Johannesburg, 12 September, 2012  – Have you noticed that in the last year the internet and the world around us has become more visual? Infographics are taking over the web and even adverts on TV are using design to ‘show’ their story and products?

A complex idea is so much easier to understand when it is visually represented.  Think of Biology lessons, without those amazing anatomical drawings of complex organs like the Kidney, would you have had a clue? Wouldn’t History be so much easier to learn if it was mapped out diagrammatically?

The advances in visual communication have begun to transform the marketing, advertising, entertainment and even education industries.  This is a good thing, because our brains are hard-wired to ‘get’ graphic cues and they aren’t really that good at understanding ‘raw’ data.

The saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ was fist created in 1921! There’s no doubt that the writer had no idea how true that would really be 91 years later with the likes of Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram dominating the internet!

With all this visual communication around, there is now an increased demand for artistic people and designers to create these graphic representations of data.  Some of the careers available in this industry are very new and even those that have been around for a long time are evolving.  Think of how 3D animation has advanced! Walt Disney once said ‘if you can dream it, you can do it’.  He was a pretty innovative person but one wanders if even he could have dreamed of the likes of YouTube or Tumblr?

For young people, a creative or digital flair needs to be nurtured. Picasso had the Royal Academy of Art in Barcelona, Michelangelo was tutored by an accomplished artist called Domenico Ghirlandaio and Monet had the Le Havre secondary school of the arts.

If you know you have some talent, perhaps you should follow your dreams and begin investigating how to develop it.  Maybe it’s time to look into schools and colleges that have specialised expertise in this field.  There is no better way to hone your skills than under the tutorship of people who live and breathe visual communications.

Once such school is the Open Window School of Visual Communication.  They have an open day on Saturday the 15th at their Irene campus in Gauteng. At the open day there will be students working on their creations in various fields to demonstrate what being a ‘creative giant’ is all about.  Every part of the industry will be explained at the event.  You never know, you may meet the lecturer who will know just how to nurture your talent so that you can fulfil your purpose in this new, visual world.

This is a video that students from Open Window created to promote the open day. If you want to find out more about the school or the event please visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/theopenwindow.

LINK TO VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UUmWWIqK1sqc1Iy3gEi6QWgQ&v=DJpcfv4hWrA

Sent in by Tejal Mistri