Call for Visual Essays & UPDATED ADVICE TO AUTHORS

2012-02-02

VISUAL ESSAYS

Guidelines for Authors 2 (Visual Essays [Image/Text-Based Submissions])

The TOTAL word limit for a Visual Essay is 1,000 words. Visual Essays should be a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 10 pages.

What IS a Visual Essay?

We offer these comments as guidance, there are many ways to make a visual essay and we would encourage you to discuss your proposal with the Editor before your submit.

Visual essays or image/text-based submissions, should integrate image and text in a creative way to document, evaluate or reflect on art-based learning activities, events or outcomes. Think of it as an exploration of a topic that conveys ideas and meaning through visual means as well as language. It is important to note that we view visual essays as equal in academic status to traditional text based articles.

 

Proposals for visual essays should include a critical introduction (or an abstract) more than 150 words outlining to the editorial team why the work submitted is relevant to the theme of art education. This proposal should also be accompanied with the images according to the relevant guidelines stated in this document. If the feature is selected for publication the editorial team will be seeking your input on the design of the feature. The total word limit for image/text features is 1,000 words.

 

Visual essays should integrate images and text in a creative way so that they document, evaluate and critically reflect on arts education based activities, events and outcomes. Images should not simply illustrate the text or exhibit the authors or students' artistic productions as in a gallery but should constitute an essential component in the articulation of meaning.

In a visual essay, the aim is to report ideas, processes and results or pose questions that cannot be easily explained by words alone.

The submission may:

●      Be entirely visual or may combine image and text.

●      Include image and text working together to tell the story, with predominance of images over text.

●      Include images originating from a range of sources, for example, an image collection that is already available such as a curated collection or an image archive. Images that have been produced specially or the essay; images collected as research data; images collected to report and document an artistic process or event or images selected or produced to reflect on a particular aspect of art education.

 

Questions to consider

  • What, if anything is unique or at least unusual about the report, topic or event(s)?
  • Does it offer a new perspective on art, craft or design education?
  • Will it be of interest to other art educators around the world?

 

 

What IS NOT a Visual Essay?

  • Lecture notes
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Exhibition notes, reviews or catalogues
  • Images of the author's artwork or sketchbooks
  • An essay with illustrations

If the feature is selected for publication the editorial team will be seeking your input on the design of the feature. The total word limit for image/text features is 1,000 words. Visual Essays should be a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 10 pages.

 

Copyright
Copyright clearance should be indicated and is always the responsibility of the contributor. The source has to be indicated beneath the text. When they are on a separate sheet or file, indication must be given as to where they should be placed in the text. The author has responsibility to ensure that the proper permissions/model for visual image releases are obtained.

 

Submission

Authors should submit the following:

  • Critical introduction (no more than 150 words)
  • Up to 6 Keywords
  • Full postal and email contact details of authors
  • Visual Essay (image and text integrated – 1,000 words max)

Visual Essays should be submitted first as a DOC file, or an editable pdf file.  At the submission stage, authors should integrate the images in the file at low resolution; if accepted for publication, editors will require high-resolution images and will work with authors on the layout of the Visual Essay.

 

Copy Editing and Layout

If the Visual Essay is accepted for publication, authors will be required to supply separate text files and high-resolution images. Images should be of the highest possible quality, jpeg or tiff files at 300 dpi.  The authors should suggest the layout of the Visual Essay and work with the editors and journal graphic designers.  Original artwork should be scanned at actual size and 300dpi.