A descriptive analysis of the perception of images in selected posters by contemporary kenyans: a case study of Masaku district and Nairobi area
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Date
1990
Authors
Miano, Kahare
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Abstract
The Problem
Graphic communication in print media form that is available in
Kenya sometimes is not sensitive to the perceptual abilities or
aesthetic preferences of the public. It's importance in today's
world can not be overstressed.
The extent to which the Kenyan public is able to identify images
in posters as well as gather information from same is often
anybody's guess.
Hence the need for regular analyses of the various poster designs
that various institutions have been using. For this particular
research, posters designed for the Ministry of Health, the United
Nations body, selected consumer products and for purely decorative
design were used to analyse the problem.
Procedure
The researcher selected fourteen posters that constituted as
large a variety of designs as possible and an interview-schedule
was designed.
This was followed by the random selection of people from an
urban and a rural environment. There were two hundred people
from Nairobi area and two hundred from Kikima in Masaku District.
They were categorised on the basis of five factors, namely,
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a. age-group; b. formal educational level; c. sex;
d. occupation and e.' physical environment which the researcher
considered an important factor that could easily be overlooked.
Data gathered from the field sought to determine whether these
factors had a significant bearing on the peoples' ability to
correctly interpret information in the variety of posters.
Findings
The data gathered was analysed on the basis of four basic skills
exhibited by the interviewee.
a. Interviewee's ability to identify pictorial image.
b. Interviewee's ability to read and understand text in
English and Kiswahili.
c. Interviewee's ability to see colours.
J. Interviewee's ability to interpret posters correctly.
For the first three skills, the influence of formal educational
level was not significant. However, interpretation of the
posters was very dependent on the interviewee's formal
educational level and previous experience with visual material
either formally or informally.
Another interesting observation was that ability to identify
pictorial image, colour and text did not always reduce uncertainty
in the interviewee, as the researcher had expected.
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Conclusions
The study has, indeed, thrown some light on the abilities of
the Kenyan public to interpret information in posters.
We can expect the public that has a formal education of
secondary school level to interpret,correctly~information
carried in posters that have non-representational images even
if they are poorly des igned. For those interviewees without a
secondary school education but who were able to interpret it,
their past experience with visual material often made it
possible for the message to get through.
Since the majority of the Kenyan population do not have
secondary school level education at present, graphic designers
must make posters that use clearer and simpler imagery that uses
less text if they are to reach them effectively
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Fine Art at Kenyatta University Nairobi, Kenya 1990. NC 1810.M52