Key Idea: This topic is about image-led and screen texts — infographics, political cartoons, comic strips, photographs, documentary extracts and film stills. They all share one rule: the visuals are chosen, not neutral. Colour, size, framing, light and layout are deliberate choices that carry meaning. In Paper 1 the visual is described for you in words, so your job is to analyse the design choices, not just say what's in the picture.
🖼️ The six text types
| Text type | Purpose | What to spot |
|---|---|---|
| Infographic | Inform / persuade with facts + pictures | Big numbers · colour coding (green good, red danger) · icons · visual hierarchy (biggest = main point) |
| Political cartoon | Criticise the news through satire | Caricature · symbols standing for ideas · size (power vs weakness) · an ironic caption |
| Comic strip | Tell a story or joke in a sequence | Panels in order · the gutter (gap between panels) · bubble shape/size · a twist in the last panel |
| Photograph | Capture a moment (and steer how you read it) | Framing (what's in/out) · angle · focus · light · the caption |
| Documentary extract | Present a viewpoint as ‘fact’ | Narration (voiceover) · selected footage · tone & music · ‘fact’ framing |
| Film still | A single frame from a film | Mise-en-scène: setting/props · lighting & colour · costume · position in the frame |
🔍 The one move that works for all six
Every visual text uses the same move. Name a choice (a colour, the framing, a symbol, the panel order, the narrator's words), say its effect (what it makes you see or feel), then the so what — the point, mood or criticism it builds. Never just describe what's in the picture: turn each choice into meaning. And always read the words with the visual — a caption, label or voiceover steers how you read the image.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — analyse an infographic
Analyse how this infographic persuades. Described: a giant grey clock face fills the top, its hands frozen; below, a small red line reads “Hours of your life spent scrolling this year.” A tiny figure sinks into a phone screen.
Step by step:
Name a choice: the huge grey frozen clock sits at the top of the visual hierarchy — the first thing you see.
Effect: size + a stopped clock make time feel wasted and lost, signalling something slipping away.
Another choice: the tiny figure sinking into the screen turns an abstract idea into something concrete — a person swallowed by their phone.
So what: words and visuals work as one message, so the reader feels time quietly lost and ready to change.
The giant frozen grey clock dominates the hierarchy, so it hits first — a stopped clock and its size signal time wasted and lost. The tiny figure sinking into the screen makes that concrete, and words and image together push the reader to feel their time is slipping away.
IB-style question — analyse a political cartoon
Analyse the point of this cartoon. Described: a huge figure in a suit labelled “THE MARKET” balances happily on a thin, cracking plank, while tiny workers below hold the plank up on their shoulders. Caption: “Perfectly stable.”
Step by step:
Decode the size: the giant ‘THE MARKET’ vs the tiny workers = power resting on the powerless.
Decode the set-up: the huge figure balances on a plank the small workers carry = the strong are held up by the weak.
Read the caption's irony: ‘Perfectly stable’ mocks a claim the cracking plank clearly disproves.
State the criticism: the system only looks steady because ordinary workers carry its whole weight.
The huge ‘THE MARKET’ balancing on tiny workers uses size to show power resting on the powerless, and the cracking plank they carry shows the strain hidden underneath. The ironic caption ‘Perfectly stable’ mocks a false claim — so the cartoon argues the system only seems steady because ordinary people hold it up.
IB-style question — analyse a photograph
Analyse this news photo: a lone nurse leans against a corridor wall at the end of a night shift, mask pulled down, eyes closed, tiny under a long line of harsh ceiling lights. Caption: “Handover, 6 a.m.”
Step by step:
Framing: the nurse small under the long row of harsh lights shows how draining and endless the shift feels.
Pose: mask down and eyes closed strips away the calm professional image to show pure exhaustion.
Caption: the plain ‘Handover, 6 a.m.’ makes it sound routine, as if this is just another morning.
So what: the choices, not the plain event, make us feel the human cost — and respect it.
Framing the nurse small under the harsh corridor lights shows how draining the shift is, and the mask-down, eyes-closed pose shows exhaustion behind the professional image. The understated caption ‘Handover, 6 a.m.’ makes it feel ordinary, quietly deepening our respect.
Important: Don't just list what's in the picture (‘there's a big number and a wallet’). Every point needs the effect (what a colour, size or angle makes you feel) and the so what (the meaning, mood or criticism). And don't ignore the words — a caption, label or voiceover is half the text and often flips the meaning.
Tap each card to check yourself.
An infographic makes ‘95%’ huge and green, ‘5%’ tiny and grey — what does the design do? Size and colour steer you to read the 95% as the big, positive result before any argument.
A cartoon shows a tiny figure crushed under a giant boot — what does size show? Power vs weakness — the tiny figure is powerless against a bigger force.
What is the ‘gutter’ in a comic strip? The gap between panels; the reader fills it in, and it controls the timing of a joke or shock.
Why isn't a photograph ‘just what happened’? The photographer chose the frame, angle, focus, light and moment — and the caption steers the reading.
Why isn't a documentary pure ‘fact’? The narration, chosen footage, tone and music all select and shape a viewpoint that feels objective.
Exam Tips
- Read the design as choices — colour, size, framing, light and layout all mean something.
- Always read the words with the visual: a caption, label or voiceover steers the meaning.
- For a cartoon, decode each symbol into meaning, then name the criticism.
- For a comic strip, analyse the panel order and the twist, not just each box.
- Never stop at description — every point needs the effect and the ‘so what’.