Skip to main content

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and the interpretation of their meaning. We use signs to communicate with our audience, as a graphic designer, this is something that will come to play a lot when I am working. I will need the context and cultural background for what I'm trying to say to come across appropriately. What is happening around the sign is very important as well. 

Above is three different situations a thumbs up has been used. Each can be interpreted differently because of the context, the first can be seen as signifying 'good job' I think this because of the suit, it is something that can be associated with work and professionals. The second implying the diver is having a good time and that he is okay, although you can't see a facial expression you know he is posing for a photograph which tells me he wants to document he's having a good time. The last photo is of a hitchhiker looking for a lift, he is using he thumb to signify to drivers what he is looking for. This is a universal sign which I can instantly recognise because of what is happening in his environment. 

 All signs have two aspect according to Ferdinand de Saussure, the founder of semiology, they have the signifier and the signified. If you take the word closed, and the person thinks of a shop door. The would take the word closed as the signifier and then the signified concept for the word closed, would be the shop is not open for business. This is something that automatically happens  in our brains and doesn't require a lot of thought. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kandinsky's Experiment - Circle, Square, Triangle

Wassily Kandinsky, a student from Bauhaus, circulated a questionnaire trying to determine the universal response for the relationship between colour and form. The questionnaire consisted of three shapes, a triangle, square and circle, he recipient was then to colour each one with a different primary colour etc. Red, blue or yellow.  His questionnaire received a remarkable about of the same response. This may because those in the school had the same theoretical ideals. They believed that the triangle was yellow, square to be red, and the circle to be blue. This product influenced many projects in the early days of Bauhaus. They were also to give an explanation where possible.  I decided to do this myself deciding differently to the Kandinsky original consensus. I felt as if the triangle should be red as this is what most red warning sign are shaped and coloured like. The circle is to be yellow as it re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rob Lycett Workshop - Manifesto

For this workshop we had to create our manifesto based on the work we did in a Monday Lecture. The point below are what it based it on. Passion  - key ingredients to being productive  If i do not find something interesting, or stimulating I struggle to work efficiently so therefore I will find and angle to work from every project which interests me.  Changing Perceptions  - Making the audience think  The only way to become successful in what I do is to make my audience want to decode my work and find meaning. This way it will be memorable.  Influence  - Historical, Culture and Social influence will help me inform my work.  By researching I will be able to determine if my theories and ideas will work or if they have been done before.  Re-evaluate - Aiming higher  I can always do something to improve my work and are it more appealing for its desired audience. Typography -  Always consider my typeface...
Post a Comment
Read more

Iconography

From the Greek word for 'image' and 'to write' The identification and description of what the image is. WJT Mitchell Iconography is about the rhetoric of images, that is it helps us know....... three different images can all mean the same. Peace: This something that can only be communicated if the artist and the audience share the same background meaning there will be a similar cultural meaning.   Byzantine Portraiture  Using symbols etc to signify more about the person. At this time they moved away from creating photograph-like paintings and used symbols and objects to add more to the painting. For example, the painting below could make you think the man is a shepherd due to the lamb around his neck and the staff. You may also believe the image is related to Christianity because of the cross, moving further we begin to think that may the man in the painting is meant to be a representation of Jesus.  Metaphor  A typ...
Post a Comment
Read more