Sense of Audience
BackgroundThe determination that an image is meaningful is a subjective judgment. Meaning is subjective, it is arrived at from one’s experiences and perspective. However, using New Media is an act of communication, it is like writing an article that is published. It is not a private form of communication, it should share an important idea ...or not, and that is part of the risk and benefit associated with New Media development.
As an illustration, see Figure 1 and 2; the picture of the high-level bridge in Lethbridge activates different knowledge structures with those who are familiar with its location, context, history, and symbolic meaning. It might mean something quite different to someone who has never been to Lethbridge or is not aware of the the context. The term "meaningful representation", suggests that the it will activate an understanding in the mind of the viewer. Consider your audience as you design "meaningful" visual or auditory messages. A "sense of audience" is important. Who will be viewing your message, what is their experiences that they will bring to bear and what will be compelling for them? Try not to make assumptions - true there will always be assumptions but consider those assumptions carefully. Will the audience understand the portrayal?
It is imperative that the designer understand the audience. A sense of audience will help provide a meaningful story and relevant visual or auditory elements.
All forms of communication are ambiguous. We are constrained by our interpretation of words and images. Where one thing may have meaning to one person it may be quite something else to another. There is no one right way to communicate. If this is true for words, is it equally true for images and audio.
Shared meaning exists only to the extent that knowledge and experience is shared. Many artists and designers forget this important point, so their work becomes so esoteric that their audience has difficulty relating to it. Have you ever watched an advertisement on TV and asked yourself, what was that about? This can happen with a cartoon in the newspaper as well - there are times when not everyone gets the joke. Why? |
PurposeKnowing what knowledge and experiences the audience has can guide the design of New Media elements that tell the story line.
Context SENSITIVEIn order to determine if a representation is meaningful, consider the context. For instance, there are differences between personal representations and public representations.
Personal Representations "Personal representations" is a term that gives individual or small group understanding to an image that may not be shared with the public. Why? Well if a message is only meaningful for an individual (e.g. humorous to you) then why bother sharing it? Think about a "sense of audience". Who will be looking at your image? In educational circles this might be the instructor and fellow students. Will they understand the message and will the message be compelling for them? If relatives are the only people who will appreciate your portrayal, save that for them, it is probably not appropriate for a different audience. Opt for messages that have "shared meaning". How will we know what is shared knowledge? This can be difficult to determine. However, it is through our experience sharing ideas through communication and the negotiation of meaning that we understand this. Use that to help you identify a compelling story and associated portrayals. As an illustration, look at the fabric texture image in Figure 3. It ommunicates the concept of graduation to the author but that would probably not make much sense to most people. This happens to be the fabric used in the author's daughter’s graduation dress. To use this as a visual about graduation would probably not make sense to anyone outside the family. This would be useful as a family portrayal but not useful as a public portrayal, it wouldn't activate the same knowledge structures. Public Representations
Public representations are forms that are more commonly experienced. For instance, the image of the chipmunk in Figure 2 is associated with mountain animals. Most people in Alberta have been to the woodlands and have seen chipmunks in their mountain environments. This is a common knowledge structure; that chipmunks are representative of animals living in the mountains. It works because there is a shared understanding and experiences. Consider carefully the knowledge structures of the viewer before selecting or creating portrayals. |