Reading between the pixels

 Welcome back to Desktop Chats!

This will be the last post on this page for a while, so to end it lets talk about Social Semiotics. If you've ever looked at an image and felt something but couldn't explain why, that is where social semiotics comes into play. It is basically the study of how images and symbols communicate meaning in a social context. The roots of this methods go back to Michael Halliday and then further developed by Gunther Kress. 

Visuals are everywhere and social semiotics helps you decode the hidden message behind it. Images can push ideas about beauty, power, gender, and even success. Images are structured in a clever way: 

Top/Bottom - The top of an image usually shows the ideal, a dream or emotional part, and the bottom shows the real or "truth".

Left/Right - The left side of an image is what is known, what the viewer is expected to already know, and the right side is completely new.

Size matters - The bigger and brighter an image is the more attention it gets. It's a way for an image to tell our brain to "look here!".

Eye contact - When someone in the image is looking directly at you it is meant to create a connection with you and if the individual is looking away it is offering you something. 

The FedEx logo is a good example of social semiotics, it is a visual design communicating meaning through bold imaging and covert hidden visual clues. The arrow hidden between the E and x is meant to symbolize the precision and speed the company promises. The meaning is encoded in design and through cultural context, arrows meaning movement, we see the social semiotics at play. 

Nike ads are a great example of social semiotics. The runner in this image is placed perfectly in the center of the image, drawing our attention to her and implies self-improvement and drive. As there is no direct eye contact, this image is offering us something, a sense of aspiration that we could be her if we buy their shoes. The background is a natural setting, hills, light, it all is meant to feel real and demonstrate authenticity and focus on the athlete. Advertising plays on the emotional appeal of its viewers (Crusius & Channell, 2016). If Nike can move us to run more, then we are more likely to buy their shoes to achieve that goal. 

Social semiotics gives us the toolkit for reading images the same way we would read text. Hopefully you can take this information and become a sharper observer of the world around you. 

That's all I have for this week, I bid you farewell and hope to see you succeed in your goals. Byyyyeee!!!!

Source:

Crusius, T., & Channell, C. (2016). The aims of argument: A text and reader (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education