Semiotics is an interdisciplinary theory that concerns the logic of relations. The key concept is the idea of a sign, or the entity that allows someone to interpret something that represents meaning in reference to something else. Semiotics is only a tool, or way of thinking about design; one that stimulates creative thought based on evaluation and analysis. By gaining an understanding of semiotics, I feel it will become part of subconscious, allowing me to utilize these skills on whatever I may design in the future.
American scientist and logician Charles Peirce advanced the definition of a sign as ‘something that stands to someone for something in some respect or capacity.’ Peirce’s model uses the idea of a signifer (which he called the Representamen) and a signified (which he called the Object), but also includes a third element, the Interpretant, which takes the viewer into consideration, and therefore becomes a more complete idea to be related to design.
Peirce also defined three categories of signs;
Icon: Direct representations based on likeness, resembles the actual sign. A photograph of someone is iconic sign of that physical person. Onomatopoeic words like ‘woof’ could also be consider iconic language. Icons are considered the weakest type because they only give one view; the interpreter only needs to recognize the object.
Symbol: Abstract representations based on a common agreement or convention, such as the red cross to stand for aid. Letters of the alphabet are also symbolic signs, who’s meaning we have learnt and associated with sounds. Some symbols are more easily accepted than others, and in different areas around the world meaning is changed.
Index: Indirect representations that point to, or are the physical mark left by the object. Examples include smoke for fire, a finger print, colored leaves, or traffic signs that have a direct link to where they are placed. Indexical signs are the most useful of the three for the designer, as they force the viewer to search their mind for connections, and therefore become more involved with the sign.
peirce model
aperture magazine model
Thomas Ockerse's mind map of semiosis for his design of a special issue of Aperture Magazine #93.
Peirce also looked at the different relationships within his model, specifically at what levels semiosis (or the sign process) takes place. These relationships would later be defined in 1938 by Charles W. Morris in his Foundations of the Theory of Signs.
Syntax: The formal, structural, relation between signs; the physical composition.
Semantics: The relation between an object and that which represents it; what the sign is conveying.
Pragmatics: The functional relation between signs and the viewer within the language to the user; how the individual interprets the sign.
These three components of the model are interdependent and act in a hierarchical fashion as shown. When their correct relation is achieved, it is called appropriateness. The syntactic level is the easiest of the three to identify and control, followed by the semantic, and the pragmatic is the most difficult.
Potrzebuje to do pracy magisterskiej którą mam oddać w piątek , promotor stwierdził ze musi to być w mojej pracy , będe bardzo wdzieczny za wszelka pomoc