Many tools exist to assist law enforcement agencies in mitigating criminal activity. For centuries, academics used statistics in the study of crime and criminals, and more recently, police departments make use of spatial statistics and geographic information systems in that pursuit. Clustering and hot spot methods of analysis are popular in this application for their relative simplicity of interpretation and ease of process. With recent advancements in geospatial technology, it is easier than ever to publicly share data through visual communication tools like web applications and dashboards. Sharing data and results of analyses boosts transparency and the public image of police agencies, an image important to maintaining public trust in law enforcement and active participation in community safety.

My Masters project is a visual exploration of otherwise unrecorded girls' and women's sports stories from the pre-Title IX era. Title IX is an American piece of legislation that was signed into law in 1972. It states that any institution receiving federal funding cannot discriminate based on sex. This law would help to expand girls’ and women’s opportunities and participation in sports, although gender equality in American school athletics has yet to be achieved. The visual outcome of my project took the form of the Sports Fans Newsstand which housed a variety of ephemera such as comics, newspapers, sports trading cards, posters and pins--each element adding a new entry point to these complex stories.

Communication plays a fundamental role in shaping our understanding of complex issues such as climate change. Too often scientists and journalists complain that the public does not fully comprehend climate change as they cannot see it. Adhering to calls for a need to propel away from media representations of climate change to a focus on more case-specific research, this Master Thesis analyses the aspect of visualisation within climate change communication with a focus on a contemporary example, the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), as a case-specific study. EIS give a visual voice to our planets changing eco-systems, where an emphasis is placed on visually documenting the adverse effects climate change has on the planets glaciers, through conventional photography and time-lapse photography. Adhering to the need for further studies of visual representations towards the environment this thesis deploys an image analysis to investigate how meaning is framed through the EIS’s photographs and time-lapse videos. A collective reading between the photographs and their accompanying written captions highlighted contradictive frames of beauty and uncertainty. Additionally, as climate change is predominately seen as an abstract entity, a metaphor analysis was also applied to open further frames of thought into more comprehensible understandings. Integrating both still images and moving images into the study provided different results. Time-lapse videos were analysed to open up new developments of seeing and to extract potential frames of unfolding narratives, perspective and time.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University , 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is concerned with a study of the two basic elements of communication, namely image and text. How these basic communication tools function in the genre of the visual narrative with regard to their roles in the comic strip and the artist's book, will be examined. Both genres, the comic book and the artist's book, consist of complex structures regarding their workings in the framework of the visual narrative, and this work explores these complexities by analysing how image and text function in the visual narrative. The area of semiotics is used as a basis on which the arguments in this thesis are built. The principles contained in semiotics act as useful guidelines in the reading and understanding of communication in general, but in this study these principles give focus and structure to the research of especially the comic strip and the artist's book. Concepts that are discussed in depth include the interesting interactions which occur between image and text when they are used together. Signs, icons, symbols and how they function with (or without) text, are also examined. Text can also function as image, and this visualisation of text is explored. The role of concepts like interpretation, perception, the study of images and image-association, are all very important in the visual communicator's eventual success with his/her communication. How these concepts influence the creation and forming of one's visual intelligence and visual literacy, and the eventual effect it has on the process of communication, make up a very important part of this study. These arguments lead to a discussion of the dynamics contained in the visual narrative when looked at from a semiotic perspective. Central to the discussion on the visual narrative in this thesis, is the differentiation between two similar genres: 1) Firstly, a discussion of the functioning of the comic strip medium. Important aspects of this subject are the interactions of image and text, and how the comic medium consists of a unique set of symbols, which influence the specific communication in this genre. 2) Secondly, the genre of the artist's book, and how the medium of the book functions as a unique phenomenon in communication. The systems of meaning contained in the medium of the book are looked at against the light of a semiotic analysis of text and image. This research supports the importance of a semiotic approach as a helpful aid in the interpretation of any piece of communication, but especially that of the comic strip medium and the artist's book. The theories of Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Umberto Eco are used as basis of the arguments in this thesis and serve as valuable ground for a useful discourse. The implementation of above mentioned theories lead to an indication of the complexities involved in the special visual language of the comic strip and the artist's book. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is gemoeid met 'n ondersoek na die twee basismiddele of "taal" van kommunikasie, naamlik beeld en teks. Hoe hierdie basiese kommunikasiegereedskap funksioneer in die visuele narratief, met verwysing na veral die komiekstrip en die kunstenaarsboek, word ondersoek. Beide van laasgenoemde genres beskik oor komplekse strukture in hul bestaan binne die raamwerk van die visuele narratief, en hierdie navorsing ondersoek hierdie kompleksiteite deur die funksionering van beeld en teks in die visuele narratief te ontleed. Die area van semiotiek word as basis gebruik waarop die argumente in die tesis gebaseer is. Die beginsels vervat in die rigting van semiotiek tree op as 'n handige hulpmiddel in die lees en verstaan van enige vorm van kommunikasie, maar in hierdie studie verleen dit veral fokus en struktuur aan die navorsing binne die raamwerk van die komiekstrip en kunstenaarsboek. Konsepte wat in diepte bespreek word met die oog op hul uiteindelike funksionering binne die visuele narratief, sluit die interessante interaksies wat ontstaan tussen beeld en teks wanneer hulle saam gebruik word, in. Konsepte soos tekens, ikone en simbole, asook hul werking saam met teks (en afsonderlik daarvan), word bespreek. Teks kan in werklikheid ook as visuele beeld funksioneer, en hierdie "ikonifisering" of "beeldwording" van teks word ondersoek. Die rol van konsepte soos interpretasie, persepsie, beeldherkenning en assosiasie, wat uit hierdie proses van visuele kommunikasie voortspruit, is baie belangrik in die visuele kommunikeerder se uiteindelike sukses met sy/haar poging tot kommunikasie. Hoe hierdie konsepte aanleiding gee tot die skep van 'n persoon se "visuele intelligensie" en "visuele geletterdheid", en die uiteindelike effek wat dit op die proses van kommunikasie het, maak 'n belangrike deel van hierdie navorsing uit. Hierdie konsepte lei tot 'n bespreking van die dinamika van die visuele narratief wanneer daar vanuit 'n semiotiese oogpunt daarna gekyk word. Sentraal tot die bespreking van die visuele narratief in hierdie tesis, kan daar tussen twee ooreenkomstige genres onderskei word: 1) Eerstens is daar 'n bespreking van die funksionering van die komiekstripmedium. Belangrike aspekte van hierdie onderwerp is die funksionering van en interaksies tussen beeld en teks binne die medium, en hoe die stripmedium bestaan uit 'n unieke stel simbole wat die kommunikasie van die werk beïnvloed. 2) Tweedens die genre van die kunstenaarsboek, en hoe die boek as unieke medium funksioneer, word bespreek en ontleed. Die sisteme van betekenis vervat in die visuele narratief betrokke in die boekmedium, word beskou teen die lig van 'n semiotiese ondersoek na die interaksies van die basismiddele beeld en teks. Hierdie navorsing steun die belangrikheid van semiotiek as hulpmiddel in die interpretasie van enige stuk kommunikasie, maar veral in die stripmedium en die kunstenaarsboek. Die studie maak veral gebruik van die teorieë van Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty en Umberto Eco. Die toepassing van bogenoemde teorieë in hierdie studie, lei tot 'n aanduiding van die kompleksiteite vervat in die spesiale "visuele taal" van veral die komiekstrip en die kunstenaarsboek.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The importance of global and local change and transformation is emphasised through initiatives such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (2012) and the Earth Charter Initiatives (2011) for constructing a just, sustainable and peaceful global society. In South Africa, the need for transformation has been underlined by the South African Department of Education in the Education White Paper of 1997 (DOE 1997). At Stellenbosch University, the Pedagogy of Hope (US) project aims to find concrete ways to reflect on historical influences and current SA society. Tremendous progress has been made in transformation regarding legislative policies, but personal transformation within people is proving to be slow. As a response to these realities, a module called Critical Citizenship was introduced for first-­‐ to third-­‐year Visual Communication Design students at the Visual Arts Department at Stellenbosch University. The aim of this research project was to explore the perceptions and attitudes of students, learners and lecturers regarding personal transformation through teaching and learning in the Critical Citizenship module. As a framework for the study, I emphasised the importance of giving consideration to the emotional dimensions of learning (Illeris 2007), meaning considering the learning being (Barnett 2009) as a thinking, feeling and acting person (Jarvis 2006). The objectives of the study were to identify such emotional reactions to the Critical Citizenship module and to establish what the emotional reactions revealed about the immediate and broader context of the teaching and learning context in which students, learners and lecturers learn and teach. I followed an interpretative approach and a case study research design that aimed at exploring and providing an in-­‐depth investigation of the Critical Citizenship module was used. The themes that surfaced from reflections written by students and learners and from group interviews, comprised feeling unprepared for this type of project; feelings of guilt and shame; resistance to this type of project; asymmetry and assimilation, but also feelings of hope. Other responses, suggesting feelings of empathy, privilege, humility, re-­‐ evaluation of priorities and values, sameness and difference, feeling out of a comfort zone and reflecting on blackness and whiteness were also interweaved with the main themes. The results of the research included that taking into consideration the emotional aspects in critical citizenship education is important because we are thinking, feeling and acting beings, but moving beyond emotional reactions toward rational actions is crucial. Critical citizenship cannot be taught in isolation because the context in which it exists plays a vital role and an inclusive critical citizenship curriculum within community interactions for the wider society is suggested. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belangrikheid van globale en plaaslike verandering en transformasie word beklemtoon deur inisiatiewe soos die Verenigde Nasies se Millennium-­‐ ontwikkelingsdoelwitte (2012) en die Aardemanifes Inisiatiewe (2011) vir die daarstelling van ‘n regverdige, onderhoubare en vreedsame globale gemeenskap. In Suid-­‐Afrika is die behoefte aan transformasie deur die Suid-­‐Afrikaanse Departement van Onderwys deur die Onderwys Witskrif van 1997 (DvO 1997) onderstreep. By die Stellenbosch Universiteit beoog die Pedagogie van Hoop (US) projek om konkrete maniere te verkry om historiese invloede en die huidige SA gemeenskap te oordink. Geweldige vooruitgang in transformasie is reeds ten opsigte van wetgewende beleid bewerkstellig, maar dit blyk dat persoonlike transformasie binne-­‐in mense traag gebeur. ‘n Module genaamd Kritiese Burgerskap is as reaksie tot hierdie realiteit by die Visuele Kunste Departement te Stellenbosch Universiteit ingestel vir eerste-­‐ tot derdejaarstudente in Visuele Kommunikasie Ontwerp. Die doel van die huidige navorsingsprojek was om die persepsies en houdings van studente, leerders en dosente ten opsigte van persoonlike transformasie deur die onderrig en leer van die Kritiese Burgerskap module te ondersoek. As ‘n raamwerk vir die studie het ek beklemtoon dat dit belangrik is om die emotiewe dimensies van leer (Illeris 2007) in ag te neem, wat inagname van die lerende wese (Barnett 2009) as ‘n denkende, voelende en handelende persoon (Jarvis 2006) behels. Die doelwitte van die studie was om emotiewe reaksies op die Kritiese Burgerskap module te identifiseer en vas te stel wat deur sulke emotiewe reaksies ontbloot word ten opsigte van die onmiddellike en breër konteks van die onderrig en leer konteks waarbinne die studente, leerders en dosente leer en onderrig gee. Ek het met ‘n interpretatiewe benadering en lens te werk gegaan en ’n gevallestudie navorsingsontwerp is gebruik. Temas wat na vore gekom het uit refleksies wat deur studente en leerders geskryf is en uit groep onderhoude het die volgende behels: ‘n gevoel van onvoorbereidheid vir dié soort projek; gevoelens van skuld en skaamte; weerstand teen hierdie soort projek; asimmetrie en assimilasie, maar ook gevoelens van hoop. Ander reaksies wat ook met die hooftemas deurvleg was, was verteenwoordigend van gevoelens van empatie, bevoorregting, nederigheid, herevaluering van prioriteite en waardes, eendersheid en verskil, die gevoel van buite die gemaksone te wees en nadenke oor swartheid en witheid. Die resultate van die navorsing het behels dat dit belangrik is om die emotiewe aspekte by die onderrig van kritiese burgerskap in ag te neem omdat ons denkende, voelende en handelende wesens is, maar dat dit van kritieke belang is om verby emosionele reaksies na rasionele handeling te beweeg. Kritiese burgerskap kan nie geïsoleerd onderrig word nie omdat die konteks waarbinne dit bestaan ‘n deurslaggewende rol speel; ‘n inklusiewe kritiese burgerskap kurrikulum binne gemeenskapsinteraksies word vir die breër gemeenskap voorgestel.

<p>Ova doktorska disertacija ima za cilj sticanje naučnog saznanja o nivou i<br />značaju uticaja verbalno-vizuelnog materijala sa sredstava vizuelnih komunikacija na<br />usvajanje vokabulara engleskog kao stranog jezika. Dosada&scaron;nja istraživanja vezana za<br />ovu temu se uglavnom usredsređuju na mlađi uzrast učenika, dok se ova disertacija<br />bavi proučavanjem pomenute pojave na univerzitetskom nivou ˗ kod studenata<br />engleskog jezika i književnosti.<br />Ovo istraživanje je bazirano na četiri izvora podataka: (1) upitniku koji su<br />popunili studenti prve, druge, treće i četvrte godine (N=71) s ciljem da omogući op&scaron;te<br />podatke o studentima i da se stekne uvid u njihova mi&scaron;ljenja i stavove o upotrebi<br />verbalno-vizuelnog materijala u nastavi vokabulara, kao i o značaju sredstava<br />vizuelnih komunikacija na usvajanje vokabulara engleskog kao stranog jezika; (2)<br />testu kao sastavnom delu eksperimenta sa paralelnim grupama, koji je sproveden na<br />uzorku studenata druge i četvrte godine (N=41) gde je verbalno-vizuelni materijal<br />kori&scaron;ćen kao eksperimentalni faktor; (3) izve&scaron;tajima koje su studenti eksperimentalnih<br />grupa imali obavezu da pi&scaron;u nakon obavljene nastave vokabulara kako bi na taj način<br />autorka dobila jasniju sliku i detaljnije podatke o sprovedenoj eksperimentalnoj<br />nastavi i (4) intervjuu koji je obavljen sa odabranim studentima iz eksperimentalnih i<br />kontrolnih grupa druge i četvrte godine (20 intervjua). Na ovaj način, istraživanjem<br />koje se oslanja na četiri izvora podataka, prikupljeni su detaljni podaci o pojavi koja<br />se istražuje, a time se obezbeđuje pouzdanost i validnost metodologije koja je<br />kori&scaron;ćena.<br />Rezultati istraživanja su analizirani kvantitativno i kvalitativno. Na osnovu<br />konačnih rezultata dobijenih analizom celokupnog materijala, može se zaključiti da je<br />uticaj verbalno-vizuelnog materijala sa sredstava vizuelnih komunikacija na usvajanje<br />vokabulara engleskog kao stranog jezika generalno pozitivan. Takođe, primećeno je<br />da je taj uticaj statistički značajan kod usvajanja značenja i pisanja reči, ali ne i kod<br />usvajanja oblika i manje-frekventnih reči. Iako su mi&scaron;ljenja i stavovi studenata o<br />značaju verbalno-vizuelnog materijala, kao i o sprovedenoj eksperimentalnoj nastavi<br />pozitivni, uočeno je da oni od svih strategija učenja vokabulara najređe koriste<br />strategije pamćenja koje podrazumevaju kori&scaron;ćenje verbalno-vizuelnog materijala.<br />Potencijal ovog istraživanja je u tome &scaron;to se daju predlozi za podučavanje vokabulara<br />engleskog kao stranog jezika sa upotrebom vi&scaron;e verbalno-vizuelnog materijala na<br />univerzitetskom nivou, sa ciljem da se pomogne studentima da &scaron;to lak&scaron;e i uspe&scaron;nije<br />usvoje nove reči, ali i u cilju postizanja kreativnijeg i zanimljivijeg okruženja u samoj<br />nastavi.</p> / <p>This thesis aims to explain the level and the importance of visual-verbal<br />material influence on EFL vocabulary acquisition. The previous studies on this topic<br />focus mainly on younger learners, while this thesis examines the research<br />phenomenon at the university level among English language and literature students.<br />The research is based on four data sources: (1) the questionnaire which was<br />completed by all the students (N=71) with the aim to provide general data of the<br />sample and to get the clearer picture about their thoughts and attitudes towards using<br />visual-verbal material in the classroom, as well as towards the importance and the<br />influence of visual communication on EFL vocabulary acquisition; (2) the test as a<br />part of the experiment with parallel groups, conducted with the second and the fourth<br />year students (N=41) where visual-verbal material was used as an experimental<br />factor; (3) the narratives which students of the two experimental groups were obliged<br />to write after vocabulary classes, in order to provide broad picture and more precise<br />data about the experimental classes, and (4) the interview with the selected students<br />from both year of study experimental and control groups (20 interviews). This kind of<br />research, based on these four data sources, was the way to collect the precise data<br />about the research phenomenon, and also to provide the reliability and the validity of<br />the used methodology.<br />The results of the research were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. On<br />the basis of the final results, it can be concluded that the influence of the visual-verbal<br />material on EFL vocabulary acquisition is generally positive. It is also noticed that the<br />influence on the acquisition of word meaning and spelling was statistically significant,<br />but the influence on acquisition of word form and low-frequency words was not<br />statistically significant. Although students&rsquo; attitudes towards the importance of visualverbal<br />material and conducted experimental classes are positive, it is noticed that<br />students very rarely use memory strategies (visual-verbal material usage). The<br />potential of this research lies in the prepositions of teaching EFL vocabulary at the<br />university level with more visual-verbal annotations, with the aim to help students in<br />easier and more successful acquisition of English language vocabulary, as well as in<br />order to help teachers in achieving more creative and more interesting surrounding for<br />EFL vocabulary classes.<br />&nbsp;</p>

L’industrie publicitaire est un travail quotidien de collaboration entre deux « hémisphères » distincts : l’un de nature commercial et l’autre de nature créatif. Des individus qui favorisent des aspects logiques et rationnels se doivent de collaborer avec des individus qui favorisent des aspects intuitifs et artistiques, ce qui suscite des tensions. Cette mise en relation s’opère au travers d’un processus, que nous nommerons processus de design visuel communicationnel car il permet de relier la communication au design, approche que nous adoptons dans ce mémoire. L’industrie publicitaire s’est dotée d’outils permettant de faciliter le processus de design visuel communicationnel, dont le brief créatif. Notre recherche propose d’observer la manière dont les « commerciaux » et les « créatifs » perçoivent leur travail quotidien en agence et comment le brief créatif est réquisitionné. Nous adoptons une posture interprétative pour tenir compte de la complexité du phénomène et nous mobilisons une série d’entrevues pour répondre à nos questions de recherche. Nos questions de recherche sont les suivantes : de quelle manière les « commerciaux » et les « créatifs » négocient-ils les tensions lors du processus de design visuel communicationnel? Quels rôles le brief créatif occupe-t-il au sein de ce processus? Les résultats nous renseignent sur les transformations et les innovations qui émergent des tensions entre les « commerciaux » et les « créatifs » et sur l’importance que revêtent les caractéristiques communicationnelles du brief créatif dans le cadre du processus de design visuel communicationnel. / The advertising industry involves a daily collaboration between two ways of thinking or two hemispheres: one of commercial nature and the other of creative nature. Rational and logical individuals must collaborate with intuitive and artistic individuals, and from this collaboration emerge various tensions. In the advertising industry, this relationship operates throughout a process of visual communication design. We chose to use the term visual communication design process because it illustrates our approach in this research, an approach that joins communication and design. The advertising industry has developed tools to facilitate the visual communication process: among them the creative brief. Our research proposes to observe how “commercials” and “creatives” in the industry perceive their day-to-day work and their use of the creative brief through a series of interviews. Our questions are: in which ways do the “commercials” and “creatives” negotiate the tensions that emerges from the visual communication design process? What are the roles of the creative brief throughout this process? Our findings illustrate the transformations and innovations that emerge from the tensions between “commercials” and “creatives” and highlight the importance of the communicational characteristics of the creative brief as part of the visual communication design process.

Visual communication is a part of everyone's daily existence. It is a ubiquitous mode that shapes not only the environment that individuals inhabit, but the very identity of the individual. Graphic designers, who create the vast majority of the visual communication encountered, play a crucial role in the production of cultural identity. It is a necessity that designers understand that role, as agents of cultural production.[ethno]graphic design is an ever-evolving approach to graphic design which utilizes anthropological methods in the creative process. This document presents a collection of projects which take an anthropological approach to the design process, utilizing techniques developed by cultural anthropologists to aid the design process — primarily ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, collaboration, multivocal representation and reflexivity.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the creation of a cervical cancer health prevention infographic, geared toward African American women ages 30 to 65, to be potentially used to raise health literacy and influence positive behaviors towards practicing prevention measures—ultimately preventing unnecessary deaths. This dissertation also produced a cervical cancer health prevention infographic prototype for African American Women ages 30 to 65 to be further tested and implemented within future health communication campaigns. Cervical Cancer is both preventable and treatable (if diagnosed during early stages); therefore the amount of individuals dying from the cancer should be minimal. Still, African American Women in this study’s target health population are dying from Cervical Cancer the most. Existing research highlights that social determinants of health (like income, education and literacy) play varying roles as barriers to prevention (Baldwin, 1996; J. L. Davis et al., 2013; Egbert & Parrott, 2001; Ford et al., 2013; McKinnon, Harper, & Moore, 2011; Sung, Alema-Mensah, & Blumenthal, 2002; Williams & Templin, 2013). . This dissertation specifically focuses on targeting the potential to increase health literacy on Cervical Cancer to potentially positively influence prevention uptake. Drawing upon fields like health communication, visual communication and social science research, this research endeavor presents an interdisciplinary approach to potentially solving health communication issue within an at-risk population. The theoretical framework in guiding infographic production for this dissertation was the Health Belief Model, which is widely used in health communication research to assess failure of prevention uptake (du Pré, 2014; Glanz et al., 2005; Maibach & Parrott, 1995; Rosenstock, 2000). The Health Belief Model in conjunction with existing literature regarding health literacy, cultural stigma and relevance in communication campaigns geared toward African American Women ages 30 to 65, infographic content was created and presented to study participants via six interactive focus groups. The focus group methodology of qualitative research allowed for 17 study participants to confidentially engage in dialogue with peers concerning the issue at hand while also helping to create the content hierarchy, enhance and suggest visuals, colors and themes of the proposed infographic. Iterative data analysis approaches allow for constant assessment of study outcomes and themes. This study produces theoretical, practical and methodological implications for future research on the lacking area of scholarly literature. Findings from this dissertation suggest a need to (1) test the proposed infographic for potential national health campaign usage, (2) a need for more long-term collaborative community efforts for continual population access in research on Cervical Cancer prevention, and (3) future assessment of a newer form of focus group research that focuses on incorporation smaller participant groups for increased hands-on interactivity.

This master's thesis focuses on visual communication of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival using social network - Instagram. The festival uses this network to communicate with spectators, which helps it create its identity and build a fan base. Theoretical part of the master's thesis describes history of Instagram as well as all the functions of this popular application. It also talks about Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and other international film festivals and their use of Instagram. The theoretical part concludes with definition of visual communication, focusing mostly on specifics of analogue, digital, and Internet photography. Using quantitative content analysis of Instagram pictures and semiotic analysis of technical and content elements, the thesis analyzes what visual style of communication the festival uses, and how the fans and media understand and transform the content. For the research purposes, the festival's Instargam profile as well as selected media and spectators' profiles were followed. The purpose of the thesis is to describe what visual language the festival organizers use on Instagram and how this language is reflected in building the identity of the festival itself.