Unity Between Image and Text

Holly M. Stewart
Academic Writing 301

Unity Between Image and Text

Zack De Piero 3/7/15

1:12 PM
Cool start to this, Holly.
Its definitely
unconventional/
unusual, but it works.
Just goes to show how
writing is so flexible.

Sitting across from each other feeling slightly awkward, I leaned in and asked,
Have you ever been interviewed before? Ian, a young man in his mid twenties, came in
closer and replied, Not for this particularly, no. Good, cause I have no idea what I am
doing. I admitted. We sat in the middle of a coffee shop sipping awkwardly on our tiny

Also, consider starting

a new paragraph after
this. Youre changing
gears from the
dialogue hook to
explaining more about
the encounter.
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:13 PM
Im not seeing how
these two back-toback sentences link to
each other. Whats the
connection?

tea cups as I began the interview process. I had researched his website before hand and
admired his dedication and his talent with film and art. If one wants to become a
persuasive writer or artist, one must learn to master the art of communication through the
use of words and images, determine their audience, and have a clear stance on the subject
at hand to market themselves effectively. An artist or writer understands that every word
is correlated with an image to provokes movement and connection which then ignites
passion for change.
Ian Mayta grew up in Honduras to an American father and a Honduran mother. He
traveled back and forth constantly, getting the best of both worlds, which has helped to
influence most of his work. I use to hate it when I was younger, he said with a smile,
but traveling back and forth has helped me to understand both language and nonverbal
communication. Ian is involved with his own freelance projects, promoting paintings
and film on his website here in the states as well as supporting another organizations such

Zack De Piero 3/7/15

1:15 PM
I need more of a specific,
driving thesis statement,
Holly. What, exactly, are
you going to be arguing
here? And what specific
points are you going to use
to make that case? What
genres/documents are you
going to be analyzing?
What audience(s) are you/
they focusing on?

as Smile Train in Honduras, casting their vision through images and film.
Ians own freelance work is broadcasted through his website, ianmayta.com. This
site contains a variety of paintings and films that Ian uses as visual communication to his
cliental. The painting Elysian Boulevard, for instance, was painted for a family who
wanted to reminisce on a certain architectural tunnels that was once apart of their daily
commute. Ians painting helps to keep that moment with in the canvas to remind them of

Most readers/teachers
are going to be looking
for this at the end of
your Intro. I waited a
bit to see if itd appear
in your 2nd paragraph
this is an
unconventional move,
but it could work.

their journey. Ian uses this painting and many others as a tool to communicate with his
audience. The painting itself, however, would loose its depth of meaning on its own if not
for the title below it. The title holds equal weight along with the image furthering its
symbolism. Manuel Au-Young- Oliveira describes the importance of images and text
together as he states,Text without figures leads to incomplete communication and vice
versa--especially true for the millennium generation (19467567 p.48-54). Our

You dont have one yet.

You 100% need one
remember: this paper is
a research-based
argument.

(PS: I dont want to kill

the creative spirit of
what youve written.
Its by far the most
interesting one Ive
read, but I do need you
to conform more to the
standard conventions
of the academic
research paper genre.)
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:17 PM
OK, this is an excellent
observation and its
very relevant for what
weve studied for our
course.

And I kinda know

where youre taking me
in this paper because
(1) we chatted about it
after class one day and

generation more than any other is aware of the importance of connecting images with
text.
Ian begins his paintings by first spendings hours communicating with his client to
make sure that he understands their desires and expectations. The story behind the
painting not only captures the image but also the feeling. The image then needs to be
translated from the mountain of written notes to a visual representation. These written
documents are important for Ian to reference back to during the process of painting.
Lastly, a title is worked in to reinforce the meaning of the image.
Images are a very powerful tool for communication. Ians logo, which stands out
boldly on the front page, symbolizes his journey of carrying the burden of his own art.

PN Design describes the importance of logos and states these guidelines:

Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:18 PM
You dont need all this
empty space before/
after the quote.

It should be distinctive and easy to spot at a glance. The visuals and imagery should be
appropriate for your company. It should work in harmony with your company name. And
finally the logo should look great in black and white as well as color.

Ians logo communicates with his audience a struggling artist determined to push through
to make it to the top. It is used like a signature on all of his paintings, the end credits on
all of his films, and in is unrelated emails as well, to help further promote his work. His
ultimate goal is that his logo will become a symbol that will encompass his essence.
Ian is aware of the popular saying that PN design wrote, They say people form an
opinion of a company within the first few seconds. He also believes an opinion does
form in the first few seconds but can be kept. Ians goal is that his logo will some day
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:19 PM
Wow, how poetic.
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:21 PM
Didnt you already
establish this? Ie, that
he adapts to his
audience?
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:22 PM
Not seeing the
connection here. Every
word, phrase, sentence,
and paragraph needs to
build on/from each
other.

represent him and all of his work over his life time.
Though Ians fingerprints beam through his personal images, he as an artist has to
learn to become some what of a chameleon. Ian has learned over the years to change as
his audience changes. Audience he explained, is a key factor for all of my work.
Depending on who you are speaking to, you must pay very careful attention to how you
address different types of people. Ian has built close relationship with all of his clients to
better meet their expectations effectively. Most arguments are composed with specific
audiences in mind, and their success depends, in part, on how well their strategies,
content, tone, and language meet the expectations of that audience(p.96). Everything on

Ians website has been carefully planned out, down to the very format, color schemes,
and position of all of his material. I wanted to keep things simple, he said, I purposely
stuck to a black and white color scheme to bring out the color of my paintings and
photographs. For Ians personal website, he has experience that his clients have often
responded better to a simpler look and feel.
Another example of this is when Ian is not working on promoting his own art work,
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:22 PM
Of what? This/that/it
can be very vague.

he works with Smile train to promote telemedicine through film in the country of
Honduras and encourage Honduran doctors to take better care of their people. This
organization helps to provide surgeries for children with cleft lips, which is a growing
problem in Honduras. Ians contribution to the organization Smile train involves a
documentary he did on the ins and outs of the surgeries that take place. These two
websites drastically differ from each other, both in look and feel, as well as the audiences
in which they adhere to. The main audience the film speaks to are doctors and through
this film, Ian needs to be very concise to accurately state surgeries and operating
functions. Ian uses key writing tactic of both logos, appealing to reason and pathos, the

Zack De Piero 3/7/15

1:24 PM
You have a chance to
elaborate on thisyou
didnt quite bring it
home and convince me
how/why he uses logos
in the film.

use of emotion in debate/argument (rhetoric p.56) to effectively get the organizations

point across. Many organization use these tactics within their mission statement to
communicate their point to their audience as well. At the top of Smile trains webpage is
their slogan We want our mission to be yours. This statement clearly brings the pathos
to heart as they push the burden of the children in Honduras to the people of the world, in
hopes that they would adopt the same passion for change.
These two websites are polar opposites. How do you change so drastically as your

Zack De Piero 3/7/15

1:24 PM
What two websites?
(Again, beware of this/
that/these/it/them.)

audience changes? I ask, impressed after comparing the two together. Well I ultimately
have to give my clients what they want. I take time first to listen to the over all attitude
and message that is desired to shine through each project. Then I draft a proposal and
start shooting.
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:25 PM
You can think of a more
powerful very than
doing. Get your nerdverbs in there.
Zack De Piero 3/7/15
1:26 PM
OK, so a few lines later,
he begins saying how
proposals are unique
and need to be tailored
b/c people dont have
time

Communication is extremely important when starting a projects. Everything needs

to be clearly stated and outlined and referenced back to. When doing documentaries, Ian
first writes up a proposal of exactly what he will be filming. Proposals involve a lot of
writing but also to have to be broken up with pictures/storyboarding he told me. I asked
him why he felt this was. He says it is because people today have very short attention
spans. They often dont have time to sit and look over all the information and if he writes
up a long proposal lawyers then need to get involved and the process takes longer. Most
people are not aware of how much writing takes place when entering a film project.
Writing the proposal is the most important part of the entire project for it communicates
to the client the exact expectations between the two parties.

youre getting into

GENRE, essentially, and
not mentioning it.
Perfect opportunity to
weave genre/purpose
into your paper here,
Holly.

As language is constantly changing, our perception of communication both in visual

and verbal. There is a need to revive the way we communicate as new generations make
their way of connecting in society. Ians way of speaking to his audience is not set in
stone and his website and other means of communication are always in revision as his
audience changes. He will always be in process of mastering the art of communication as
he uses words and images, discovers audience, and refines his purpose on the subject at
hand to market himself effectively. His journey has helped to demonstrate key factors of

Zack De Piero 3/7/15

1:27 PM
Cool paper.

communicating effectively both verbally and visually.

References

Losh, E., & Alexander, J. (n.d) Understanding rhetoric: A graphic guide to writing
Lunsford, A., & Ruszkiewicz, J. (2007). Everything's an argument: With readings (4th
ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Mayta, I. (n.d.). California.
Interview with Ian Mayta
The Importance of Great logo Design. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2015, from htt://
www.pn-design.co.uk/design_blog_design.html
Au- Yong- Oliveira, Manuel, What if Color Images Become More Important than Words,
March 2014, Vol 6 Issue 1 p48-54