Graphic Design

LEFT to RIGHT: The Cultural Shift from Word to Pictures

David Crow

LEFT to RIGHT: the Cultural Shift from Words to Pictures is an in-depth study of the influence digital technology has had on the way we communicate, and the increasingly visual nature of our culture.

It demonstrates that the development of language has gone hand in hand with the development of technology, discussing the challenge posed to alphabetic information by the rapid development of screenbased media over the latter half of the twentieth century, which has seen the introduction of an increasingly portable range of digital technologies. With this has come an increasingly image-based use of language.

The increasing convergence of the television with the home computer, the video game, the world wide web, the mobile telephone and the digital camera has run in parallel with a reduction in the number of people reading text. Artists, designers, authors, publishers, schools and universities have all had to reassess their approach to language and find new ways of talking to a generation who have a new way of reading.

Key features

• A detailed study of the development of image-based language and culture in the latter half of the twentieth century.
• Discusses the relationship between emerging technologies and language.
• Explores the significance of design and other creative disciplines in our image-based culture.

Readership: Required Reading Range (Module Reader)

• This title is designed to support specialized modules of degree courses and provide a platform for further exploration of the subject matter.
• LEFT to RIGHT is a detailed discussion of a prevalent topic in cultural theory. It is an ideal core text for contextual studies modules, as part of a larger visual arts degree.

The book bridges the gap between the technical and theoretical, enabling students to think more laterally and thus improve their practice.

Charles daCosta, Savannah College of Art & Design

978 2 940373 36 9

$39.95 srp

192 pages
250 colour images
300mm x 220mm
Paperback with flaps

Winter 2006