Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
The World of Image
Images are no longer just representations or inter-
preters of human actions. They have become cent-
ral to every action that connects humans to each
other... as much reference points for information
and knowledge as visualizations of human creativ-
ity.
Ron Burnett
Design educator and author; from
How Images Think;
The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 1993.
Real, Unreal, and Otherwise
Media and Methods
Presentation Options
Content and Concept
What Images Are
Image making is perhaps one of the most complex and ecstatically
human activities. An image is a powerful experience that is far from being inert—a
simple depictor of objects or places or people. It is a symbolic, emotional space that re-
places physical experience (or the memory of it) in the viewer's mind during the time it's
being seen. This is true of images that are strictly representative of a real place, people,
or objects, as well as of images that are artificial—either contrived representations or ab-
stract configurations of shapes. In the hands of a designer who knows how to command
composition on a purely visual level, and who can conceptually select and manipulate
content, an image is by far the most profound communication tool available. In graphic
design, there are myriad image possibilities—symbols and photomontage, drawing and
