How pictures act as a mode of communication

communication is a very important part of life. It is something that is inevitable. We all know about how living beings can communicate to us, but have you ever thought about how does objects communicate or acts as a form of communication? In this blog we are going to discuss about how pictures communicate to us. Communication through pictures is not something that is new to us in fact picture communication started in the prehistoric period. Prehistoric people used to communicate with each other through cave paintings more precisely, cave art is a representation of how human communication have evolved throughout the years and have helped humans to develop their cognitive ability, multi-dimensional knowledge of figurative language. 

From cave paintings in prehistoric period, it has eventually turned into drawings. Drawings is used to express oneself. Drawings has a talent to evoke emotions and messages to humans. Drawings are something which can understood from many perspectives. One drawing can be interpreted in so many ways and we have the freedom for it. Drawings are not only used for artistic purposes but also for scientific study and to disseminate information. In 1609, astronomer Galileo Galilei explained the changing aspects of planets through his telescopic drawings. After the renaissance period there was a hike in creating art and there were so many paintings and drawing that was famous all over the world. Artists used drawings to make public aware about the changes happening around the world. Some of the most famous artists of that time were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello. Religion propagation was also done through drawings and paintings. Throughout time artists have used to paintings to express themselves. The pain they are going through and what they are feeling inside. As each art contains different meaning, different people view the meaning of same things in different way. 

For example, the sign of thumbs up has different meaning in different context and different places. In some places thumbs up means okay, in Germany they do that gesture to count from one and in some context like when we are standing on the road and doing this it means you’re asking for asking for lift and weirdly enough in some places it is considered as a bad or inappropriate gesture. We have talked about how pictures have evolved from mere cave paintings to drawings which have so many inner meanings. With the advancement of technology, the idea of pictures has transformed to a different meaning. 

Currently pictures play a vital role in everybody’s life. It is used as a tool for marketing and even for entertainment. Of course, there are still drawings present today but it has evolved from so much more than drawings. Today pictures have evolved into emojis, at first emojis were used to simply convey emotions and tell people how we are feeling but now there are literally hundreds of emojis which are very complex. Emojis have also been created to make things more inclusive and for representation. Pictures have become a part of entertainment. 

With the rise of social media and evolution of pictures to memes it has taken a new turn. Memes are based on pictures used in a funny, sarcastic or ironic way to create humor about a certain subject. They make people laugh and it has also turned into very important part of our everyday life. The evolution of memes through pictures have been a big hype to internet culture and it has made it very easy to share and create memes.

 Apart from the entertainment industry, pictures also play a major role in the consumerism. Companies use pictures to influence people about their product and make their product known. Using pictures Is a major part of the advertisement industry. They use pictures in an appealing and aesthetic way to please the customers into buying their product. Pictures are some that drives the advertisement industry, and it is likely to go that way for years.

 Pictures are also used by students and teachers in the education industry too. Teachers uses pictures in the form of presentations, diagrams and graphics to make students understand about topics in a visually appealing way. Different psychological studies have proved that humans tend to remember visually appealing things or visuals more easily than just listening or reading about a specific topic. With the rise of e learning platforms pictures have been very much of some help for teachers to make students understand about the complex topics. It has made tremendous change in the education industry making it very convenient and easy for both teachers and students.

 It is amazing how something which is not even an object can communicate to us in different ways and make us feel things. There are different aspects of pictures which makes us feel different emotions. The most important factor of pictures which helps us to experience emotions are colors. Colors can evoke different emotions and moods. There are different colors that helps to create emotions in human brain for instance red, red is often considered as a sensual color which can create energy and passion, blue resembles of calmness. The process of colors creating emotions is known as color theory. The color theory can be used in advertising, marketing and design to create a specific visual response in viewers. 

By using the psychology of colors, we can use them to influence the way perceive things and manipulate them into thinking what we want. There are different examples of color theory in our day-to-day life. For example, institutions like hospitals and schools might use cool colors like blue and green to create a calming environment. Warm colors like orange, red and yellow are used where the goal is to create excitement, energy and passion like a restaurant they use warm colors to stimulate the appetite of the customer.

 Overall colors are a great factor for creating emotions in humans through drawings. Our preferences play a big part in communication of pictures, but scientists have proved that they are categories of pictures which creates different emotions in humans. By now we have understood that the role of pictures and how pictures act a modem of communication. I just want to say that there is hidden meaning in everything around us and we just must look a little closer to understand it. This reminds me of a quote which goes like “one picture is worth a thousand words.”