My goal for this modified image (pictured right) was to provoke my audience to consider and reexamine the ideologies in our society surrounding higher, formal education. Specifically, I wanted to start a discussion about how educated and non-educated people commonly say phrases such as “a college degree will take you far,” or “a college education will help you go places,” but seldom explain the extent of the word “far” or provide examples of  the “places” one will go with a college education. Since my audience was mainly students enrolled in higher education and a professor who had undergone formal education, I also wanted to identify with those who have questioned and still question where their college education will actually take them in life. Although my main argument is that, although people promote a college education by saying it will take one far in life, often times for a college student, that farness is questioned, or the overall purpose of subjugating oneself to the rigors of higher education is questioned because one does not know exactly where the college education will take them, the image was mainly re-purposed so as to spark an open discussion about college education.

 

In order to appeal to my audience and attempt to persuade them, I chose an image each of my peers could relate to as recent graduates and current students. The woman, dressed in a white semi-formal dress with heels on, and holding balloons, appears to be a recent graduate. In On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, Aristotle states, “All people are persuaded either because as judges they themselves are affected in some way or because they suppose the speakers have certain qualities or because something has been logically demonstrated” (194). As students, I knew my audience would be able to serve “as judges” while viewing this image because they had undergone the educational process and were still within the educational system. Anthony Blair states that in visual arguments, “there is no grammar, just signs and symbols: conventionalized images” (25). He goes on to say that “What makes visual messages influential […] is not any argumentative function they perform, but the unconscious identifications they provoke” (34). Honestly, the woman’s clothing in the image could represent many situations, but as a student who has recently graduated and watched other students graduate, her outfit and addition of balloons would automatically cause most of my audience to think of her as a recent graduate, because she has on the attire that most women wear and can be seen with (white dress, heels, and balloons) on a graduation day. Furthermore, Blair states, “photographs of adults in different garb or uniforms […] evoke standard responses according to stereotypes; and certain scenery (the open desert, the mountains, the seashore, hills and forests) evoke feelings of freedom and escape in their viewers” (25). In addition to choosing an image that has a representative character, I also chose one that has a scenic background so as to add a contrastive layer to my argument being made; its significance is further explained in the paragraphs that follow.

 

In “From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing,” Diana George states, “Visual arguments make a claim or assertion and attempt to sway an audience by offering reasons to accept that claim” (29).  I incorporated text into the image in an attempt to make a claim and challenge a common assertion about college education. I made the text in the image two different colors in order to create and show the contrast between the two phrases, “A college education will” and “take you far”. As Blair states, “colors invoke feelings of warmth [bright colors] or coolness [darker colors]” (25). The brightly colored “A college education will” is supposed to make the viewer feel cheery, reminiscent of how many college students feel when they first embark on their journey of higher education. Dissimilar, the color gray falls in between the white and black spectrum, which hints at an in-between feeling, or feelings of uncertainty. So, I chose to make the text “take you far” gray so it would add to the uncertainty tone of the image. The goal was to, together, have these two phrases in different colors, make the audience question the cheeriness, but often future uncertainty that surrounds receiving a college education.

 

Furthermore, I chose to include an ellipsis at the end of the text, because an ellipsis commonly denotes that there is more to what is being said, and the omission of words is usually interpreted by the reader or viewer. Blair states that “propositions can be expressed in any number of ways, including by silence, but also by signs of signals (a one-way street arrow sign, a nod at an auction), or by facial and other body language expression” (26). I wanted the three periods, signifying both a visual silence and a continuation of language or words to be spoken, to challenge the viewer to consider themselves what the word “far” means (if it has any meaning at all) within this context of higher education.

 

Finally, I decided to add a sharpness filter to the entire image in order to make all of the elements in the visual more vivid and bring out more of the contrastive tone of the argument being made. George discusses how visual arguments “make an overt claim, assertion, or proposition that draws particularly on comparison, juxtaposition, and intertextuality to offer the assertion to an audience for acceptance” (29). The added sharpness emphasizes all of the colors more, such as that of the balloons, the text, the scenic background, and the woman and her attire to add to the overall contrastive tone. However, since the woman is in the forefront of the image, most viewers will be drawn to her first. As Gunther Kress states in Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, “pictorial elements can receive stronger or weaker ‘stress’ than other elements in their immediate vicinity, and so become more or less important ‘items of information’ in the whole” (182). He also explains how salience is a major part of the system of visual communication, saying that “the elements (participants as well as representational and interactive syntagms) are made to attract the viewer’s attention to different degrees, as realized by such factors as placement in the foreground or background,[…] contrasts in tonal value, (or colour) differences in sharpness, etc.” (182). With the viewer’s attention primarily on the woman, my desire was for the sharpening filter to bring out her sad, uncertain facial expression even more. The sharpness also added more emphasis on the bright and cheery colors of the balloons and the pink text, which when viewed next to the woman, creates a very stark juxtaposition.

 

Essentially, through a combination of the sharpness filter to emphasize the various colors, contrasting textual colors, and the scenic background (whose beauty and appearance became more apparent through the filter) my goal was to lead viewers toward this interpretation: The pretty, colorful balloons and semi-formal wear on who appears to be a recent graduate and seems to be moving on in a new direction in her life, paints a very happy picture of graduating from college, and the pink “A college education will” along with a free, open background suggests the same. However, a closer look at the woman’s sad facial expression in combination with the fact that she seems to be headed nowhere with “take you far” in gray text behind her, suggests that while a college education can appear to be advantageous and celebratory worthy, it may also lead to uncertainty, which, in the case of the visual, does not seem to be advantageous.

 

Process

​

Phase 1: Choosing an Image

​

I chose an image based on my audience. I knew I needed to pick a topic that was relevant to my peers in order to have them engage in discussion. Aristotle states that “an ability to aim at commonly held opinions (endoxa) is a characteristic of one who […] has a similar ability in regard to the truth” (34). He also says that “it is necessary for pisteis [means of persuasion] and speeches (as a whole) to be formed on the basis of common (beliefs)” (35). All college students at some point have questioned their future and how their education will possibly help or not help them after graduation. After deciding that I would rather repurpose an existing image as opposed to creating one from scratch, I began to peruse websites where I could obtain a free image to manipulate. I eventually found the above image on Pixabay, immediately thought about the topic of higher education, (based on the woman’s attire and balloons) and downloaded the photo to use.

​

Phase 2: Modifying the Image

​

The last step just required my manipulation of the image based on visual theories. I opened the image in Photoshop and began to make changes using its tools. First, I added the text, changing the last part of it to a different color to achieve the contrast mentioned in the Rhetorical Strategies section. Last, I added the sharpness filter until I was satisfied with the level of contrast between the different elements in the photo that it created.

 

Constraints (artistic proofs)

​

When I completed this visual response, I was not adept at using the Adobe Photoshop application, so the effect I was aiming to have on my audience could have possibly been more effective if I had had more experience with the application prior to the assignment.

 

Reflection

​

Out of all the visual responses I created during this course, this one was my favorite because it delved deep into visual communication and argumentative theories, and its theme strongly resonates with me as a student in formal, higher education. Overall, I think the contrastive colors and effects lead viewers to its intended assertion about college education, but the ellipsis in particular also provokes an open interpretation discussion. Blair states that in visual communication, “If suggestiveness is the aim, this is a virtue. The sender of the message lacks the power to have his or her intentions well understood, since the receiver is free to interpret in various ways” (38). I wanted to lead my viewers in a certain direction, (rethinking the benefits of and the uncertainty surrounding higher education) but I also wanted my viewers to freely input their own interpretation of the visual and its relationship to a college education. Blair goes on to say that “the great advantages of visual argument, namely its power and its suggestiveness, are gained at the cost of a loss of clarity and precision, which may not always be a price worth paying” (39). As is the case with any visual argument, each person will have his or her own interpretation of what is being argued and what they perceive to be the central message, but in the case of this image, I think that uncertainty and open minded approach worked and continues to work in my favor.

 

Works Cited

​

Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. Trans. George A. Kennedy. New York:

    Oxford University Press, 1991. 25-51, 172-214.

 

Blair, J. Anthony. “The Possibility and Actuality of Visual Arguments.” Argumentation &

    Advocacy 33.1 (1996): 23-39.

 

George, Diana. “From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing.”

    College Composition and Communication 52.1 (2002): 11-39.

 

Gratisography. Woman Street Walking Girl. Digital image. Pexels. Pexels, n.d. Web.

    <https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-street-walking-girl-2013/>.

 

Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. “Meaning of Composition.” Reading Images: The

    Grammar of Visual Design. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge, 2006. 175-214.