Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this book a leading researcher and artist explores how we see pictures and how they can communicate messages to us, both directly and indirectly by making allusions to objects in space or to stored images in our minds. Dr Wade provides fascinating examples of pictures that communicate hidden messages, either by implying something else, or by a shape or portrait which is carried covertly within another design. He analyses image processing stages in vision, demonstrating that the various stages may be related to styles in representational art. He shows how the way we have been taught to look at and recognise objects, affects the way we see them. The book lavishly illustrates with original examples of visual allusions and includes detailed practical advice on how photographers and designers can create them. Essential reading for photographers, designers, artists, people in film and television, and anyone involved in visual science , visual communication and advertising.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Reading this book is like having a personal guided tour, by the artist, through a one-person art exhibit. Even better, the artist is a well-respected researcher in visual perception who has applied his knowledge to his craft. By "visual allusion" Wade is referring to pictures that have double meanings or ambiguities, as do verbal allusions in normal discourse. Wade is a talented artist, a fact learned from his earlier work, The Art and Science of Visual Illusions (CH, Jul'83), similar to the book under review. Another similar book, but with different emphases, is Roger N. Shepard's Mind Sights (1990). Although the art and discourse in this book are serious in intent, they are also playful and full of fun. The writing is clear, the graphics are nicely printed, and the factual material on visual perception is accurate and up-to-date. A nice touch is the annotated bibliography following each chapter. Useful subject and author indexes are provided. General readership.-R. H. Cormack, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology