The concept of making and
understanding signs is something that is vital to human experience; more so in
terms of communication. The official study of it is referred to as
"semiology"; this term comes from the Greek word "semeion",
which means sign. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, it is a science that
deals with the study of how signs are used as part of one's regular social
life. Furthermore, semiotics also investigates the nature of signs and the laws
which surround them. Semiotic studies prevail in fields such as art,
literature, anthropology, and mass media, amongst others, and is studied by
those who call themselves "semioticians".
Saussere's understanding of signs
come in a number of parts. He enumerates the "signified", which
contains the concept it represents, and the "signifier", which refers
to the form the sign may take. This may be implied in the following example: an
image of a red heart may have love as the signified, while the signifier is the
image of the red heart itself. In his definition, he notes that the same
signifier may be for different signifieds, depending on the context used.
Furthermore, the link between what counts as the signified and the signified is
completely by chance; no specific signifier is more belonging to a signified
than another.
Meanwhile, Charles Sanders Peirce
constructs signs in another way. There is the representmen or the form that the
sign takes, the object or what the sign refers, and the interpretant which is
the idea or interpretation in mind.
There are also three classes of
signs. First is the icon; it is understood as something that imitates the
aspect of their subject. An example for this would be a photograph of a
particular object.
Next is the index, which acts as
a connection that points towards the subject. An example would be cloudy skies
that would mean the coming of rain.
Lastly, there is the symbol. It
is up to the interpreter to understand the symbol; this is usually left up to
their prior knowledge and experience. This interpretation is something that
must be learned. An example would be spoken or written words; at a young age,
one would learn how a particular word would represent something and not the
other.
Through this, it can be concluded
that Pierce’s sign models are more complete than Saussere’s.
An example for this theory is the
word ‘apple’. The word can represent a lot of things, including the fruit which
possesses that name, the company which was co-founded by Steve Jobs, and the
currently famous song-slash-meme Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen.
The word ‘apple’ serves as the signifier while the things which are associated
with it are the signifieds. And for this example, the symbol is text.
Semiotics is frequently applied
in advertising in order to signify an advertiser’s message by using signs or
symbols. The sign can be an exact representation of what is being signified.
For other cases, a symbol may be associated with what is being signified.
Images are frequently used
symbols. Most images used are the ones which show the product being advertised.
Example, a famous restaurant’s bestseller can be used to advertise both the
product and the restaurant itself. For some products, commonly associated symbols
are enough. Example, a skull is enough to represent the deadly effects of
smoking.
Symbols are not visual in nature.
Symbols can also come in the form of sounds. Music is used as a universal
language by the advertising industry in order to convey the mood of their
message. An advertised product can be symbolized by the actual content of the
music. Usually, a catchy jingle is used to advertise a place or product. The
words of the jingle may include any basic information of the business being
advertised. The purpose of the jingle is to serve as an easy symbol to help its
audience remember the necessary info regarding what is being advertised.
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