Graphics is an integral part of the human experience. Graphics and all that it encompasses is a unique body of knowledge that should be studied, practiced and scientifically verified. This body of knowledge, called visual science, can be defined, is significant, and is mutually exclusive from other disciplines and should be placed with the sciences as a secondary domain of knowledge. The term graphic science is not used because the word graphic by definition is limited to text and pictures. The word visual was chosen because it is a broader term that encompasses not only text and pictures but anything that is seen or able to be seen by the eye.
Visual science is defined as the study of the processes that produce images in the mind.
These three categories form the foundation for any field of study related to the visual sciences. For example, an engineering design graphics course should have elements of all three areas. Cognitive Visualization Visualization is the ability to mentally create and edit visual information. Visual cognition is the ability to mentally comprehend, store, retrieve, create and edit visual information. Visual production is creating, editing, communicating, and comprehending visual products.