Hall, Sean. This Means This, This Means That: A User’s Guide to Semiotics, Laurence King Publishing, 2012 (Chapters 1 & 2) pgs 21-67.
Prompts
- Using an example, define Saussure’s terms sign, signifier, and signified in your own words.
- How are signs employed in visual communication? Provide a visual example from contemporary or historical advertising and explain why the example is considered an icon, index, or symbol in Peirce’s terms.
- How are non-literal devices used to convey meaning in advertising and/or social media? Provide a visual example from contemporary or historical advertising and explain which type of non-literal device (simile, metaphor, metonym, synecdoche, irony, lies, impossibility, depiction, or representation) is being used and why.
Response
A sign serves as a symbol for another object. It could be a material object such as a lock or an abstract concept. A signifier is the outward appearance of a symbol, such as the color, weight, or material of the lock. The signified is the meaning connected to the object or the lock in this case which is safety and protection.
A sign is used to convey a direct and clear message visually just with one glance. A very common example of this would be traffic signs indicating drivers to stop at a red stop sign or letting them know that the road is a dead end with just one sign. An example of a sign within advertising would be the Twitter symbol, which is widely known all around the world. The iconic Twitter bird stands for “the ultimate representation of freedom, hope, and limitless possibility”.
Non-literal devices are commonly used in advertising and social media to convey meaning in creative and engaging ways. A commonly used non-literal device in advertising is metaphors. Metaphors compare two unlike things to create a new meaning. Like in the example above the ad is comparing a Tabasco hot sauce bottle to a fire extinguisher and conveys the spice level of the hot sauce by comparing it to an actual fire.
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