Blog Post #2: Visual Literacy

Visual literacy is a way of making meaning or interpreting objects, images, and actions.

Today I use visual literacy in many ways but I want to explore how I use it to improve my mood and interpret others. Whether I am in my room or in the great outdoors I like to see color. Trees, sky, posters, figures are always near me because I can see them which boost my mood.

Trees have been around my whole life so because of my lived experiences, I create meaning for trees in a positive way. In my room, I have a window with figures in it (seen in photo above). This inspires me to be creative and the sky brings light and color into my room. I created meaning from these because they reflect my favorite visuals outside of my room. This keeps my mood high and motivated to be creative. While others may or may not have the same level of meaning they still tell a seeing person information.

Interpreting others is a tricky version of visual literacy. When I speak, I speak with my hands, others do this all the time. Sign language is a way of communicating without using our voices at all. People can interpret meaning from these movements and actions. This is a great example of visual literacy because it is one way where some people cannot make meaning due to the set of guidelines Sign language already has built. If you don’t know exactly what a motion means, you would be lost. This community created extensive meaning from motion and only using sight. It’s kind of awesome!