ETHOS AND CLIPART

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ETHOS AND CLIPART

• BY
• PAPIA BAWA
• WHAT AM I TRYING TO SAY!!!!
• AND AM I SAYING IT EFFECTIVELY.

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WHY DO WE USE VISUAL TOOLS?

• To enhance our texts.
• To direct the audiences focus.
• To help the audience to remember something.
• To meet organizational requirements.
• To make our document more accessible, usable and
  relevant.
• To make our point more clearly than text.

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WHAT ARE OUR VISUAL OPTIONS?

• GRAPHS
• CHARTS
• PICTOGRAMS
• ILLUSTRATIONS/DRAWINGS
• DIAGRAMS
• SYMBOLS/ICONS/CLIPARTS
• PHOTOGRPHS
• MAPS

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CHALLENGES FACED IN CHOOSING VISUALS

• Choosing a visual that is most suitable for our
  audience and purpose.
• To effectively incorporate the three means of
  appeal ethos, pathos, logos.
• To avoid visual noise.
• All are components of the visual rhetoric.

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THE VISUAL RHETORIC

• Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing
  effectively.
• Visual Rhetoric is the ability to use available
  means of visual appeal using these criteria
• Ethical or Ethos
• Logical or Logos
• Emotional or Pathos

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SO WHAT IS ETHOS ANYWAY?

• Ethos is appeal based on the character of the
  speaker. An ethos-driven document relies on the
  reputation of the author.

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WHAT IS LOGOS?

• Logos is appeal based on logic or reason.
• Documents distributed by companies or
  corporations are logos-driven.
• Scholarly documents are also often logos-driven.
  

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AND FINALLY PATHOS

• Pathos is appeal based on emotion.
• Advertisements tend to be pathos-driven.

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WHAT MAKES A VISUAL TOOL INEFFECTIVE?

• It my have poorly executed graphics.
• Although the visual tool maybe related to our
  context and content, it may prove ineffective if
  it is badly drawn.

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FOR EXAMPLE

• This clipart is related to farming. It may
  not be effective because
• The picture is too large for the frame.
• The drawing is choppy and appears to be
  clumped.
• The color choice is not appropriate.

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TO SUM IT

• Using this clipart may
• Distract the reader.
• Reflect negatively on our ability as a
  communicator.
• May be too large for our document, depending on
  our medium.

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WHAT MAKES A VISUAL TOOL INEFFECTIVE? CONTD

• It may be inappropriate and lead to offensive
  socio-cultural assumptions.

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CONSIDER THIS

• Not all cultures read from left to right.
• So a chart that is supposed to be read left to
  right but is read in the opposite direction could
  be misunderstood!

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OR HOW ABOUT THIS?

• Use of clipart/icon/diagram relating to
• Certain animals Cows in the Hindu culture,
• OR
• Certain gender roles women with bare heads in
  certain Arabic cultures,
• MAY BE CULTURALLY OFFENSIVE!

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WHAT MAKES A VISUAL TOOL INEFFECTIVE? CONTD

• Too much visual noise may lead to confusing
  visual narratives.

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FOR EXAMPLE

• Here is a giant man(?) in red.
• Three green hoops(?).
• Three dwarfed figures.
• One big blue horn(?).
• But what could be an appropriate narrative for
  this?

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OR CONSIDER THIS!

• What is this about?

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DECIPHERING CLIPART

• THE TITLE FOR THIS IS DECISIONS!
• What story does it tell?
• Is it effective?

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DECIPHERING CLIPART

• Would you consider this clip as effective or
  ineffective for a multi-faceted newsletter?
• Explain your reasons.

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READ THIS ONE!

• Can you read the gender issue in this?

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WHAT ABOUT THIS BEAUTY?

• What does it tell you about the creator of this
  graphic?

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YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEBATING!

• ARE YOU?
• SO WHAT MUST YOU DO?
• THINK
• EVALUATE
• INCORPORATE