Defining the Visual Culture

When a picture or object is used as an illustration, find the object or a picture of the object to show, rather than describe the object with words.

Thinking through this in another way, I would argue, if any concept can be shown through a picture, you should show your audience a picture rather than explaining a difficult concept.

For example, even such common concepts as telling your congregation about a location  Paul was traveling to in the Bible, rather than attempt to describe the location with references that may not be clear, simplify your message and show them a map of his route.

Visual culture is way in which the public interacts with the visual world around them. The artists that create visual culture are not always designated as artists. In the 21st Century there are fluid boundaries between the artist and public that create the visual culture. Phone cameras and consumer photo and video editing software have made design accessible to the masses. This is a frequently discussed phenomena in today’s culture, and worth mentioning again, because it influences the visual culture around each of us everyday. 

The good news about the increasingly routine nature of design is the ability of the everyday person to take notice of design and appreciate good design. With a plethora of bad design vying for attention, simple, clean and well planned design has great potential to be seen and confronted in a meaningful way.