PSA: If you like Reading the Rainbow and enjoy my unhinged posts analyzing colors in queer media (I didn't update it in February *oops*!), try taking a visual rhetoric course.
What is visual rhetoric? It's how images persuade us, influence our thoughts, and reinforce a concept.
Why does it matter? We live in a very visual world, so everything we see affects our decisions and understanding of how we interact with the world.
Where could I find such a course? If you are a college student, it's hidden in the English department (we don't just wax poetic about the written word). Sometimes the course can be cross-listed with COMM or provided by that department. Art students from graphic designers to filmmakers, psych majors, and marketing majors can usually use it as an elective. I've seen some political science and textile majors strong-arm their advisors to sign off on it as well.
What if I'm not a college student? You could audit the course. You can also check your local community college and audit the course. Or you could check online. Many colleges offer the course free or for a small fee as the college attempts to design the course (pilot it).
What would I learn in it? Rhetorical theories and how they apply to images, visuals, and symbols. It won't just be about the colors though. You will likely analyze print advertisements and commercials for their concepts and meanings. You might examine propaganda, social movements, and political campaigns. You could possibly study famous photographers or other pieces. Endless possibilities really.
Is this stuff really that deep though? Let The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly explain:
This… “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You… go to your closet, and you select… I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back, but what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.
You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that, in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns, and then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn’t it?… who showed cerulean military jackets. [...]
And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores, and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin.
[...] so it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry, when in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room… from a pile of “stuff.”
Enjoy learning more about this "stuff" and, as always, feel free to share your thoughts with me and ask questions if you have any.
