symbols + codes

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my daughter's invented a friendship symbol for her and her best friend that they use to identify as pals. secret code! you, too, can invent symbols and arrange them into a code for clandestine communication. 

who would've thought that washing your clothes properly would require a visual language? this looks to be a code comprised of icons [with somewhat low-motivation] and symbols. 

and then there's this bit of humor below, poking fun of how highly coded and exclusive these signs are. 

thanks to lisa j. maione for the images!

modes of persuasion // 2

in class
discuss lecture and collected examples from your blogs.

quick review over idea generation techniques for brainstorming.

small group brainstorming to generate "pathos" ideas. refer to your class notes for rules on brainstorming. 

homework
define: ethos, pathos, logos in your own words. use additional sources beyond the video lecture. post to your blog. 

continue "pathos" development aspect of your zine / booklet project. 

modes of persuasion // 1

homework for next class

read the new project brief

watch the lecture below. beware of the stilted monolog at the start. it does get [slightly] better. 

an overview of aristotle's modes of persuasion and how they can be used visually to appeal to audiences emotionally, logically, and to establish credibility of the author. information for the sophomore-level "applied communication theory" course in the graphic design department at the kansas city art institute. designed and delivered by tyler galloway.

collect and post to your blog a few examples from each category – ethos, pathos, logos. be sure to label them correctly so i know that you know what you're talking about. bonus points if your examples are about your social issue. extra bonus points if they are not from the internets [but how would i know?]. 

this is a short timeline – due march 2 – so you will have to produce lots of new work for each and every class. be ready to discuss this topic and get started generating ideas for next class. 

awesome semiotics story!

from the amazing podcast, "99% invisible", this gem about danger symbols! an abbreviated version of the story is re-told below in glorious video.

How to design fear, explained with 99% Invisible. Check them out here: http://99pi.org Correction: The correct spelling of "warning" in Persian is هشدار. Watch the previous episode from this series: http://bit.ly/2DDIQAL Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Chances are you wouldn't be able to recognize a biohazard even if you were looking right at one.

semiotics 7 // production + work day

in class
initial class meeting to answer any questions.

don’t forget our primary charge, stated in the project brief.

make lots of stuff! i will come around and check in with you and assist as needed. make sure you are including all of the required areas. that will be the main thing i am checking on today.

new work for next class
final tweaks and printing for final crit on monday. have work pinned up by noon so we are ready to crit right at the start of class. make sure pin-up is coordinated across the class so work is neatly aligned and spaced.

semiotics // learning summary

consult the project brief for specific deliverables, all due on monday feb 11 before noon. if you are making an analog final project, produce a high-quality photograph [not a cell phone shot] of your final work and email me that image in lieu of the pdf deliverable. don’t forget the multiple blog posts.

crit format
we will be doing the "kriss kross" (aka backwards) crit this time around. each student will have their work critiqued by a peer first, then have a chance to address those criticisms. each student has eight minutes total – four minutes for peer input and four minutes for rebuttal or clarification. this is not as much about prepping a presentation as it is about having clear work to begin with, so your classmates' interpretation of it is accurate.

comments will focus on the tasks at hand – how wide-ranging is the visual language? does it include an adequate mix of found and made signs? is the terminology present and clearly written? how clear is the visual ordering of the information? how well do you understand the world of semiotic analysis by looking at this information?

on symbols and identity

listen to, read, and look at visuals from this awesome podcast from 99% invisible. it features tom geismar, a founding partner of chermayeff & geismar & haviv. it discusses the qualities of a distinctive brand mark and how meaning is formed over time around a symbol. chermayeff & geismar & haviv have designed identities for mobil oil, pbs, and national geographic, among many others. a great episode of a great podcast!

semiotics 6 // the map

in class
quick lap around studio to review initial maps.
what organizational strategies did you use?
what is the relationship between content and commentary?
what needs to be done, relative to the brief?

lightning round: connotations
pick a sign that will be good to run through a range of visual connotations.
the class will have 30 seconds to brainstorm/sketch ideas for each of the following connotations:
fluffy, handmade, naive, official, minimal, friendly, terrifying, high-tech, medieval, calm, adorable, clean, old-fashioned, rigid, scary, whimsical.

homework
make make make! – polish up your favorite signs, work out a range of connotations for some, refine your anchorage and relay, refine your mapping strategies, make and label paradigmatic shifts within a sign, and re-check the brief to make sure you're delivering everything you're supposed to. 

listen to the 99% invisible podcast in the other post from today – just above this one – on symbols and identity from tom geismar.

crit will be in one week – monday feb 11. 

semiotics 5

in class
one hour group crit over work in progress: highlight successes, look for trends, and get a sense of the whole.

how is everyone? / motivation / workload / studio expectations – 1.5–3 hours outside for each class session

reading discussion.

new work for next class
preliminary map design, including all required elements from the project brief. this can be tiled in black/white or otherwise pieced together in some tidy and creative way, but should be full size. keep in mind the recent talk on organizational strategies that you can use as a starting point.

semiotics 4

in class
discuss readings

lecture on organizational strategies.

small group crit over work in progress. you should have the following:

• a good variety of visual research

• a few icons, indexes, and symbols of your own design. make sure you are making both images and text [typeset, manipulated, hand lettered, etc; not default].

• connotation studies with at least one sign

• anchor/relay studies with text/image combinations

homework
read
 Intertextuality (start at “Roland Barthes introduced the concept of anchorage...” about halfway down near a photo of an embracing couple. stop at "Claude Levi-Strauss' notion of the bricoleur...")

make
continue development of your visual language. consider how a language has lots and lots of specific units of meaning that can be recombined in myriad ways. are you developing that?

post
to your process blog your ten most effective signs you've created so far. 

prep
work in progress for a group crit for next class. physically post up lots of work to review. we will aim for a one-hour overview of everything to highlight successes, look for trends, and get a sense of the whole. 

semiotics 3

in class

discuss reading: "langue" vs "parole"; our creation of myth; polysemy vs anchorage & the "floating chain of signifiers"

questions on the project sheet? 

quick review over mind mapping. be sure to utilize this idea generation technique for this process.

look at some work! what did you make? how might you expand on what you have?

homework

define
the following in a blog post, in your own words:
denotation, connotation, syntagm, paradigm, digital code, analog code, convention, motivation, anchorage, relay

read
these these two selections from philip meggs' book "type & image" here and here

make

1. select one or two of your more successful icons, indexes, symbols. re-draw/re-design the same sign multiple times using different media and visual approaches to create a range of connotations – think "object translations" and “symbol x 100”. how do you change how you say the things you are saying ("angry", "cuddly", or "haggard" bear)? consider langue vs parole – the bit of language/denotation you are communicating vs your dialect/personal quirks/tone of voice.

2. play with ideas for both anchorage and relay relative to your topic. this will require the combination of image and text.

this project will be due monday, feb 11. crit format to come soon.

semiotics 2

in class
review readings, terms, and social issues. 

lecture: semiotics, part 2

review project sheet

homework
read "visible signs" part two, by david crow.

 additional project thoughts: when finding and collecting a wide range of existing icons, indexes, and symbols about your social issue – the wider the range, the better. think broadly – literal to abstract; logical to emotional to absurd; tight associations to loose. these can be photographs, logos, bits of expressive or informative text, illustrations, colors, textures, or whatever else you find. the primary requirement is that they must be signs – a thing that stands for something other than itself. look at recurring topics and images as well as unique instances and perspectives – for the issue, against it, and so forth.

in addition to your research above, brainstorm and create a range of your own icons, indexes, and symbols about your topic. don't worry too much at this point about being original – think about the value of convention, or of being unconventional. it may be best to think/create categorically – start making icons, then move to indexes, then symbols. don’t forget to include typographic words and phrases – they count, too. these needn't be carefully resolved at this point. quick renderings are fine. a wide range of ideas is what's most important. we can discuss and develop more later. 

bring what you find and make to next class for review. make it fun! yay!

semiotics 1

IN CLASS:
intros, syllabus, etc

lecture 1 – intro to semiotics


NEW WORK FOR NEXT CLASS:
read
visible signs by david crow (selections from the book)
visual communication by baldwin and roberts (selections from the book)

define
the following in a blog post, in your own words:
semiotics, sign, signifier, signified, icon, index, symbol, polysemy
if available on your site, tag the post “act” so i can find it easily

determine
a social issue you want to use as future content for the majority of this class. it should have some existing form(s) of iconic representation and multiple easily accessible statistics. 
example: incarceration in the u.s.
– prison building, bars, walls, handcuffs, etc. [commonly used icons]
- u.s. prison and jail population in 2013 was 2,227,500.
post your social issue to your blog, using the same format as above [title, representation, one or two basic statistics]