The association of semiotics and graphic design

1 The emergence and development of semiotics

As early as in the primitive society, people had both practical and aesthetic needs, and they have begun to engage in primitive design activities, enriching people's lives with conscious or unconscious symbolic behavior. From the Oracle to the totem design, all the information on the orderly conduct of the social life of the ancients was recorded. The Japanese scholar who took Dai Yan pointed out that when something represents another thing as an alternative to another thing, its function is called "symbolic function," and the thing that assumes this function is called "symbol."

The term semiotics comes from semiotics in ancient Greek. The study of modern semiotics originated in the early 20th century and developed in the 1960s. Saussure, a Swedish linguist, and Pierce, a philosopher of American pragmatism, were the founders of modern semiotic theory.

The theory of semiotics holds that human thinking begins with cognitive representation. The appearance of things is recorded in the brain to form the concept, and then the cerebral cortex summarizes, organizes, and stores these concepts derived from real life experience, thus making the external world Even the various objects and processes of the world of their own thinking form their own corresponding images in the brain; these images are based on a narrow sense of language and are also expressed as generalized languages ​​such as visual graphs, words, language, body movements, and music. This combination of narrow sense and broad language is symbol.

2 The Association of Semiotics and Graphic Design

Graphic design has an essential connection with semiotics. The entire process of graphic design is a process of visualizing and symbolizing creativity. The designer selects, transforms, and combines visual elements according to design intent, and organically associates and codes the visual elements to form a specific symbol system. Graphic design uses graphical symbols as a means of conveying information. Graphical symbols are visual information, a visual means of expression, an intuitive expression, and a way of viewing.

1) Graphic design is the thinking process of symbolizing creative ideas

Graphic design is a process of symbolizing the world. It is a process of visualizing and symbolizing ideas. Designers select, transform, and combine visual elements according to design intent, and combine visual elements organically; on the other hand, Humans think with symbols. Symbols are elements of thinking. The graphic design is for the purpose of information communication, planning the position, proportion, and relationship of fonts and graphic images in a two-dimensional space. Undoubtedly, this is also a process of special thinking, but at the same time it is a normal thinking process. This is a thinking process in which the designer continues to the viewer's psychological activity, and this continuation is a symbol that depends on the subject of thinking.

2) Graphic design can be said to be a symbol

A flat graphic symbol is a combination of signifier and referent, meaning that the signifier and the signifier are combined. The meaning of the plane graphic symbol is hierarchical, and it can be divided into two levels: direct intention and implicit intention. All systems of intention contain an expression plane and a content plane. The effect of the intention is equivalent to the relationship between the two planes.

The essence of graphic design is to use the flat media to convey information. This determines that it must be part of a generalized language. Therefore, the graphic design itself is an expression of the symbol; at the same time, it is based on the symbolic approach, the principle of the symbol as the basis and means. Thus, the rationality and accuracy of the use of symbols are so important for the purpose of information transmission. The designer uses a symbol X to accurately express Y's information during the design process, and the accuracy of its communication determines the success and failure of his work.

3 The use of semiotics in graphic design

Research on graphic symbols includes three aspects: (1) Directly-intended graphic symbols. That is, the simulation object is similar to the object, the image symbol reproduces part of the visual information of the image, the graphic uses the relationship between different images to construct information and meaning, and the audience constructs the meaning of the symbol in information interpretation; (2) Indicator symbol. That is to say, there is a space-time relationship between the pointed object and the symbol. People recognize the symbol's referential through the indicator symbol, and its simple schema has intuitive characteristics. In the image, the relationship between symbol and object, that is, the signifier and the signified relation, reveal a certain commonality: a consistency of the image displayed by the sign is recognized by the audience and achieves the purpose of cognition; (3) Symbolic symbol. That is, there is a similarity in nature between the referenced object and the symbol, but there is no similarity in shape. It is the result of the assimilation of the group's thinking.

In the graphic design work, the three different levels of the symbol convey different information with different visual elements, so that the symbolic system can be graphically creative and overall planned. There is similarity between the figure and its object, which is expressed as follows: First, the graphic symbol is a reproducible symbol that is very similar to its object. For example, a picture of a house for sale in a real estate sales advertisement is a recurring graphic symbol. Second, There is a conceptual commonality between metaphorical symbols and objects. If a courier company chooses an airplane as its symbol, this is a metaphor. The common concept of a trademark and a courier company is quickness. If the courier company uses a mythical character as a sign, then its metaphor is also fast, and in the process of symbol transmission also reveals more humorous and humorous emotions.

The figures, signs and symbols indicate the possible nature of a symbol. The three are interdependent and interactive. For example, a roll-shaped pastry can be seen through the roll-shaped sign on the outer package of the pastry. The roll shape serves as a pastry product sign and is also a graphic. It can attract customers while it is a trademark. It can be regarded as a symbolic symbol that symbolizes the traditional symbol of a branded pastry in the pastry industry. It can be seen that in the graphic design, visual elements such as graphics and text constitute the symbol system, and the symbol system gives them specific referential functions in the overall arrangement. When the referential function is consistent with the object function, the information can be used appropriately. Deliver what it should be. This requires that the designer must look for the best visual effect of the idea in relation to the signifier and the signifier.

4 Summary

The symbol is the medium for human understanding of things. As a carrier of information, it is a tool for realizing information storage and memory, and also a material means for expressing thoughts and feelings. Only relying on the role of symbols can humans achieve knowledge transfer and mutual communication. At the same time, design is a comprehensive cross-disciplinary. Designers should start from the above basic viewpoints and explore the potential of the symbol. Semiotics as an interdisciplinary comprehensive science, its extensive and profound principles and methodologies in research and practice in various applied subject areas are quite common and in-depth. It is a plane of human expression consciousness and a means of conveying culture and information. The same is true of design. We should skillfully grasp the symbol system, weave new experiences and insights into symbolic ideas, and then apply them to modern graphic art designs to create new design symbols for personalization and human culture. idea.

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