Visual Rhetoric Analysis #2: The Use of Icons to Direct Attention

I chose this document because it had plenty of great examples of the different aspects of visual rhetoric that we learned about this week. The document contains a very simple color scheme that contains only two different shades of blue for a soft background that avoids distraction from the words and images.

The eyes of the viewer are immediately drawn to the bright orange vectors that are utilized in the document’s narration. Since viewers are not likely to read the document in its entirety, the vectors also serve as a means of breaking the text up into smaller sections to allow the reader to take in sections at a time or skim to the sections that they deem most important. So, in this instance, the vectors are utilized in the form of direct address. Out of the three different styles of signs that we learned about, the vector images would fall under icons due to the fact that they resemble the object that the viewer can relate the text with.

The image at the top shows healthy children running and playing outside together. It could have just included children running, however the inclusion of the tree and faintness of the buildings in the background show that they are enjoying their time outside and getting valuable exercise at the same time.

Overall, I believe this image did a great job at delivering its message in a simple manner that did not allow room for distractions. Since there was quite a bit of information to convey, it utilized icons to draw the attention of the viewer.

photo source: news.heart.org