More Than One Alphabet, More Than One Literacy

artwork by Jennifer Hibbard

As a graphic designer for the last fifteen years, I really loved reading this week's article, Toward New Media Texts, by Cynthia Selfe. I have always been a person who could connect visual language with written language. After all, they are both forms of communication and therefore tend to enhance each other. The link between visuals and words is like the link between a reading and a written work: the added elements of speech and presentation make for a richer experience when an author reads her own work. Likewise, I find text to be enriched by the added elements of visuals, or vice versa.

Selfe is impressive in her ability to make visual literacy accessible to all levels of teachers. Even with my experience in graphic design, I tend to think of visual elements in the English classroom as secondary and worry about devoting too much time to a visual literacy project. I am hesitant because I did not grow up in the current visual/media age and have studied visual literacy and alphabetic literacy (I love that term!) separately—in separate classes, in separate schools, even in separate cities. One life as a literature major seemingly had nothing to do with another life as a graphic designer. My clients were always shocked that I could not only create the visual design for a project, but also write the copy. To me, the two are inextricably linked: good design comes from good copy and good copy comes from good design. In other words, the communication to the audience is the key and it doesn't matter whether there is one word with multiple images or one image with multiple words. Or, for that matter, images with no words or words with no images. The message, the content, the idea—these are what matter. The form of the message—whether visual, alphabetic, or a combination of both—should fit the audience and the message itself.

Furthermore, I agree with Selfe's assertion that the landscape of our communication is changing. Kress' quote in the article, "that written language is being displaced from its hitherto unchallenged central position in the semiotic landscape, and that the visual is taking over many of the functions of written language" (70) is exactly right. With the advancement of such programs as You Tube, for example, media literacy has more power than ever. It has always been important for members of our democratic society to understand the rhetorical meanings of advertising and manipulated messages, but now we must also give our students the ability to produce their own messages in the current means available.

Just to be clear, I don't at all think that alphabetic literacy is to be subordinated to visual literacy. There is much to be learned from reading and writing in traditional mediums. But I do think we are shortchanging our students if we don't embrace the changing world we live in and the evolving role of visual literacy.

For my link this week, I have chosen the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Not only do they feature amazing exhibitions, they offer all types of workshops for adults and children, as well as a teen program for high school kids. They even has separate workshops just for teachers.

A quick additional link, that will change over time, is to the Minneapolis/Hennepin County Public Library "Arts at the Library." They have an exhibit going on right now called Altered Books and it's definitely worth checking out. An interesting combination of visual literacy and alphabetic literacy by some great artists.