Questions on Tufte Reading

On page 107, the beginning of “Chartjunk: Vibrations, Grids and Ducks,” Tufte claims that graphical decoration prospers in technical publications. Aside from the fact that it is cheaper, what are the reasons for this unneeded design element’s success?

On page 112, Jacques Bertin claimed that a good design has to “flirt with ambiguity.” Tufte goes on to say that there are no good examples that prove this idea. Why have we not been able to provide a good example? Should we even be trying to make graphics that flirt with ambiguity if it seems that good ones are not made in this way?

On page 117, what do Venturi, Brown and Izenour mean when they assert, “It is all right to decorate construction but never construct decoration” in Learning from Las Vegas?

In the second Tufte reading, the author shows the importance of visual design reflecting the true scientific analysis with the examples of the cholera epidemic in 1800s London and the Challenger explosion. Does he then suggest that a graphic designer should also have an educational background in the field which he/she is portraying? Science and graphic design are usually thought of as areas on different sides of the spectrum. How can someone marry the two in order to create a strong design?

Rose, "Content Analysis" and "Audience Studies"

I can use content analysis in a future MAPC project. Comedies fascinate me, and I have recently become interested in women’s roles in comedies. Oftentimes, I think of men being funnier than women, but I feel that this idea is not true. However, I also think that more men star in Hollywood comedies than women. Perhaps I can use content analysis to study comedies in a formal, academic way. I can research the top 50 comedies produced by Hollywood in the past 50 years or so. Then, I can find those film’s posters or DVD covers. That could be step one of the process: finding my images. I like the random way of choosing images. I could number them all and pick a random few numbers to analyze. In order to devise my categories for coding, I need to follow the procedures assessed by Rose: the categories must be exhaustive, exclusive and enlightening (Rose 91). For example, a few of my categories can include the number of women featured on the covers, the number of men, how revealing the clothing is, and which gender is featured in the foreground rather than the background. However, following the rules of content analysis is difficult. Since my categories cannot overlap, I might not be able to code the number of women and which gender is in the front of the image. In regard to coding the images, I can use Excel to mark off which images address which categories. Then, to analyze them, I can put the results into a bar or line graph. I can use qualitative analysis to determine what the results mean. Perhaps they will help provide evidence for my theory that more men are featured in comedies and that women are not seen as funny as men based solely on what is featured in posters or DVD covers.

I may be able to use information I learned in the “Audience Studies” chapter in a future project. In regard to my interest in comedies featuring strong female leads, I could perform audience studies. Rose suggests that researchers should use public institutions to find participants. Since I go to Clemson, a public academic institution, I am in a great environment for locating participants. If I want a diverse group, I can set out an ad in different buildings and choose participants based on age, ethnicity, where they are from, etc. After this assessment, I can ask those chosen to watch two different comedies: one that has mostly females in the leading cast (perhaps Bridesmaids) and one that has mostly males in the cast (possibly Horrible Bosses). To maintain the integrity of the research, I would not tell the participants what I am studying while I watch them react to the movies. Then, I can perform one-on-one interviews with them. I think that these interviews are better than group interviews because I fear that participants’ answers in group interviews may influence what other participants say. After asking questions regarding which parts were funnier and focusing on any differences or similarities between the male and female film characters the audience found, I can enter the data into a spreadsheet and graph. Perhaps this quantitative information will allow me to find patterns that can help further my research.

Rose's "Visual Methodologies" Chapters 1, 2 and 12

On page 3, Rose mentions that several theorists have studied the centrality of the visual in our current society. This centrality is so prevalent that Rose even tells the audience about Martin Jay’s term, ocularcentrism, for this phenomenon. Are there opposing theories that claim that the visual is not the central sense that dominates our society? I agree that the visual seems to be the strongest in our culture, but do any theories point to the auditory as being a dominating sense as well?

Rose is careful to mention that ocularcentrism occurs in contemporary Western life. Do other cultures and ways of life focus on the visual more than other senses? Which cultures do not allow the visual to dominate, and how do they function differently than ours?

Page 7 introduces the audience to the term “post-human.” Does this term imply that we are becoming less human? Are we moving away from our instincts for the sake of faster and more advanced technologies?

Since the location of seeing and experiencing a visual is important to the viewing process, according to page 15, then how did people decide that the designs and layouts for typical stages and theatres were the most conducive to the visual aspects?

In chapter 2 on page 23, Rose mentions that at times, street photography can be seen as voyeurism. Where is the line drawn between good art and offensive practices?

Page 26 mentions auteur theory, which claims that the maker or creator’s intentions is the most important part of the visual. Rose states right after that more recent work places less importance on the maker and more on the audience and its interpretations of the work. How is this shift reflected in our society? What does this shift mean for other modes of work? Why does our society now care less about the creator and more about the creation’s effects on others?

Can convergence (noted on page 36) weaken a visual’s message since it takes away the strong relationship between content and medium? It does take away many confinements, but can that have negative repercussions?

Chapter 12 deals with the ethics of photography. Can someone use photographs depicting the subjects in a negative light for research ethically, or must the photographs always shy away from offended their subjects?

How do photo-sharing websites not get into trouble for copyright or anonymity purposes?