Tonal Artifactualizations: Light-to-dark in Still Imagery and Effects on Perception

Abstract

Mass media news outlets that produce print products use aestheticized imagery in their editorial content and in-house produced advertisements. The human visual system's (HVS) physical and cognitive properties enable people to see the imagery. Discussion of the imagery rarely singles out aestheticized elements connected with the variance of light-to-dark (luminance contrast). This paper introduces tonal artifactualizations, an additional category to quantify images in which luminance contrast is purposely varied to have an effect on perception. This position uses a symbolic-interpretive view of organizational culture based on communication theory. Information from published research on organizational aesthetics; visual literacy and recent theory on the human visual system are also used in the discussion. The paper will report findings from the analysis of data in a quasi-experiment measuring if mean difference exists between luminance contrast in tonal artifactualizations and has an effects on stakeholder perception of sociological meaning and product appeal.