Reading Response 3 SL

Language is a very complex communicating tool that unites humans. Symbols are another communicating tool that can become complex.  There are many things you can do when you combine symbols and language. Signs are a great example, especially to get a certain point across, whether it be direct or indirectly.  Signs,  according to Ferdinand de Saussure have two elements to their makeup, the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the part “of the communication that carried the message … the thing signified was that which was communicated by that sound…” An example of this would be the apple in Adam and Eve, which was mentioned in “This Means This, This Means That: A User’s Guide to Semiotics”. The apple is not just a regular apple in this story, it is meant to represent “temptation”. The visual aspect of this story would be the painting that is shown on page three. The signifier is employed in the visual because you see the apple, the signified takes a little more interpretation, because the artist incorporated the snake, which tempts Adam and Eve, from this one can infer that the apple they are holding is not going to be good for them. I believe visual designs, such as the Adam and Eve painting can accomplish things that make the viewer have a deeper connection. The connection can be from the mood the painter gave off in the painting and the colors that were used. Another visual design that accomplishes things language alone cannot are the Inuit maps. These maps are visually appealing and tactile because they carved the map out of wood so that it was in a way 3D. The accomplishments that the Inuit map has over language is that they were able to use these maps in the dark because they were 3 dimensional. The maps also floated, were weatherproof and can survive any temperature. A contemporary visual design that succeeds more than language is braille. Braille is a visual design for people who are not blind because it shows that a location has accessibility, it accomplishes more than language itself because visually impaired people cannot see language, they can only feel it.