Unit 3 The Communication Process and a Communication Model

The Development of Graphic Communications

Even before primitive man developed spoken language, he was able to communicate by grunting, laughing, frowning, screaming, and by using physical force. In these and other ways he made his message clear to others.

As time went on, man developed other ways of communicating. He learned to mark trails with piles of stones or cuts on trees. He discovered how to control fire and use smoke to signal others. He learned to communicate through a spoken language. And then he learned to write.

THE EVOLUTION OF WRITING. Writing made it possible to record information. It also made it possible to send messages over great distances without direct contact. Most important, though, it enabled man to transmit knowledge to future generations.

Pictographs. Evidence of man's early attempts at writing can be found on the walls of caves 30,000 years old. The writing was in the form of pictures painted on cave walls. These paintings are called pictographs.

Ideographs. As man's need to communicate grew, picture writing gave way to idea writing. Pictures began to take on abstract meanings. Instead of representing the objects pictured, the pictures took on new meanings. They began to represent the feeling or idea that each was supposed to suggest. Graphic symbols that represent ideas are called ideographs. Figure 2-1.

Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics are a form of ideograph. They are highly sophisticated renderings perfected by the Egyptians around 2500 B.C. Each picture represents an idea, not a sound as modern letters do. Hieroglyphic writing is shown in Figure 2-2.

Cuneiform Writing. The ancient Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians used wedge-shaped letters. Originally these letters were cut by chisel into stone. Later letters were pressed into clay tablets with small brass or copper punches. This form of writing is called cuneiform. A cuneiform tablet is shown in Figure 2-3.

The Alphabet. The alphabet as we know it today is based on an early Phoenician system used around 1500 B.C. The Greeks adopted this system of writing about 1000 B.C. The Roman alphabet, which we use today, is based on the Greek adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet. Figure 2-4 illustrates the evolution of our alphabet.

DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. Writing is an essential part of graphic communications. It enabled our ancestors to communicate with others without the need for direct contact. Writing allowed them to record their history, their art, their science, their knowledge and their skills. It allowed our ancestors to communicate with future generations.

To advance the communications process, limitations had to be overcome. Ways had to be found for reproducing several copies of a message without having to rewrite the message each time. Writing and printing materials, such as inks, had to be invented and developed.

The Communication Process

One way to understand a complicated machine like an automobile or computer is to look at its parts. Once we understand each part, we can study how they all go together. We can use this same approach to look at a complex event or process. Communication is one such process.

A COMMUNICATION MODEL. Communication is the process of conveying a message from one person or group of people to another. Like the automobile, the communication process consists of some basic parts. The drawing presented in Figure 2-5 is an attempt to identify these basic parts and to present them in simple form.

Figure 2-5 presents a model.The term model as we are using it here means“a simplified representation of the communication process”. The model describes the major parts of communication and how they go together.

Source. Someone must initiate the communication process. Whoever initiates the process is called the source.

Need. The source initiates the process because there is a need to communicate.For example, the need or purpose may be to inform, influence, stimulate, question, or entertain.

Message. A message is the product of the communication process. It is the information transmitted from a source to a receiver. The message consists of an organized sequence of symbols and signals designed to convey a desired meaning. When signals or symbols are grouped or arranged to convey desired information (the message), they form a code.

Vehicle. Information in the form of a coded message is transmitted from source to receiver by means of a vehicle.The vehicle is simply the carrier of the information.It is the link between source and receiver on which or through which a message travels. Examples of vehicles include air, wire, space, paper, tape, etc.

The pairing of a message with an appropriate vehicle results in the formation of a communications medium. Some examples of communications media are shown in Figure 2-6.

Receiver. The vehicle carries the source's message to another person or audience. The person or audience receiving the message is called the receiver.

Feedback. The way in which the receiver reacts to the message lets the source know whether or not his communication was successful. We call the receiver's reaction feedback because it is fed back to the source.

Interference. Negative feedback or total lack of feedback from the receiver could indicate that certain conditions interfered with successful communication. For example, a transistor radio blasting in your ear might interfere with your ability to concentrate and successfully complete your work.A condition that interferes with communication is called interference.

Key Technical Terms

communication 信息传播

message 信息

ideograph 表意文字

hieroglyphic 象形文字，象形文字的

alphabet 字母

Phoenician alphabet 腓尼基字母

vehicle 信息载体

audience 受众，观众

interference 干扰

graphic communication 图文信息传播

pictograph 象形石壁画

communication model 信息传播模型

cuneiform 楔形文字

Roman alphabet 罗马字母

source 信息源

receiver 信息接收者

feedback 信息反馈

tape 磁带

Supplementary Reading

Fierce Competition of Print Media vs. Electronic Media

Not since the invention of movable type by Gutenberg in 1450 has the communication land-scape been shaken at its foundation as today, when print media face competition from new and novel forms of visual communication. To be sure, printing has faced challenges before; one only has to think of the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell about 130 years ago, Guglielmo Marconi's invention of wireless radio just over 100 years ago, and, more recently, the rate at which television has been accepted globally since its first introduction in the 1950s. Not only has print survived the emergence of these previously unknown media types, but it has thrived, as the enormous growth statistics of printing output and paper consumption in the twentieth century can bear witness to.

A critical analysis ought to be made as to why printing has weathered the onslaught of new forms of communication in the past and if, in fact, print media will yet again be able to prevail over radically different methods of dissemi nating information.

There is no doubt that radio and television have taken away a substantial share of the revenue stream generated by commercial advertising from print media, which is particu larly affecting the newspaper and periodicals publishing industry. In other areas the print and electronic media led quite separate existences. For example the printing of books, packaging, signage, posters, stationery, forms, catalogues, directories, brochures, lottery tickets, currency, securities, and wall coverings has never really been in direct competition with radio and television. Still, even in some of these product categories, print media are increasingly being challenged by what is often described as paperless communication systems. Books in digital file formats, such as PDF together with electronic reading devices commonly known as e-books, come deceptively close to the reading experience of a physical book. Also, signage is increasingly produced on electronic billboards and flat panel television screens.

This is not to say the print media are dead in the water for these product categories, but rather that the public's communication choices have increased and that print media must find ways to enhance certain unique print characteristics and peculiarities that are appealing to consumers and readers and which, moreover, are not repro ducible in other media forms.

It also means that some sensory effects and sensations, such as motion and sound, will always be the purview of electronic media and, as such, are usually not within the capabilities of print technology. Also, in some product categories such as reference texts or encyclopaedias print media may in fact have outlived their usefulness, because digital media have overwhelming cost and functional advantages for this type of reading material.

In other product categories, such as packaging, print media remains unchallenged simply be-cause the ultimate purpose of these product categories goes beyond imaging.

From the previous examples, it can be concluded that if the purpose of a product is limited to the representation of graphic information, it can often be reproduced more cost-effectively by new media forms, as they do not rely on physical materials to be functional. Moreover, digital electronic media can include myriad features such as motion, sound, and interactivity that print media inherently lack. If, however, a product's purpose goes beyond the mere repre sentation of graphic information, print media are not only the better alternative, but often the only possible option. The dual purpose of packaging is the most obvious example, because packaging at once serves to communicate the nature of a product contained within it and as a functional container of the product. For obvious reasons, the latter function could never be an electronic media feature.

Thus, this potential dual purpose of conven tionally printed products can add functionality beyond imaging, which differentiates print from digital media. Newspapers and magazines are increasingly leveraging this ability by deliv ering more than editorial content. Sophisticated inserting technology permits newspapers and magazines to include supplemental publications, product and scent samples, CDs, reply cards, folders, food drive bags, board games, magnetic labels, and battery testers to name a few articles that are routinely found as inserts in today's newspapers and magazines. In short, beyond being a source of information, newspapers and magazines have become carriers of useful products.

Exercise

Q&A

1．List tentechniques our ancestors used to communicate with others.

2．Give three advantages of written communication.

3．Explain the difference between a pictograph and an ideograph.

4．Define communication in terms of the elements that comprise it.

5．Describe the relationship among the elements of communication.

Complete the Sentences by Filling in the Blanks

1．Writing made it possible to________ information. It also made it possible to ________messages over________ without direct contact. Most important, though, it enabled man to ________knowledge to future generations.

2．Fill in the form

Put the following into Chinese

The graphic communications industry can be divided into segments or classifications. A few of the segments are: commercial printing, periodical printing, newspaper printing, book publishing and printing, in-plant printing, and forms printing.

Commercial printing The commercial printer is a printer for hire and has a very complex product variety. Typical products produced by this plant would revolve around job printing (flyers, brochures, letterheads, envelopes, etc.), advertising printing (events, products, etc.), and annual reports (financial statements of large companies). One printing process, offset lithography, appears to stand out in the commercial printing segment.

Periodical printing Periodical printing consists of those establishments that print magazines. Publishers of periodicals are found in nearly every state of the United States. It appears that a shift to gravure is taking place in periodical production.

Newspaper Printing Newspaper printing provides news and advertising to various markets. The computer is very evident in today's facility. Satellite transmission makes it possible to have newspapers with national information on a daily basis.