Project Title:Exploring Modes of Visual Narratives (Static Form)

Guide: Prof. Ravi Poovaiah

That visual narratives form a substantial corpus in the field of Visual Communication is beyond doubt. Having said so, one cannot overlook the presence of Discourse in visual narratives. Conforming to the fact, that a given text, can be visually represented in an infinite number of ways, we infer (from our empirical experience) that these are done using certain finite number of factors.  In order to engage in an investigation of modes of visual narratives it is essential to first of all have a better understanding of discourse in visual narratives. This research project therefore is divided into two parts, the first concerns discourse in visual narratives and the second modes of visual narratives.

The depiction of a story by pictorial means involves the problem of a relationship between literature on the one hand and the representational arts on the other. Narratives have been visually represented in illustration and sculpture since early times. The function of the visual narrative is to represent and interpret the meaning of the text/story. Discourse in visual narratives is the study of ‘how’ stories are told and what are the various factors that come into effect when these stories are represented on a given medium. Visual narratives form a part of the discipline of visual communication and are therefore considered as part of design. The protagonist of the story together with factors of space and time are the major components of the narrative. It is the artist who infers and decides how to represent factors such as the space, the characters, the time and the unfolding of the narrative using a variety of modes of narratives. It is our belief that finding what these factors are and how they function would aid in representing the text visually that is premeditated, in a manner such as to explicitly state exactly the message intended through it.

Contact details:
Industrial Design Centre,
IIT Bombay ,
Powai, Mumbai 400076

Telephone:
091-022-25767812

E-mail:sherline_1[at]iitb.ac.in
         sherline[at]gmail.com