Audience and purpose
Creators of still images, especially advertisers, will think carefully about their target audience and the purpose of the image they are constructing. You can think of it as 'the who' and 'the why' of image construction.
Two key questions to ask are:
1. At whom is the image aimed? (Who is the audience?)
2. What is the image for? (What is the purpose?)
To identify the audience and the purpose of a still image look at the visual codes. Symbolic codes will give you clues about the audience and purpose. For example, young children under the age of five often love bright colours and like to pretend they are mum or dad. So, an advertising image aimed at this age group might use the symbolic codes of colour, costume and setting to target this group.
The written text which accompanies a still image is important when identifying the audience and purpose. Language will be a clue. You will need to consider the following questions.
- Is slang used?
- Is formal language used?
- Is the language relaxed and casual?
- Does the written text contain technical or scientific jargon?
- Is the language descriptive?
- Does the written text convey feelings or attitudes about the subject of the image?
- Does the language help you to identify any aspects of the target audience, for example, the age, the gender (male or female), the level of education, or the interests of the
target audience?
