Critique of Visual Communication

http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/060521/060521teens_and_celebs.html (Article)
http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/060521/060521teens_and_celebs_full.html (Survey Results)

How many of us are able to learn more effectively when visuals are used? Visuals can be very helpful learning aids, but to be helpful they must also be presented effectively. The article "Teens and Celebrities" takes a survey and turns it into the form of a chart, which makes the information from the article visual in a way where it can be seen in overview. "Teens and Celebrities" is mainly about teens in relation to celebrities and discusses how teens view and respond to stars. According to the survey taken, the information shows that although teens aspire to be like stars, they don't necessarily view them as role models. The highlights from the survey results are displayed in chart form; however, although this visual that the article provides is very helpful and useful, the information could have been displayed in different ways to present the material more clearly and easily. When I say easier, I mean in a way that can be viewed almost at a glance, without having to view it carefully and slowly.

The survey results could have been made easier to view if made in the form of a bar graph, which would make it easy to distinguish the percentages of teens who voted a certain way. The way that the results are actually laid out are readable and understandable, but it requires that the viewer read through each stat to get the overall percentages of the teens' opinions. A colored bar graph, or even maybe a different layout like a pie chart, would have made the results more interesting to view, as well as easier on the eyes to see the multiple responses at one glance, rather than having to read through the percentages. Seeing multiple images, in this case responses, can sometimes be distracting; however, in this case, being able to view the responses in graph form would make the results more clearly distinguishable and easier to compare.

In this presentation, it is helpful to read the article first and then look at the survey results. If one looks at the survey before reading the article, they are likely to misinterpret the conclusion that the author has come to according to the results. For example, one might see the survey as conveying the idea that teens admire celebrities and some wish that they could be like them. A person might also come to the conclusion that talent, more so than the content of the person, is more important for celebrities to have. These are all possible conclusions to make from the survey; however, they are different from what the article concludes, which is more about how teens do enjoy celebrities and sometimes want to be one, but they do not necessarily view them as role models. The author, Lori Majewski, also points out how the survey results show that we're raising a generation of smart kids because today, children and teens are able to tell the difference between true stars and those who are just looking for good press. She also points out how teens today are volunteering more than ever, showing that the next generation is doing society good and that even one day, stars might aspire to be like them instead of vice-versa. So although the visual does help the presentation, but only after reading the article, it cannot be looked to as a summary of what the article's point is because this allows for misinterpretation. As a result, looking at only the visual without reading the entire article can actually impede what the article's main point is. This can be a good thing because the author probably wants readers to view both the article and the actual survey results, which is what the reader must do to understand the author's main points.

Although the visual of the survey results is not effective by itself and could be made even more effective with a different layout, it is helpful to the article as a whole and maintains simplicity which can often present things more clearly. If one reads the article first, and then views the survey results afterwards, then the visual is very supportive and persuasive to support the information from the article; however, the visual by itself is not helpful in supporting the article and cannot be used as a summary of the article, but only as a supplement to the article. In this way, the visual is effective in supporting the point of the article.