A conceptual image. Conceptual images do not involve
action or reaction on the part of RPs but represent “participants
in terms of their more generalized and more/less
stable and timeless essence, in terms of class, or structure,
or meaning” (Kress and van Leeuwen 1996, p. 79).
Figure 7 is the main illustration from the home page of
The Breast Cancer Site and is accompanied by the text:
“43,000 will die this year.” The use of a faceless crowd, a
classificatory process, encourages the viewer to think of
breast cancer in the abstract, that is, about the many who
will die and the social, political, and economic consequences
of the disease. The figures, which are only outlines,
are similar to those seen in graphs, giving a technical/
scientific resonance to the image. (It is also interesting that
this facelessness of the figures allows the viewer to insert
his/her face, thereby adding a personal, and frightening,
resonance.) The calendar in the right-hand corner is an
indexical sign, serving as a type of “death-watch countdown.”
The rectangular shapes of both the image and this
sign add to the scientific/technical quality of this image
since “In our society, squares and rectangles are the elements
of the mechanical, technological order . . . ” (Kress
and van Leeuwen 1996, p. 52).
Although visual social semiotics assisted in the analysis
of Figure 7, the theoretical framework is not sufficient to
deal with the many issues involved in the design of appropriate
and accurate charts, diagrams, and so on. Professional
communicators who must deal with technical illustrations
in their projects would be well served by becoming
acquainted with the extensive literature on the subject.
(Kostelnick 1998 provides a good introduction to the different
standards for data displays as well as identifying
leaders in the field of technical illustration.)