Visual rhetoric is the use of imagery to portray a message or persuade an audience. It utilizes color, composition, graphics, text, and typography. Visual rhetoric is a deliberate and strategic use of different techniques that influences the viewer’s emotions, understanding, and attitudes toward an idea, argument, or product. Similar to how verbal rhetoric uses language and speech to inform an audience, visual rhetoric emphasizes visual elements to achieve the same goal. Visual rhetoric is often used in advertising, politics, art, media, and marketing.
There are a few key elements of visual rhetoric designed with purpose; symbols and metaphors, color, composition, typography, imagery, contrast, and appeals. Symbols and metaphors can create associations or strong emotions to reinforce the intended message. Visual persuasion techniques guide a viewer’s interpretation of an image. Different uses of colors may evoke specific emotions. For example, red can signify danger or love, while yellow can symbolize caution or happiness. Composition is an important part of visual rhetoric as it is the arrangement of elements or design of the work. For instance, a crowded image with busy objects or text may show chaos, effective if that is the goal of the creator. An organized composition may have a greater impact due to the clarity of the intended message.
Let’s practice with a few examples.
Figure 1 – Sunkist California Oranges
The image above is an advertisement for the California orange groves in the early 20th century. Advertisements are notorious for their use of visual rhetoric to sell their products. In Figure 1, we see an early 20th-century advertisement from the Sunkist company. This graphic was attached to crate shipping oranges across the state of California, and Sunkist utilized the mass distribution as a means of familiarizing consumers with their product. The orange depicted in the image is clean, ripe, prepackaged, and branded with the company’s logo. This suggests to the viewer that these oranges are special, evocative of wrapped candy.
Furthermore, the colorful bolded text, “Sunkist Californian Oranges” is framed and centered with the orange candy below; it catches the viewers’ attention as it’s in the foreground. The image uses a zig-zag layout, that prompts viewers to scan the graphic from left to right, top to bottom. In this case, the viewer’s line of sight would go from Sunkist to California, to oranges, to the image of the orange, ending on the product of the orange.
Figure 2 – Apple iPod Advertisement
In contrast, Apple’s iPod silhouette campaign focused on simplicity over spectacle. In Figure 2, the image is designed for you to discover the iPod effectively making the viewer scan the entire graphic before coming across the product. It’s similar to the aforementioned zig-zag layout from Figure 1 and uses contrasting colors to help define its dancing subject. The image is vibrant, exciting, and youthful which suggests that the iPod is as well. Most people have been moved by music, and this advertisement effectively taps into that joy—showing that this product is accessible and for everyone.
Figure 3 – Star Wars Still
Visual rhetoric extends to all visual media, including works of art. The film, Star Wars, follows a hero’s journey, where a protagonist is forced to leave his home to start an adventure. This image is composed in such a way that the audience is meant to feel the protagonist’s longing for greater purpose. The wide landscape enhances his loneliness. His back is turned toward his home while he is facing the far horizon, his gaze fixed on two setting suns. Although the scene is amplified by music and acting in the film, this single frame can depict an emotional construct.
Figure 4 – Botticelli’s Primavera
Botticelli’s 15th-century Primavera is an excellent example of visual rhetoric. It uses symbolism, color, and composition to deliver a mythological allegory of spring. The figures shown are from Roman mythology: Venus, Mercury, Charites, Cupid, Zephyrus, Flora, and Chloris. Reading from right to left is the progression of spring, where the season brings flowers and fertility. Fertility is also exemplified in Flora, the subject in a floral dress, as she is pregnant. The woman in the center, Venus, is standing with an arched halo around her figure, almost encasing the audience’s attention. She becomes the main subject in the piece, makes intentional eye contact with the audience, and is also seen as the tallest figure. Botticelli creates a painting with rich symbolism that represents the arrival of spring and celebrates the renewal of nature and the triumph of love.
Visual rhetoric is a powerful means of communication that relies on visual elements to persuade and engage audiences. It is used to shape perceptions, emotions, and influence behavior, which makes it important for visual media.
Author: Maerie Morales