Class 4 - Visual Rhetoric

The project we will now be working on in this class is one of a plate design. Yes like a dinner plate design. We must base the design on an art movement, and we do have a choice of picking what company we design for. So for example I could design a very intricate dinner plate for Villeroy and Boch who specialize in more of the fancy wedding dinner plates, or I could design a funky or minimalist plate for Ikea or a whimsical one for Anthropologie (Sigh... I love this store)

Anyhow, What is Visual Rhetoric?

Visual Rhetoric is a 4 part design process being taught to us by our professor. 
It consists of:

1. Intellectio
2. Inventio
3. Dispositio
4. Elocutio 

We shall be using this process to create a poster for some sort of social justice.

First of all what is process?

1. Taking something through a routine set of procedures to convert them from one form to another
2. Creating a solution to a problem
3. Improving or remedying a condition
4. A particular course of action intended to achieve a result

Today we were told about the first two parts of the design process know as Visual Rhetoric - Intellectio and Inventio. Below I shall describe them.

1. Intellectio

• Design is an argumentative field 
• Design is 
• Persuasion and Communication
• A process of reception and understanding 
• Meant for an intended audience 
• Analytical discourse to understand main ideas about a topic 
• Helps to clarify 

• Communication 
• Shallow or Deep? 
• If we tell someone not to do it, invariably they will go out and do it
• Fear shuts people down
• 2 or more opposite viewpoints 
• Graphic design is a discourse practice based on agreements 
• Topics that raise emotion

• Marketing 
• The client and the designer both have a persuasive intent 
• The job is to maintain or modify a belief
• MAC is about the cool factor and quality design 
• Each add only focuses on one argument at a time - Narrow it down
• PC is about appealing to everyone like Mc Donalds

• Education 
• To teach people about something - sex, drugs, peer pressure, happiness, chocolate :)
• Or orient people within a particular space - where the bathroom is, how to fly safely :) 
• Webdesign - orientation in a virtual space - how to navigate it 
• Old newspapers 

 What is your intent 
To build arguments the designer must know how opponent (S) think
What are the main arguments and the counter arguments?
There are always two viewpoints 
No empty arguments - do your research and debate 


What is the context 

• How 
• What (topic) 
• When 
• Why 
• Where 
• For who

Narrow down 

Think about time and resources

2. Inventio 

• Create discourse 
• Conception of discourse 
• Find general arguments and persuasive resources
• Discourse is created and built from what was found in Intellectio 
• Find and NARROW - the clearer the better 
• Creative and productive process - practical process - only uses contents that are good for its cause 

Bold in Argument

• Inventio is the process of creation but uses common places that have a people in mind 
• FOR WHO - culture, language, education, careers, gender, age 
• 30 seconds - 1 phrase 
• Logo 3 nouns 
• What is the objective 
• What message do you want to communicate 
• How do you want to say it 

• Keep an open mind 
• Expand 
• The good, the bad, the awful 
• All ideas count 
• Mind map