VISUAL INFORMATION AND MEDIA

EXAMPLES OF VISUAL MEDIA

• Photography
• Video
• Screenshots
• Infographics
• Data Visualization (charts and graphs)
• Comic Strips/Cartoons
• Memes
• Visual Note-Taking

PURPOSE OF VISUAL INFORMATION

 Gain Attention
 Create Meaning
 Facilitate Retention

COMMON VISUAL MEDIA FILE TYPES

1. JPEG
JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by
digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size
and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. Since its
introduction in 1992, JPEG has been the most widely used image compression standard in the world, and the most
widely used digital image format, with several billion JPEG images produced every day as of 2015
2. GIF
The format supports up to 8 bits per pixel for each image, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up
to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also supports animations and allows a separate
palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make GIF less suitable for reproducing color
photographs and other images with color gradients, but it is well-suited for simpler images such as graphics or logos
with solid areas of color.
3. TIFF
Tagged Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is a computer file format for storing raster graphics images,
popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning,
faxing, word processing, optical character recognition, image manipulation, desktop publishing, and page-layout
applications.
4. PNG
PNG supports palette-based images (with palettes of 24-bit RGB or 32-bit RGBA colors), grayscale images (with or
without alpha channel for transparency), and full-color non-palette-based RGB or RGBA images. The PNG working
group designed the format for transferring images on the Internet, not for professional-quality print graphics, and
therefore it does not support non-RGB color spaces such as CMYK. A PNG file contains a single image in an extensible
structure of "chunks", encoding the basic pixels and other information such as textual comments and integrity
checks documented in RFC 2083.
5. BMP
The BMP file format, also known as bitmap image file or device independent bitmap (DIB) file format or simply a
bitmap, is a raster graphics image file format used to store bitmap digital images, independently of the display
device (such as a graphics adapter), especially on Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems.
The BMP file format is capable of storing two-dimensional digital images both monochrome and color, in various
color depths, and optionally with data compression, alpha channels, and color profiles. The Windows Metafile
(WMF) specification covers the BMP file format.

1|Page
ELEMENTS OF VISUAL DESIGN
1. LINE
 describes a shape or outline
 create texture and can be thick or thin
 may be actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or contour lines
2. SHAPE
 a geometric or organic area that stands out from the space next to or around it, or because of differences in
value, color, or texture

3. VALUE
 the degree of light and dark in a design
 contrast between black and white and all the tones in between
4. TEXTURE
 way a surface feels or is perceived to feel
 illusion of the surfaces peaks and valleys, resulting in a feeling of smoothness or roughness in objects
5. COLOR
 determined by its hue (name of color), intensity (purity of the hue), and value (lightness or darkness of hue)
 used for emphasis, or may elicit emotions from viewers
6. FORM
 a figure having volume and thickness
 an illusion of a 3-dimensional object can be implied with the use of light and shading
 can be viewed from many angles

VISUAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES

1. CONSISTENCY
 Consistency of margins, typeface, typestyle, and colors is necessary, especially in slide presentations or
documents that are more than one page.
2. CENTER OF INTEREST
 an area that first attracts attention in a composition
 important objects or elements in a composition
 can be achieved by contrast of values, more colors, and placement
3. BALANCE
 visual equality in shape, form, value, color, etc.
 can be symmetrical and evenly
 or asymmetrical and unevenly balanced
4. HARMONY
 brings together a composition with similar units
 notice how similar harmony is to unity (some sources list both terms)
5. CONTRAST
 offers some change in value creating a visual
 discord in a composition
 shows the difference between shapes and can be used as a background to bring objects out and forward in
a design
 can also be used to create an area of emphasis
6. DIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT
 a visual flow through the composition
 can be the suggestion of motion in a design as you move from object to object by way placement and
position
2|Page
7. RHYTHM
 a movement in which some elements recur regularly
 like a dance, it will have a flow of objects that will seem to be like the beat of music
8. PERSPECTIVE
 created through the arrangement of objects in two-dimensional space to look like they appear in real life
 learned meaning of the relationship between different objects seen in space
9. DOMINANCE
 gives interest, counteracting confusion and monotony
 can be applied to one or more of the elements to give emphasis

AUDIO INFORMATION AND MEDIA

Audio – sound, especially when recorded, transmitted, or reproduced
Audio Media – media communication that uses audio or recordings to deliver and transfer information through the
means of sound
TYPES OF AUDIO INFORMATION
1. Radio Broadcast - live or recorded audio sent through radio waves to reach a wide audience
2. Music - vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and
expression of emotion
3. Sound Recording - recording of an interview, meeting, or any sound from the environment
4. Sound Clips / Effects - any sound artificially reproduced to create an effect in a dramatic presentation (ex. sound
of a storm, or a door)
5. Audio Podcast - a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded
from a website to a media player or a computer

WAYS TO STORE AUDIO INFORMATION

1. Tape - magnetic tape on which sound can be recorded
2. CD (Compact Disc) – a plastic-fabricated, circular medium for recording, storing, and playing back audio, video,
and computer data
3. USB Drive - an external flash drive, small enough to carry on a key ring, that can be used with any computer that
has a USB Port
4. Memory Card (aka Flash Memory Card or Storage Card) - is a small storage medium used to store data such as
text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable, or remote computing
devices.
5. Computer Hard Drive - secondary storage devices for storing audio file
6. Internet / Cloud - websites or file repositories for retrieving audio files, and more precisely the files are stored in
some datacenter full of servers that is connected to the Internet

Audio File Formats

1. MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3)
- a common format for consumer audio, as well as a standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and
playback of music on most digital audio players.
2. M4A / AAC (MPEG4 Audio / Advanced Audio Coding) - an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio
compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than
MP3 at similar bit rate
3. WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) - is a Microsoft audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on
PCs. It has become a standard file format for game sounds, among others
4. WMA (Windows Media Audio) - is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft and used with
Windows Media Player
5. ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) – is an audio codec developed by apple for playback in iTunes and Quicktime
and on Apple iOS devices.

3|Page
Units of Sound
Decibel
• or simply dB
• noise of sound measurement
Hertz
• or simply Hz
• unit of sound frequency
Phon
• unit of subjective loudness

Characteristics and Purposes of Sound

1. Volume – intensity of a sound
2. Tone – the audible characteristic of a sound
3. Pitch - is how high or low a sound is
4. Loudness - refers to the magnitude of the sound heard

Purposes of a Sound:
• Give instruction or information.
• Provide feedback.
• To personalize or customize

Elements of Sound Design

1. Dialogue - speech, conversation, voice-over
2. Sound Effects – any sound other than music or dialogue
3. Music – vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony,
and expression of emotion

Principles of Sound Design

1. Mixing – the combination, balance and control of multiple sound elements
2. Pace – time control, editing, order of events (linear, non-linear or multi-linear)
3. Stereo Imaging – Using left and right channel for depth. This refers to the aspect of sound recording and
reproduction.
4. Transition – how you get from one segment or element to another

Types of Transitions
1. Segue – one element stops, the next begins (“cut” in film)
2. Cross-fade – one element fades out, the next fades in, and they overlap on the way
3. V-Fade – first element fades to inaudible before the second elements begins
4. Waterfall – As first element fades out, the second element begins at full volume. Better for voice transitions, than
for effects
Hearing and Listening
Hearing - the act of perceiving sound by the ear
Listening - requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences. Listening leads
to learning.

4|Page