examining this category of political ephemera, do we find that Republican campaigns tend to use bold, all caps, sans serif fonts more frequently, while Democratic campaigns prefer more slender, serif fonts? Moreover, what messages do these choices convey to the viewer? The following article explores these graphic decisions and their implications when employed in the aesthetic construction of U.S. Visual design decisions may persuade at unquestioned and unconscious levels, and they may be indelibly imbued with their historical identity. Well known to advertisers, these stylistic typographic choices transmit a powerful message to viewers and influence their impressions of the product (Coleman and Wasike 2003: 1). Facets of graphic design, logo design, typefaces, and other images absorbed through rapid cognition have a psychological effect on the viewer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |