WEEK 4: Introduction to Rhetoric in Communication Design (Part 1)

LECTURE
Veronika Kelly: Introduction to rhetoric in communication design  

Fidel Castro, framed in a 'star halo'

Functions of communication design are to inform, elighten and persuade. Rhetoric deals with discourse using language, imagery and typography. While classical rhetoric focused mainly on the speaker, new rhetoric has much more complex levels which include both different types of 'speaker' (eg. journalists, photographers, designers, directors etc) and also more emphasis on different types of audience.

The American Dream [panels 1-3] (Brett Whiteley, 1969)

Rhetoric is used extensively in advertising to persuade us that products/brands will make our lives better.

Rhetoric can be dividing into 3 different types:
 
Deliberative - political or advisory
Forensic - legal dealing with the past
Display - dealing with the present

"Painting is an argument between what it looks like, and what it means" - Brett Whiteley

Australian painter, Brett Whiteley was influenced by Picasso's political painting 'Guernica' (1937), and folk musicians such as Bob Dylan. In trying to position himself (unsuccessfully) as a political painter - his multi-panel works 'The American Dream' (1969) and 'Alchemy' (1973) aimed to provide complex commentaries on the world at the time.

READING
van den Broek et al. (2012) Visual language: perspectives for both makers and users.
This paper provides a lengthy and sometimes complex (ie. in Latin) introduction to the concept of Rhetoric and how signs and images can be used to persuade us through the medium(s) of graphic design, photography, film, television, advertising and more.

An example of how framing can alter our perspective

Gestalt explains our perception of visual communication - in particular how the parts make up the whole.
Semiotics describes the process of signification, via signs and signifiers.
Rhetoric describes how signs and images can persuade us.

Rhetoric is the process by which a speaker, writer, editor or other communicator can inform, persuade or motivate an audience.

Aristotle referred to rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion," and defined 3 approaches to appealing to the audience:

One of the shock-tropes from the Benetton campaign (1996)

ETHOS (the character, integrity and credibility of the 'speaker' - thus creating a relationship with the audience)
LOGOS (the reasoning, logic and arguments used)
PATHOS (the emotions or disposition of the audience)

Rhetoric is also split into 5 canons:

Picasso's 'Guernica' (1937) - a commentary on the Nazi bombing

Hans Schumann defects to West Germany (1961)

Burning Monk Thích Quang Duc (Malcolm Browne, 1963)

Inventio (invention)
Dispotio (structure)
Elocutio (style)
Memoria (memory/knowledge)
Actio (presentation).

While rhetoric was a large part of the European approach to art, this declined during the 19th Century, before returning in the 20th century with renewed energy and purpose through the advances in print, film, photography and television, and then eventually, the internet.




REFERENCES

• Buchanan, R. (1985). Decalration by Design: Rhetoric, Argument and Demonstration in Design Practice. Design Issues, 2(1), 4–22.  
• Eshes, H. (2009). Design on a rhetorical footing. Puebla, Mexico: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Designo. 
• Kelly, V. (2014). Design as rhetoric in the discourse of resonance. Paper presented at DRS 2014, International Conference of the Design Research Society, Umea, Sweden.  
• Poggenpohl, S. (1998). Doubly Damned: Rhetorical and Visual. Visible Language, 32(3), 200–233. 
• van den Broek, J., Koetsenruijter, W., de Jong, J., & Smit, L. (2012). Visual language: perspectives for both makers and users. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing.