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Semiotics: A Primer for Designers Semiotics: A Primer for Designers Overview
In its simplest form Semiotics can be described as the study of signs.
Not signs as we normally think of signs but signs in a much broader context that
includes anything capable of standing for or representing a separate meaning.
Paddy Whannel offered a slightly different definition, "Semiotics tells
us things we already know in a language we will never understand." Paddy's definition
is partly right. The language used by semioticians can often be overkill and indeed
semiotics involves things we already know, at least on an intuitive level. Still,
semiotics is important for designers as it allows us to understand the relationships
between signs, what they stand for and the people who must interpret them-the
people we design for. The science of Semiology (from the Greek semeîon,
'sign') seeks to investigate and understand the nature of signs and the laws governing
them. Semiotics represents a range of studies in art, literature, anthropology
and the mass media rather than an independent academic discipline. The disciplines
involved in semiotics include linguists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, literary, aesthetic and media theorists, psychoanalysts and educationalists.
Origins of Semiotics Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure is considered to be the founder of linguistics
and semiotics. Saussure postulated the existence of this general science
of signs, or Semiology, of which linguistics would form only one part. Semiology
therefore aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits;
images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all
these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these
constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification.
Language of Language Structuralism
is an analytical method used by many semioticians. Structuralists seek to describe
the overall organization of sign systems as languages. They search for the deep
and complex structures underlying the surface features of phenomena. Social
Semiotics has taken the structuralist concern with the internal relations
of parts within a self-contained system to the next level, seeking to explore
the use of signs in specific social situations. Semiotics and the branch
of linguistics known as semantics have a common concern with the meaning of signs.
Semantics focuses on what words mean while semiotics is concerned with how signs
mean. Semiotics embraces semantics, along with the other traditional branches
of linguistics as follows: - Semantics: the relationship
of signs to what they stand for.
- Syntactics (or syntax): the formal
or structural relations between signs.
- Pragmatics: the relation
of signs to interpreters.
A Text is an assemblage of signs
(such as words, images, sounds and/or gestures) constructed (and interpreted)
with reference to the conventions associated with a genre and in a particular
medium of communication. Text usually refers to a message, which has been recorded
in some way (e.g. writing, audio- and video-recording) so that it is physically
independent of its sender or receiver. Saussure made what is now a
famous distinction between language and speech. Language refers
to the system of rules and conventions which is independent of, and pre-exists,
individual users; Speech refers to its use in particular instances. Applying the
notion to semiotic systems in general rather than simply to language, the distinction
is one between code and message, structure and event
or system and usage (in specific texts or contexts). According to
the Saussurean distinction, in a semiotic system such as cinema, any specific
film is the speech of that underlying system of cinema language.
The structuralist dichotomy between usage and system has been criticized
for its stiffness, separating process from product, subject from structure. The
prioritization of structure over usage fails to account for changes in structure.
Valentin Voloshinov proposed a reversal of the Saussurean priority, language over
speech: "The sign is part of organized social intercourse and cannot exist, as
such, outside it, reverting to a mere physical artifact." The meaning of a sign
is not in its relationship to other signs within the language system but rather
in the social context of its use. Voloshinov observed that 'there is no
real moment in time when a synchronic system of language could be constructed...
A synchronic system may be said to exist only from the point of view of the subjective
consciousness of an individual speaker belonging to some particular language group
at some particular moment of historical time." As it turns out, both are correct.
In other words, if take a very simple example--the word live. The
fact that the 'L' is next to 'I' is next to "V" is next to "E" is important. Without
those characters in that order we wouldn't have the word live. But it is
also important that the word live is being viewed on July 3, 2003 and that
the context is 'on a concert ticket', so that we may imply that the music is indeed
being played live! The study of semiotics needs to account for the relationship
of the symbols and the social context or context of use. Understanding
Design as a Dialogue In Semiotics for Beginners, Daniel Chandler
sums up precisely why we as designers must be well versed in semiotics. "The
study of signs is the study of the construction and maintenance of reality. To
decline such a study is to leave to others the control of the world of meanings."
Semiotics teaches us as designers that our work has no
meaning outside the complex set of factors that define it. These factors are not
static but rather constantly changing because we are changing and creating them.
The deeper our understanding and awareness of these factors, the better our control
over the success of the work products we create. Semiotics also helps us
not to take reality for granted as something that simply exists. It helps us to
understand that reality depends not only on the intentions we put into our work
but also the interpretation of the people who experience our work. Meaning is
not contained in the world or in books, computers or audio-visual media. It is
not simply transmitted--it is actively created according to a complex interplay
of systems and rules of which we are normally unaware. Becoming aware of
these systems and rules and learning to master them is the true power of visual
communication and design. Back
to Top Terms & Definitions Semiotics,
Semiosis, Semiology: The noun form of the study of signs and signification,
the process of attaching signifieds to signifiers, the study of signs and signifying
systems. Signs - Symbol: Stands in
place of an object - flags, the crucifix, bathroom door signs.
- Index:
Points to something - an indicator, such as words like "big" and arrows.
- Icon:
A representation of an object that produces a mental image of the object represented.
For example, a picture of a tree evokes the same mental image regardless of language.
The picture of a tree conjures up "tree" in the brain.
Signifier:
Is in some ways a substitute or stand-in. Words, both oral and written, are signifiers.
The brain then exchanges the signifier for a working definition. The word "tree",
for example, is a signifier. You can't make a log cabin out of the word "tree."
You could, however, make a log cabin out of what the brain substitutes for the
input "tree" which would be some type of signified. Signified: What
the signifier refers to (see signifier). There are two types of signifieds: - Connotative:
Points to the signified but has a deeper meaning. An example provided by Barthes
is "Tree" = luxuriant green, shady, etc.
- Denotative: What the
signified actually is, quite like a definition, but in brain language.
Slippage:
When meaning moves due to a signifier calling on multiple signifieds. Also known
as "skidding." Discourse: Messages that serve a communicative function
and are usually more complex than simple signs. Mythic Signs: Messages
that "go without saying" that reinforce the dominant values of their culture.
These messages don't raise questions or inspire critical thinking. Denotative
System: A signifier, signified, and sign that together form a meaning Second-Order
Semiological System: Connotative system that incorporates the sign of an initial
system which becomes the signifier of the second system. Taxonomy:
A kind of structural analysis where features of a semiotic system are classified.
Exegesis: Critical interpretation of a text. Interpretation of content
only that searches for meaning connotatively. Hermenuetics: Differs
from exegesis in that it is less "practical." It is the text that postpones and
even breaks with itself to shift meaning through slippage or skidding. Readerly
Text: (from the Pleasure of the Text) Discourse that stabilizes and meets
the expectations of the reader. Writerly Text: is a text that discomforts
the reader and creates a subject position for him/her that is outside of his/her
mores or cultural base. Back
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