Jessica Carter

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Jessica Carter

• Template Art, Template Thinking, Multimediocracy
  and Other Tomfoolery
• By
• Jamie McKenzie

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• The use of mediocre clip art and templates
  associated with a small range of desktop programs
  is just one byproduct of a new trend some are
  calling microsoftness.
• We should not rely upon clip art and stock
  photography as our sole means of communicating.

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Issue 1

• Most clip arts lack soul, style, or quality.
• In schools that have spent millions on new
  technologies, cut-and-paste multimedia
  presentations have become too popular.
• There are many CDs on the market which offer
  thousands of images for little money.

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Antidote 1

• Raise the issue of soul within your work group
  or school.
• Open up the clip art libraries, and ask the
  students, do these images have soul, and are
  they worth using?

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Issue 2

• The typical clip art consumer usually relies
  upon the collection of clip art that comes with
  the software program.
• Lack of options means that the images available
  will rarely communicate in a powerful manner.
• Communication is seriously compromised when the
  writer inserts any old cat that happens to be
  in the clip art library.

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Antidote 2

• Ask your students to look at powerful ads in
  great magazines and explore the interplay between
  image and texts.
• Invest in richer clip art libraries.
• Invest in digital cameras and ask students to
  capture important images to add to the school
  collection.

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Issue 3

• Clip art tends average out the uniqueness of
  people, animals and buildings until they all seem
  similar.
• All that is unique or particular and original
  is eliminated in the search for every man or
  every woman.

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Antidote 3

• Engage classes in the collection of one thing
  (butterflies) and have each person bring examples
  to class.
• Ask the students what makes this particular
  butterfly special and unique from all the rest?

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• The narrowing and limiting of expression is a
  threat to the quality of human life, just as the
  substitute of virtual reality for reality
  cheapens the authenticity of an experience.
• As educators we must be aware of the
  limitations which accompany virtual experiences
  and various forms of software.
• Templates and clip art can serve an important
  role in society as long as we employ them with
  discernment and discretion.