SchoolArts - December 2010

Story Is the Heart of Design

Telling visual stories is a key component in many fields of design. Stories are not only told with words, but with images, objects, places, and visual experiences as well.

Children’s book illustration is one of the key storytelling arts and the annual Caldecott Awards for illustration provide an excellent motivation for students to explore telling stories with visual images.

Martin Rayala

they might be found in the wild. For the first time in these exhibits, which have become standard today, we could see the adult male and female of a species, along with their young, engaged in typical activities in their natural settings.

They struggled to get people to look directly at the colors, shapes, forms, and textures in the works rather than asking, “What is it about?”

Looking Beyond Stories

Interestingly, as the importance of
story grew in the design world, many
in the fine-art
world were taking
conscious steps
to remove story
from fine art.
Nonrepresenta-
tional and abstract
artists who gained
prominence in the
twentieth century tried to get people
to look at their work purely as paint-
ings and sculptures rather than repre-
sentations of external places or events.

Schools, like children’s
museums, can use images,
objects, places, and
experiences to visually
communicate history,
science, and social studies.

Ways of Telling
Visual Stories

Today, many visual stories are told through animation and movies. These fields employ specialists in visual storytelling with job titles like “story artist” and “storyboarder.” Many animated films begin as a visual story told in sketches rather than a written script. The annual Academy Awards include many honors for visual storytelling through design.

Objects and places can also tell stories. The Disney Imagineers are famous for designing theme park exhibits in which every detail has a back story. For each ride, show, or attraction, a logical story sequence is created. A bicycle leaning casually against a building on Main Street is certainly accompanied by a detailed story that reveals why it is there, who was riding it, and what we think that person is doing now.

Zoos, aquariums, museums, and theme parks use environments to tell stories about the animals and artifacts they display. By placing things in context we can more easily understand and gain insights into their meanings. In 1890, museum curator Carl Ackeley created the first complete museum diorama in which stuffed animals were exhibited in the settings where

Schools and Storytelling Schools can take better advantage of the art of storytelling by making schools into three-dimensional representations of the curriculum. Schools, like children’s museums, can use images, objects, places, and experiences to visually communicate history, science, and social studies. Schools need to become environments for learning in which the walls and halls become part of the curriculum, and the stories of our universe and human development are presented in visually compelling ways.