Hall, Sean. This Means This, This Means That: A User’s Guide to Semiotics, Laurence King Publishing, 2012. pgs 21-67

Questions

  • How has language shaped design historically?
  • Can visual design accomplish things that language cannot? Why?
  • How are signs, signifiers, and the signified employed in visual communication? Provide examples from contemporary or historical advertising.
  • How are non-literal devices used to convey meaning in advertising? Provide examples from contemporary or historical advertising

Response

Language has shaped design historically because designers can portray a design to their viewers and how they view it. Then that design can have multiple meanings behind that design piece and every viewer can have a different feeling towards what they see in that design.

The visual design accomplishes things that language can’t because a design can show many emotions in one piece of design that we as views can’t put into words and we can understand the piece more than we can explain our feelings into words.

Signs, signifiers, and the signified are employed in visuals communications because like the Adam and Eve painting we all see it was an apple that showed that it is tempting to do something. Most of us will see that the apple is a fruit and others who look into it will see it as a temptation behind the story.

Non-literal devices are used to convey meaning in advertising because an advertisement is most likely about thirty seconds to one minute long and in that one minute, you need to get your message to the viewer. So having non-literal devices you are going straight to the point and it is very simple to understand. An example from the article where it has the message “I shop therefore I am”. That message is pretty straightforward if you’re shopping then that is me but other people might look into the message and try to decipher it even more. So it worked both ways for this piece “I shop therefore I am”.

Annotations

  1. https://hypothes.is/a/jVYw4hJ3EeyvfFdgMf-aBg
  2. https://hypothes.is/a/2z7CShJ5Eey37ofF7El4KQ
  3. https://hypothes.is/a/4JEj_hJ6Eey2QmeWpvTU8g