Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design

Reading Images provides the first systematic and comprehensive account of the grammar of visual design. By looking at the formal elements and structures of design - colour, perspective, framing and composition, Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeunwen examine the ways in which images communicate meaning. Drawing on an enormous range of examples - children's drawings, textbook illustrations, photojournalism, advertising images and fine art, as well as three-dimensional forms such as sculpture and architecture, the authors demonstrate the differences and the similarities between the grammar of language and that of visual communication. As we move from a culture dominated by language to one in which visual literacy becomes increasingly important, this book provides an invaluable tool-kit' for reading images. It will be an essential text for anyone interested in communication, the media and the arts.