visual representation of culture

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1 What is Visual Culture?

J. Keri Cronin and Hannah Dobbie

Introduction

It is no exaggeration to say that we are surrounded by images. Take a look around you now. How many different kinds of images do you see at this moment? Think back on all of the images you encountered so far today. Can you bring them to mind? Is it possible you didn’t even notice some?

From the moment we wake up in the morning we are inundated with images. Perhaps you scrolled through social media as you ate your breakfast. Were there colourful images on the box of cereal in front of you? Do you have posters or framed family photographs in your living space? On your way to work or school you likely passed advertisements, billboards, and window displays in your local shops. Does your bus pass or parking pass have a logo or image on it? Did you stop to take a picture of your cat curled up in a patch of sun? Did your professors use images or graphs on the slides they showed in your classes today? Is there an image on the cover of the textbook in your backpack? A logo on your jacket?

We are surrounded by images on a daily basis– some would even say we are overloaded by images !  However, we don’t often stop to think critically about them. Learning to think about how images work and make meaning in our societies opens our eyes to many important social, cultural, ethical, economic, political, historical, and technological issues.

Images can help us make sense of the world. They can challenge ideas, but they can also reinforce dominant ideas and the status quo. And the meanings generated by images can be complex. How do we negotiate this?

When we talk about studying visual culture we simply mean that we are focusing our learning, research, and scholarly inquiries on images. Studying visual culture in an academic context involves thinking critically and seriously about pictures and about how they make meaning in our world. We live in a very visual world and yet we are rarely given the opportunity to learn about the ways that images make meaning.

When we use the term “visual culture” we are typically referring to visual representations of something. So, your adorable baby niece isn’t an example of visual culture (she is a living being!), but the photograph of her on the invitation to her 1st birthday party is an example of visual culture. Your cat isn’t an example of visual culture, but the cartoon cat on the bag of cat food he enjoys would be. A forest isn’t an example of visual culture, but a map of the hiking trails that run through it would be. In each of these cases, the living thing (baby, cat, forest) is represented in a way that conveys specific information (a happy child, a hungry cat, a way to safely navigate the forest). In each of these cases, the representation of the baby/cat/forest offers a select interpretation of that living thing (your niece isn’t always grinning is she?), and it is this process of interpreting something complex through an always incomplete process of representation that we are interested in investigating in this course. The way an image looks, the choices the artist/image-maker made, and where the image is viewed shapes how we understand it. As we will see, there are also complex political, social, and technological issues that inform what Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright have termed the “practices of looking.” [1]

Images as “Active Players”

You will note that we were very deliberate about our use of language in the previous paragraph–we wrote that “images make meaning” not that they have meaning. Our point here is that pictures don’t come preloaded with a single, fixed meaning that we have to learn to decipher and decode. Rather, as W.J.T. Mitchell writes, images are “active players in the game of establishing and changing values.” [2]

What does Mitchell mean here? Let’s dig in further. In his book What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images , Mitchell argues that:

“we don’t just evaluate images; images introduce new forms of value into the world, contesting our criteria, forcing us to change our minds… Images are not just passive entities that coexist with their human hosts, any more than the microorganisms that dwell in our intestines. They change the way we think and see and dream.” [3]

To think of a picture as an “active player” might seem a bit odd at first, but Mitchell is not suggesting that an image is alive in the same way that, say, a puppy is.

Pictures don’t have sentience, they don’t have central nervous systems. But their very presence can influence, reinforce, challenge, and shift ideas. They can make us question what we think we know. They can be the cause of new understandings or ways of seeing the world. They can give us information. They might make us angry, sad, happy, or intrigued. And each person viewing that picture might have a different response. There is a beautiful complexity when we start to think about how pictures function in our world. And once we start to understand this, we can transpose this understanding to any image we encounter in our world.

You might be thinking “well, a picture doesn’t do all of that. The artist or person who made it does!” We will delve into this point in more detail a little later in this course, but for now we will just say that the meaning an artist or image maker intends a picture to have isn’t always the one that a viewer receives.

Let’s look at a quick example to help illustrate this point. The image below was taken by a photographer named Caroline Gunn and it is part of the Wellcome Collection , a museum, library, and archive based in London, England that focuses on health, science, and medicine.

The information accompanying this image on the Wellcome Collection’s website doesn’t give us much context about why Caroline Gunn took this image. We don’t have any information about who this little mouse is, but we can infer from the title (“Mouse Health Check”) that the mouse is being handled carefully and gently by the person performing the health check. Is this mouse a pet? Is the human a veterinarian? Does this animal live in a laboratory? We don’t know, but given that it is part of the Wellcome Collection we can assume that this picture has something to do with science, medicine, or health.

Even though there are gaps in the information we have about this picture, we still bring our knowledge, assumptions, perspectives, understandings, backgrounds, feelings, and emotions to these pictures. Some people might see this picture and smile because they think this mouse is really cute. Others might be afraid of mice and recoil a little when they look at it. Some might be reminded of a pet mouse they once had while others might be thinking of the time they had to rescue a mouse from the jaws of their overzealous housecat. If you are an animal rights activist this image might make you uneasy–perhaps this mouse is about to be the subject of a scientific experiment.

I’m sure we can add to this list of possible reactions to this photograph, but the point here is that even though Caroline Gunn would have had an idea about what she wanted to express through this photograph, other meanings are being generated as we look at it. The picture, in other words, is playing an active role.

Still unsure or unconvinced? We will be returning to this concept of pictures being dynamic participants in the meaning-making process throughout this course.

How is Visual Culture Different From Art History?

Visual culture is related to art history, but the field of inquiry is expanded. Art history has traditionally been concerned with things like the biographies and motivations of artists and/or the formal style of an image. Further, art history tends to be very limited in terms of the kinds of images focused on–typically painting, drawing, and sculpture considered to be “great masterpieces” and “things in art galleries.”

Visual culture, on the other hand, is concerned with a very broad scope of images and image makers. Famous paintings found in art galleries can certainly be the subject of visual culture inquiries, but so can advertisements, social media images, sports logos, cartoons, and passport photos (to name just a few examples). Visual culture scholars ask a very broad range of questions when they work with images and focus their inquiries on how images make meaning in the world.

Visual Culture and Accessibility

In recent years we have seen new initiatives in the fields of art history and visual culture in terms of attempting to be more accessible for a wider audience. Museums and art galleries are often leading the way on this front. For example, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) uses an app called BlindSquare to provide exhibition and wayfinding information for visitors who are blind or partially sighted . The Dallas Art Museum has established a program where visitors who have Color Vision Deficiency (often known as “color blindness”) can borrow a set of lenses that can help visitors to the gallery “view the world with a more enriched color field .” [4]

Another example of accessibility initiatives in the context of viewing images comes, once again, from the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). For their summer 2023 exhibition called Cassatt-McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds , the AGO included an American Sign Language Video that offered supplementary information about the life and work of Helen McNicoll presented by Peter Owusu-Ansah and Rae RezWell . Owusu-Ansah and RezWell are Deaf visual artists, as was McNicoll.

Reflection Exercise

Have a listen to this episode of Art Matters which features an interview with representatives from VocalEyes , a charity in the UK that brings “art and culture to life for blind and visually impaired people at theatres, museums, galleries, heritage sites and online.”

Take 5-10 minutes to do some freewriting on this topic. What did you find the most interesting or surprising about the information presented in this podcast? Does this topic raise any questions for you? Are you interested in thinking further about the topic?

Who Should Study Visual Culture?

Visual culture is something that relates to every subject of study. Even if you are not planning to major in art or visual culture you can develop skills that can help you in your chosen field of study. Are you a history major? What can those old photographs in the archives tell you about your subject? Are you a science major? Why do scientific illustrations look the way that they do? Do you plan to be a teacher? How can images help children learn in the classroom? The list is endless! Developing skills that help us analyse images can be very useful no matter where your academic studies and career take you!

Writing Exercise

• Make a list of some of the ways that images relate to your field of study. (examples: logos, advertising, data visualisation, works of art, film adaptations of novels, medical imaging technologies, etc.)
• Pick one item from your list above. Can you think of a specific example of this type of image? What does it look like? What details stand out in your memory? Where did you see it? How does it make you feel? How does this example relate back to your larger field of study?

Spend 5-10 minutes on this exercise.

Learning to look carefully and to ask questions about what you see is a very important skill to have. For example, many medical schools are now requiring their students to take courses in art history and/or visual culture so that they become more skilled at careful looking and detailed observation . Studying visual culture can lead to career paths in the arts, media, museums, advertising, social media, etc., but more importantly this kind of learning can help you become a more astute consumer of the images that you see every single day.

Becoming a critical thinker when it comes to assessing and analysing images can help you judge whether what you read online or see on television is credible. While there is a long history of images being manipulated and edited, this has become an even more complex topic with the rise of AI tools in recent years .

Critical Thinking

You will often see the phrase “critical thinking” or “thinking critically” in these pages. What do we mean by these terms?

bell hooks describes critical thinking as “discovering the who, what, when, where, and how of things–finding the answers to those eternal questions of the inquisitive child–and then utilizing that knowledge in a manner that enables you to determine what matters most.” [5]

Critical thinking does not necessarily mean taking a negative stance or perspective. It is very possible–and quite desirable, actually–to think critically about an image or an idea you are excited about or really enjoy.

Critical thinking is an important concept in the Arts and the Humanities. When we talk about engaging in critical thinking we are simply talking about asking deep questions about whatever it is we are focusing on. We then support that process of questioning through evidence.

In our everyday language we often use the word “critical” to mean something bad or negative. For example, if we say something like “my father was critical of my outfit” we mean that our dad didn’t like what we were wearing. This has a negative connotation.

However, when we use the word “critical” in the phrase “critical thinking” we are not necessarily taking a negative point of view. All we mean when we talk about “critical thinking” is that we are interrogating our object of study–asking questions and thinking deeply about how it works to make meaning in our world. It is perfectly acceptable to engage in critical thinking about things you like–say, for instance, your favourite movie, novel, or video game.

Throughout this course we will be developing critical thinking skills to help us make sense of how images work in our world.

• Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford University Press. ↵
• W.J.T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), p. 105. ↵
• W.J.T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), p. 92 ↵
• Rhea Nayyar, "A Better Museum Experience for Color-Blind Visitors" Hyperallergic (Oct 23, 2022): https://hyperallergic.com/771685/dallas-art-museum-color-blind-visitors-enchroma/ ↵
• bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom (New York and London: Routledge, 2010), p.9 ↵

Look Closely: A Critical Introduction to Visual Culture Copyright © 2023 by J. Keri Cronin and Hannah Dobbie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Visual Culture – Definition, Examples, History & More – Art Theory Glossary

Table of Contents

What is Visual Culture?

Visual culture refers to the study of visual images, objects, and practices in society. It encompasses a wide range of visual forms, including art, photography, film, advertising, and social media.

Visual culture examines how images and visual representations shape our understanding of the world around us. It explores the ways in which visual communication influences our perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors.

Key Concepts in Visual Culture

Some key concepts in visual culture include representation, interpretation, and visual literacy. Representation refers to how images and visual symbols convey meaning and represent ideas, identities, and values. Interpretation involves analyzing and making sense of visual images and understanding their cultural significance. Visual literacy is the ability to interpret and create visual messages effectively.

Other important concepts in visual culture include visual rhetoric, visual ethics, and visual semiotics. Visual rhetoric is the use of visual elements to persuade, inform, or entertain audiences. Visual ethics involves ethical considerations related to the creation and consumption of visual images. Visual semiotics is the study of signs and symbols in visual communication and how they convey meaning.

The Role of Visual Culture in Society

Visual culture plays a significant role in shaping our cultural identities, beliefs, and values. It influences how we perceive ourselves and others, as well as how we understand and interact with the world.

Visual culture also plays a crucial role in politics, advertising, and social movements. Images are often used to convey powerful messages, evoke emotions, and mobilize support for various causes.

Visual Culture and Technology

Technology has had a profound impact on visual culture, transforming the way we create, consume, and share visual images. The rise of digital media and the internet has made it easier for people to create and distribute visual content on a global scale.

Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have become popular tools for sharing visual images and connecting with others. Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are also changing the way we experience and interact with visual content.

Visual Culture and Globalization

Globalization has led to the spread of visual culture across borders and cultures, influencing how people around the world perceive and engage with visual images. Globalization has also facilitated the exchange of visual ideas, styles, and practices between different societies.

Visual culture has become a powerful tool for promoting cultural diversity, challenging stereotypes, and fostering cross-cultural understanding. It has the potential to bridge cultural divides and promote dialogue and collaboration between people from diverse backgrounds.

Critiques of Visual Culture

Despite its many benefits, visual culture has also been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes, promoting unrealistic beauty standards, and manipulating public opinion. Some critics argue that visual images can be used to manipulate and control people’s perceptions and behaviors.

Others have raised concerns about the impact of visual culture on mental health, particularly among young people who are constantly exposed to idealized images of beauty and success. Critics also point to the potential for visual culture to reinforce social inequalities and perpetuate harmful ideologies.

In conclusion, visual culture is a complex and dynamic field of study that examines the role of visual images in shaping our perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. It encompasses a wide range of visual forms and concepts that influence our understanding of the world around us. By critically analyzing and engaging with visual culture, we can better understand how visual images shape our cultural identities and influence our interactions with others.

JerwoodVisualArts

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Art Theory: Visual Culture

*This article is part of Arts Help's Art Theory series.

In 2014, Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary coined the term “culture” as the word of the year. An uptick in “culture” definition searches on Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary website implies that, in 2014, “Confusion about culture was just part of the year’s “culture.” As New Yorker reporter Jonathan Rothman suggests, an effort to entirely understand the sociological concept of culture is elusive, no matter the year . Human beings are in a continuous search to grasp how culture is defined, practiced, and embodied. What’s more is that culture is an all-encompassing term that blanket describes the complex and manifold matters for which humans interact, believe, think, create, and behave–– there is no one way to categorize culture as it is ever-changing, always diverse, and immeasurable.

In action, the word “culture” is often compounded with an additional term or phrase: a descriptor that aims to compartmentalize the different modes through which culture exists and is enacted. In 2014, compound terms including culture were searched online just as fervently as the word culture alone . Phrases like pop culture, consumer culture, start-up culture, high culture, media culture, as well as, violence culture, rape culture, and cultures of silence include just a handful of the ways that the word culture is adapted and given expanded meaning. As apt as the quest was to understand the expansive notion of culture seven years ago (and many years before), the journey still continues. In 2021, the concept of what culture is, how it operates, and the ways in which it transforms is still at the height of society’s minds and systems.

One formation, or categorization, of the term culture has accrued notoriety over the past two decades as it seemingly tries to make sense of all the rest. Visual culture , as Lauren Schleimer puts into words “is a term that refers to the tangible, or visible, expressions by a people, a state or a civilization, and collectively describes the characteristics of that body as a whole.” Schleimer’s definition of visual culture stems from an anthropological blueprint, and the term now encompasses many more concepts.

Visual culture is an interdisciplinary notion that constitutes the visual as a precursor for knowledge and understanding. Leah Houston articulates , “visual culture is a way of studying” the world and its relations through means of “art history, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It is intertwined with everything that one sees in [their] day to day life––advertising, landscape, buildings, photographs, movies, paintings, apparel––anything within our culture that communicates through visual means.” For transdisciplinary theorist Irit Rogoff, “visual culture opens up an entire world of intertextuality in which images, sounds and spatial delineations are read on to and through one another, lending ever-accruing layers of meanings and of subjective responses to each encounter we might have with film, TV, advertising, art works, buildings or urban environments”. Visual culture is “a transdisciplinary and cross-methodological field of inquiry.”

While the concept and nature of visual culture is not new, its popularization as a field is relatively young. In Mieke Bal’s 2003 essay Visual Essentialism and the Object of Visual Culture , Bal questions whether visual culture can be defined as a positive, productive discipline. She expresses , “rather than declaring visual culture studies either a discipline or a non-discipline, I prefer to leave the question open and provisionally refer to it as a movement. Like all movements, it may die soon, or it may have a long and productive life”. Contrary to Bal’s sentiments, the contemporary notion of visual culture is widespread. In contemporary times, visual culture has proven to outlast its particular moment in history. In fact, the nature of visual culture is expansive enough that it now operates as a highly popular field of study. Countless academic institutions offer visual culture studies as a major for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees, and moreover, several institutions have dedicated visual culture departments.

In a written response to Bal’s article, art historian James Elkin meets Bal’s statements with tension, and argues positively for the interdisciplinarity of the emerging visual studies field. Elkins implies that visual culture studies offer the space for disciplines such as art history, media studies, and linguistics to come together; it appeals to “those who want to bring together several fields to create a meeting place of disciplines, a kind of bazaar or collage of simultaneous and kaleidoscopically alternating disciplinary fragments”. In extension to Elkin’s thoughts, the study of visual culture brackets various societal shifts, bridging notions of postmodernism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and the information age into a realm of intersectional study. Elkin’s quotes theorist W.J.T Mitchell , “‘Visual culture starts out in an area beneath the notice of these disciplines – the realm of non-artistic, non-aesthetic, and unmediated or “immediate” visual images and experiences.’ It is about ‘everyday seeing’, which is ‘bracketed out’ by the disciplines that conventionally address visuality”.

Despite academic bearings, the notion of visual culture is prudent to contemporary life. In contemporary society,   a “shift in emphasis toward an increasing importance of the visible…is due principally to two related factors: the organization of economies and societies with and by images and the related hyper-development and intensification of visual technologies.” Marquard Smith articulates the ways in which apparatuses of visual culture are almost always multi-sensory, stating that “the internet always involves a coming together of text and image, of reading and looking simultaneously; that cinema always comprises sight and sound, viewing and hearing at once; that video phones necessitate a confluence of text (texting), image (photographing/videoing), sound (ringtones), and touch (the haptic or tactile bond between the user and [their] unit)”.

Visual culture flows through the circuits of everyday social, economic, political, and scientific systems––the broad culture of the 21st century is supremely visual and multisensorial. Images (photographs, pictures, illustrations, videos, and so on) precipitate beyond the realm of contemporary art; they are active elements that coordinate functions of the internet, journalism, marketing, computer technologies, systems of surveillance, scientific practice, and more. Likewise, the pinnacle of visual exchange, social media, relies on images as well as visual and sensory communication in order to exist and persist. There is a sea of images directly outside the eyes of most individuals: humans come into contact with rows of visual objects through their cell phone devices, newsfeeds, and streaming accounts. Humans are in a constant relationship with “a ghost of an image, a preview, a thumbnail, an errant idea, an itinerant image distributed for free, squeezed through slow digital connections, compressed, reproduced, ripped, remixed, as well as copied and pasted into other channels of distribution.”

The definition of the “visible” is changing due to the rapid advancement of technologies; new technologies have succeeded in making that which was never visible before perceivable. Newfangled forms of visual media––from video conferencing to augmented reality––continue to change the way that humans communicate, experience, learn, and exchange. Furthermore, individuals’ access to visual exchange platforms is perpetuating how visual content is made, circulated, and aestheticized––these platforms give space for the development of visual mediums, expanding and revolutionizing the way that art, design, photography, performance, music, marketing and so on are traditionally practiced and determined.

In addition, these technologies simply change the way that images are seen and understood. Through the immense popularity of social platforms such as Instagram and YouTube the visual world intersects with the contemplative world. The systems of social media are just one aspect of contemporary visual culture. Yet, the  advancement of these visual exchange platforms exemplifies a shift in how contemporary culture tends to embody visualization as a means to develop intersectional understanding and take action towards the social and economic consequential issues that prevail global societies.

Visual culture is fluid, continuously adapting, and as humans we constantly find new ways to engage with, contemplate, and question the world through visual imagery. In the words of W.J.T Mitchell , “The most far-reaching shift signaled by the search for an adequate concept of visual culture is its emphasis on the social field of the visual, the everyday processes of looking at others and being looked at. This complex field of visual reciprocity is not merely a by-product of social reality but actively constitutive of it”. While perhaps the exact theory of visual culture is challenging to pinpoint, it is without dispute that visual culture is a pivotal element in the apparatuses of art, art history, design, media as well as  contemporary global societies. As a field of study, and everyday notion, the theory of visual culture argues for how images influence new ways of thinking, understanding, and mediating. It is a way of looking at the world to make sense of the universe and humanity’s divergent and complex relations.

Mallory Gemmel

Mallory is an interdisciplinary writer & editor. She has a BFA in Photography & Curatorial Studies from Emily Carr University & a Master of Arts in Comparative Media from Simon Fraser University.

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May we suggest an author.

The ‘Politics of Representation’ in Post-Colonial Studies

Representation refers to how ideas, beliefs, values, and other aspects of different societies and cultures are imagined, expressed, shared, and understood by others, in both language-based or visual form.

This is considered ‘political’ because of considerations linked to who holds the power to create representations; whose voices are heard and amplified; which cultural practices are privileged or suppressed; and how the representations are interpreted and weaponised as a tool for domination or resistance, whatever the original intentions of the people who created the representation (Said 1973; Lockmann 2004).

When used in the context of post-colonial studies, the term “politics of representation” refers to how colonisers and colonised peoples were depicted and understood, as well as how their relationship was interpreted.

This includes examining power dynamics between the two groups, understanding the cultural and historical context for their interactions, and looking at how colonization still impacts present-day society.

Assessing the politics of representation makes it possible to better understand the complexities behind colonialism , imperialism, racialisation, and other dynamics that have shaped our contemporary world.

In this essay I will first address the issue of representation in anthropology, with a particular focus on the links between the discipline and colonialism, which led to much scholarly debate and criticism in the 1980s about potential bias in ethnographic and other scholarly representations of the colonised during the colonial era, which subsequently became the foundation for the emergence of post-colonial studies (Lockmann 2004).

I will then broaden the discussion to include other forms of representation, including the representation of power relations through discourse, photography and movies.

Anthropology is a representational discipline in which anthropologists seek to contextualize and interpret the complexities of the societies they study, representing their findings in the form of documentation, images, photos, artifacts, and stories kept in their archives or displayed in exhibitions and museums, scholarly papers and presentations made at conferences, as well as articles and books written for a general audience (Vargas-Cetina 2013).

It initially emerged as the study of the ‘primitive’ and the ‘exotic,’ with its origins firmly rooted in the power structures of the colonial era (Said 1973; Assad 1973; Lockmann 2004; Vargas-Cetina 2013; Gleach 2013).

Early anthropologists gained access to the subjects they were to study as part of the colonial apparatus, and while they may have tried to be neutral observers, it would be naïve to claim that their positionality, which hinged on the power inequalities in the relationship between coloniser and colonised, did not shape the outcomes of their research (Lockmann 2004).

This influence was one of the main thrusts of Said’s argument about the flawed representation of colonised nations by scholars representing the Orient –

‘… for a European or American studying the Orient there can be no disclaiming the main circumstances of his actuality: that he comes up against the Orient as a European or American first, as an individual second. And to be a European or an American in such a situation is by no means an inert fact’ Said 1973

(Said 1973, as cited in Lockmann 2004: 188).

Thus, anthropology came into being as the study by Europeans of non-European societies ruled by European powers, with the resulting representations meant for a European audience (Assad 1973: 90).

Beyond ethnographic representations created by early anthropologists, there were of course other forms of representation which shaped the Western public’s views of colonised peoples and cultures.

Artwork, literature, photography, cartoons and even human ‘zoos’ have been used to propagate ideas about ‘the Other’ that constructed a distorted vision of these societies while also reinforcing colonial power relations (Said 1973; Lockmann 2004; Vargas-Cetina 2013).

One of the seminal texts in the field is Edward Said’s Orientalism , which examines the politics of representation in the context of colonialism and imperialism in Eastern countries.

He argues that Western (European and American) perceptions of the East were shaped by a cycle of representation that presented “the Orient” as exotic, mysterious, and inferior.

The core premise perpetuated by the dichotomization of the East and the West, was the ‘othering’ of the East, based on preconceptions and attitudes that had little or no foundation.

In fact, many of the representations in question were often produced with little regard for or knowledge of the culture they were representing.

Through this process, he argues, colonised cultures were reduced to a set of stereotypes that explained and justified the inequality and oppression perpetuated upon them by Western powers (Said 1973; Lockmann 2004; Shohat & Stam 2014; Lutz and Collins 2020).

In the article ‘Shattered Myths,’ Said posits that much of the body of knowledge created by European and American scholars about ‘Arab society’ was in fact an exercise of ‘mythification,’ since ‘Arabs all told number over a hundred million people and at least a dozen different societies’ so it was impossible to study them ‘as a single monolith’ (Said 1975: 90).

He illustrates his point by referring to several examples of blinkered representations by Orientalists or Arabists (scholars who profess ‘to know the Arabs’ (Said 1975: 91)), focusing on articles written by Professor Gil Carl Alroy and Dr Harold Glidden as flagrant examples of the contentious ‘othering’ of non-Western cultures.

The former author makes several sweeping statements about Arabs, claiming that they are obsessed with violence and bloodshed and ‘psychologically incapable of peace,’ citing as proof of his claims various articles which appeared in Egyptian newspapers, ‘as if the two, Arabs and Egyptian newspapers, are but one’ (Said 1975: 90).

The latter, on the other hand, published an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry which purported to be a distilled psychological analysis of the Arab worldview, namely an obsession with revenge, the inability to be objective and make rational decisions, and the predilection for constant conflict, which were presented as the antithesis of Western ideals of peace and harmony (Said 1975: 91).

These two examples are not only reflective of a reductive view of Arab society, but are also highly political, since such representations can be, and in fact have been, used to legitimize and even encourage aggressive policies by Western powers, masking their aggression as an attempt to control or police the behaviour of people living in eastern countries.

The political implications of the abovementioned articles are very clear, but in other representations, such as those in photography and film, they can be covert, and one could argue, even more pernicious.

Through a careful selection of images and composition, photographers and filmmakers create narratives which have a powerful effect on how audiences understand and imagine the people and cultures being depicted (Shohat & Stam 2014; Lutz and Collins 2020).

The proliferation of photography and videography coincided with the heights of the imperial expansion projects of countries such as Britain, France and the United States.

Movies were much more accessible than literature or scholarly articles, creating new opportunities to craft representations of other cultures aimed for the consumption of the general public, including the illiterate (Shohat & Stam 2014).

When films were first introduced, audiences accepted what they saw on the big screen as fact, unaware of how filmmakers were manipulating the images and narratives to create different stories and portrayals.

A case in point is Nanook of the North: A Story of Life and Love in the Actual Arctic , which was released by Robert Flaherty in 1922 and became a box-office hit.

The film was hailed as the first ‘documentary,’ but in truth it was fiction.

The characters in the film were actors, and the family that the camera supposedly followed unobtrusively for a year were simply acting a part.

Furthermore, by then the Inuit were using guns to hunt, but the movie showed them using old-fashioned harpoons.

Flaherty justified misrepresenting the lives that contemporary Inuit were living as an attempt to capture and ‘preserve’ on film the Inuit’s culture before it was tainted by modernity – however the audience who ended up watching the film accepted it as factual and a representation of the way the Inuit lived in 1922, and not a recreation of the ways of the past (Mackay 2017).

A similar phenomenon occurred when photographers and videographers travelled to far flung places in the empire.

The images and films they produced presented and ‘otherizing’ the alien cultures and landscapes as exotic and inferior to those of the West (Said 1973; Lockmann 2004; Vargas-Cetina 2013).

The natives were pictured as ‘primitive’ and infantilized, with videographers such as Martin and Ola Johnson, in the 1920s, portraying them as a form of wildlife, comparable to monkeys (Shohat & Stam 2014: 122).

This was by no means an accident, for the Western imagination was at the time enamoured of the Darwinian notion that Westerners were the apogee of the evolutionary process, while the natives discovered in the far-flung parts of the globe were inferior beings, much lower down on the evolutionary ladder.

This evolutionary perspective led to atrocities such as the caging of Ota Benga, an African Pygmy, at the Bronx Zoo, for the delectation of the American public; and the study of the anatomy of black people by zoologists, who compared them to mandrills and baboons (Shohat & Stam 2014: 122).

With time, videography ‘progressed’ from what was purported to be documentary or ‘fly-on-the-wall’ representations, to storytelling.

This gave film makers even more licence, and the result were movies in which Africans were presented as cannibals or the people of India portrayed as needing protection.

These storylines lent themselves well to the glorification of the colonisers as philanthropists committed to reforming or saving the savages. An excellent example is the 1937 film Wee Willie Winkie , where Colonel Williams explains to Shirley Temple that –

‘Beyond that pass, thousands of savages are waiting to sweep down and ravage India. It’s England’s duty, it’s my duty, to see that this doesn’t happen’ Colonel Williams (Shohat & Stam 2014: 126)

Lutz and Collins (2020) conducted an analysis of the photographs shown in National Geographic magazines between 1950 and 1986.

Their findings indicate that images were chosen to match an imaginary evolutionary scale based on skin colour, ranging from black / poor / strenuous physical labour / low technology / ethnic clothing / superstitious to white / wealthy / time for leisure / high technology machinery / western clothing / science.

Black people were thus portrayed engaged in strenuous physical labour, using simple tools and wearing ethnic clothing. They were also more likely to be shown conducting ‘exotic’ activities such as ritual dances.

People with bronze skin tones, on the other hand, were portrayed as less poor than those who were black and using tools that were slightly more advanced.

And finally, at the other end of the scale, white people were portrayed using state-of-the-art machinery, wearing western clothes and the trappings of wealth, and in several cases at leisure (Lutz and Collins 2020: 97-100).

The authors concluded that the selection of images sent a subliminal message to readers that ‘at one point people of color were poor, dirty, technologically backward and superstitious – and some still are. … [but] With guidance and support from the West, they can in fact overcome these problems, acquire the characteristics of civilized peoples, and take their place alongside them in the world’ (Lutz and Collins 2020: 99).

What better way of justifying Euro-American exploitation of African and Asian countries than by deploying a narrative that black and bronze people were ‘poor’ and ‘backward’ and that the Western forays into their countries would help them to modernize and improve their quality of life?

The politics of representation is thus a very important part of post-colonial studies because it examines how certain images, words and stories were used to represent non-western peoples, creating over-generalisations based on an ethnocentric cultural hierarchy of differences and values, acting as justification and camouflage for the exploitation and subjugation of the ‘Other’ in the name of progress.

Bibliography

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Gleach, F. (2013) ‘Notes on the Use and Abuse of Cultural Knowledge.’ In Vargas-Cetina, G, Nash, J., Igor Ayora-Diaz, S., Conklin, B.A. and Field, L.W. (eds), Anthropology and the Politics of Representation . The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, pp. 176–190.

Lockman, Z. (2004) ‘Said’s Orientalism:  A Book and Its Aftermath.’  Contending Visions of the Middle East. Cambridge University Press, pp. 182–214.

Lutz, C., and Collins, J. (2002) ‘The Color of Sex: Postwar Photographic Histories of Race and Gender.’ In Askew, K., Wilk, R. (eds), The Anthropology of Media . Blackwell Publishers, Oxford.

Said, E. (1975) ‘Shattered Myths.’ In Naseer, H. (ed.), Middle East Crucible . Medina University Press, pp. 410 – 427.

Shohat, E., Stam, R. (2014)  Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media  (2nd ed.). Routledge, London.

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Claudine Cassar began her professional journey in business, earning a BSc in Business and Computing from the University of Malta, followed by an MSc in International Marketing from the University of Strathclyde and an MPhil in Innovation from Maastricht Business School. At the age of 23, she founded her first company, which she successfully sold to Deloitte 17 years later.

At 45, Claudine made a bold career shift, returning to university to pursue a degree in Anthropology. Three years later, she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Anthropological Sciences. In 2022, she published her debut book, “ The Battle for Sicily’s Soul. “

Interdisciplinary Studies Field

Visual culture, field description.

The ISF Research Field on Visual Culture incorporates the breadth, depth and complexity of visuality in shaping aesthetics and culture, and also society and politics, in history and today. It presents a broad array of visual objects (from painting to cinema, but also the built environment) encompassing the field of art history and the humanities, and extending to disciplines throughout the social sciences, from geography to anthropology.  By “visual culture”, we study at once the visual display of information in all disciplines and especially visual modes of constituting regimes and orders–inquiries that include the cognitive sciences and psychology.  Visual materials produce and represent social change and historical evidence, are mobilized as legal and scientific proof, used to build and forge identities, and change modes of perception generally.  These are the kinds of interdisciplinary domains for the study of visual culture.

Recent ISF Senior Theses

• Comparing Love: How Romantic Relationships are Portrayed in Hollywood and Bollywood Movies, 1999-2009
• Comparing Holocaust and Memorial Sites in Germany, South Africa, Chile and the US
• Street Art in Tahrir Square
• Westernizing China Through Images: How the West Influences Chinese Culture Despite Government Controls
• The Contemporary Spanish Art Film and its Effects on Mexican Cinema
• In the Eye of the Beholder: The French Art Museum and its Publics
• Image and Projected Space of Mind: The Role of Image in the Creation of Meaning
• Shaping Young Women: The Connection Between Photography in Advertising and Rates of Bulimia
• Politicization of Aesthetics and the Fetish of the Visual: The Veiled Muslim Woman as Sociopolitical Critique in Street Art
• Bin ich ein Berliner ? Identity Construction Through the Use of Public Art and Space in Post-Reunification Berlin
• The Public Aesthetics of Social Change
• Appropriating Culture After War: The Street Art Movement in the Post-World War II United States
• Changing Society Through the Fake: How the Young Use their Imagination for Social Change

Relevant UC Berkeley Courses

• Practice of Art 119: Global Perspectives in Contemporary Art
• Rhetoric 114: Rhetoric of New Media–Visual Rhetoric
• Media Studies 101: Visual Communications
• Media Studies 170: Cultural History of Advertising
• Visual Studies 185X: Special Topics: Word and Image
• History of Art 180C: Nineteenth-Century Europe: The Invention of Avant-Gardes
• English 173: Language and Literature of Films
• Anthropology 152: Art and culture
• Rhetoric 133T: Theories of Film
• French 175A: Literature and Visual Arts
• Anthropology 138A: History and Theory of Ethnographic Film
• Sociology 160: Sociology of Culture

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Campus Resources

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Article contents

Media constructions of culture, race, and ethnicity.

• Travis L. Dixon , Travis L. Dixon Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Kristopher R. Weeks Kristopher R. Weeks Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• , and  Marisa A. Smith Marisa A. Smith Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.502
• Published online: 23 May 2019

Racial stereotypes flood today’s mass media. Researchers investigate these stereotypes’ prevalence, from news to entertainment. Black and Latino stereotypes draw particular concern, especially because they misrepresent these racial groups. From both psychological and sociological perspectives, these misrepresentations can influence how people view their racial group as well as other groups. Furthermore, a racial group’s lack of representation can also reduce the group’s visibility to the general public. Such is the case for Native Americans and Asian Americans.

Given mass media’s widespread distribution of black and Latino stereotypes, most research on mediated racial portrayals focuses on these two groups. For instance, while black actors and actresses appear often in prime-time televisions shows, black women appear more often in situational comedies than any other genre. Also, when compared to white actors and actresses, television casts blacks in villainous or despicable roles at a higher rate. In advertising, black women often display Eurocentric features, like straight hair. On the other hand, black men are cast as unemployed, athletic, or entertainers. In sports entertainment, journalists emphasize white athletes’ intelligence and black athletes’ athleticism. In music videos, black men appear threatening and sport dark skin tones. These music videos also sexualize black women and tend to emphasize those with light skin tones. News media overrepresent black criminality and exaggerate the notion that blacks belong to the undeserving poor class. Video games tend to portray black characters as either violent outlaws or athletic.

While mass media misrepresent the black population, it tends to both misrepresent and underrepresent the Latino population. When represented in entertainment media, Latinos assume hypersexualized roles and low-occupation jobs. Both news and entertainment media overrepresent Latino criminality. News outlets also overly associate Latino immigration with crime and relate Latino immigration to economic threat. Video games rarely portray Latino characters.

Creators may create stereotypic content or fail to fairly represent racial and ethnic groups for a few reasons. First, the ethnic blame discourse in the United States may influence creators’ conscious and unconscious decision-making processes. This discourse contends that the ethnic and racial minorities are responsible for their own problems. Second, since stereotypes appeal to and are easily processed by large general audiences, the misrepresentation of racial and ethnic groups facilitates revenue generation. This article largely discusses media representations of blacks and Latinos and explains the implications of such portrayals.

• content analysis
• African American portrayals
• Latino portrayals
• ethnic blame discourse
• structural limitations and economic interests
• social identity theory
• Clark’s Stage Model of Representations

Theoretical Importance of Media Stereotypes

Media constructions of culture, race, and ethnicity remain important to study because of their potential impact on both sociological and psychological phenomena. Specifically, researchers have utilized two major theoretical constructs to understand the potential impact of stereotyping: (a) priming and cognitive accessibility (Dixon, 2006 ; Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007 ; Shrum, 2009 ), and (b) social identity and social categorization theory (Mastro, 2004 ; Mastro, Behm-Morawitz, & Kopacz, 2008 ; Tajfel & Turner, 2004 ).

Priming and Cognitive Accessibility

Priming and cognitive accessibility suggests that media consumption encourages the creation of mental shortcuts used to make relevant judgments about various social issues. For example, if a news viewer encounters someone cognitively related to a given stereotype, he or she might make a judgment about that person based on repeated exposure to the mediated stereotype. As an illustration, repeated exposure to the Muslim terrorist stereotype may lead news viewers to conclude that all Muslims are terrorists. This individual may also support punitive policies related to this stereotype, such as a Muslim ban on entry to the United States. Therefore, this cognitive linkage influences race and crime judgments (e.g., increased support for criminalizing Muslims and deporting them).

Social Identity Theory and Media Judgments

Other scholars have noted that our own identities are often tied to how people perceive their groups’ relationships to other groups. Social categorization theory argues that the higher the salience of the category to the individual, the greater the in-group favoritism one will demonstrate. Media scholars demonstrated that exposure to a mediated out-group member can increase in-group favoritism (Mastro, 2004 ). For example, researchers found that negative stories about Latino immigrants can contribute to negative out-group emotions that lead to support for harsher immigration laws (Atwell Seate & Mastro, 2016 , 2017 ).

Both the priming/cognitive accessibility approach and the social identity approach demonstrate that cultural stereotypes have significant implications for our psychology, social interactions, and policymaking. It remains extremely important for us to understand the nature and frequency of mediated racial and ethnic stereotypes to further our understanding of how these stereotypes impact viewers. This article seeks to facilitate our understanding.

Stage Model of Representation

In order to provide the reader with an introduction to this topic, this article relies on the published content-analytic literature regarding race and media. Clark’s Stage Model of Representation articulates a key organizing principle for understanding how media may construct various depictions of social groups (Clark, 1973 ; Harris, 2013 ). This model purports that race/ethnic groups move through four stages of representation in the media. In the first stage, invisibility or non-recognition , a particular race or ethnic group rarely appears on the screen at all. In the second stage, ridicule , a racial group will appear more frequently, yet will be depicted in consistently stereotypical ways. In the third stage, regulation , an ethnic group might find themselves depicted primarily in roles upholding the social order, such as judges or police officers. Finally, a particular social group reaches the respect stage in which members of the group occupy diverse and nuanced roles. Given Clark’s model, this article contends that Native Americans and Asian Americans tend to fall into the non-recognition stage (Harris, 2013 ). It follows that few empirical studies have investigated these groups because empirical content analyses have difficulty scientifically assessing phenomena that lack presence (Krippendorff, 2004 ).

Bearing in mind Clark’s stages, Latinos appear to vacillate between non-recognition and ridicule. Meanwhile, blacks move between the ridicule and regulation stages, while whites remain permanently fixed in the respect stage. In other words, in this article, our lack of deep consideration of Native Americans and Asian Americans is rooted in a lack of representation which generates few empirical studies and thus leaves us little to review. The article offers a quick overview of their portrayal and then moves on to describe the social groups that receive more media and empirical attention.

Native American and Asian American Depictions

Although severely underrepresented, there are a few consistent stereotypical portrayals that regularly emerge for these groups. In some ways, both Native American and Asian Americans are often relegated to “historical” and/or fetishized portrayals (Lipsitz, 1998 ). Native American “savage” imagery was commonly depicted in Westerns and has been updated with images of alcoholism, along with depictions of shady Native American casino owners (Strong, 2004 ). Many news images of Native Americans tend to focus on Native festivals, relegating this group to a presentation as “mysterious” spiritual people (Heider, 2000 ). Meanwhile, various school and professional team mascots embody the savage Native American Warrior trope (Strong, 2004 ).

Asian Americans overall have often been associated with being the model minority (Harris, 2009 ; Josey, Hurley, Hefner, & Dixon, 2009 ). They typically represent “successful” non-whites. Specifically, media depictions associate Asian American men with technology and Asian American women with sexual submissiveness (Harris & Barlett, 2009 ; Schug, Alt, Lu, Gosin, & Fay, 2017 ).

Overall, scholars know very little about how either of these groups are regularly portrayed based on empirical research, although novelists and critical scholars have offered useful critiques (Wilson, Gutiérrez, & Chao, 2003 ). Hopefully, future quantitative content analyses will further delineate the nature of Native American and Asian American portrayals. Consider the discussion about entertainment, news, and digital imagery of blacks, Latinos, and whites presented in the next section.

Entertainment Constructions of Race, Culture, and Ethnicity

Entertainment media receives a great deal of consideration, given that Americans spend much of their time using media for entertainment purposes (Harris, 2013 ; Sparks, 2016 ). This section begins with an analysis of black portrayals, then moves on to Latino portrayals to understand the prevalence of stereotyping . When appropriate, black and Latino representations are compared to white ones. Two measures describe a group’s representation: (a) the numerical presence of a particular racial/ethnic group, and (b) the distribution of roles or stereotypes regarding each group. When researchers have often engaged in examinations of race they typically begin by comparing African American portrayals to white portrayals (Entman & Rojecki, 2000 ). As a result, there is a substantial amount of research on black portrayals.

Black Entertainment Television Imagery

Overall, a number of studies have found that blacks receive representation in prime-time television at parity to their actual proportion in the US population with their proportion ranging from 10% to 17% of prime-time characters (Mastro & Greenberg, 2000 ; Signorielli, 2009 ; Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015 ). African Americans currently compose approximately 13% of the US population (US Census Bureau, 2018 ). When considering the type of characters (e.g., major or minor) portrayed by this group, the majority of black (61%) cast members land roles as major characters (Monk-Turner, Heiserman, Johnson, Cotton, & Jackson, 2010 ). Black women also fare well in these representations, accounting for 73% of black appearances on prime-time television (Monk-Turner et al., 2010 ).

However, recent content analyses reveal an instability in black prime-time television representation over the last few decades. Tukachinsky et al. ( 2015 ) found that the prevalence of black characters dropped in 1993 and remain diminished compared to previous decades. Similarly, Signorielli ( 2009 ) found a significant linear decrease in the proportion of black representation from 2001 (17%) to 2008 (12%). Signorielli ( 2009 ) attributes this decrease in black representation to the decrease in situation comedy programming. Indeed, African Americans appear most frequently in situation comedies. Sixty percent of black women featured in prime-time television are cast in situation comedies, and 25% of black male prime-time portrayals occur in situation comedies (Signorielli, 2009 ). However, between 2001 and 2008 , situational comedies decreased, while action and crime programs increased.

The previously discussed analyses describe the frequency of black representation. However, frequent depictions do not equate to favorable representation. Considering role quality (i.e., respectability) and references made to stereotypes, entertainment media offers a mixed bag. On the one hand, some recent analyses found that the majority of blacks are depicted as likable, and as “good characters,” as opposed to “bad character”-like villains (Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015 ). In addition, the majority of black characters are depicted as intelligent (Tukachinsky et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, the rate of blacks shown as immoral and despicable (9%) is higher than that of whites (2% and 3%, respectively) (Monk-Turner et al., 2010 ). In addition, black depictions exhibiting high social status and professionalism trended downward. Between 2003 and 2005 , higher status depictions reached their peak at 74.3% but sharply fell in subsequent years to 31.5%, with black women faring worse than black men (Tukachinsky et al., 2015 ). Classic studies of entertainment representations found that blacks tend to be the most negatively represented of any race or ethnic group, often being depicted as lazy and disheveled (Mastro & Greenberg, 2000 ). Overall, black characters tend to be portrayed in less respectful ways compared to whites in content intended for general audiences, although they sometime fare better when the targeted audience is African American (Messineo, 2008 ). For example, crime drama television frequently depicts white women as at risk for murder, but FBI statistics demonstrate that murder victims are more often likely to be black males (Parrott & Parrott, 2015 ).

Black Representations in Magazines and Advertising

African Americans remain well represented in magazines, though they are not as prominent in this medium as in television (Schug et al., 2017 ). Moreover, the trend in the representation of African Americans, particularly women, appears to be improving (Covert & Dixon, 2008 ). Images of black women represent 6% of advertisements in women’s magazines and 4% of advertisements in men’s magazines (Baker, 2005 ). However, both black-oriented and white-oriented magazines appear to advance portrayals of black women with Eurocentric rather than Afrocentric features, referencing whiteness as a beauty standard. Overall, compared to black-oriented magazines, white-oriented magazines feature more black women with fair skin and thin figures. Black-oriented magazines feature more black women with straight hair. Moreover, straight hair textures outnumber other natural styles (i.e., wavy, curly, or braided) in both white- and black-oriented magazines.

Conversely, black men typically assume unemployed, athletic, or entertainment roles in these ads (Bailey, 2006 ). Moreover, mainstream magazines are most likely to depict black men as unemployed. Meanwhile, black-oriented magazines tend to portray African Americans in more managerial roles.

Black Representations in Sports Entertainment

Besides prime-time television, black stereotypes in sports coverage and music receive substantial attention in the literature. The unintelligent or “dumb” yet naturally talented black athlete remains a programming staple (Angelini, Billings, MacArthur, Bissell, & Smith, 2014 ; Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005 ). For example, Angelini et al. ( 2014 ) found that black athletes receive less success-based comments related to intelligence than white athletes (Angelini et al., 2014 ). The findings echo previous research arguing that black athletes receive fewer positive comments regarding their intelligence than do white athletes (Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005 ). Fairly similar depictions exist in broadcast commentary (Primm, DuBois, & Regoli, 2007 ). For example, Mercurio and Filak ( 2010 ) content-analyzed descriptions of NFL quarterback prospects featured on the Sports Illustrated website from 1998 to 2007 . The descriptions portray black athletes as possessing physical abilities while lacking intelligence . Conversely, Sports Illustrated described white prospects as intelligent but lacking in athleticism.

Black Representations in Music Videos

Music videos tend to sexualize black women, reinforcing the black jezebe l stereotype (i.e., a sassy African American woman who is sexually promiscuous) (Givens & Monahan, 2005 ). Also, black men appear aggressive and violent in music videos (e.g., like a criminal, thug, or brute ) (Ford, 1997 ). According to rap research, blacks appear in provocative clothes at a higher rate than whites, and black women are the most provocatively dressed in music videos (Turner, 2011 ). Even black female artists are twice as likely to wear provocative clothing than are white female artists (Frisby & Aubrey, 2012 ). Furthermore, Zhang, Dixon, and Conrad ( 2010 ) and Conrad, Zhang, and Dixon ( 2009 ) found that black women appeared in rap videos as sexualized, thin, and light-skinned while black men appeared dark-skinned and threatening .

Latino Entertainment Television Representation

Unlike African Americans, Latinos remain significantly underrepresented in English-language television outlets. For instance, Tukachinsky et al. ( 2015 ) found that of all characters, the number of Latino characters was less than 1% in the 1980s and increased to over 3% in the 2000s. However, these numbers fall significantly below the proportion of people who are Latino within the United States (about 18%) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 ). Similarly, Signorelli ( 2009 ) also found that the percentage of Latinos in the United States Latino population and the percentage of Latino characters in prime-time programming differed by approximately 10%.

Latinos continue to be underrepresented in a variety of genres and outlets. For instance, Latinos remain consistently underrepresented in gay male blogs. For example, Grimm and Schwarz ( 2017 ) found that white gay models (80.2%) were most prevalent, followed by black gay models (4.5%). However, Latino models were the least prevalent (1.5%). In addition, Hetsroni ( 2009 ) found that the Latino population makes up 14% of patients in real hospitals, yet they only comprise 4% of the patients in hospital dramas. Conversely, whites make up 72% of real patients but comprise 80% of hospital drama patients.

Latino Underrepresentation in Advertising

Latino underrepresentation extends to the advertising realm. For example, Seelig ( 2007 ) determined that there was a significant difference between the Latino proportion of the US population and the Latino proportion of models found in mainstream magazines (1%). Another study that investigated Superbowl commercials conducted by Brooks, Bichard, and Craig ( 2016 ) found that only 1.22% of the characters were Latino.

Prominent Stereotypes of Latinos in Entertainment Media

Although underrepresented, Latinos are also stereotypically represented in entertainment media. For example, Tukachinsky et al. ( 2015 ) discovered that over 24% of Latino characters were hypersexualized in prime-time television. Furthermore, Latinos tended to occupy low-professional-status roles. This trend also occurred more often with Latina females than Latino males.

Spanish-language television also reinforced stereotypes. For instance, Mastro and Ortiz ( 2008 ) studied the portrayals of characters in prime-time Spanish-language television broadcasts by Azteca America, Telefutura, Telemundo, and Univision. They found rich Latina women reinforced the harlot stereotype . They were sexualized , were provocatively dressed, and had slim body types (Mastro & Behm-Morawitz, 2005 ). Similar to the findings for African Americans and rap music, colorism was also part of these depictions, with idealized Latinos having more European features. Men with a dark complexion were depicted as aggressive (e.g., the criminal stereotype) , while men with a fair complexion were portrayed as intelligent and articulate.

Entertainment Imagery Summary

Blacks appear to be well represented in entertainment imagery, often in favorable major roles as professionals. However, their positive portrayals appear to be on the decline as situation comedies become displaced by other genres where blacks are less prominent. Although well represented, black depictions continue to embody many stereotypes. African American males are portrayed as unintelligent or “dumb” athletes whose only assets are their inbred athletic abilities. Black men tend to appear as aggressive criminals or brutes in music videos while black women appear as sexualized jezebels with European features.

Latinos, on the other hand, face substantial obstacles related to their lack of representation. They tend to be grossly underrepresented across a number of entertainment outlets including television, magazines, and advertising. When they are seen, they tend to occupy two primary stereotypes, the harlot stereotype and the criminal stereotype. This appears to be a constant across both Spanish-language and English-language outlets.

News Constructions of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity

News remains an important area to consider when it comes to media stereotypes for two reasons. First, news can be considered a powerful purveyor of social truth (Romer, Jamieson, & Aday, 2003 ; Tewksbury & Rittenberg, 2012 ). While entertainment can be considered by lay audiences to have a weak relationship with social reality given its fictional nature, news is rooted in actual events, and therefore seems more real. Stereotypes found in news content may seem believable, increasing these stereotype’s influence on audiences’ perceptions of reality. Second, citizens rely on news to form opinions about policies and politicians (Iyengar, 1987 ; Price & Tewksbury, 1997 ). News reports contain the reservoir of information that citizens utilize to make decisions within our representative democracy (Iyengar, 1991 ). If the news falsely points to racial groups as the cause of social problems, these citizens may advocate for ineffective and misguided policies. The next section explores how the news purveys racial and ethnic stereotypes.

Blacks in the News

A number of early studies suggested that the news often stereotyped blacks as violent criminals , consistently overrepresenting them in these roles by large margins (Dixon, Azocar, & Casas, 2003 ; Dixon & Linz, 2000a , 2000b ; Entman, 1992 , 1994 ). At the same time, many of these studies showed blacks underrepresented in more sympathetic roles, such as victims of crime (Dixon & Linz, 2000a , 2000b ).

However, recent research suggests that the criminal stereotype has not remained consistently part of the news landscape. For example, Dixon ( 2017b ) found that current depictions of blacks in local news reflect actual percentages of blacks in these various roles, including as criminals. Similarly, Dixon and Williams ( 2015 ) found African Americans underrepresented as both criminals and victims. On the other hand, another recent content analysis that investigated black family depictions in the news, conducted by Dixon ( 2017a ), found that black family members were overrepresented as criminal suspects compared to crime reports.

Furthermore, Mastro, Blecha, and Atwell Seate ( 2011 ) content-analyzed articles pertaining to athletes’ criminal activity published in newspapers and found that mentions of black athletes’ criminal activity outnumber white and Latino athletes. Furthermore, mentions of criminal activity among black athletes outnumber their real-world proportion in professional sports (Mastro et al., 2011 ). In addition, crime articles discussing black athletes provide more explicit details of the crime and mention more negative consequences (e.g., jail or fines) than articles regarding white athletes. News narratives also present less sympathetic coverage for black athletes, more support for the victim, a less respectful tone, and fewer thematic frames (i.e., situating the crime in a larger context) for black athletes compared to white athletes.

Besides criminality , news tends to also depict blacks as part of the underserving poor . For example, van Doorn ( 2015 ) content-analyzed images depicting poverty in news magazines (i.e., Time, Newsweek , and USNWR ). News magazines picture blacks as the majority of persons in poverty (52%), while blacks only account for around 25% of Americans in poverty (van Doorn, 2015 ). Blacks experience similar misrepresentations as welfare recipients . Based on magazine depictions, black people comprise 55% of all welfare recipients. However, in reality, blacks only account for 38% of welfare recipients. Furthermore, the black elderly are depicted as only accounting for 1% of poor elderly persons pictured, while the true percentage is 6%. In addition, during times of economic stability, African American association with poverty increases, but during times of economic upheaval (e.g., the Great Recession) white association with poverty goes up.

Latinos in the News

If there is an overarching issue to consider regarding Latino depictions in news, it would again be their perpetual underrepresentation. Overall, Latinos remain severely underrepresented on television news, especially in sympathetic roles. For example, early studies by Dixon and Linz ( 2000a , 2000b ) found Latinos were underrepresented as perpetrators, victims, and police officers in the news. In one of these studies, Latinos were 54% of the homicide victims in Los Angeles County but were depicted as homicide victims only about 19% of the time on television news. A recent update to this study found that Latinos were accurately represented as perpetrators, but continued to be underrepresented as victims and police officers (Dixon, 2017b ). This invisibility extends to newspapers and magazines (Sorenson, Manz, & Berk, 1998 ). For example, Latinos are underrepresented in Time and Newsweek as part of the obese population, 5% in these magazines versus 18% according to medical statistics (Gollust, Eboh, & Barry, 2012 ).

When we considered the pervasive stereotype that is present with Latinos, it revolved around the issue of immigration and Latino immigrants as criminal or cultural threats . For instance, a meta-analysis (i.e., a type of method that unearths patterns of academic research) by Rendon and Johnson ( 2015 ) on studies that analyzed media coverage of Mexican affairs in the United States revealed a Threat Phase, from 2010 to 2014 . During this phase, reporters investigated the notion that immigrant Mexicans imperil the United States. Furthermore, Chavez, Whiteford, and Hoewe ( 2010 ) found that more than half of analyzed stories concerning Mexican immigration from the New York Times , Washington Post , Wall Street Journal , and USA Today focused on illegal immigration. Furthermore, within these immigration stories, crime was addressed most often (50.6%), followed by economics (e.g., job competition) (30.6%), and legislative deliberations (28.1%). Similarly, Branton and Dunaway ( 2008 ) found that English-language newspapers were almost twice as likely as Spanish-language news to depict immigration in a negative light.

Kim, Carvahlo, Davis, and Mullins ( 2011 ) found that illegal immigration stories produced by the media focus on the negative consequences of crime and job competition. A more recent study conducted by Dixon and Williams ( 2015 ) appears to confirm the media link between immigration, Latinos, and criminal behavior. They found that criminal suspects identified as immigrants in news stories were greatly overrepresented as Latino. In addition, almost all of the illegal or undocumented immigrants appearing in the news were depicted as Latino, which is a great overrepresentation based on official government reports. Dunaway, Goidel, Krizinger, and Wilkinson ( 2011 ) confirm that news coverage encourages an immigration threat narrative, meaning that the majority of immigration stories exhibit a negative tone.

Whites as the “Good Guys”

While black representations as criminal suspects does appear to vary in intensity and Latinos tend to be depicted as either invisible or threatening immigrants, white portrayals remain consistently positive in this domain. Classic studies of both news and reality-based programming show whites overrepresented as officers and victims (Dixon et al., 2003 ; Dixon & Linz, 2000a , 2000b ; Oliver, 1994 ). This includes network and local news programs. More recent studies show that this continues to occur regularly and remains a news programming staple (Dixon, 2017b ). When contrasted with black and Latino representations, this reinforces the notion that whites resolve social problems and people of color create social problems.

Summary of News Constructions of Culture, Race, and Media

Based on this literature review, three significant findings that summarize news’ construction of race and ethnicity emerge. First, African Americans tend to be overly associated with criminality and poverty . However, the intensity of these portrayals depends on context (e.g., a focus on families, athletes, or general economic conditions). Second, Latinos tend to be largely underrepresented, but when they are seen, they tend to be overly associated with problematic illegal immigration , especially immigrants who may pose a threat or be prone to criminality. Third, news depicts whites most favorably, overrepresenting them as victims (e.g., innocent portrayals) and officers (e.g., heroic portrayals).

Digital Media Constructions of Culture, Race, and Media

The vast majority of research detailing the portrayal of people of color in the media relied on the analysis of traditional media sources including television and magazines. However, increasingly, people turn to digital media for both entertainment and news. This section provides an overview of this growing industry that will eventually dominate our media landscape. The discussion first entails video games and Internet news websites. Speculation about the role social media will play with regard to these depictions follows.

Black Depictions in Video Games

An abundance of research focuses on racial representation within video games (Burgess, Dill, Stermer, Burgess, & Brown, 2011 ; Williams, Martins, Consalvo, & Ivory, 2009 ). Similar to traditional entertainment media, African Americans comprise approximately 11% of popular video game characters for major game systems (e.g., Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube) (Williams et al., 2009 ). Conversely, blacks are underrepresented in massive multiplayer online games (MMO) in which players customize their own avatars’ features, including gender and skin tone (Waddell, Ivory, Conde, Long, & McDonnell, 2014 ). In this environment only 3.84% of all unique characters within MMOs are black.

When considering gender differences in portrayals, more problematic depictions exist. For instance, black women are underrepresented in gaming magazines and almost completely absent from video game covers (Burgess et al., 2011 ). Meanwhile, black men are typically portrayed as either athletic and/or violent . Black aggression does not occur in socially sanctioned settings (e.g., war). Instead, many black males appear as outlaws (e.g., street fighters).

Black Depictions in Digital News Sources

There is limited research on news depictions and race within digital media contexts, but this will most likely become the focus of future scholarship over the next few years. This focus will be fueled by the rise of political figures, such as Donald Trump, who utilize media stereotypes to advance their political agendas (Dixon, 2017a ). Much of what we do know stems from research on websites and digital news sources. One earlier study of this phenomena found that African Americans were underrepresented as part of images and headlines used in these web news stories (Josey et al., 2009 ). They were also more strongly associated with poverty than what the actual poverty rates suggest. A more recent analysis of a wide variety of online news sources similarly found that black families were overrepresented as poor and welfare dependent (Dixon, 2017a ). In addition, black fathers were misrepresented as excessively absent from the lives of their children. Finally, African American family members were overrepresented as criminal suspects. These findings complement the traditional news conclusions reached by previous scholars.

Latino Depictions in Video Games

Waddell, Ivory, Conde, Long, and McDonnell ( 2014 ) found that the trend of Latino underrepresentation in media extends to the video game industry. Latino avatars were not observed in the highest grossing MMO games in 2010 (0%). Williams, Martins, Consalvo, and Ivory ( 2009 ) also assessed the racial characteristics of video game characters across 150 games and found that white characters were observed more often (59.32%) than Latino (1.63%) characters. Furthermore, Latino characters were never observed assuming primary roles.

Latino Depictions in Digital News Sources

In terms of digital news sources, the research presents extremely similar findings between Latinos and African Americans. Latinos continue to be largely underrepresented across a variety of roles in web news (Josey et al., 2009 ). They are underrepresented in both headlines and images. They are also likely to be overassociated with poverty (Dixon, 2017a ; Josey et al., 2009 ).

Summary of Digital Constructions of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity

In summary, underrepresentation remains the norm for both African Americans and Latinos in digital media. At the same time, digital news overly associates these groups with poverty . Clearly, as traditional media and its audience migrate to new digital platforms, this area will continue to be researchers’ focus well into the future. One digital platform not mentioned is social media. Many users receive, consume, and share entertainment and news content via social media. This includes music and music fandom content (Epps & Dixon, 2017 ). Social media’s specific and unique characteristics may contribute to media stereotype cultivation and prevent positive intergroup contact (Dixon, 2017c ). Much work needs to be undertaken in the future to explore these possibilities.

Conclusions

This article began with a discussion of the possible impact of mediated stereotypes to contextualize our discussion. Social categorization theory, social identity theory, and priming/cognitive accessibility suggest that the prominent black stereotypes of black laziness , criminality , innate athleticism , jezebel, and poverty would be embraced by heavy media consumers. Similarly, even though Latinos remain underrepresented, the reinforcement of Latino stereotypes like poverty , harlot , criminal , and illegal immigrant would result from regular media consumption. While underrepresented, Latinos receive enough mainstream media attention for scholars to conduct quantitative social research. Asian and Native Americans’ underrepresentation in mainstream media, however, indicates these groups’ general absence.

When educators teach these topics in class, they are often asked: Why? Why does media perpetuate these stereotypes? Consider these two prominent answers. First, media creators suffer from mostly unconscious, and sometimes conscious bias, that scholars believe facilitates an ethnic blame discourse (Dixon & Linz, 2000a ; Romer, Jamieson, & de Coteau, 1998 ; Van Dijk, 1993 ).

This discourse tends to occur within groups (e.g., whites conversing with one another) and leads them to blame social problems on ethnic others (e.g., Latinos and blacks). Given that media producers remain overwhelmingly white, this explanation appears plausible. As white people engage in these discussions, their way of thinking manifests in their content. The second explanation revolves around the structural limitations and economic interests of news agencies (Dixon & Linz, 2000a ). This explanation suggests that media agencies air material most appealing to audiences in the simplest form possible to increase ratings. This process heavily relies on stereotypes because stereotypes make processing and attending to media messages easier for audience members. In turn, profits increase. This points to problems related to the relationship between media content creation and the media industry’s profit motives. Skeptics may question these explanations’ plausibility, but overall, mediated stereotypes remain a persistent part of the media environment. Digital media exacerbate the negative effects of mediated stereotype consumption.

Further Reading

• Dixon, T. L. (2011). Teaching you to love fear: Television news and racial stereotypes in a punishing democracy. In S. J. Hartnett (Ed.), Challenging the prison industrial complex: Activism, arts & educational alternatives (pp. 106–123). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
• Dixon, T. L. (2016). Rap music and rap audiences revisited: How race matters in the perception of rap music . In P. Hall (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Censorship (pp. 1–10). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ivory, J. D. , & Kalyanaraman, S. (2007). The effects of technological advancement and violent content in video games on players’ feelings of presence, involvement, physiological arousal, and aggression . Journal of Communication , 57 (3), 532–555.
• Mastro, D. (2009). Effects of racial and ethnic stereotyping in the media. In J. Bryant & M. B. Oliver (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 325–341). New York: Routledge.
• Oliver, M. B. , Jackson, R. L. , Moses, N. N. , & Dangerfield, C. L. (2004). The face of crime: Viewers’ memory of race-related facial features of individuals pictured in the news . Journal of Communication , 54 , 88–104.
• Rose, I. D. , Friedman, D. B. , Marquez, D. X. , & Fernandez, K. (2013). What are older Latinos told about physical activity and cognition? A content analysis of a top-circulating magazine . Journal of Aging and Health , 25 , 1143–1158.
• Angelini, J. R. , Billings, A. C. , MacArthur, P. J. , Bissell, K. , & Smith, L. R. (2014). Competing separately, medaling equally: Racial depictions of athletes in NBC’s primetime broadcast of the 2012 London Olympic Games . Howard Journal of Communications, 25 (2), 115–133.
• Atwell Seate, A. , & Mastro, D. (2016). Media’s influence on immigration attitudes: An intergroup threat theory approach . Communication Monographs, 83 (2), 194–213.
• Atwell Seate, A. , & Mastro, D. (2017). Exposure to immigration in the news: The impact of group-level emotions on intergroup behavior . Communication Research , 44 (6), 817–840.
• Bailey, A. A. (2006). A year in the life of the African-American male in advertising: A content analysis . Journal of Advertising, 35 , 83–104.
• Baker, C. N. (2005). Images of women’s sexuality in advertisements: A content analysis of black-and white-oriented women’s and men’s magazines . Sex Roles , 52 (1), 13–27.
• Branton, R. , & Dunaway, J. (2008). English- and Spanish-language media coverage of immigration: A comparative analysis . Social Science Quarterly , 89 , 1006–1022.
• Brooks, M. E. , Bichard, S. , & Craig, C. (2016). What’s the score?: A content analysis of mature adults in Super Bowl commercials . Howard Journal of Communications , 27 , 347–366.
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• Chavez, M. , Whiteford, S. , & Hoewe, J. (2010). Reporting on immigration: A content analysis of major U.S. newspapers’ coverage of Mexican immigration . Norteamérica: Revista Académica Del CISAN-UNAM, 5 (2), 111–125.
• Clark, C. (1973). The concept of legitimacy in black psychology. In E. G. Epps (Ed.), Race relations: Current perspectives (pp. 332–354). Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.
• Conrad, K. , Dixon, T. L. , & Zhang, Y. (2009). Controversial rap themes, gender portrayals and skin tone distortion: A content analysis of rap music videos . Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media , 53 , 134–156.
• Covert, J. , & Dixon, T. L. (2008). A changing view: Representation and effects of women of color in mainstream women’s magazines . Communication Research , 35 , 232–256.
• Dixon, T. L. (2006). Psychological reactions to crime news portrayals of black criminals: Understanding the moderating roles of prior news viewing and stereotype endorsement . Communication Monographs, 73 , 162–187.
• Dixon, T. L. (2017a). A dangerous distortion of our families: Representations of families, by race, in news and opinion media .
• Dixon, T. L. (2017b). Good guys are still always in white?: Positive change and continued misrepresentation of race and crime on local television news . Communication Research, 44 , 775–792.
• Dixon, T. L. (2017c). How the internet and social media accelerate racial stereotyping and social division: The socially mediated stereotyping model. In R. A. Lind (Ed.), Race and gender in electronic media: Challenges and opportunities (pp. 161–178). New York: Routledge.
• Dixon, T. L. , Azocar, C. , & Casas, M. (2003). The portrayal of race and crime on television network news . Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47 , 495–520.
• Dixon, T. L. , & Linz, D. G. (2000a). Overrepresentation and underrepresentation of African Americans and Latinos as lawbreakers on television news . Journal of Communication, 50 (2), 131–154.
• Dixon, T. L. , & Linz, D. G. (2000b). Race and the misrepresentation of victimization on local television news . Communication Research , 27, 547–573.
• Dixon, T. L. , & Williams, C. L. (2015). The changing misrepresentation of race and crime on network and cable news . Journal of Communication, 65 , 24–39.
• Dunaway, J. , Goidel, R. K. , Krizinger, A. , & Wilkinson, B. C. (2011). Rebuilding or intruding? Media coverage and public opinion on Latino immigration in post-Katrina Louisiana . Social Science Quarterly , 92 , 917–937.
• Entman, R. (1992). Blacks in the news: Television, modern racism, and cultural change . Journalism Quarterly , 69 , 341–361.
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• Epps, A. C. , & Dixon, T. L. (2017). A comparative content analysis of anti- and prosocial rap lyrical themes found on traditional and new media outlets . Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61 , 467–498.
• Ford, T. E. (1997). Effects of stereotypical television portrayals of African-Americans on person perception. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60 , 266–275.
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A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. - James Allen, As a Man Thinketh - ***

If you chose three items that share similar features (e.g., “products in liquid form”, or “products sold in plastic bottles/containers”), chances are that your thinking style is analytical: you’ve focused on precise characteristics, and then assigned the items to a category. On the other hand, if you grouped them together according to a certain context and to the relationship among them (e.g., items needed to take a shower), you’re likely to be a holistic thinker.  

The concepts of analytical and holistic thinking (previously mentioned in a post about the influence of culture on purchasing behavior ), are believed to be rooted in the teachings and values of two ancient societies: the Ancient Greek civilization, that set the foundations for Western civilizations, and the Chinese civilization, that shaped and influenced the civilizations of East and Southeast Asia (Nisbett et al.).  

The ancient Greeks believed in the power of the individual and in personal freedom (“ The idea of the Athenian state was a union of individuals free to develop their own powers and live in their own way, obedient only to the laws they passed themselves and could criticize and change at will” - Hamilton), and mastered the art of debate; the ancient Chinese, on the other hand, were guided by the Confucian principles of hierarchy/authority and mutuality and prioritized in-group harmony over free thought (“ as when the occupants of a social group…perform their functions and do not transgress the boundaries of duty or expectations that accompany those functions ” - Munro).  

Nisbett et al. argue that from an Eastern perspective the whole and its components are inseparable, while in Western cultures the focus is on logic and systems of classification: “ The cognitive differences between ancient Chinese and Greeks can be loosely grouped under the heading of holistic versus analytic thought. We define holistic thought as involving an orientation to the context or field as a whole, including attention to relationships between a focal object and the field, and a preference for explaining and predicting events on the basis of such relationships. Holistic approaches rely on experience-based knowledge rather than on abstract logic and are dialectical, meaning that there is an emphasis on change, a recognition of contradiction and of the need for multiple perspectives, and a search for the ‘middle way’ between opposing propositions. We define analytic thought as involving detachment of the object from its context, a tendency to focus on attributes of the object to assign it to categories, and a preference for using rules about the categories to explain and predict the object's behavior. Inferences rest in part on the practice of decontextualizing structure from content, the use of formal logic, and avoidance of contradiction. Holistic thought is associative, and its computations reflect similarity and contiguity. Analytic thought recruits symbolic representational systems, and its computations reflect rule structure .”  

East Asians are therefore holistic thinkers who pay attention to the entire field/scene and to the relationships between its elements, while Westerners are traditionally analytic thinkers who focus primarily on the objects and their classification: these two cognitive styles have been defined by psychologists Witkin and Goodenough as “field-dependence” (holistic thinking) and “field-independence” (analytical thinking). To put these definitions in context, let’s look at the findings of a study comparing the responses of North American and Japanese participants required to watch animated videos of underwater scenes and describe what they had seen : while the North American participants described the large fish in the center of the aquarium, the Japanese participants described the fish in relation to the background elements (water plants, the small fish, etc.).  

Furthermore, a study on Cultural Differences in Visual Contents in Picture Books found that “ picture books from the U.S. would be less visually crowded than Japanese picture books ”, that “ the U.S. street scenes are visually simpler (e.g., less crowded, a smaller number of objects) than Japanese street scenes (e.g., more crowded, a greater number of objects) ”, and concluded that “ having less crowded visual environment which is commonly seen in the U.S. might encourage analytic attention because it might be easier to focus on focal objects in scenes whereas having more crowded visual environment which is commonly seen in Japan might encourage holistic attention , which might benefit the processing of the environment where objects are scattered around ”.  

From a cross cultural perspective, it must be noted that both East- and South-Asian cultures are high-context (people must pay attention to the context to understand meaning), collectivist (an indirect communication style is necessary to maintain group harmony), and polychronic (they have a cyclical perception of time. According to Choi et al, “ Because East Asians believe that elements are interconnected with one another, they tend to view a phenomenon as nonstatic and expect that a state of constant change exists because of the complex pattern of interactions among the elements. In contrast, Westerners perceive most objects as independent; thus, the essence of an object does not dramatically change over time, nor is it affected by other factors ”).  

Some of the challenges concerned with the impact of cultural differences on the visual environment have been highlighted in the article “Cross Cultural Challenges in Web Design” available at this link : among other things, research on Australian, Chinese, and Saudi Arabian design preferences confirmed that “ Chinese and Saudi Arabian websites use more images, cartoons, and animated objects than Australian websites. Chinese and Saudi Arabian cultures are considered high-context cultures, in which additional information beyond a written format is preferred. The heavy use of images, cartoons, and animated objects in a high-context culture aids their understanding of a web page [note: holistic thinking]. However, the aesthetics of high-context culture websites may appear overwhelming for members of low-context cultures ”.  

Further recommended readings:  

Cultural variations in global and local attention and eye-movement patterns during the perception of complex visual scenes: Comparison of Czech and Taiwanese university students .

Čeněk J, Tsai J-L, Šašinka Č (2020) Cultural variations in global and local attention and eye-movement patterns during the perception of complex visual scenes: Comparison of Czech and Taiwanese university students. PLoS ONE 15(11): e0242501. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242501

Perceiving an Object and Its Context in Different Cultures: A Cultural Look at New Look .

Kitayama, S., Duffy, S., Kawamura, T., & Larsen, J. T. (2003). Perceiving an Object and Its Context in Different Cultures: A Cultural Look at New Look. Psychological Science, 14(3), 201–206.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.02432  

- Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). “Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition”. Psychological Review, 108(2), 291–310.  https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.2.291

- Hamilton, E. (1973). “ The Greek way ”. New York: Avon

- Munro, D. J. (1985). “ Individualism and holism: Studies in Confucian and Taoist values ”. Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan

- Witkin, H. A., & Goodenough, D. R. (1981). “ Cognitive styles: Essence and origin ”. New York: International University Press

- Masuda, T., & Nisbett, R. E. (2001). “Attending holistically versus analytically: comparing the context sensitivity of Japanese and Americans”. Journal of personality and social psychology, 81(5), 922–934. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.81.5.922

- Kuwabara, M., Alonso, J., & Ayala, D. (2020). Cultural Differences in Visual Contents in Picture Books. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 304. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00304  

Disclosure: This section contains affiliate links. If you were to buy any of the books listed here, I would earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

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Home > JOURNALDIALOGUE > DIALOGUE > Vol. 7 (2020) > Iss. 3

Visuality of Race in Popular Culture: Teaching Racial Histories and Iconography in Media

Joni Boyd Acuff , Ohio State University Follow Amelia M. Kraehe , University of Arizona Follow

The repetition of racist imagery from historical to contemporary popular culture is indicative of a lack of visual culture education among artists, designers, and other creative cultural producers working today. This paper addresses the dearth of resources for teaching visual codes and conventions of racial iconography that are recycled in popular media and contribute to the fabrication of racial differences, maintenance of racial hierarchies, and normalization of white supremacist ideology. Inspired by Critical Race Theory in art and visual culture education, the essay proposes teaching tactics and sites/sights that can support students in developing visual understandings of race in popular culture and the practices of racialized looking it invites. Because popular culture is contested terrain, students can learn to be race-conscious consumers of popular culture today. A deeper awareness of visual codes and conventions can foster critical interpretations and creative responses to popular racial constructions. We suggest key vocabulary for scaffolding dialogue and counter-visual strategies for deconstructing racial images and practices of looking.

Recommended Citation

Acuff, Joni Boyd and Kraehe, Amelia M. (2020) "Visuality of Race in Popular Culture: Teaching Racial Histories and Iconography in Media," Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy : Vol. 7: Iss. 3, Article 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/vol7/iss3/2

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Cultural Diversity in Art: Techniques & Best Practices

Exploring cultural diversity in art, what is cultural diversity in art, how to identify cultural diversity in art, why cultural diversity in art matters, techniques for representing cultural diversity in art, use of color and pattern, incorporation of cultural symbols, blending of artistic styles, representation of cultural narratives, best practices for engaging with cultural diversity in art, respect and appreciation of diversity, awareness of cultural appropriation, active learning about diverse cultures, concluding thoughts on cultural diversity in art, reflecting diversity in art, future of cultural diversity in art.

Art is a universal language, a powerful tool that allows us to communicate across cultural boundaries. One of the most fascinating ways to explore this language is through the lens of cultural diversity. In this blog, we'll dive into what it means to explore cultural diversity in art, how to recognize it, and why it's so important. We'll also share some techniques artists use to represent cultural diversity, and offer best practices for engaging with it. So, grab your sketchbook, your curiosity, and let's embark on this colorful journey together!

When we talk about exploring cultural diversity in art, we're referring to the rich tapestry of artistic expression found across the globe. The art world is a melting pot of different cultures, each with its own unique traditions, techniques, and narratives. To explore cultural diversity in art is to open ourselves to new perspectives, enriching our understanding of the world and each other.

Cultural diversity in art refers to the variety of artistic expressions that originate from different cultures. It's about acknowledging that art isn't a one-size-fits-all concept; it varies greatly depending on the cultural context. For example, the bold colors and geometric patterns you might see in an African Kente cloth are a stark contrast to the subtle ink washes of a traditional Japanese Sumi-e painting. Both, however, are equally art — they just reflect different cultural aesthetics and values.

Identifying cultural diversity in art can be an enriching experience. It involves recognizing the cultural influences that shape a piece of art. Here are a few things you can look for:

• Color and pattern: Many cultures have specific color and pattern associations that can be seen in their art.
• Symbolism: Art often includes symbols or motifs that have significant cultural meanings.
• Materials: The materials used can also provide clues about a culture. For example, the use of jade in Chinese art or terracotta in ancient Greek art.

Exploring cultural diversity in art isn't just an academic exercise — it's a way to foster understanding and appreciation of different cultures. It challenges our perceptions, broadens our worldview, and deepens our empathy. By engaging with diverse artistic expressions, we can learn to appreciate the richness and complexity of our global society.

Furthermore, cultural diversity in art can have a profound impact on artists themselves. Exposure to a variety of artistic traditions can inspire new techniques, themes, and styles, fueling creativity and innovation. In this way, cultural diversity not only enriches our understanding of art but also propels it forward.

Artists often use a variety of techniques to represent cultural diversity in their work. These techniques can involve the use of specific colors, patterns, symbols, and even narratives. Let's take a closer look at some of these techniques:

Colors and patterns can speak volumes about a culture. For instance, in Indian art, bright colors like red, yellow, and green are often used. These colors have cultural significance — red for power, yellow for knowledge, and green for life and happiness. Patterns, too, can reflect cultural values. The repetitive, intricate designs in Islamic art, for example, are a testament to the Islamic belief in the infinite nature of God.

Symbols are another powerful tool artists use to represent cultural diversity. From the Celtic knots found in Irish art to the dragons in Chinese art, symbols provide a way for artists to express cultural beliefs, stories, and values. But remember, the meaning of a symbol can change dramatically depending on its cultural context, so it's always worth taking the time to understand the symbolism involved.

Artists can also explore cultural diversity by blending different artistic styles. This can create a fusion of aesthetics that captures the diversity of the world we live in. For example, an artist might combine the bold, exaggerated forms of African art with the precise, linear styles of European art to create a piece that celebrates both cultures.

Art can be a powerful storytelling tool. By representing cultural narratives, artists can share the unique histories, myths, and traditions of different cultures. For instance, the epic battles and heroic deeds depicted in ancient Greek vase paintings tell us a great deal about the values and beliefs of ancient Greek society.

Remember, when exploring cultural diversity in art, context is key. By understanding the cultural context of a piece of art, we can appreciate its full meaning and significance.

Engaging with cultural diversity in art isn't just about viewing or creating art pieces; it's about the attitude and approach you take. Here are some best practices to help you appreciate and explore cultural diversity in art more effectively:

If you want to explore cultural diversity in art, the first step is to respect and appreciate the diversity of cultures. Each culture has its unique way of expressing art, and these differences should be celebrated, not compared or ranked. For instance, the minimalistic approach in Japanese art might seem to contrast with the elaborate detailing in Indian art, but both are equally beautiful expressions of their respective cultures.

While it's wonderful to draw inspiration from different cultures, it's also important to be aware of cultural appropriation. When artists use elements from a culture that is not their own, especially without understanding or respect, it can feel exploitative. So, if you're using symbols or styles from another culture in your art, make sure it's done with respect and proper acknowledgment.

When you explore cultural diversity in art, you're essentially learning about different cultures. But this learning shouldn't be passive. Take the time to research and understand the cultural context of the art you're viewing or creating. You can visit museums, read books, watch documentaries, or even travel to learn more about different cultures. This active learning will enrich your understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity in art.

Remember, art is a reflection of culture. By exploring cultural diversity in art, you're not just learning about different art styles and techniques; you're also learning about the diverse cultures of the world.

As we conclude our exploration of cultural diversity in art, let's consider a few final thoughts. Art is an extraordinary medium that transcends borders and unites people from different cultures. It allows us to learn, appreciate, and share the diverse cultures of the world.

Art, in its many forms, has the remarkable ability to reflect the diversity of the world. Whether it's through traditional folk art, contemporary installations, or digital illustrations, artists have the unique opportunity to express their cultural experiences and perspectives. By doing so, they contribute to a global art scene that is rich in diversity, giving us numerous ways to explore cultural diversity in art.

As we look ahead, the importance of cultural diversity in art will only continue to grow. With the world becoming increasingly interconnected, the art scene will continue to reflect this diversity. This provides both artists and art appreciators with an exciting opportunity to engage with a variety of cultural expressions.

Whether you are an artist trying to incorporate cultural diversity in your work or an art appreciator wanting to explore cultural diversity in art, remember the key is respect and understanding. With an open mind and heart, you can truly appreciate the beauty and richness of cultural diversity in art. So, go ahead, dive into the vibrant world of art, and enjoy the journey of exploring cultural diversity!

If you're looking to deepen your understanding of cultural diversity in art and learn techniques to incorporate it in your work, don't miss the workshop ' Culture & How To Include It In Your Work ' by Juanjose Mouko Nsue. This workshop will provide you with valuable insights and best practices on how to embrace and represent different cultures in your art, while maintaining authenticity and respect.

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Visual Representation

What is visual representation.

Visual Representation refers to the principles by which markings on a surface are made and interpreted. Designers use representations like typography and illustrations to communicate information, emotions and concepts. Color, imagery, typography and layout are crucial in this communication.

Alan Blackwell, cognition scientist and professor, gives a brief introduction to visual representation:

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We can see visual representation throughout human history, from cave drawings to data visualization :

Art uses visual representation to express emotions and abstract ideas.

Financial forecasting graphs condense data and research into a more straightforward format.

Icons on user interfaces (UI) represent different actions users can take.

The color of a notification indicates its nature and meaning.

Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" uses visuals to evoke deep emotions, representing an abstract, dreamy night sky. It exemplifies how art can communicate complex feelings and ideas.

© Public domain

Importance of Visual Representation in Design

Designers use visual representation for internal and external use throughout the design process . For example:

Storyboards are illustrations that outline users’ actions and where they perform them.

Sitemaps are diagrams that show the hierarchy and navigation structure of a website.

Wireframes are sketches that bring together elements of a user interface's structure.

Usability reports use graphs and charts to communicate data gathered from usability testing.

User interfaces visually represent information contained in applications and computerized devices.

This usability report is straightforward to understand. Yet, the data behind the visualizations could come from thousands of answered surveys.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Visual representation simplifies complex ideas and data and makes them easy to understand. Without these visual aids, designers would struggle to communicate their ideas, findings and products . For example, it would be easier to create a mockup of an e-commerce website interface than to describe it with words.

Visual representation simplifies the communication of designs. Without mockups, it would be difficult for developers to reproduce designs using words alone.

Types of Visual Representation

Below are some of the most common forms of visual representation designers use.

Text and Typography

Text represents language and ideas through written characters and symbols. Readers visually perceive and interpret these characters. Typography turns text into a visual form, influencing its perception and interpretation.

We have developed the conventions of typography over centuries , for example, in documents, newspapers and magazines. These conventions include:

Text arranged on a grid brings clarity and structure. Gridded text makes complex information easier to navigate and understand. Tables, columns and other formats help organize content logically and enhance readability.

Contrasting text sizes create a visual hierarchy and draw attention to critical areas. For example, headings use larger text while body copy uses smaller text. This contrast helps readers distinguish between primary and secondary information.

Adequate spacing and paragraphing improve the readability and appearance of the text. These conventions prevent the content from appearing cluttered. Spacing and paragraphing make it easier for the eye to follow and for the brain to process the information.

Balanced image-to-text ratios create engaging layouts. Images break the monotony of text, provide visual relief and illustrate or emphasize points made in the text. A well-planned ratio ensures neither text nor images overwhelm each other. Effective ratios make designs more effective and appealing.

Designers use these conventions because people are familiar with them and better understand text presented in this manner.

This table of funerals from the plague in London in 1665 uses typographic conventions still used today. For example, the author arranged the information in a table and used contrasting text styling to highlight information in the header.

Illustrations and Drawings

Designers use illustrations and drawings independently or alongside text. An example of illustration used to communicate information is the assembly instructions created by furniture retailer IKEA. If IKEA used text instead of illustrations in their instructions, people would find it harder to assemble the furniture.

IKEA assembly instructions use illustrations to inform customers how to build their furniture. The only text used is numeric to denote step and part numbers. IKEA communicates this information visually to: 1. Enable simple communication, 2. Ensure their instructions are easy to follow, regardless of the customer’s language.

© IKEA, Fair use

Illustrations and drawings can often convey the core message of a visual representation more effectively than a photograph. They focus on the core message , while a photograph might distract a viewer with additional details (such as who this person is, where they are from, etc.)

For example, in IKEA’s case, photographing a person building a piece of furniture might be complicated. Further, photographs may not be easy to understand in a black-and-white print, leading to higher printing costs. To be useful, the pictures would also need to be larger and would occupy more space on a printed manual, further adding to the costs.

But imagine a girl winking—this is something we can easily photograph. 

Ivan Sutherland, creator of the first graphical user interface, used his computer program Sketchpad to draw a winking girl. While not realistic, Sutherland's representation effectively portrays a winking girl. The drawing's abstract, generic elements contrast with the distinct winking eye. The graphical conventions of lines and shapes represent the eyes and mouth. The simplicity of the drawing does not draw attention away from the winking.

A photo might distract from the focused message compared to Sutherland's representation. In the photo, the other aspects of the image (i.e., the particular person) distract the viewer from this message.

© Ivan Sutherland, CC BY-SA 3.0 and Amina Filkins, Pexels License

Information and Data Visualization

Designers and other stakeholders use data and information visualization across many industries.

Data visualization uses charts and graphs to show raw data in a graphic form. Information visualization goes further, including more context and complex data sets. Information visualization often uses interactive elements to share a deeper understanding.

For example, most computerized devices have a battery level indicator. This is a type of data visualization. IV takes this further by allowing you to click on the battery indicator for further insights. These insights may include the apps that use the most battery and the last time you charged your device.

macOS displays a battery icon in the menu bar that visualizes your device’s battery level. This is an example of data visualization. Meanwhile, macOS’s settings tell you battery level over time, screen-on-usage and when you last charged your device. These insights are actionable; users may notice their battery drains at a specific time. This is an example of information visualization.

© Low Battery by Jemis Mali, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, and Apple, Fair use

Information visualization is not exclusive to numeric data. It encompasses representations like diagrams and maps. For example, Google Maps collates various types of data and information into one interface:

Data Representation: Google Maps transforms complex geographical data into an easily understandable and navigable visual map.

Interactivity: Users can interactively customize views that show traffic, satellite imagery and more in real-time.

Layered Information: Google Maps layers multiple data types (e.g., traffic, weather) over geographical maps for comprehensive visualization.

User-Centered Design : The interface is intuitive and user-friendly, with symbols and colors for straightforward data interpretation.

The volume of data contained in one screenshot of Google Maps is massive. However, this information is presented clearly to the user. Google Maps highlights different terrains with colors and local places and businesses with icons and colors. The panel on the left lists the selected location’s profile, which includes an image, rating and contact information.

© Google, Fair use

Symbolic Correspondence

Symbolic correspondence uses universally recognized symbols and signs to convey specific meanings . This method employs widely recognized visual cues for immediate understanding. Symbolic correspondence removes the need for textual explanation.

For instance, a magnifying glass icon in UI design signifies the search function. Similarly, in environmental design, symbols for restrooms, parking and amenities guide visitors effectively.

The Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF) website uses the universal magnifying glass symbol to signify the search function. Similarly, the play icon draws attention to a link to watch a video.

How Designers Create Visual Representations

Visual language.

Designers use elements like color , shape and texture to create a communicative visual experience. Designers use these 8 principles:

Size – Larger elements tend to capture users' attention readily.

Color – Users are typically drawn to bright colors over muted shades.

Contrast – Colors with stark contrasts catch the eye more effectively.

Alignment – Unaligned elements are more noticeable than those aligned ones.

Repetition – Similar styles repeated imply a relationship in content.

Proximity – Elements placed near each other appear to be connected.

Whitespace – Elements surrounded by ample space attract the eye.

Texture and Style – Users often notice richer textures before flat designs.

The 8 visual design principles.

In web design , visual hierarchy uses color and repetition to direct the user's attention. Color choice is crucial as it creates contrast between different elements. Repetition helps to organize the design—it uses recurring elements to establish consistency and familiarity.

In this video, Alan Dix, Professor and Expert in Human-Computer Interaction, explains how visual alignment affects how we read and absorb information:

Correspondence Techniques

Designers use correspondence techniques to align visual elements with their conceptual meanings. These techniques include color coding, spatial arrangement and specific imagery. In information visualization, different colors can represent various data sets. This correspondence aids users in quickly identifying trends and relationships .

Color coding enables the stakeholder to see the relationship and trend between the two pie charts easily.

In user interface design, correspondence techniques link elements with meaning. An example is color-coding notifications to state their nature. For instance, red for warnings and green for confirmation. These techniques are informative and intuitive and enhance the user experience.

The IxDF website uses blue for call-to-actions (CTAs) and red for warnings. These colors inform the user of the nature of the action of buttons and other interactive elements.

Perception and Interpretation

If visual language is how designers create representations, then visual perception and interpretation are how users receive those representations. Consider a painting—the viewer’s eyes take in colors, shapes and lines, and the brain perceives these visual elements as a painting.

In this video, Alan Dix explains how the interplay of sensation, perception and culture is crucial to understanding visual experiences in design:

Copyright holder: Michael Murphy _ Appearance time: 07:19 - 07:37 _ Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C67JuZnBBDc

Visual perception principles are essential for creating compelling, engaging visual representations. For example, Gestalt principles explain how we perceive visual information. These rules describe how we group similar items, spot patterns and simplify complex images. Designers apply Gestalt principles to arrange content on websites and other interfaces. This application creates visually appealing and easily understood designs.

In this video, design expert and teacher Mia Cinelli discusses the significance of Gestalt principles in visual design . She introduces fundamental principles, like figure/ground relationships, similarity and proximity.

Interpretation

Everyone's experiences, culture and physical abilities dictate how they interpret visual representations. For this reason, designers carefully consider how users interpret their visual representations. They employ user research and testing to ensure their designs are attractive and functional.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", is one of the most famous paintings in the world. The piece is renowned for its subject's enigmatic expression. Some interpret her smile as content and serene, while others see it as sad or mischievous. Not everyone interprets this visual representation in the same way.

Color is an excellent example of how one person, compared to another, may interpret a visual element. Take the color red:

In Chinese culture, red symbolizes luck, while in some parts of Africa, it can mean death or illness.

A personal experience may mean a user has a negative or positive connotation with red.

People with protanopia and deuteranopia color blindness cannot distinguish between red and green.

In this video, Joann and Arielle Eckstut, leading color consultants and authors, explain how many factors influence how we perceive and interpret color:

Learn More about Visual Representation

Read Alan Blackwell’s chapter on visual representation from The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction.

Learn about the F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content from Jakob Nielsen.

Read Smashing Magazine’s article, Visual Design Language: The Building Blocks Of Design .

Take the IxDF’s course, Perception and Memory in HCI and UX .

Questions related to Visual Representation

Some highly cited research on visual representation and related topics includes:

Roland, P. E., & Gulyás, B. (1994). Visual imagery and visual representation. Trends in Neurosciences, 17(7), 281-287. Roland and Gulyás' study explores how the brain creates visual imagination. They look at whether imagining things like objects and scenes uses the same parts of the brain as seeing them does. Their research shows the brain uses certain areas specifically for imagination. These areas are different from the areas used for seeing. This research is essential for understanding how our brain works with vision.

Lurie, N. H., & Mason, C. H. (2007). Visual Representation: Implications for Decision Making. Journal of Marketing, 71(1), 160-177.

This article looks at how visualization tools help in understanding complicated marketing data. It discusses how these tools affect decision-making in marketing. The article gives a detailed method to assess the impact of visuals on the study and combination of vast quantities of marketing data. It explores the benefits and possible biases visuals can bring to marketing choices. These factors make the article an essential resource for researchers and marketing experts. The article suggests using visual tools and detailed analysis together for the best results.

Lohse, G. L., Biolsi, K., Walker, N., & Rueter, H. H. (1994, December). A classification of visual representations. Communications of the ACM, 37(12), 36+.

This publication looks at how visuals help communicate and make information easier to understand. It divides these visuals into six types: graphs, tables, maps, diagrams, networks and icons. The article also looks at different ways these visuals share information effectively.

​​If you’d like to cite content from the IxDF website , click the ‘cite this article’ button near the top of your screen.

Some recommended books on visual representation and related topics include:

Chaplin, E. (1994). Sociology and Visual Representation (1st ed.) . Routledge.

Chaplin's book describes how visual art analysis has changed from ancient times to today. It shows how photography, post-modernism and feminism have changed how we see art. The book combines words and images in its analysis and looks into real-life social sciences studies.

Mitchell, W. J. T. (1994). Picture Theory. The University of Chicago Press.

Mitchell's book explores the important role and meaning of pictures in the late twentieth century. It discusses the change from focusing on language to focusing on images in cultural studies. The book deeply examines the interaction between images and text in different cultural forms like literature, art and media. This detailed study of how we see and read visual representations has become an essential reference for scholars and professionals.

Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt Psychology. Harcourt, Brace & World.

"Principles of Gestalt Psychology" by Koffka, released in 1935, is a critical book in its field. It's known as a foundational work in Gestalt psychology, laying out the basic ideas of the theory and how they apply to how we see and think. Koffka's thorough study of Gestalt psychology's principles has profoundly influenced how we understand human perception. This book has been a significant reference in later research and writings.

A visual representation, like an infographic or chart, uses visual elements to show information or data. These types of visuals make complicated information easier to understand and more user-friendly.

Designers harness visual representations in design and communication. Infographics and charts, for instance, distill data for easier audience comprehension and retention.

For an introduction to designing basic information visualizations, take our course, Information Visualization .

Text is a crucial design and communication element, transforming language visually. Designers use font style, size, color and layout to convey emotions and messages effectively.

Designers utilize text for both literal communication and aesthetic enhancement. Their typography choices significantly impact design aesthetics, user experience and readability.

Designers should always consider text's visual impact in their designs. This consideration includes font choice, placement, color and interaction with other design elements.

In this video, design expert and teacher Mia Cinelli teaches how Gestalt principles apply to typography:

Designers use visual elements in projects to convey information, ideas, and messages. Designers use images, colors, shapes and typography for impactful designs.

In UI/UX design, visual representation is vital. Icons, buttons and colors provide contrast for intuitive, user-friendly website and app interfaces.

Graphic design leverages visual representation to create attention-grabbing marketing materials. Careful color, imagery and layout choices create an emotional connection.

Product design relies on visual representation for prototyping and idea presentation. Designers and stakeholders use visual representations to envision functional, aesthetically pleasing products.

Our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. This fact highlights the crucial role of visual representation in design.

Our course, Visual Design: The Ultimate Guide , teaches you how to use visual design elements and principles in your work effectively.

Visual representation, crucial in UX, facilitates interaction, comprehension and emotion. It combines elements like images and typography for better interfaces.

Effective visuals guide users, highlight features and improve navigation. Icons and color schemes communicate functions and set interaction tones.

UX design research shows visual elements significantly impact emotions. 90% of brain-transmitted information is visual.

To create functional, accessible visuals, designers use color contrast and consistent iconography. These elements improve readability and inclusivity.

An excellent example of visual representation in UX is Apple's iOS interface. iOS combines a clean, minimalist design with intuitive navigation. As a result, the operating system is both visually appealing and user-friendly.

Michal Malewicz, Creative Director and CEO at Hype4, explains why visual skills are important in design:

Learn more about UI design from Michal in our Master Class, Beyond Interfaces: The UI Design Skills You Need to Know .

The fundamental principles of effective visual representation are:

Clarity : Designers convey messages clearly, avoiding clutter.

Simplicity : Embrace simple designs for ease and recall.

Emphasis : Designers highlight key elements distinctively.

Balance : Balance ensures design stability and structure.

Alignment : Designers enhance coherence through alignment.

Contrast : Use contrast for dynamic, distinct designs.

Repetition : Repeating elements unify and guide designs.

Designers practice these principles in their projects. They also analyze successful designs and seek feedback to improve their skills.

Read our topic description of Gestalt principles to learn more about creating effective visual designs. The Gestalt principles explain how humans group elements, recognize patterns and simplify object perception.

Color theory is vital in design, helping designers craft visually appealing and compelling works. Designers understand color interactions, psychological impacts and symbolism. These elements help designers enhance communication and guide attention.

Designers use complementary , analogous and triadic colors for contrast, harmony and balance. Understanding color temperature also plays a crucial role in design perception.

Color symbolism is crucial, as different colors can represent specific emotions and messages. For instance, blue can symbolize trust and calmness, while red can indicate energy and urgency.

Cultural variations significantly influence color perception and symbolism. Designers consider these differences to ensure their designs resonate with diverse audiences.

For actionable insights, designers should:

Experiment with color schemes for effective messaging. 

Assess colors' psychological impact on the audience. 

Use color contrast to highlight critical elements. 

Ensure color choices are accessible to all.

In this video, Joann and Arielle Eckstut, leading color consultants and authors, give their six tips for choosing color:

Learn more about color from Joann and Arielle in our Master Class, How To Use Color Theory To Enhance Your Designs .

Typography and font choice are crucial in design, impacting readability and mood. Designers utilize them for effective communication and expression.

Designers' perception of information varies with font type. Serif fonts can imply formality, while sans-serifs can give a more modern look.

Typography choices by designers influence readability and user experience. Well-spaced, distinct fonts enhance readability, whereas decorative fonts may hinder it.

Designers use typography to evoke emotions and set a design's tone. Choices in font size, style and color affect the emotional impact and message clarity.

Designers use typography to direct attention, create hierarchy and establish rhythm. These benefits help with brand recognition and consistency across mediums.

Read our article to learn how web fonts are critical to the online user experience .

Designers create a balance between simplicity and complexity in their work. They focus on the main messages and highlight important parts. Designers use the principles of visual hierarchy, like size, color and spacing. They also use empty space to make their designs clear and understandable.

The Gestalt law of Prägnanz suggests people naturally simplify complex images. This principle aids in making even intricate information accessible and engaging.

Through iteration and feedback, designers refine visuals. They remove extraneous elements and highlight vital information. Testing with the target audience ensures the design resonates and is comprehensible.

Michal Malewicz explains how to master hierarchy in UI design using the Gestalt rule of proximity:

Answer a Short Quiz to Earn a Gift

Why do designers use visual representation?

• To guarantee only a specific audience can understand the information
• To replace the need for any form of written communication
• To simplify complex information and make it understandable

Which type of visual representation helps to compare data?

• Article images
• Line charts
• Text paragraphs

What is the main purpose of visual hierarchy in design?

• To decorate the design with more colors
• To guide the viewer’s attention to the most important elements first
• To provide complex text for high-level readers

How does color impact visual representation?

• It has no impact on the design at all.
• It helps to distinguish different elements and set the mood.
• It makes the design less engaging for a serious mood.

Why is consistency important in visual representation?

• It limits creativity, but allows variation in design.
• It makes sure the visual elements are cohesive and easy to understand.
• It makes the design unpredictable yet interesting.

Better luck next time!

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Literature on Visual Representation

Here’s the entire UX literature on Visual Representation by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Visual Representation

Take a deep dive into Visual Representation with our course Perception and Memory in HCI and UX .

How does all of this fit with interaction design and user experience? The simple answer is that most of our understanding of human experience comes from our own experiences and just being ourselves. That might extend to people like us, but it gives us no real grasp of the whole range of human experience and abilities. By considering more closely how humans perceive and interact with our world, we can gain real insights into what designs will work for a broader audience: those younger or older than us, more or less capable, more or less skilled and so on.

“You can design for all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot design for all the people all the time.“ – William Hudson (with apologies to Abraham Lincoln)

While “design for all of the people all of the time” is an impossible goal, understanding how the human machine operates is essential to getting ever closer. And of course, building solutions for people with a wide range of abilities, including those with accessibility issues, involves knowing how and why some human faculties fail. As our course tutor, Professor Alan Dix, points out, this is not only a moral duty but, in most countries, also a legal obligation.

Portfolio Project

In the “ Build Your Portfolio: Perception and Memory Project ”, you’ll find a series of practical exercises that will give you first-hand experience in applying what we’ll cover. If you want to complete these optional exercises, you’ll create a series of case studies for your portfolio which you can show your future employer or freelance customers.

This in-depth, video-based course is created with the amazing Alan Dix , the co-author of the internationally best-selling textbook  Human-Computer Interaction and a superstar in the field of Human-Computer Interaction . Alan is currently a professor and Director of the Computational Foundry at Swansea University.

Gain an Industry-Recognized UX Course Certificate

Use your industry-recognized Course Certificate on your resume , CV , LinkedIn profile or your website.

All open-source articles on Visual Representation

The key elements & principles of visual design.

• 1.2k shares
• 2 years ago

Data Visualization for Human Perception

Guidelines for Good Visual Information Representations

• 5 years ago

Philosophy of Interaction

Information visualization – an introduction to multivariate analysis.

• 8 years ago

Aesthetic Computing

How to represent linear data visually for information visualization.

• 6 years ago

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Step inside the Saint John batik art studio of Alheri Bingi

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• Duration 4:07

Alheri Bingi moved to Canada from Lagos four years ago. Noticing a lack of representation of her Nigerian culture, Bingi started creating batik textile art using authentic African fabric.

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