How Visually Literate Are You?
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Knowing how to read and write makes you literate in the traditional sense of the word. But in an increasingly visual world, being visually literate is almost as important. With language, literacy is based on our ability to understand grammars, cultural conventions and nuances, syntax, vocabulary, and so forth. Visual literacy requires a similar understanding of conventions and rules for how we interpret images and design. Now's your chance to test your visual literacy skills!
- 1.
![Typography: Helvetica is the world’s most widely used font. Which of the following American companies uses Helvetica as its logo typeface?]( "Typography: Helvetica is the world’s most widely used font. Which of the following American companies uses Helvetica as its logo typeface?")
- A.
Pepsi
- B.
Sears
- C.
Google
- D.
Apple
- 2.
![Photography and Layout: Let’s assume Time Magazine wanted to publish a cover article entitled “Barack Obama: The Man behind the President.” Based on design theories about how people interpret personality, intelligence, sensuality, and other human characteristics from photos, one of the four pictures below would be best for communicating the appropriate message that Time would likely want. Which photo would be best for this article?]( "Photography and Layout: Let’s assume Time Magazine wanted to publish a cover article entitled “Barack Obama: The Man behind the President.” Based on design theories about how people interpret personality, intelligence, sensuality, and other human characteristics from photos, one of the four pictures below would be best for communicating the appropriate message that Time would likely want. Which photo would be best for this article?")
- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
- D.
D
- 3.
![Color Saturation: According to color psychology theories, color saturation affects the way people interpret the personality of a brand. Based on color saturation, which of the following logos best communicates the collective ideas of “performance,” “efficiency,” “friendly,” and “professional?”]( "Color Saturation: According to color psychology theories, color saturation affects the way people interpret the personality of a brand. Based on color saturation, which of the following logos best communicates the collective ideas of “performance,” “efficiency,” “friendly,” and “professional?”")
- A.
JPMorganChase
- B.
Wells Fargo
- C.
Golden West Credit Union
- D.
TD Bank
- 4.
![Human Bias: Humans have a predisposed bias that causes them to inadvertently stereotype people with certain facial features as being naïve, innocent, helpless, and honest. Look at the images below. Imagine a person that didn’t know or recognize any of the people in the photographs. Based on these images alone and the facial features in each image, which of the four women would the person most likely be inclined to stereotype as naïve, innocent, helpless, and honest?]( "Human Bias: Humans have a predisposed bias that causes them to inadvertently stereotype people with certain facial features as being naïve, innocent, helpless, and honest. Look at the images below. Imagine a person that didn’t know or recognize any of the people in the photographs. Based on these images alone and the facial features in each image, which of the four women would the person most likely be inclined to stereotype as naïve, innocent, helpless, and honest?")
- A.
Ellen Page
- B.
Kristen Stewart
- C.
Keira Knightly
- D.
Jennifer Garner
- 5.
![Multicultural Color: Cultures around the globe use different colors to signify all kinds of emotions and ideas such as love, danger, and patriotism. In the United States, the concept of death is usually represented with the color black. What color similarly signifies death in India?]( "Multicultural Color: Cultures around the globe use different colors to signify all kinds of emotions and ideas such as love, danger, and patriotism. In the United States, the concept of death is usually represented with the color black. What color similarly signifies death in India?")
Multicultural Color: Cultures around the globe use different colors to signify all kinds of emotions and ideas such as love, danger, and patriotism. In the United States, the concept of death is usually represented with the color black. What color similarly signifies death in India?- A.
Blue
- B.
Purple
- C.
White
- D.
Red
- 6.Decision-making: Assume you want to sell jam to visitors in a shopping mall. On one end of the store you set up a booth and present passersby with 6 flavors of jam. On the other end of the mall, you set up another booth with 24 flavors of jam. Based on research about people making decisions when they see multiple options, which of the following is the most likely scenario when comparing visitor response to each booth?
- A.
More people will stop at the booth with 24 and a larger percentage of people will buy jam that that booth.
- B.
Fewer people will stop at the booth with 24 but a larger percentage of people will buy from that booth.
- C.
More people will stop at the booth with 6 and a larger percentage of people will buy from that booth.
- D.
Fewer people will stop at the booth with 6 but a larger percentage of people will buy from that booth.
- 7.
![Punctuation: Apostrophes are visual cues that clarify ownership and contractions of words. Which of the following Christmas card greetings accurately uses the apostrophe?]( "Punctuation: Apostrophes are visual cues that clarify ownership and contractions of words. Which of the following Christmas card greetings accurately uses the apostrophe?")
Punctuation: Apostrophes are visual cues that clarify ownership and contractions of words. Which of the following Christmas card greetings accurately uses the apostrophe?- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
- 8.
![Rule of Thirds: The Rule of Thirds is probably considered one of the most foundational principles in photography and film for creating dynamic and visually interesting images. Which of the following images best uses the Rule of Thirds?]( "Rule of Thirds: The Rule of Thirds is probably considered one of the most foundational principles in photography and film for creating dynamic and visually interesting images. Which of the following images best uses the Rule of Thirds?")
- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
- D.
D
- 9.
![Eye-Brain Perception: Look at the image below created by MIT Professor Edward H. Adelson and examine the two labeled squares.
The square labeled 'B' is]( "Eye-Brain Perception: Look at the image below created by MIT Professor Edward H. Adelson and examine the two labeled squares.
The square labeled 'B' is")
- A.
A lighter shade of gray than the square labeled ‘A’
- B.
The same shade of gray as the square labeled ‘A’
- C.
A darker shade of gray than the square labeled ‘A’
- 10.
![Typography: Observe the signs in the image collage below. The font used for each of the signs has been labeled as the most hated and misused font of our time. Can you name the font?]( "Typography: Observe the signs in the image collage below. The font used for each of the signs has been labeled as the most hated and misused font of our time. Can you name the font?")
- 11.
![Wayfinding: In America, we have a color system for road signs. On a freeway, what color would the road sign be that identifies the exit for a baseball stadium?]( "Wayfinding: In America, we have a color system for road signs. On a freeway, what color would the road sign be that identifies the exit for a baseball stadium?")
Wayfinding: In America, we have a color system for road signs. On a freeway, what color would the road sign be that identifies the exit for a baseball stadium?- A.
Blue
- B.
White
- C.
Green
- D.
Brown
- 12.
![Figure-Ground Relationship: What do you see in the image below?]( "Figure-Ground Relationship: What do you see in the image below?")
Figure-Ground Relationship: What do you see in the image below?- A.
Depends on my mood; this is a Rorschach inkblot test (a psychology test that gauges emotion and personality).
- B.
A flying saucer.
- C.
A dog drinking water.
- D.
Fallen leaves.
- 13.
![Data Manipulation: The same data can be presented visually in many different ways. The three visualizations technically communicate the same data, yet each tells a different story about the data. Which visualization manipulates the data the most and thus communicates the least accurate (and probably unethical) meaning of the data?]( "Data Manipulation: The same data can be presented visually in many different ways. The three visualizations technically communicate the same data, yet each tells a different story about the data. Which visualization manipulates the data the most and thus communicates the least accurate (and probably unethical) meaning of the data?")
- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
.jpg "Typography: Helvetica is the world’s most widely used font. Which of the following American companies uses Helvetica as its logo typeface?")
.jpg "Punctuation: Apostrophes are visual cues that clarify ownership and contractions of words. Which of the following Christmas card greetings accurately uses the apostrophe?")
.jpg "Rule of Thirds: The Rule of Thirds is probably considered one of the most foundational principles in photography and film for creating dynamic and visually interesting images. Which of the following images best uses the Rule of Thirds?")
.jpg "Typography: Observe the signs in the image collage below. The font used for each of the signs has been labeled as the most hated and misused font of our time. Can you name the font?")
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