S E M I O T I C

Ashley Mokarzel

S

Semiotics

By Ashley Mokarzel

History of Graphic Design

Shaneffesor

December 8, 2010

Table of Contents

Introduction..............................................4

History........................................................6

What is Sign...............................................8

Meaning Makers......................................11

Application...............................................13

Works Cited..............................................15

Introduction You see the word paper and you know what it means but the word paper and the individual letters of the word are not actually paper. The letters P-A-P-E-R in the English language just so happen to give indication of what is paper and it is a symbol or sign for paper. Symbols and signs are part of everyday life and people respond to them in different way but the question is why? Those that wish to answer should look into semiotics. However, you might ask what semiotics is and in its most simplistic definition is the study of signs (Chandler, 1). When studying semiotics you might come across a couple of problems because semiotics is alone a strange concept to research. The first problem being that when asked for information on semiotics people will often not be able to help because they do not understand what the word means. Therefore it would be difficult to get information when first studying semiotics. The next problem is what one actually means by signs and how one would be able to study signs. Furthermore, becoming aware of these signs is

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P A P E

R

important because signs construct how we see reality and “that information or meaning is not ‘contained’ in the world or in books, computers or audio-visual media” but because we choose to give it meaning (Chandler). Studying semiotics is important in order to understand that we do create meaning and create it according to a complex interaction of codes, symbols, gestures, and linguistics that we would otherwise be unaware if one did not study semiotics.

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There are many people that have been attributed to the study of Semiotics and its study can be traced back to Hippocrates and Aristotle. The first use of the sign was the medical use of the system to give indication of an illness or other ailment by Hippocrates and Aristotle laid the foundation of semiotics by defining the sign as the physical sign itself, the referent, and the meaning it evokes (Van Lier, 58). From there it has been elaborated on by linguist and philosophers alike. Later John Locke was attributed with the formal study of signs and named it semiotics (Van Lier, 58). Two key figures were prominent in the study of signs because of the models they applied to semiotics. They were Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914; pronounced “purse”) and Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) (Nöth). Pierce worked on theories of human behavior while Saussure was a Swiss linguist. These two people worked independly of each other and thus came up with different ways to approach semiotics. However both seem to work off the other and they both came up with models to understanding what a sign is.

History

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Charles PeirceFerdinand de Saussure

HippocratesAristotle

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What is a Sign? When one begins to study signs the first step would probably be to define what a sign is. Usually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of signs often includes visual signs like road signs, or arrows that tell you which direction to go while traveling. We all know what signs can do like give directions, commands, replaces words or gestures, or invoke emotion. However, knowing that a sign can do so much makes it even harder to define. We define a sign by saying it is a sign so with that particular thought in mind a sign is something that stand for something, to some one in some capacity. It is understood as a discrete unit of meaning and in all the ways in which information can be communicated as a message by any reasoning (Chandler, 1).

As previously stated, there are models to define a sign and the way we interpret the message. Saussure adheres to the dyadic model of communication and he argued that there is no inherent relationship that which carries the meaning, the

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signifier, usually the word or symbol and the actual meaning which is carried, the signified (Chandler, 18). At the same time, Peirce worked off of a triadic model: (1) The representamen which is the form the sign takes. (2) An interpretant which would be the sense made of the sign. (3) An object which is what the sign refers to (Chandler, 32). Furthermore, he used 3 types of categories of signs which were iconic, indexical, and symbolic signs (Semiotics). The type of sign was dependent on the inherent meaning one derived from the sign. Iconic signs are signs where the signifier resembles the signified, like a picture. Indexical signs are where the signifier has a causal link with the signified. For example a smoke gives indication that there might be fire. Lastly symbolic signs are signs where the signifier relates to the signifier by convention or law. Symbolic example of signs are words and texts (Semiotic Terminology).

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Dyadic Model

Signified

Signifier Representamen

Interpretant Object

Triadic Model

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Meaning Makers Recognizing a sign for humans is instinctual, so imbedded in our understanding and perception of the world that we do not realize we are doing it. We as humans do this because we are “meaning makers,” we have a desire to create meaning (Chandler). It is how we construct our realities and who ever creates the signs are constructing our reality. Studying signs involves investigation of our world around us, understanding the inherent value of signs, and its decline can leave others in control of the world around us because of influential power of signs. We live in a world saturated with signs, and we often “let [the] signs do the talking” (Williams) One such example is that of advertisements or media. You see a bill board telling you to buckler you seat belt and then a picture along side of it showing a horrific car crash of someone flying out of the windshield. This is sign that uses images, texts, stories, emotion, color and so much more to convey a message. Now whether you choose to follow the message or not is up to you but you from viewing the sign still derived meaning from it.

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Application We are in active communication and the ways we understand phenomena and organize them mentally in order to transmit them to others is very important; especially to any designer who wishes to speak to their audience. Semiotics can be applied to the approach we designers take to try to communicate to our audience and we can control the message through understanding and practice. In order to do this you must become a semiotician, beyond that of just a graphic designer. Now we have the responsibilty of looking beyond the specific text to systems that make the object functional the task of the semiotician is to look beyond the specific texts or practices to the systems of functional distinctions operating within them. The goal is to recongnize the “underlying conventions, identifying significant differences and oppositions in an attempt to model the system of categories, relations (syntagmatic and paradigmatic), connotations, distinctions and rules of combination employed. [The] investigation of such practices involves trying to make explicit what is usually only

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implicit” (Chandler, 31). As a designer you must look beyond the surface in order to identify the signs within a text or object and then the underlying codes within those signs to what meaning they have. Now as graphic designers I’m sure that we are aware that you must clarify the purpose of any work before starting but often times executing that purpose to a general audience is hard. Understanding that there is an inherent message in every sign and that people derive different meaning from each arbitrary sign is crucial to create work that speaks to your intended audience.

“The human world is full of signs, some natural, some culturally

manufactured, some expressly formulated for communicative purposes.

Everything we see, hear or feel can become a sign.”

Van Lier, 57

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Works Cited Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics for Beginners. London ; New York: Routledge, 2002. NetLibrary. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

“Semiotics for Beginners.” Prigysgol Aberystwyth University. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Nöth, Winfried. Handbook of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990. NetLibrary. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

“Semiotics.” About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

“Semiotic Terminology.” The University of Vermont. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Van Lier, Leo. The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 2004. NetLibrary. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Williams, Lena. “Lifestyle; Signs Do the Talking: No Sitting, No Menus, No!” The New York Times. N.p., 30 Sept. 1990. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

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