Thursday, September 27, 2007

Interpreting the Storyline of a Graphic

Going back a few weeks, I suggested that graphical depiction may be a compound form of language (or verbal expression). If this is so, then it is, indeed, linear. When a person looks at an image, their eyes start in a particular place, and travel to other interesting spots in the image. This eye travel creates a path over the image -- a linear path. Where the eyes start and stop and start and stop along the path depends on those things in the graphic that attract attention. In looking at a picture, or a graphic, people visually traverse it in a linear fashion. As to what a pair of eyes might find interesting enough to fixate on -- is another discussion entirely -- but I do think Gestalt Principles may play a part in this (at the most fundamental level). For example, the intersection of two lines, or a bump on a line, is much more interesting, than an uninterrrupted straight line. A vertical line is more active (dynamic) than a horizontal line. A diagonal line is supposed to be even more active than a vertical line. I need to find more information about how lines and simple shapes are interpreted, how people find meaning in these basic outlines. This will provide some insight as to how we might interpret phosphenes.