Digital Tools in visual Designs

By: Stewart Mafeni

Visual designs are ‘nonverbal arts that reach us via the eyes.’ Visual designs are divided according to the kinds of materials that are used and the way the designs are produced. In this way, three dimensional objects are distinguished from photographs, prints and paintings.

Digital tools have now become integral parts of the process of making art. In this focus is put on computer assisted art or visual designs. This modernistic trend in pursuing art or visual designs is referred to as Digital art.

Digital art can be purely computer-generated, such as fractals, or taken from another source, such as a scanned photograph, or an image drawn using vector graphics software using a mouse or graphics tablet.

Although technically the term may be applied to art done using other media or processes and merely scanned in, it is usually reserved for art that has been non-trivially modified by a computing process (such as a computer program, microcontroller or any electronic system capable of interpreting an input to create an output); digitized text data and raw audio and video recordings are not usually considered digital art in themselves, but can be part of a larger project.

Digital art is produced by using electronic versions of brushes, filters and enlargers, these "Neographers" produce images unattainable through conventional photographic tools. In addition, digital artists may manipulate scanned drawings, paintings, collages or lithographs, as well as using any of the above-mentioned techniques in combination. Artists also use many other sources of information and programs to create their work.

By the concept digital tools in visual designs emphasis is on computer aided visual designs as opposed to conventionally drawn or panted visual designs. The objective is to produce images of high quality surpassing that attainable by conventional drawings or paintings. Furthermore, reproducibility and mass production are both attainable with computer assisted visual designs.

The concept of digital tools in visual designs was propounded way back in the 1920s. Bauhaus, a school for art and architecture in the 1920s, promoted the idea that ‘artful objects should be partnered with technology to create livable solutions to living spaces.’ Simply put, Bauhaus design offers practical, durable, inexpensive, yet aesthetically pleasing designs. To most, Bauhaus may mean a modernistic approach to architecture, visual designs or art, but artists, architects or designers can use the concepts of Bauhaus to provide easy solutions for making their respective tasks in their professions fully functional while retaining the unique aspects of their artful skills.

The visual designs that are produced using digital tools stand out in several aspects. For those individuals who have the ability to visualize and see the world in pictures. Such designs depict a unique touch which is not attainable conventionally.

The design abilities of artists, architects or designers are affected positively with digital tools. This is so because of greater possibilities that digital tools are able to offer to an artist or a designer.

Digital artists create in their minds video-like images from either actual daily experiences or translations of written information into pictures. These pictures are later digitally encoded unto the graphic software in a computer.

Visual Artists think in photographically specific images. Children who are visual thinkers will often be good at drawing, other arts, and building things with building toys such as Lego's. Many children who are visual thinkers like maps, flags, and photographs. And these children can be introduced to digital tools in their early developmental stages so that they should sharpen their skills in visual designs.

In the long run skilled visual thinkers will be produced who will be well suited to jobs in drafting, graphic design, training animals, auto mechanics, jewelry making, construction, and factory automation. This will be the case because these people think in pictures or images. These images are first created in their minds and are later drawn on suitable surfaces. These surfaces may be a paper, wall, plank, pulpwood etc.

Besides the suitable surface, artists draw with chalk, charcoal, crayon, or pencil. They may use a liquid, such as ink, applied with a brush or pen for painting or drawing purposes. Sometimes it becomes very expensive to acquire all these items. As a result, most visual thinkers get discouraged and the talents in them are not nurtured or sharpened. In the end, most visual thinkers retract from investing more of their skills in visual designs thereby denying the field of the attention it deserves.

If I have no picture, I have no thought. Unfortunately I never had an opportunity to try trigonometry or geometry. Teachers and parents need to develop the child's talents into skills that can eventually turn into satisfying jobs or hobbies thereby assisting in community development through visual designs that have to be appreciated aesthetically.

Visual Thinking

Visual thinking refers to a group of generative skills that, when practiced with rigorous discipline, results in the production of novel and original graphic ideas. By seeking to discover visual forms that fit his/her underlying human experience, the student of visual thinking comes to know the world. This practice of thinking with images alone is stressed in University Entrance Examinations in order to balance the over-emphasis on verbal reasoning in other areas of education. Visual thinking is high order critical thinking conducted by imaginative means alone.

Unfortunately, the Malawi or Africa education system do appreciate that the field of visual designs affect our opinions about policy issues and social values, or our preferences on fashions and every day life. This is the case because it is looked at as old fashioned because it is still pursued the conventional way.

For example, in colleges or schools where art related courses are offered, there are a few or no students patronizing it. In some cases, students register for art courses simply to make up for their course combinations during their early years of college or school education. Evidently, at Chancellor College, a constituent College of the University of Malawi, more students enroll for fine arts in their first year of study simply to satisfy the course combination requirement. When they happen to get to their second year of study most of them drop out of fine arts leaving a few students who may proceed to their third year and drop out thereafter. At the end of the programme one or two may graduate having specialized in fine arts.

However, this trend can be reversed with the idea of digital tools in visual designs. A computer in the visual designs will act as a driving force. Instead of using computers only when visual artists happen to visit an internet café, they will use computers in their day to day work. By digital tools in visual designs, it means that without a computer, art, visual designs cannot be produced by a digital artist.

Digital tools refer to the media used to produce Visual designs.

Advantages of using digital tools as opposed to conventional means are many as such it stands out. Digital tools have enabled interactivity in the art field. The Singapore Arts Magazine, 2001, stipulates that ‘artists interact with machines to create further interaction with viewers who either summon up the art on their own machines or manipulate it through pre-programmed routines, which can vary according to the commands or movements of a viewer.’

Secondly, artists working with digital media are just utilizing another medium for expression while observing the contemporary context and the ramifications that the increasing digitization of day-to-day life has on the society.

Thirdly, art works produced digitally are easy to store for a long period of time. As a result digital prints are reproducible any time they are needed.

Fourthly, digitized designs are exhibited electronically on the internet or world wide web thereby reaching out to a wider audience without any geographical barriers.

With conventional designs, there is a limitation in terms of exhibition. A gallery is physically placed in a specific geographical location as such there’s geographical barrier. For a patron to view the visual designs he/she is expected to travel to where the gallery is situated.

Another advantage is longevity; Wilhelm states that ‘today’s digital printing technology, fading of colours does not occur for 60 to 100 years.’ Printer tones are long lasting.

These count more in digital art as opposed to contemporary arts. On a different note, the concept of a computer in visual designs will be a motivating factor to art students in different schools and colleges thereby allowing for more patrons in the field.

Appropriate Digital tools

The appropriate computers for this form of art are iMac Computers G3, G4 or G5 with Mac OS operating systems, Flatbed scanners, Laser Printers that can print multicolour documents. The OS X system has several versions ranging from version 9 through 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, to 10.5.

Macs are good and stable for art. Bowler argues that the very obvious advantage over PCs is that nobody is writing viruses to attack Macs. The OS X system is very powerful and stable.

In a final analysis, using digital tools in visual designs is very feasible. This will help artists to avoid some overhead expenditure.

All artistic tools are compacted in the digital tools that an artist uses. As such no requirement to buy extras e.g. chalk, pencil, paint etc. This is so because these neographers are contained in the art software that digital artists use.

A Computer in the Fine arts lecture room at Chancellor College, University of Malawi

By: Stewart Mafeni (Digital Artist/Graphic Designer).

Fine arts is a term that refers in its broadest modern sense to architecture, ballet, concert music, literature, opera, painting, and sculpture. Keefe argues that ‘the adjective fine is meant to emphasize the beautiful in art, as distinguished from art that is primarily intended to be useful, morally uplifting, or merely pleasing.’

The term fine arts has been defined differently in various historical periods. For example, during the Middle Ages, Keefe states that --from about 400 to about 1300--there were seven fine arts or branches of learning. They were called the liberal arts and consisted of arithmetic, astronomy, dialectic (a form of logic), geometry, grammar, music, and rhetoric. It was not until the Renaissance, which began in the early 1300's, that painting, sculpture, and the performing arts came to be considered legitimate branches of the arts.

In modern times, there have been different definitions of the fine arts and different philosophies concerning what varieties of art should properly be called fine. For example, many people today believe that ‘only those arts that appeal to the sense of sight belong to the fine arts.’ According to this view, painting and sculpture rank as the primary fine arts, followed by architecture and landscape architecture.

Fine arts are sometimes contrasted with the decorative arts. Roger Ward contends that the term ‘decorative arts is generally reserved for works of art produced for actual use.’ Decorative arts are often called applied arts or industrial arts. They include woodwork (especially furniture), metalwork, ceramics, glass, and sometimes textiles. The use of such contrasting categories ‘reflect the concept that the fine arts exist only for their beauty while the decorative arts exist mainly for their usefulness.’

Some authorities have combined the ‘traditional fine and decorative arts under the term visual arts,’ and they group music, opera, and drama under the term auditory arts. Still others group music, dance, film, and the theatre arts as the performing arts. These works must be performed by people or by the mechanical means of the camera or phonograph.

Increasingly, distinctions between the fine arts and decorative arts are being discarded. Today, people tend to ‘regard ceramics and furniture as fine arts in spite of their functional aspects and place them with literature, painting, and sculpture.’ Ward 1998 contends that whenever artists employ good design and produce works satisfying to the eye, mind, and ear, modern thought tends to classify these works as fine art.

In Malawi, fine arts is offered at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi. The course is offered from first year through second and third years to the fourth year. Students pursue courses in painting, sculpture, ceramics, music, theatre arts etc. For example in painting, students draw their designs or images, using line or tone, on any suitable surface.

Art students draw with chalk, charcoal, crayon, or pencil. They may use a liquid, such as ink, applied with a brush or pen. They may also scratch drawings into a surface. For example, a silverpoint drawing is made by scratching into specially coated paper with a silver instrument or silver wire. This means that handwork is the sole and only method that is used in fine arts.

Art works drawn with the above stated tools are laborious and time consuming because it is difficult to produce the artful pieces in large numbers. In short reproducibility is not attainable. It is also difficult to add more effects to a hand drawn artistic design.

The concept of integrating computer-aided art in the fine art courses has driven its strength from these hustles.

The concept of a computer in the art room was put forward way back in the 1920s. Bauhaus, a school of art and architecture in the 1920s promoted the idea that ‘artful objects should be partnered with technology to create liveable solutions to living spaces.’ Simply put, Bauhaus design offers practical, durable, inexpensive, yet aesthetically pleasing designs. To most, Bauhaus may mean a modernistic approach to architecture or art, but Chancellor College Fine Arts Department can use the concepts of Bauhaus to provide easy solutions for making art studies functional and realistic while retaining the unique aspects of art work.

Mason 2004 argues that ‘the concept of using computers in art started in a sympathetic social and political climate in the United Kingdom.’ In Malawi, it is obvious that technological advancement has impacted several fields as a tool. However, the fine arts field has not been influenced in any way by information technology. As such, if the fine art lecture room at Chancellor College integrates the concept, it follows that this impact will later be felt in the Malawi society. Craftsmen/women will be produced who will change the course of fine arts in Malawi.

The concept of a computer in the fine art room will help Malawi as a nation to achieve the following objectives:

Production of trained personnel in digital art who will contribute positively to the development of fine arts in Malawi.

Capacity building of Malawian craftsmen/women who can meet the international standards.

Quality designs or art objects that will be able to compete at international markets.

Reproducibility of digital artwork which will preserve earlier artworks so that next generations should be able to appreciate earlier art skills when it happens that the original printout has been torn or stolen.

This paper contends computer aided art and not computer generated art. The earlier means digital art whereby an artist draws or paints in a similar manner as he/she does on the piece of paper. But the whole work is done on a computer using a mouse, keyboard, computer’s LCD, scanner, drawing/painting tools in digital art software. Examples of digital art software are Adobe Photoshop, Canvas 7 or 8, Illustrator, Quark Express, Apple Works, Dream weaver, Photo Impression, or Corel Draw.

The appropriate computers for this form of doing art are iMac Computers G3, G4 or G5 with Mac OS Version 10.4/5 operating system, Laser beam scanners, Laser Printers that can print multicolour documents.

The present concept is not propounding for computer generated art. This implies that the art works are entirely created by the computer. “Computer generated” means a computer actually generating the image e.g. fractals. Wikipedia 2004 contends that under this an ‘artist writes a piece of code and feeds value into the computer, which then outputs a graphic file or printable image.’ This means taking a step into computer programming so as to acquaint oneself with programming codes.

A question would arise- how is it art if the computer makes it for you – all you do is push a few buttons and the CPU does it for you? Art uses different tools such as pencil, chalk, brush etc. A graphic design computer as an equipment is endowed in such a way that in a drawing software are icons standing for a pencil, brush, eraser, arcs, lines, etc. An artist make full use of these icons to come up with his /her art work.

Well-known Malawian artists such as Masa Lemu have argued that Malawians do not appreciate artwork. As such the art sector is not patronised by Malawians. Only foreigners do patronise art exhibitions.

This is the case because as Artists, Malawians have not added value to their artful objects. For example, an artist can produce one piece of art within 2,3,4 or more days. He/she will charge highly considering the effort and materials used therein. But it is difficult to reproduce more because there’s no other means to do so. If the artwork was digitized, there would be a possibility for reproducibility of the same. In a digitized art piece, an artist would add more effects to improve on quality thereby adding more value to the work.

Furthermore, as artists They would like to sell their products while retaining their original uniqueness produced by their hands. If their aesthetically valuable art works were incorporated into some commercial items they would make an extra value from their efforts. For example, producing yearly calendars with designs of Malawian art works, producing cards with Malawi artistic designs, banners or billboards with Malawi’s art works. This would help in having Malawi’s art work appreciated countrywide.

All these are feasible only if the concept of computer aided art is integrated into the fine art courses offered in Malawi. A computer in the fine arts lecture room at Chancellor College is feasible and would act as a motivating factor thereby drawing more students into art courses. This would eliminate the problem of having pedestrian students enrolling for art courses only in first year and dropping out as they get to second year of their studies.

VISUAL MESSAGES COMMUNICATED BY POLITICAL PARTIES IN MALAWI

Stewart A. Mafeni, Malawi National Examinations Board.

Visual Communications as held by Lester, 2007 is an exploration into the idea that memorable visual messages with text have the greatest power to inform, educate, and persuade an individual. It stresses the idea that images are a collection of signs that are linked together in some way by the viewer.

Visual aids which are amongst tools of visual communication can be anything from the way one dresses, to writings on any flat surface, party colours, party emblems, to items brought in to show what you are talking about. They support the expressive and receptive communicative needs of presenters, teachers, politicians, or individuals in general. In other words, they are nonverbal symbols that reach the audience via the eyes thereby helping them decode meaning from a particular context. As such, they carry meaning whether positively or negatively. It is the purpose of the present work to discuss visual aids or messages communicated by political parties in Malawi.

In order to understand how visual aids carry meaning, there’s a need to understand the basic vocabulary of visual language. By visual language one refers to the idea that communication occurs through visual symbols, as opposed to verbal symbols, or words.

Presenters, teachers, or politicians who understand nonverbal language, especially visual language can and do manipulate attitudes of their audience to suit their purposes. This is so because naturally humans respond to visual messages unconsciously, preferring to believe that their opinions are formed by their own judgment and personal taste.

For example, the body language, party colours, party emblems, dress, and expressions of politicians in the modern age of democratic Malawi seem to be as crucial to the success of a particular party’s programme. This also plays a role towards the policies and ideas particular political parties hold. Once the politicians send wrong nonverbal signals, the populace simply does not trust them on whatever platform they may be presenting their ideals.

Visual messages sent through the emblem or colour associated with a particular political party also play a vital role to either build or destroy political groupings.

On the other hand, effective use of visual aids (party colours, party emblems etc) can make listeners overlook a great deal in a politician’s or political party’s background.

To exemplify this, an experience from Malawi would suffice. Evidently the Malawi’s transformation from one party state to multiparty government portrayed a clear example of this situation. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which was then the only ruling party in Malawi’s one party system of government was using a Black Cock as an emblem for the party. Furthermore a slogan ‘kwacha’ was used in whatever activities the party was conducting.

During the transitional period, new political groupings were formed to advocate for multiparty democracy. These new groupings were known as Political Pressure Groups. They used a lighted lamp as their visual aid (emblem). Therefore two emblems were at play, black cock vs lighted lamp.

VISUAL MESSAGES CARRIED BY THE BLACK COCK AND THE LIGHTED LAMP.

In most cases black is associated with attire used during times of bereavement. Satanism acts are also associated with black colour. The black cock emblem for Malawi Congress Party was the target by underground pressure groups to champion the fight for introduction of multiparty politics in a country which was under one-party authoritarian rule since its independence from the British colonial rule in 1964 under Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP). This was done to effectively sell the idea of multiparty system of government.

The party was associated with evil acts such as murdering its people once they happen to oppose bad policies, throw its critics into Shire River so that they become feed for crocodiles. Simply put, the black cock visual image carried negative messages which to most Malawians was very clear. There was correlation between the black cock and the bad things that were happening during the one rule.

As a result Malawi Congress Party lost during a referendum. The Political Pressure Groups showed and told Malawians about the hidden bad meanings /messages of the black cock.

On the other hand, the lighted lamp emblem for the Political Pressure Groups communicated messages of hope or light at the end of the tunnel. Light is associated with good things. As such a ‘brighter future’ was talked of by the Pressure Groups.

Showing and telling has been discussed by researchers that it leads to higher retention after some considerable time period. People retain information longer when they receive it both through their eyes and through their ears. Visual aids of the black cock did not require to be carried around. Black cock emblem was in each and every place in Malawi. All the Political Pressure Groups had to do was to ask Malawians to check for it in their party member cards or national flag by then which previously had black cock on it. Audiences that remember a message because the visual aids helped their comprehension or understanding, are more persuaded to take action for change. That is why countrywide they voted for change.

All paraphernalia for MCP had black cock and were likened to satanic worship which demand for use of black attire or black everything everywhere. These negative relationships made Malawians dissociate themselves from Malawi Congress Party. And it lost its massive countrywide support. Black cock was correlated to cruelty, oppression, nepotism, murder and monopoly.

The black cock visual image destroyed Malawi Congress Party. Who would be happy to be associated with negative visual images? MCP’s visual symbols turned into its visual distractions or destructions.

MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY DURING THE DEMOCRATIC MALAWI.

After a successful transition into multiparty democracy, MCP confessed to the whole nation that it has now changed. It has become a new MCP.

The nation has been trying to look for that rebirth in MCP. One wonders whether MCP is portraying that new self which has been talked of quite often.

As I have indicated at the beginning that for a very long time visual language has been used to encode meaning. Wikipedia contends that vision gives humans inexhaustibly rich information about the objects, events, political parties or people’s behaviour in the world.

Simple language a picture is worth a thousand words. The body language, dress and expressions of any MCP political leader inside or outside parliament speaks to viewers louder beyond mere words in the multiparty era of government.

What is in an individual’s mind may be manifested through his/her actions, utterances and body language thereby sending visual messages.

During 2007 budget sitting, the leader of opposition in parliament who happens to be MCP leader has communicated to the entire nation his self image. Standing on a point of order ‘Section 65 first, budget second.’ This expressed and communicated a visual message that as a leader John Tembo considers political struggles or power very important above the needs of Malawians. These needs are met by availability of the national budget.

Only that time when the leader of opposition rose up and said “no to budget, till injunction on Section 65 is vacated"- did he destroy most his reputation and dignity in the eyes of Malawians thereby minimizing his chances of testing the fruits of the highest office on the land.

The tone in this leader’s response communicated more bitterness, anger and uncontrollable ambitions by the leader of opposition to Malawians.

My simple message to opposition leaders is ‘Malawians have been observing, read the writings on the walls. Otherwise your visual messages will be eating you out and it will be difficult to regain any lost glories.

VISUAL MESSAGES THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT COMMUNICATED.

It is believed that the United Democratic Front (UDF), Malawi's former ruling party which is seeking to extend its mandate in the 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections, was founded by Brown Mpinganjira, now not very vocal as he used to be when he formed his defunct NDP. Mpinganjira himself has never at any time confirmed or denied the assertion. Under this, visual messages of unclear genesis is evidently communicated.

While the beginnings of the party are scanty, its President and National Chairman Bakili Muluzi claims he is its founder, saying he formed it as a pressure group in 1989.

The UDF and Alliance For Democracy (AFORD) emerged from underground and started campaigning vehemently for change after the Catholic bishops issued an epic pastoral letter in March 1992, criticizing the MCP government of human rights abuse and bad governance, the first ever open challenge Dr. Banda's one-party rule ever faced since independence.

The pastoral letter opened the way for more debate on whether or not the country should remain a dictatorship or embrace multiparty democracy. As pressure piled up, Banda cracked and later ordered that a referendum take place in June 1993.

When the referendum finally did take place, Malawians overwhelmingly voted for change. That spelt the beginning of the end for Dr. Banda and his MCP.

When the first multiparty general elections were held a year later, in 1994, the UDF scored a landslide victory and wrested power from the MCP's 30-year stranglehold.

Under Muluzi, the party started well with a lot of promises such as free primary education, poverty alleviation, better social services, good roads, respect for human rights and the rule of law. This sound beginning sent a very upright visual message to Malawians. A ‘bright future’ that Malawians were anticipating seemed eminent. But later it was evident that instead of bright things, yellowing of everything was coming out.

Ten years down the line, Malawians got disillusioned that they are poorer than they were 10 years ago, according to a UNDP report.

The party with its yellow colours started to lose its grip on the reins when in 2001 its President Bakili Muluzi wanted to manipulate the constitution of the land allowing for open terms rather than the mandatory two five-year terms to give him a chance to continue ruling the country.

After facing strong resistance from the opposition and some rebel UDF MPs, the open-terms bill finally collapsed in parliament in July 2002. Not admitting defeat, the government side drafted another bill to allow the president a third term. This, too, received massive resistance from the opposition and civil society. Sensing another eminent defeat, the government withdrew the bill before it was debated in parliament.

Knowing he would not be given another mandate to rule, Muluzi then handpicked economist Bingu Mutharika in 2003 to his successor,a move which many view as undemocratic. This led to some heavyweights in the party resigning to join the opposition. Simply put, these painted a different visual image for the UDF party. Party officials felt betrayed thereby leading to massive exodus.

Among them are First Vice President Aleke Banda, senior cabinet minister Harry Thomson, former deputy finance minister Jan Jaap Sonke, former deputy agriculture minister Joe Manduwa and most recently Justin Malewezi, vice-president of UDF and state.

With all these defections, the UDF party surely lost the popular support it used to in its heady days.

The yellow colour was associated with leaves of plants during wilting stages. Plant leaves are green but when they turn yellow, it means that they will fall off the plant to later die and decompose. This analogy was likened to UDF. A party that has matured and is now wilting or dying- waiting for regeneration of new leaves. The new growths are the new political parties that have emerged out of UDF.

DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY’S VISUAL MESSAGES.

The new government in Malawi, democratically elected in May 2004, is pursuing an agenda that focuses on growth, wealth creation, and poverty reduction. It recognizes that corruption is a widespread and endemic problem that must be addressed in order for Malawi to realize sustainable economic growth.

After taking office, Mutharika came into conflict with Muluzi, head of the UDF, over Mutharika's campaign against corruption. The dispute between them has characterized Mutharika's time in office thus far, and it has been claimed that political conflict is interfering with the country's governance.

On February 5, 2005, Mutharika announced his resignation from the UDF, saying that he had no support in the party because of his stand against corruption. There had previously been talk of expelling him from the party, and there had also been an alleged assassination plot against him by party members in early January 2005. Those accused were later pardoned by Mutharika, but he maintained the existence of the plot. Mutharika subsequently formed his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In April 2005, Muluzi apologized to the country for choosing Mutharika as his successor "and imposing him on the country". This communicated an affirmation of Muluzi’s failure to rule from behind as was previously reported.

Mutharika has upheld the memory of Hastings Banda as a national hero; in May 2006, he was present at the unveiling of a mausoleum for Banda that cost US$620,000. This has earned him high repute and esteem amongst Malawians but mostly people from Central Region.

Through the DPP led government, Malawi has attained debt cancellation, food security, single digit inflation rate, and some sound economic growth. These have communicated a good and sound visual message to the people of Malawi. Message of trust, security, development in most fronts, brighter Malawi and hope.

Dr. Bingu Wa Mutharika administration does not practice favouratism in terms of distribution of development activities. For example, each and every constituency is treated with equal measures when it comes to project distribution. Dedza central , a constituency of Honourable John Tembo-leader of opposition in parliament has benefited from these development projects. Mangochi has seen establishment of new food silos though being a stronghold of UDF an opposition political party.

Neno district is a constituency under an opposition MP but it has received development projects. Unlike during UDF’s rule where Bakili Muluzi would openly say during his public rallies that where there is an opposition MP, there shall be no development activities.

The stand of DPP on development for all regardless of political parties dominant in that area is a clear visual message for a political party that puts every Malawian at heart. A party whose central focus is on Malawians. This visual aid has helped to build DPP into a strong political party as it enjoys support nationwide though being very new on the scene as compared to other political parties which have failed to penetrate Malawi in all the three regions such AFORD, RP, PETRA, UDF, MCP and PPM .

DPP is doing everything it can to protect this visual language that it has already communicated to the entire Malawi nation. For example, when Regional Governor for the South Nyakamera was quoted as saying ‘no coupons for traditional authorities who support opposition political parties’the DPP came on the scene instantly with a refutation. The party’s secretary general Honourable Hetherwick Ntaba came up with a press statement to refute media reports on the same.

It is very essential to jealously guard the visual message a political party sends out. DPP is aware of this that is why it resorts to every means and ways to protect and safeguard it.

From this discussion, it is evident that visual aids that a particular political party uses may build it or destroy it. A Malawi case has it image to the public.