HISTORY OF VISUAL

COMMUNICATION
BY RISHABH MISHRA
INTRODUCTION

• Communication has existed for millions of years. Animals have various forms
of communication and scientists discovered cave paintings dating back more
than 6000 years ago. Communication can be verbal, visual and even physical,
but all have the same purpose. It’s to convey a message. Visual communication
started with pictographs. Simple drawings that told a story or presented a
message to others. Pictographs still exist today most commonly in the form of
signs. You see a sign and can instantly understand the message it’s trying to
convey. Road signs are the perfect present day example.
THE ORIGIN OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
If you go further back, written language is a collection of images that a group of people
have agreed to have specific meanings. Latin, in its commonly recognized form 
started in six BC, and, to the unfamiliar, looks like a group of random lines. But Latin
evolved and became the foundation for many European languages, including English.
Asia uses logograms like Hanzi, from China, and Kanji, from Japan. Korean is built on
a phonetic structure like English, but for anyone unfamiliar, the alphabet looks more
similar to other Asiatic languages. Even with all these differences, the commonality is
that all these cultures use images, recognized as words, to communicate.
ART AND SCIENCE IN VISUAL
COMMUNICATION
Visual communication also came from the arts and science in technical drawings and various art mediums.
Paintings can capture the essence of subjects. Instead of relying on a verbal or written description, people
were able to actually see the subject at hand.
• This is expanded into many other mediums. Sculpture, drawing, ceramics and performing arts are all
forms of visual communication that can be seen, recognized and understood. The arts provide a
perspective in communication and it may be open to interpretation, but the core is providing a message.
• In science, biological drawings have existed for thousands of years. From Greek physician Herophilus,
who is considered the father of anatomy, to Charles Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle, which contained
detailed drawings of “biology, geology, and anthropology;” these became tools for scientific communities
and helped shape science.
PHOTOGRAPHY IN VISUAL
COMMUNICATION

• The amount of information you can convey in a single photo can explain
more than a 10-minute conversation and this is why photography is still a
valued way to communicate.
• According to the Harry Ranson Center, the earliest surviving photograph
made in a camera was take in 1826 or 1827 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.
Even though it’s difficult to see the “view from an upstairs window,” the
invention of the photograph was a major jump in visual communication.
ANIMATION IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION

• Animation is another form of communication that dates back thousands of years. Animation
today is a sequence of images to create motion, but in the past, it was a sequence of images
that could be read and understood as a story. Art on a vase with a painted sequence is an
early form of animation because you could view each picture and understand the story.
• Flip books, or kineographs, are also a form of animation because the images create the
illusion of motion. The long history of animation shows that people were drawn in by
moving images. Animation is able to convey complex stories. Static images have to use the
most impactful action in a single frame which animation isn’t limited by.
VIDEOS IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION

• Combining animation and photography gives you the motion picture. The earliest surviving
motion picture is Roundhay Garden Scene. While short, the 1888 short film is considered the
oldest surviving film.
• Seven years later, Arrival of a Train (1895) is a 50-second silent film. Silent films became big
business in the early days of film, as people were amazed at watching moving pictures on
screen. Even without sound, you can effectively present a message solely through visuals.
• Like a photo, even more information can be shared with a video. Vine, now shutdown, allowed
users to record six second videos and many creators used that limitation to create very creative
short-form narratives.
HOW DOES VISUAL COMMUNICATION
LIVE NOW?
Ultimately, we absorb visual communication the same ways we did in the past. The main
difference is the platform. We are shown digital billboards, media through mobile devices,
laptops, and that’s expanding to virtual reality and augmented reality. Digital media
consumption is now the norm.

• Not even 15 years ago, when riding the bus, you would see people reading the newspaper
or a book. Now with digital so prevalent, most people will read on smartphones or tablets.
It’s driven by the convenience of having everything close and available at a seconds notice.
DIGITAL ERA IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION

• The smartphone and app ecosystems have greatly expanded visual communication. Take Yelp, as an
example, people leave ratings for businesses, but the biggest draw of the app is taking pictures of food,
interior, exterior, and menus.
• These people are communicating with others through photos. Instead of asking your friend for
recommendations, you can use the opinions of actual customers.
• Apps have expanded visual communication. Messaging apps and social media offer ways for people to
communicate through text, photos and videos, with the majority using photos. Instagram lets people
share photos and video with the public and users often display a slice-of-life view. While the content
might not be 100% true, like paintings of the past, people are consuming what is shared.