Give Me a Sign

Semiotics is a method of analyzing communication through how we make meaning and engage with each other, specifically how we make and take meaning from signs and symbols. Visual semiotics is the study of the visual ways that we make meaning (Bezemer & Jewitt). The theory of social semiotics was developed by linguist Michael Halliday, and his research was focused on language, and the theory was later expanded to include a component of visual communication or visual semiotics (Jewitt and Henriksen).

Within the methodology, there are three categories of images:

Icon: an image that resembles the visual cue it is attempting to reference, like an icon of a phone on a webpage indicates that you choose this option to call. 

Index-a recognizable image that we know the meaning of but that does not represent the action or object physically. For example, a small square means to stop music from playing on our phone, or two lines next to each other means to pause, these images don’t have any relationship with the stopping or playing of media, but we associate them with these actions.

Symbol: an image that does not represent the object or action we are engaging with in any conceptual or visual way, but we know what it means by convention or conditioning. For example, a line underneath text on a website means it is likely a hyperlink. (Visual Social Semiotics: Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning. (Applied Theory) - Document - Gale OneFile: Business)

In visual semiotics, everything matters. The colors are chosen to elicit certain feelings like calm, urgency, or happiness. The structure of the composition, where the objects are located within the image, and so on. 

The chart below from the Theories of Visual Communication blog (2016) provides a really great outline of the ways in which visual semiotics are applied to images.   

This video was particularly helpful in simplifying the theory: https://youtu.be/SlpOaY-_HMk

Take a look at this semiotic analysis completed on one of the most famous images in modern history. It really offers perspective into why this image is so striking. This analysis was completed by Jahel Azzopardi from the Media Corner website. 

Sources:

References:

Azzopardi, Jahel. “How Do We Read a Picture?” The Media Corner, 31 Oct. 2019, https://lovethemediacorner.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/how-do-we-read-a-picture/.

Bezemer & Jewitt. “Bezemer & Jewitt: Social Semiotics.” Soc5, John Benjamins Publishing Company, https://benjamins.com/online/hop/articles/soc5. Accessed 18 Mar. 2023.

Jewitt, Carey, and Berit Henriksen. “6. Social Semiotic Multimodality.” 6. Social Semiotic Multimodality, 

De Gruyter, 2016, pp. 145–64. www.degruyter.com, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110296099-007.

THEORIESOFVISCOMMBLOG. “Visual Social Semiotic Theory.” Theories of Visual Communication Blog, 28 Aug. 2016, https://theoriesofviscommblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/28/visual-social-semiotic-theory/.

Visual Social Semiotics: Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning. (Applied Theory) - Document - Gale OneFile: Business. https://go-gale-com.oregonstate.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=ITBC&u=s8405248&id=GALE%7CA98055408&v=2.1&it=r. Accessed 18 Mar. 2023.