Introduction to Semiotics

Introduction to Semiotics 

Today we had an introduction into semiotics, initially I felt confused and overwhelmed but the whole theory behind it began to make sense after mulling things over in my own time. To keep things brief I wont go into too much detail on what I found out. The main points been that from my understand I learnt that: 

Semeiotics is a science of studying signs a theory developed by Ferdinand de Saussure a swiss born theorist.

I learnt that bringing cultural references into design creates a stronger concept for the whole meaning behind the visual problem. 

If one element was as a singular item it is seen to be a neutral element but if this one element is combined with another for example if a letter was combined with a color depending on color use this element obtains method and meaning. For example if a large bold word of DEATH was displayed, if this word was to be shown in red it would obtain a connotation of death or danger, but if this word was displayed in a light weight typeface and a sky blue color the effect it would have would be a lot less intimidating. This is due to stereotyping within out genetics through cultural insights onto what color means and how we perceive certain things.  

For example red emulates an element of luck in china, but in more western countries it is  sometimes used to connote danger. 

Another common example of this stereotyping is the stereotyping of peoples dress sense. I personally agree with this it happens a lot in my culture. Its sickening how people judge people before evening exchanging a few words with each other just over the way they dress, or how they have there hair, or how much makeup they wear. You can't judge a personality on looks alone.

While on this subject of connotations I will go a little more in depth into this subject before moving on. Connotations can be linked to typography too, for example a font made of bamboo to me emulates Hawaiian culture and cocktails on the beach. Stone carvings and angular sharp bold edges in a condensed format emulate Ancient Greece. Old style Calligraphy with complex bold black serif or script typefaces emulate Englishness. 

A racist connotation that is commonly seen is that the Chinese eat cats, the irish live off potatoes and the americans are all fat. Its cultural stereotyping that is just getting worse. While on abusive connotations it is seen that people conotate police to be lazy and just sit in there office with coffee and donuts. This is a comical stereotyping that derives from TV series like Simpsons showing the main Chief Wiggan eating donuts all day and can barley use his gun. It shows how easily we are influences by the media in films, games and music. For example video game violence and shootings in America have a strong link. Another connotation from the media is the police seeing there powers as a way of been far too aggressive and seeing them as faceless government yobs. Particularly accurate during the student riots. 

I gathered knowledge on some main terms and concepts and I will round them up to end this entry. A sign is a combination of a Signifier (Obvious Image) and a Signified(Mental concept) element. For example DOG. The writen and spoken word is DOG, a picture of a DOG the sound of a DOG barking. The signified is the mental concept of the dog, what you see it as. Do you see it as angry? Cute? Smelly? This again comes down to your connotations and opinions on it. Why is it called a DOG? Why not POG? Its programmed into is through generations of cultural learning. We are taught from an early age to see certain items as whats been known for 100's of years. One question I ask myself is, why is the color orange related to the fruit orange? Its like what came first the chicken or the egg? Did the fruit get named from the color? or the Color named from the fruit? Confusing but something I want to look into, adding a deeper meaning to my design concepts

Denotation = Basic Understanding of for example Dog been a 4 legged creature.

Connotation = Common association with the element eg the dog walks, smells, mans best friend etc.

Code = System of symbols and signs

Myth = Deeper meaning within connotation. For example we know a sign is made up of 1 signifier and 1 signified but what makes that Sign? For example were does the mental image of a dog come from? 

Arbitrary = The judging of an element before looking into its relationship of how the Sign is made up of its signifier and signified.