809
Graphic Symbols:
The 5th Language
Kevin Thorn, AutoZone, LLC.
March 11 - 13, 2009
Orlando, FL
People Communicate
Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language
Kevin Thorn
The 5 Languages
1.
2.
3.
4.
What do these say?
Spoken – may be fluent in more than one
Written – symbolic form of spoken language
Mathematics – symbols for concepts
Body – expression, gesture, or stance
5. Graphic In the beginning...
If we look at the history of
graphic communication we
can go back over 10,000
years to cave paintings where
it all began.
These ancient drawings
depicted the life of prehistoric
societies and illustrated their
hunt for food.
Symbolism
We can learn a lot about ancient cave drawings as this type
of graphic communication began the use of symbolism.
The olive branch is a branch of an olive tree. In Western
culture, derived from the customs of Ancient Greece, it
symbolizes peace or goodwill.
Symbolism: that’s another topic…
Session 809 – Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language – Kevin Thorn,
AutoZone, LLC.
Page 1
March 11 - 13, 2009
Orlando, FL
Hieroglyphics
Mayan symbols
It is not known for sure when, but
the ancient Mayan culture
developed a sophisticated written
language using graphic symbols.
Thousands of years later we find Egyptians using a graphic language
in the form of hieroglyphics around 3200 BC.
Some images are single phonetic
sounds while others are complete
phrases.
A very fascinating language!
A more organized effort is seen during these times as Sequential Art
began to take form.
3D Storytellers
Native Indian graphic language
More recently in this
Western culture,
Native Indians used a
form of graphic
language similar to
hieroglyphics of
ancient Egypt .
Several hundred years
later the Greeks and
Romans told their stories
in a series of marble
sculptures.
Sequential Art
The largest known sequential story is the famous painting on the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by the great Michelangelo in 1511.
Will Eisner
Will Eisner is credited for taking sequential art to
the next level in the graphic novel, SPIRIT in the
early 20th century and later for the PS Magazine
while in the Army.
Eisner had always believed that the comics
medium had teaching potential and the work
of American Visuals Corporation helped
confirm this for him.
Communicating in these manners took on several approaches and many
experiments over the next few centuries. It was not until the mid 18th century
that William Hogarth was credited as the first modern illustration that
influenced the next wave of graphic communication – sequential art.
Session 809 – Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language – Kevin Thorn,
AutoZone, LLC.
Each episode offers the same
cautionary tale: a soldier who
ignores preventive maintenance
learns of its importance in the end.
Page 2
March 11 - 13, 2009
Orlando, FL
Demonstration: Stacking Shapes
Do the whole thing backward!
Reverse engineer your spoken language back into written language and back again into picture language.
This “image” communicates a teacher from
an era of the early to mid 20th century in
which in today’s classrooms we don’t see
this “image” much anymore.
4 Goats = 7 Jars of Olives
It is however the graphic shorthand we use
to communicate the concept of a teacher.
50
=
1
=
Demonstration: Elements of an Image
Espresso learning
Images to support learning – Learn to draw
them in 10 minutes.
Remember the teacher at the desk.
You're not making masterpieces,
you're simply communicating.
• An image broken down is simply basic elements
• Elements of an object begin with shapes
• Character design to narrate your eLearning
A few well chosen lines and you've
got a perfectly useful clown that will
serve your communication need.
Visual Thinking
Any problem can be made clearer with a picture, and any picture can be made using the same simple set of tools and rules.
Back of the Napkin: Dan Roam
Session 809 – Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language – Kevin Thorn,
AutoZone, LLC.
Page 3
March 11 - 13, 2009
Orlando, FL
Exercise: A
A single vintage graphic
works extremely well to
communicate. The key
is ‘neutral’ and ‘simple’
Shape – Space ‐ Object
Stretch, Squeeze, Squash & Squish
An object is first a shape.
That shape occupies a space.
That space defines the object
An object is a shape that occupies a space.
Exercise: B
Exercise: C
A Circle, dots, dashes and lines
Session 809 – Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language – Kevin Thorn,
AutoZone, LLC.
Page 4
March 11 - 13, 2009
Orlando, FL
Watch
Mantle Clock
Anniversary Clock
Grandfather Clock
What do they communicate?
Example: A1
• Wrist Watch - schedule, planning, deadline, meeting
• Mantle Clock - retirement, center piece, end of an era
• Anniversary Clock - celebration, timeless, commitment
• Grandfather Clock - reliable, steadfast, passing of time
See: www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com post “Dots, Dashes, and Lines”
How to make a PB&J – text only
To make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you’ll need
two slices of bread, peanut butter, your favorite flavor of
jelly, and a knife. With the knife, spread peanut butter on
one slice of the bread. Also with the knife, spread the jelly
on top of the peanut butter. When finished, place the other
slice of bread on top of the already prepared slice with the
peanut butter and jelly. Smash and eat!
>> Boring! <<
Session 809 – Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language – Kevin Thorn,
AutoZone, LLC.
Page 5
EXERCISE: A
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
People communicate. We do so with many languages. So many, in fact, that it's easy to forget some of the languages we use daily, hourly, even minute by minute. The 5 Languages: Spoken We may even be fluent in more than one. Written Writing is the symbolic form of our language or languages that we were carefully taught and how to communicate using it. Mathematics Math is another written language, but we often forget that the symbols and equations of Mathematics are written symbols for concepts and hard data ‐ this is a language. Regardless of what spoken language is your primary, Mathematics is your third language though you aren't usually taught to call it a language. Body Except in the case of formalized sign language, there is no standard education in expression, gesture or stance but we communicate a vast amount of information in the way we hold our faces, hands and our bodies. Graphic We have another language that has no formal education. It surrounds us constantly and we absorb it and use it to communicate with those from our place and our time. It is the symbolic graphic language of the late 20th/early 21st century in the United States. Other countries and other times have their own variations. Over time we become familiar with corporate brands that communicate their business with a single image or graphic. Our everyday life is surrounded by graphic symbols that we become so accustomed that we don’t even realize we communicate using the graphic language. These are very simple examples of graphic communication. These and many others have been explained to us and maybe we even remember the lessons. There are more throughout our society we're completely unaware of, but we see them in our advertising, entertainment, news...and on the way to work. They are pictorial shorthand for ideas; the original written language as applied to our current local society. 1
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
In the beginning: Graphic Communication So what is Graphic Communication? There are countless resources on the subject and it’s a very broad topic. The question is how do we take literally thousands of years of communicating with graphic symbols and apply that to eLearning? If we look at the history of graphic communication we can go back over 10,000 years to cave paintings where it all began. These ancient drawings depicted the life of prehistoric societies and illustrated their hunt for food. Thousands of years later we find Egyptians using the graphic language in the form of hieroglyphics. A more organized effort is seen during these times as Sequential Art began to take form. It is not known for sure when, but the ancient Mayan culture developed a sophisticated written language using graphic symbols. Some images are single phonetic sounds while others are complete phrases. A very fascinating language! Several hundred years later the Greeks and Romans told their stories in a series of marble sculptures. More recently in this Western culture, Native Indians used a form of graphic language similar to hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. 2
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
The largest known sequential story is the famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by the great Michelangelo in 1511. Communicating in this manner took on several approaches and many experiments over the next few centuries. It was not until the mid 18th century that William Hogarth was credited as the first modern illustration that influenced the next wave of graphic communication – sequential art Will Eisner is credited for taking sequential art to the next level in the graphic novel, “SPIRIT”in the early 20th century and later for the PS Magazine while in the Army. Eisner had always believed that the comics medium had teaching potential and the work of American Visuals Corporation helped confirm this for him. 3
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
This example may help understand: Stack a rectangle, triangle, and circle on top of each other. This may represent a party hat or a sculpture of a globe balanced on top of a pyramid, resting on a platform. By adding one more shape, four lines, and two dots it takes the form of a “Teacher”. It can be argued that teachers aren’t necessarily female, nor do they necessarily sit behind a desk. Most of us have never given an apple to a teacher or even had any intention of it. We know that a teacher need not be a woman, have long hair, sit behind a desk, or receive an apple. So why did this suddenly and clearly become a teacher? It is because we have already been taught. This “image” communicates a teacher from an era of the early to mid 20th century in which in today’s classrooms we don’t see this “image” much anymore. It is however the graphic shorthand we use to communicate the ‘concept’ of a teacher. The point here is your learner’s have already been taught millions of things when it comes to recognizing imagery that communicate a message. This example is losing relevance and one day it won't be of use, but right now in this time and place, this simple figure spells 'teacher', and we can use it to communicate with others. By simply repeating the means by which we, as the human race, taught ourselves to write we can quickly and efficiently communicate with graphic symbols. Let’s look at a story that may better represent this idea: Shem and Thor were two merchants in ancient times were haggling over a trade. Shem offered to sell Thor this many (he holds up 2 fingers) pigs for this many (he holds up 5 fingers) jars of Thor’s olives. This sounded good to Thor, so they both ran to their respective homes and collected their goods. Upon returning, the haggling had to begin again because neither Shem nor Thor could remember or prove how many fingers the other had agreed upon. 4
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
Shem had a cool idea. He got a piece of clay and carved images of the number of pigs and images of jars of olives into the clay (Figure A). Figure A
Shem said, “Is this our deal?” They were both able to agree. This was a wonderful system, until Thad the bead merchant came along. Thad thought it was a good idea but he was frustrated that he had to carve fifty beads for just one pig. “What if I wanted ten pigs? There’s not enough room on the clay!” Thad argued. Shem, Thor and Thad went back to thinking and ended up working out numbers. 50
=
1
Everything was wonderful again! Things had to get more complicated because Irving, the goat trader, said he couldn't draw a goat. Everyone said 'sure you can' and showed him how easy it was to draw a goat. Irving said he had a weak eye and shaky hands and he wasn't able to draw any goats. They all got together and developed symbols that represented sounds and created an alphabet. Shem wrote the word “Goat” in the clay for Irving and added the number “4” in front of it. He kept working the clay until it had said , “4 Goats = 7 Jars of Olives.” (Figure B) 4 Goats = 7 Jars of
Figure B
=
The secret is to 'Do the whole thing backward!' Reverse engineer your spoken language back into written language and back again into picture language. 5
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
For instance, let's say you need a little image of a clown and you don't believe you can draw one and don’t have an illustrator handy. How do you draw a clown? Understand that you have a picture of a clown in your head. Otherwise you'd have said to yourself, "A what? What?" when you just read the word 'clown' just now and you wouldn’t have recognized the image at right. The trick is to get the image of a clown out of your head and onto paper. Here's what you do: Write down on some scratch paper every descriptor you can think of for 'clown'. Stuff like 'big shoes', 'round nose', 'funny hat', 'baggy clothes', 'poofy hair'. Now lightly draw some shapes and start adding all the elements from your list. If you hit an element that makes you say 'I don't know how to draw this,' then you'll need another scratch paper for that element... 'Big shoes' are: Long, flat on the bottom, round on top, have shoelaces. Once all your elements are in place, draw only big bold lines wherever they're necessary. Nothing extra need apply. Remember the teacher at the desk. You're not making masterpieces, you're simply communicating. A few well chosen lines and you've got a perfectly useful clown that will serve your communication need. Let’s move away from graphically communicating or Visual Literacy and let’s explore at Visual Thinking. Dan Roam wrote a book last year titled, “The Back of the Napkin.” He explains how we were born visual. Our entire existence in those early years was totally dependent on visual stimulation. Any problem can be made clearer with a picture, and any picture can be made using the same simple set of tools and rules. He breaks it down like this: Look – what’s out there? See – patterns, symbols, colors Imagine – visually pulling out all the things we see and the things we don’t see...imagining Show – Having a winning attitude. The drawing will show. Important thing is not having the talent to draw or create, but open our eyes and ‘see’. Real process doesn’t begin with a pen, it begins with our eyes. 6
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
Now that your brain is thinking visually, let’s look at a couple more examples. Think of an image when you read the word, “PHONE.” What ‘image’ comes to mind? Some of you may immediately think of your iPhone or your cell phone. Or you may be thinking of your desk phone back at work (the one with more buttons than you actually use), or your home cordless phone and the 3‐4 satellite phones in your house. Now let’s think of an eLearning course on Help Desk Customer Service Phone Skills. Generally speaking, if you use the image you have in your mind right now in that course, will it communicate to all your audience? Let’s try the word, “telephone”. Now what image do you see? Does it look something like this? (see image at left) I grew up with a phone like this but even though most young people today have never even seen one, let alone use one…so why does it still communicate on an international level? Simplicity! Let’s look at another one. “CASH REGISTER.” You may be thinking of the register on a recent transaction getting coffee this morning. In today’s technology advanced commerce, a cash register is strikingly similar to a computer…that’s because it is! So why do we even call it a “Cash Register” anymore? We’re moving farther and farther away from cash?! It’s not ‘really’ a register. This is an actual image used to identify a Cash Register training course for new hires. It is almost guaranteed that just about every new hire that comes on board has never seen one of these vintage machines. A single vintage graphic works extremely well to communicate. The key is ‘neutral’ and ‘simple!’ 7
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com
Graphic Communication – The 5th Language
Let’s take a journey – a journey through space. Not outer space but rather this physical universal space we’re in right now. Consider for a moment that everything around you is billions of atoms that make up matter, and that matter is the countless objects in our everyday life. The chair you’re sitting on, the pencil or pen in your hand, the walls of this room...this piece of paper! The great thing about communicating graphically is you don’t have to know “how” to draw. You just need to learn more about thinking visually and sharpen your skills on communicating with simple images. An object is first a shape. That shape occupies a space. That space defines the object. OR – A shape that occupies a space defines an object. There is no one clear method and no distinct rules on how to communicate graphically because it is impossible to harness the imagination. We all think visually and have our entire lives, although some are more experienced or seasoned because they practice. The next time you go out to dinner take pen or felt tip marker. While you wait for your appetizers or dinner, grab the napkin and practice drawing the objects on the table: salt & pepper shaker, candle holder, table center piece, etc. Remember it’s all about looking at an object and seeing the shape it occupies. Enjoy and have fun! RESOURCES: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures – Dan Roam http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/ Decoding Design: Understanding and using Symbols in Visual Communication – Maggie McNabb Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations ‐ Nancy Duarte Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery – Reynolds ‐ Kawasaki Comics and Sequential Art – Will Eisner Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative – Will Eisner Understanding Comics. The Invisible Art – Scott McCloud Drawing Words and Writing Pictures – Jessica Abel and Matt Madden http://www.dw‐wp.com Web Resources: www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com ‐ Kevin Thorn Blog www.cartoonstock.com www.andertoons.com http://www.useit.com ‐ Jakob Nielsen http://www.ivla.org ‐ International Visual Literacy Association 8
Kevin Thorn - www.learnnuggets.wordpress.com