Month: September 2019

After to reading this article, I found semiology and linguistics is very related to each other, I think linguistics part of the semiology because the linguistics is about speaking, people have to spend time and speak out to others, then the semiology about shows, a sign gives all the information to someone, they get meaning by themselves, and base on the reading, they talk about someone lost their voice, they can’t speak anymore. So the linguistics is a kind of limitation, is not applicable for everyone, but there is no such disadvantage from semiology.

The sign still very useful today, just like street sign (Stop, school, cation, slow, etc), every drive will understand immediately and follow the street rule, also people will see that traffic light for cross the road safely, the sign of ( ABCFD123etc) trains on New York City Subway also prove it. There are so many things that explain sometimes the sign is much better than speaking or word.

I found our most recent reading assignment “ Course in General Linguistics” very intense and somewhat confusing. Personally, not being used to the words and format of this article, it became hard to understand what the author is trying to convey. Though what did take from the article is that language itself is very intricate and complex. In the article, he makes a distinction between speaking and writing (though the distinction with writing isn’t so clear).

I quote “Language is a system of signs that express ideas and is therefore comparable to a system of writing, the alphabet of deaf-mutes, symbolic rites, political formulas, military signals etc”. Does this mean language is a system of signs that are not physical? Therefore it must be speech, correct? Though the author makes it independent from speech. Calling it the side of speaking in which you can study or the “social side of speech”. It exists not to the individual but confined to the interactions among a community. 

What I retained from this article is, language is far more complex than just talking. It isn’t about the sounds you make or the sounds you apply to an object. It focuses on the ideas and images perceived used but auditory exchanges.

General Linguistics.

From reading the text, I learned that the two terms semiology and linguistics are related but have different functions. After several readings, I found that semiology deals with signs, while linguistics is the scientific study of language. Also, semiology shows what constitutes signs, the law governing them and the idea from the perspective of culture while linguistic is a part of the general science of semiology . Although it was not clear when I first read the text, I found that language is essential since it is a system of signs expressing ideas; therefore, it becomes compatible with the aspect of writing, symbolic rites, military signals or polite formulas.

Use of Signs in Everyday Language.When studying Signs, I found that they are an important aspect of life to communicate a specific idea effectively. The combination of a concept and sound-image without involving any form of speech is a sign that signifies a fact or illustration . I my daily life, I come across the need to use sign to deliver a message or emphasize a certain issue. I have seen signs being used as in traffic lights, zebra crossing and waving a hand to say goodbye or even clapping hands to appreciate something or congratulate an accomplishment.

Signs, Signifiers, and the Signified uses in Communication.In general communication, the sign emerges from a combination of signifier and signified to portray a particular concept. I come across signifier while reading and found that it can be termed as the form which the sign takes, and the signified is the concept the form takes . For instance, I can say that since a sign has both signifiers and signified, a sign with the word “Closed” when invented in a shop’s door becomes the signifier, and signified impression is “the shop is closed for business”.

Language, Graphic Communication and Visual arts Relationship.Finally, I found the concepts of language, graphic communication, and visual arts are related as they are involved in communicating a particular idea. From my personal experience and reading the text, I have learned that graphic communications use language through signs in designed visual cues to transmit a message to the viewers . Either the graphic or visual art communication is used extensively through the use of contours, shapes, color and texture not only to portray a message but also, to show emotions, experience, altitude or concept.

 

 

Rudimentary communication methods throughout history have been used in graphic design since the beginning. These tactics were mostly used as the basics of graphic design. 

The Bauhaus school used a “communication method of emotional detachment for a more rational and universal approach.” The bauhaus school choose to not let their emotions get in the way of their designs. This really helped make the group a powerhouse in the design world because of the strong communication with the public. This idea of “emotional detachment” is brought up a lot during the article explaining how different designers used it for a more clear and subjective message. Also dives into how a lot different eras of design like 1950-60s in how america separated themselves from the international era of design for a more Corporate approach. Now how technology is so good that the informational systems are so easy to use anyone can make designs.

 

Jessica Helfard talks about how designers in the past made things that challenged social and societal norms. Most designers nowadays should “approach complex problems” in a similar fashion. A modern designer can really have a stronger message if they communicate about it through their design. I think this really supports why contemporary designers should concern themselves with older designs. For example, “Rodchenko, Moholy-Nagy and Bayer attempted to actively reshape their societies through design….. New Soviet Union they transformed individual artistic intent into a collective utopian vision.”  This example really brings out the idea of understanding of using social issues in design. 

 

“As the new millennium unfolds, graphic designers create within a vest pulsating network in which broad audiences are empowered to produce and critique.” This example talks about how the internet has made everyone’s design accessible. Especially with social networks like pinterest anyone can upload a design and get critiqued about it. I think honestly that the vast network out in the internet can help designers mostly with newer strategies. Even just finding something that looks interesting and fun putting a individual spin on it can have a big impact. 

In Lupton Miller’s piece ” Counting Sheep”, he discusses, as it states, “the history of written numbers” when counting came from such a simpler time, when simplisticness was needed. Things such as counting animals one by one using objects instead of using abstract numerical values. The time of using abstract values such as Roman numerals comes from the need to access a greater audience of value ,such as 10,000, but not counting one by one. The abstract values we use today were made to represent abstract values. This not only applies to numbers but social values and economical.

By the 19th century more values started to be explored other than numbers like lines, shapes, colors. This is around the same time social and Design focused Revolutions started to appear. These same explorations moved both these centuries forward. The use of these abstract objects became representations of what we believe. Things such as, social justice, social disparity, economic injustices. Though, these values just don’t stop there. As time moved forward objects and animals also became sources of representation. Pushing our ideas forward and accessing a greater plethora of people due to technology providing a greater audience.

The values we hold dear today stem from the values our ancestors held dearly today. The accomplishments of the past are not forgotten but built upon and improved. The values that have survived are not obsolete but they are absolute. Their form changes but their purpose doesn’t.

To be rudimentary is to be the bare basics of a principle that structures the more advanced levels of said principle. On a general level, it is almost always important to understand the basics of something or you can never master that skill. It is impossible how to do BMX bike tricks if you can’t learn to keep your balance. You cannot program the next big video game without learning how coding works. However, Designers have a possibility of actually skipping over the rudimentary level design and still succeeding. This is because most design, nowadays, is subjective and while the structures and styles of the past can help, they are not required to make a solid design.

But that just brings up the question once again, if we don’t need the rudimentary level, why do we still need to understand it and the history behind it? As the texts discuss, design had morphed from idea to idea as time went on. When art was first conceived as an form of expression, it was considered just to be a way of the rich and wealthy to immortalize themselves forever. The idea that design was based around egocentric greed and commoners were not welcome into the more closed off and high class society. As time passes on, design took a more commercial approach and reached the major population rather than just the rich upper class. However, the text notes that while designers had the ability to be designers, they did not really think like designers. In the 50’s, designers seemingly made designs that lacked emotion, self expression, and a form of identity. In the late 60’s-70’s, the more corporate aspects of design were fading out for a more creative direction, one that gave the designer a ‘voice’ in their designs. The progression of design afterwards toward today expanded on this approach to design, adding more of a free, limitless ability to design of their choosing.

Even after all of that history lesson, the question has still not been answered. Rudimentary design and design methods of the past are important because they teach the basic foundation of design back when design was in a much simpler state. Now that we live in a society that has access to a software that makes designs on many of our devices, it becomes much more complicated to make a proper design without understanding what has structured and defined a design throughout our history. As common as the idea that everything has been done before is, it is one that is true in almost every aspect of the phrase. It is important to understand the history of design to understand what you made in relation to past styles of design. Going on the idea that no design today is completely original in principle, it is important to know the inspirations that formed your design and if your design is too similar to those inspirations. Overall, rudimentary design is important in every aspect because it is holds all the principles we learn as modern designers and structures the foundations for designs to delve into more complex structures in the future.

When looking at these readings what struck me was the ongoing discussion and changes in the evolution of graphic communication.  Looking at the different systems throughout time from the simple to the complicated we can see the development of these systems were often times built on the foundations of the past. Not by copying but by utilizing the techniques , theories, and ideas to form new ways to graphically communicate.

We can see cases of this happening throughout all of human history as Lupton and miller state “ The production of tokens appears to have ceased around 3100 BC, when a system for graphically recording the spoken language was emerging in Sumeria.  The new script retained some symbols from the older token system, but a basic conceptual change took place.” (pg27) Another example of this can be seen with the abacus being replaced by the Hindu – Arabic system of numbers.  The invention of the symbol Zero helped the Hindu -Arabic system to essentially become the “numerical equivalent of the alphabet”(pg31) which led to its wide acceptance.  This is another example of how graphic communication built on rudimentary methods was relevant for a contemporary information system. 

The idea of modern Hieroglyphs brings us to a new understanding of approaching graphic communication for our ever-changing world.  As Lupton and miller state the new system called “isotype“ created a universe of people, places , objects, and actions, the International System of Typographic Picture Education” (pg41) that was meant to be easily identified.  These were flat silhouettes that helped provide a language of public information.  The main example used was the man and the woman symbol seen on public restrooms.

Looking at these readings we see that perceived to be long obsolete writing, accounting, or printing techniques are actually a guide or blueprint on how graphic communication in our modern world can be handled.  We can then use these theories and designs as a model for evolving communication for the future.  Not only can this be applied for a language of public information but also in the programs and tools used buy modern graphic designers. An example is the  Adobe suite uniting graphic designer’s around the world with digital tools that come from real world techniques adapted for our modern computer driven age.  These are only tools though it is up to us to use the theories learned from the past as Lupton and Miller state “Otto Neurath Could serve as a model for the graphic designer of the next millennium, the language worker equipped to use design and theory as tools for unearthing new questions and constructing new answers.”(pg44)

What I took from these texts concerning rudimentary methods is that they rely heavily on interpretation. Interpretation does not care much for culture, the meaning would change dramatically during the course of time and it’s original meaning would be forgotten. On the other hand, modern design is based on perception. As Lipton Miller says in the reading ” “Perception” refers to the subjective experience of the individual as framed by the body and brain.” (pg 62) This means that perception encompasses all the senses, rudimentary methods and concepts only encompass intellect and do not care for what the symbols mean or their impact on the group of individuals that use them.

I don’t believe that writers shouldn’t concern themselves at all with “long-obsolete writing, counting, or printing techniques.” These techniques are the fundamentals, the building blocks of what design is today. They act as a skeleton for design and are used to convey information in a simpler way. This doesn’t mean that designers should imitate the old, but it should act as a frame of reference. Design should be a combination of both interpretation and perception. It should not ignore the meaning behind the pieces and should capture the senses it uses to convey information, nor should it stray away from objectivity completely in it’s pursuit to stimulate the intellect.

 

I believe that new ideas come from the harmony of objectivity.and subjectivity. It also comes from the creation of the simple into the more expressive. Subjectivity allows one to perceive the art work at face value and let it envelop our being. We are able to take in what we see and express ourselves through that medium. The objectivity comes to explain how the creativity is created, it is based on what goes on behind the scenes. It does not change based on mood or emotions. This is the root of what fills our eyes and what brings forth that emotion. It represents the physical aspect of art. The materials, rules and technique used to make a piece. Without this, the piece would have no form or structure. A fundamental in what breathes life into it.