Semiotics and Visual Communication Concepts and Practices

Semiotics and Visual Communication:
Concepts and Practices

Semiotics and Visual Communication:
Concepts and Practices
Edited by
Evripides Zantides
Semiotics and Visual Communication: Concepts and Practices,
Edited by Evripides Zantides
This book first published 2014
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2014 by Evripides Zantides and contributors
Book Cover design and copyrights by Theseas Mouzouropoulos
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-5468-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5468-9

…to all the graphic warriors
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures.............................................................................................. x
List of Tables ............................................................................................. xii
Preface ...................................................................................................... xiii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................. xvii
Chapter One: Architectural and Spatial Design-Design for Three

Dimensional Products
Embedded, Introspective and Poetic Narratives in 3-Dimensional Design .... 2

Ralph Ball
How Type Can Move Us—Type in the Environment: France .................. 11

Jeff Leak
Double Writing in Architectural Design: A Phenomenological-

Semiotic Approach .................................................................................... 23
Theodora Papidou
Chapter Two: Design for Print Applications
The Renaissance of Academic Publishing: The Deconstruction

of the Journal into a Pragmatic Manifestation of a Postmodernist
Set of Discourses ....................................................................................... 34
Artemis Alexiou
Marketing Semiotics Applied to the Design of Integrated Graphic

Communication Systems ........................................................................... 45
Dora Ivonne Alvarez Tamayo
(De)coding the Fabric of the European Years’ Visual Representations .... 56

Camelia Cmeciu and Doina Cmeciu
viii Table of Contents
Intersemiotic Translation in Advertising Discourse: Plastic Visual

Signs in Primary Function in Communication .......................................... 72
Evangelos Kourdis
The Greek-Cypriot Dialect in Writing: Orthographic Conventions

and Typographic Practices......................................................................... 86
Aspasia Papadima, Ioli Ayiomamitou and Stelios Kyriacou
Chapter Three: Design for Screen Based Media
Signs at the Interface: An Exploration of Semiotics and Interaction

Design...................................................................................................... 100
Nikos Bubaris
Ludic and Social Media Interaction Design Principles in Smart City

Development ........................................................................................... 110
Patrick J. Coppock
Typography and Language: A Semiotic Perspective ............................... 126

Jack Post
Film and New Art Media Semiotics: On the Figural ............................... 139
Irini Stathi
Kinetic Typography: A Semiotic Exploration ......................................... 150

Theo van Leeuwen and Emilia Djonov
Chapter Four: Pedagogy of Visual Communication
100 Things: A Process for Foundation in Theory and Practice ............... 164
Law Alsobrook
Visual Diasporas: Comics as Transcultural Phenomena ......................... 177

Holger Briel
The Development of a Visual Literacy Course in Higher Education ...... 193

Anastasia Christodoulou and George Damaskinidis
“My First Experiment” “My First Ex”: A Multimodal Tool Proposed

in the Didactics of Literature ................................................................... 207
Symeon Degermentzides
Semiotics and Visual Communication: Concepts and Practices ix
Developing Students’ Visual Design Competence through Situated

Literacy Practices: The Case of the Erasmus IP “P.S.BoWMa” ............. 224
Catherine Dimitriadou and Androniki Gakoudi
The Quest for “Visual Thinking” and the Double Bind of Education ..... 239
Miltos Frangopoulos
Project My City My Place: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Graphic

Design...................................................................................................... 256
Maryam Hosseinnia
The Receiver is the Message? ................................................................. 269

Peter C. Jones
A Course in Visual Communication ........................................................ 284

Tony Pritchard
Children Are Painting Inscriptions: Pedagogy of Visual Communication

in Local History ....................................................................................... 295
Evangelia Svirou, Ifigeneia Vamvakidou and Paraskevi Golia
Chapter Five: Visual Arts
Marks, Signs and Images: The Sense of Belonging and Commitment

which Pre-Dates History but has now become a Powerful Global
Language ................................................................................................. 310
Paul Middleton
Showing Saying: On Speech Balloons .................................................... 322

Lizzie Ridout
Contributors List ...................................................................................... 332

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1: Swan and Dolphin Hotels by Michael Graves/ Notch and Tilt
Best Supermarkets by SITE
Figure 1-2: light and shade collection
Figure 1-3: the complete history of shelf supports
Figure 1-4: One Day I’ll design the Perfect Paper Lampshade
Figure 1-5: power tower
Figure 1-6: Transparent
Figure 1-7: The removal of the billboard has left this sign visible behind
the later poster frame
Figure 1-8: This gable end shows four advertising messages all overlaid
and revealed by the passage of time
Figure 1-9: These two signs for the alcohol brand Suze were photographed
in different parts of France and go someway to illustrating the visual
differences that painted signs wrought on brand marks
Figure 1-10: Space of inscription: it is circumscribed by double
writing and geo-graphy.
Figure 1-11: Architectural design as semiosis.
Figure 2-1: Snapshot fromTalk to Her by Pedro Almodovar
Figure 2-2: Camera Obscura: feminism, culture and media studies
Figure 2-3: Camera Obscura: feminism, culture and media studies
Figure 2-4: Stages of the design process
Figure 2-5: Logos of European Years
Figure 2-6: Print advertising of Cyprus Bank
Figure 2-7: Print advertising of the Greek mobile network operator
Cosmote
Figure 2-8: Print advertising of Piraeus Bank
Figure 2-9: Consonants-vowels representation in words with the same
meaning, both in GC and SMG.
Figure 2-10: Motifs created by the counter-forms of characters in GC
Figure 2-11: How young people write in GC
Figure 3-1: The opening screen of the Ermou Street multimedia
application
Figure 3-2: Activating interactive objects
Figure 3-3: Smart City promotion images from three incidentally selected
web sites
Semiotics and Visual Communication: Concepts and Practices xi
Figure 3-4: Connotative system

Figure 3-5: Nameplate Le Monde
Figure 3-6: Four different realisations of the letter d
Figure 3-7: Triadic sign model
Figure 3-8: Saussure
Figure 3-9: A conceptual and a narrative image
Figure 4-1: 100 Things
Figure 4-2: An example of word :: image :: image :: word
Figure 4-3: Student critiquing another student’s work
Figure 4-4: Final poster examples from 100 Things
Figure 4-5: Teaching scenario a comparison between Florina and Bitola
Figure 4-6: The teaching scenario Arcturos
Figure 4-7: The teaching scenario Christian Orthodox Religious symbols
in Prespes
Figure 4-8: Statement of the Eames Design Process by Charles Eames
Figure 4-9: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Visual Representation of the novel
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce,
Figure 4-10: Grammar as “memory image” and “object alphabet” from
Johannes Romberch
Figure 4-11: AUK. Male Kuwaiti student, age 29
Figure 4-12: MSUM Male American student, age 22
Figure 4-13: AUK. Female Kuwaiti student, age 19
Figure 4-14: MSUM. Female American student, age 20
Figure 4-15: The research proposition as an example of the eclectic and
indeterminate nature of the Design process.
Figure 4-16: Grouping
Figure 4-17: Density
Figure 4-18: The T-ness of T
Figure 4-19: Typographic hierarchy exercise
Figure 4-20: A Vyzantis sign
Figure 4-21: A children's sign-The doctors
Figure 4-22: A children's sign–VOLT, a sport shop
Figure 5-1: Tag created in The Graffiti Creator application
Figure 5-2: Catherine Middleton’s (Duchess of Cambridge) coat of arms
Figure 5-3: Catherine Middleton’s (Duchess of Cambridge) coat of arms
Figure 5-4: This Nike advertisement is a clear reference to the nativity star
Figure 5-5: Greenpeace’s ‘rebranded’ BP symbol
Figure 5-6: Soliloquy [After Bakhtin]
Figure 5-7: Soliloquy [After Bakhtin]
Figure 5-8: Compilation of pages from Ways to talk and yet say nothing,
or ways to not talk and yet say everything
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2-1: The cognitive flow beyond the European Years’ logos
Table 2-2: Type visual deontic modality
Table 2-3: Token visual deontic modality
Table 4-1: An overview of the structure of the course
Table 4-2: Multimodal factors
Table 4-3: The semiotic practices comprising the IP P.S. BoWMa within
the concept of “design”
Table 4-4: Inventory of the resources used for the compilation of the
teaching scenarios
PREFACE
This book is the result of selective research papers that were presented at
the first international conference of Semiotics and Visual Communication
at the Cyprus University of Technology in November 2011. The
conference was built around the theme from theory to practice and brought
together researchers and practitioners who study and evaluate the ways
that semiotic theories can be analysed, perceived and applied in the
context of various forms in visual communication. Within a Semiotic
framework, the book explores research questions under five main thematic
areas: Architectural and Spatial Design-Design for Three-Dimensional
Products, Design for Print Applications, Design for Screen-Based Media,
Pedagogy of Visual Communication and Visual Arts. It investigates
Semiotics, not only from a theoretical and historical perspective, but also
from an applied point of view, looking at how theory can be implemented
into design and visual communication practice. A key feature of the book
is the diversity of 25 essential contributions by 33 academics and
practitioners that display their concepts and ideas on Semiotics within the
interdisciplinary nature of Visual Communication. From Plato’s Cratylus
to structuralism and post-structuralism, the presence and aspects of
Semiotics as defined by linguists, have always been strongly present and
applied in non-verbal languages. The selected authors that follow are a
proof of the fascinating research and design opportunities that constantly
emerge and enrich, at the same time, visual communication.
Ralph Ball is concerned with the generation of artefacts, which
deconstruct and reconstruct design axioms and ideologies. He presents an
evolving series of conceptual artefacts, which act as visual reflections on
Modern, Postmodern and Contemporary design culture, as well as re-
examines typologies and generic forms with reference to the rhetorical
themes and axioms specific to Modernism. Jeff Leak successfully
juxtaposes parallels between the caves of Lascaux and the old painted
roadside advertising that decorates the roadside in France. He suggests that
the simplicity of their temporally altered messages implies a different kind
of social interaction; a more civilised societal code and explores their
Frenchness from a semiotic perspective. Theodora Papidou investigates
the moment of first retaining an intention in lines and words during the
process of architectural design as ushers in the activation of a mechanism,
xiv Preface
fixing architectural thought in iconic and verbal signs. She looks at the
traces of this first instance of retaining up to the emergence of form and
concept, as well as the text of the special design writing to be regarded as a
unit of signification. Artemis Alexiou re-examines the design and layout
of academic print journals in order to reflect the nature of contemporary
academic discourse more, as well as introduce a concentrated design
conceptualisation and production into the sphere of academic journals to
improve their visibility and promote academic ideas to a wider audience
beyond the academic communities. Dora Ivonne Alvarez Tamayo
focuses on the production of discursive systems aimed at promoting the
brand positioning through the articulation of visual messages that are
issued in different media, by which an organisation, company or product
uses to contact their users. Camelia Cmeciu and Doina Cmeciu
collaborate on the deep structure of unity with the EU communication
campaigns for promoting European Years, common to all the member
states, and look at their diversity with the implementation of the issues of
each European Year within public communication campaigns of different
member states’ organisations. Evangelos Kourdis presents selected cases
of intersemiotic translation in advertisements adopting Groupe ȝ.’ s (1992)
approach and he examines Greek examples whose intersemiosis is based
primarily on the interpretation of the verbal system by plastic visual
systems that co-exist with iconic visual signs. Aspasia Papadima, Ioli
Ayiomamitou and Stelios Kyriacou investigate issues related to the
interplay of typography and orthography design for a non-codified dialect.
They engage in researching the orthographic representation of the non-
standard Greek-Cypriot dialect spoken by the Greek-Cypriots in Cyprus.
Nikos BubarisI explores Semiotics and Interaction Design by proposing a
synthetic model of four communicative functions of user-interface signs:
modes of remediation, action-oriented representations, nodes in
information maps and computational effects by reference to a multimedia
application that a team of students produced as an assignment. Patrick J.
Coppock focuses on how “ludic and social media interaction design
principles” may be useful for mapping, planning, designing and realising
people-friendly urban spaces in Smart(er) Cities. Jack Post proposes that
typography can be considered as a poetical or aesthetic language that
subverts the primary functions of the alphabet and written language. He
recommends that a semiotics of typography is possible, and can be
approached as a secondary poetic organisation of the planar written
surface. Irini Stathi indicates that the heterogeneity and complexity of
multimodal coded texts probably require new semiotic concepts and likely
new methods of research in order to delineate the role of the figural in the
Semiotics and Visual Communication: Concepts and Practices xv
screen-based arts’ signification. Theo van Leeuwen and Emilia Djonov

explore kinetic typography as a fundamental change in the semiotic
landscape and investigate the potential meaning of this new semiotic
mode, what we can ‘say’ with it and how, as well as how this potential
meaning comes about. Law Alsobrook unpacks some of the methods and
means by which teaching sophomores the language of design is taking
place, while they explore the design process. Holger Briel looks at comics
as transcultural phenomena and analyzes how graphic novels can become
effective teaching tools by investigating common challenges that come
from students themselves. Anastasia Christodoulou and George
Damaskinidis examine how literacy can be practised when analysing
video as a new form of multimodal text. By employing this new concept of
pedagogy, they aim to introduce a framework to describe the activities of
individuals as they identify, read and create new texts using various
semiotic codes. Symeon Degermentzides proposes an educational software
that aims to register information about the choices a student makes
concerning meaning-making resources, while surfing on the Internet.
Catherine Dimitriadou and Androniki Gakoudi explore the ways that
situated literacy practices can contribute to the development of student
teachers’ semiotic awareness and their competence as educational agents.
Miltos Frangopoulos negotiates the quest for “visual thinking” and the
double bind of Education so as to assist students to move beyond mere
transmission or ‘communication production’, towards invention, confronting
the more significant issues related to the authorship of meaningful
proposals. Maryam Hosseinnia looks at cross-cultural collaboration in
design learning and she uses the semiotic approach to analyse, process and
interpret messages/signs to understand their meaning and their influence
on people’s interpretation in different parts of the world. Peter C. Jones
outlines the early stages of a practice-based PhD into the effect on
communication design methodologies and outputs, by substituting
established types of market segmentation with theories and categories used
by teachers to identify the styles or models by which people learn. Tony
Pritchard presents a Visual Communication course from the London
College of Communication that its postgraduate design sets out to
demystify the theories and practices of visual communication. Through
the presentation of a case study, he aims to show how semiotics and
related theories are applied in a practical learning and teaching context.
Evangelia Svirou, Ifigeneia Vamvakidou and Paraskevi Golia outline
the outcome of a didactic proposal for children who learn about local
history. Their theory and analysis are based on “reading” students’
products using social semiotics within the scope of visual communication.
xvi Preface
Paul Middleton explores the emergence of primitive marks as signs

which identified people long before a verbal language emerged. He builds
on them as marks that followed a different evolutionary path, suggesting
that they communicate with simplicity and economy; conveying far more
through simple juxtaposed images than a complex series of words. Lizzie
Ridout brings together theoretical, historical and practice-based research
to examine the semiotic aspects of speech balloon. In part, she outlines a
collection of ruminations, preoccupations, truths and tales examining the
speech balloon and its dear, yet distinct relative, the thought balloon.
Taking this publication as a starting point for action, combined with
the constitution of Cyprus Semiotics Association in 2013 and the support
of the Hellenic Semiotic Society, Cyprus begins to have a place on the
international Semiotic map. I hope you enjoy this book and find it
stimulating and useful in providing some answers on putting semiotic
theory into visual communication practice.
Evripides Zantides
Lemesos
www.svclab.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book, as a result of the first International Conference on Semiotics

and Visual Communication that was held in Cyprus in November 2011,
would not have been possible without the contribution and help of its
scientific and organising committees, reviewers, speakers and volunteers
who were involved throughout its process and accomplishment.
Special thanks must go to Savvas Christodoulides, Anastasia
Christodoulou, Antonis Danos, Miltos Frangopoulos, Matthew Hobson,
Marianna Kafaridou, Evangelos Kourdis, Alexandros Ph. Lagopoulos, Jeff
Leak, Theo van Leeuwen, Paul Middleton, Arafat Al Naim, Grigoris
Paschalidis, Marios Phocas, Ifigeneia Vamvakidou and Lia Yoka. Many
thanks also to Monika Herodotou, Eleftheria Iasonos, Christina Koutalis,
Theseas Mouzouropoulos, Christina Nicolaou, Angelos Panayides,
Aspasia Papadima, Ioanna Tymbiotou, Panayiotis Zaphiris for all their
support, as well as to the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts at
the Cyprus University of Technology, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation,
+design magazine, the vcdc-visual communication designer’s club, the
Hellenic Semiotics Society, the Semiotics and Visual Communication Lab
at Cyprus University of Technology, the Cyprus Semiotic Association,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing and all my colleagues, friends and
students who respond positively in the struggle for contribution to
semiotic knowledge, visual communication and graphic design practice.
CHAPTER ONE:
ARCHITECTURAL AND SPATIAL DESIGN—

DESIGN FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL
PRODUCTS
EMBEDDED, INTROSPECTIVE AND POETIC
NARRATIVES IN 3-DIMENSIONAL DESIGN
RALPH BALL
My research is concerned with the generation of artefacts, which

deconstruct and reconstruct design axioms and ideologies. The studies
presented in this paper form part of an evolving series of conceptual
artefacts, which act as visual reflections on Modern, Postmodern and
Contemporary design culture. Typologies and generic forms characteristic
of modern furniture and lighting are re-examined with reference to the
rhetorical themes and axioms specific to Modernism.
Axiom examples typical of the modernist canon include the following:
Form follows Function (L Sullivan), Less is More (L. Mies van de Rohe),
Decoration and Crime (A. Loos) often misquoted and interpreted as
Decoration is a Crime; Starting from Zero and Continuous Revolution
(W.Gropius) and Truth to Materials (C. Brancusi). Themes considered and
examined include Transparency, Minimalism and Multifunctionality. The
aim of the visual re-examinations is to simultaneously challenge and
accommodate the above axioms in search of new, authentic forms of
visual expression.
Postmodernism, as understood with reference to design, challenged
modernism’s formal purity claiming that modernism’s rational abstraction
limits subjective and narrative expression. In ‘Complexity and Contradiction
in Architecture’ (1), architect Robert Venturi famously paraphrased Mies
van de Rhoe’s modernist mantra of “Less is More” with “Less is a Bore”.
Venturi’s historical architectural analysis called for a replacement of
modernism’s reductive abstraction with an intelligent, richly diverse,
symbolic form in a contemporary context. He called for inclusiveness and
ambiguity using terms like both-and rather than either–or. Whilst Venturi
advocated complexity and contradiction, he was opposed to the incoherent
and the arbitrary in architectural expression. However, his intensions were
very often misinterpreted and corrupted and gave rise to much arbitrary
and whimsical architecture: many so-called postmodern buildings
employed an eclectic mix of architectural styles but often lacked any
coherent, conceptual underpinning.
Ralph Ball 3
Fig. 1-1 Swan and Dolphin Hotels by Michael Graves (top of this image) Below
are Notch and Tilt Best Supermarkets by SITE
For example, the arbitrary and decorative theatricality of the Swan and
Dolphin Hotels by Michael Graves (2) (at the top of this image) is, I
suggest, typical of postmodern architecture. Contrast this with the more
unusual, ‘conceptual theatricality’ of architecture by SITE for Best
Supermarkets. (3) These buildings present the supermarket authentically
as a commercially pragmatic, big, simple box. Acknowledging the
legitimacy of the big box allows entrances to be dramatically signified.
Entrances are conceived and visually announced as inventive ways of
‘opening’ the box.
My research similarly intends to filter the rationality of the modern
through the contradictions and complexities of the postmodern without
loss of conceptual authenticity. In these studies, modernism’s rational and
reductive axioms are reframed or pushed to logical extremes in order to
endorse the paradox and legitimise the invention of formal incongruities,
rational irrationalities or poetic transgressions. Ironic iconics: the pieces
are self-consciously introspective and are intended to reflect upon
themselves and their inherent culture.
The research studies presented use a method analogous to archaeology.
The intention is to uncover ‘embedded’ visual potential. The aim is to
expand or reinforce meaning in products by introducing or revealing latent
narratives. Plausible forms are extrapolated in this manner by examining,
and drawing from, a product’s formal, visual parameters and implicit
contexts. This process introduces the concept of ‘design poetics’. Designs
are materialised in ways that go beyond their function or even their
symbolism, and playfully or critically reflect on a cultural meaning.
4 Embedded, Introspective and Poetic Narratives in 3-Dimensional Design
This ‘archaeological’ method is used to reinvest appreciation of that

which becomes undervalued through familiarity. It intends to visually
articulate areas, which are unregarded, celebrating the generic rather than
the specific: it intends to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, re-seeing
objects and functions as if for the first time: it intends to envision fresh
possibilities in commonalties, to start with the given and find new ways of
expressing this within and through the objects studied. The studies,
therefore, involve the reconfiguration of familiar, archetypical products.
These product types we have called ‘mature typologies’ and defined as
objects, which generally have an agreed consensus on basic form and
application. With this definition as a point of base reference, we now
illustrate a series of visual studies together with their various rationales.
Light and Shade

The ‘Light and Shade’ series explores the formal relationship between
generic light bulb and lampshade. A reconfiguring of this relationship
transforms the reading of the geometrically abstract form of the modernist
lampshade, (a truncated cone) into a series of more specific concrete
objects and meanings. The truncated cone, a formally abstract container
of light, is turned into other, familiar container types. By reconfiguring the
relationship of bulb to shade, the ‘light-shade’ can be variously read as
fruit bowl, plant-pot, skirt or bucket. Each of these formal changes, in turn,
explores further modernist reference.
Fig. 1- 2 ‘light and shade collection’

steel, stone, aluminium, glass, fabric various sizes © 1997Ralph Ball
Golden Delicious
The inverted truncated cone becomes a container. This generic container is
then more specifically identified by the choice of content. In the first
object many light bulbs are piled into the container, over one single lit
bulb, turning the bulbs into metaphorical fruit and, by association, the
Ralph Ball 5
container into a fruit bowl. The bulb, originally only the source of light,
when used here ‘en masse’, also becomes the diffuser or shade element.
The original shade becomes a frame to hold the new diffuser in place.
The configuration produces an elegant paradox with reference to the
modernist axioms of Brancusi’s ‘truth to materials’, Mies van de Rhoe’s
‘less is more’ and Adolph Loos’s ‘decoration and crime’. Here is the
apparent conundrum. This artefact uses ‘pure’ form and material: the light
bulbs are generic (truth to materials). The elements are functional and used
efficiently: the bulb acts as both light source and light shade (conceptually
less is more). Yet conversely, the result is excessive and decorative in the
quantity of bulbs used and in their playful distribution. In effect, this
construct breaks the rule of Loos’s ‘decoration and crime’ whilst
simultaneously adhering to the ‘less is more’ and ‘truth to materials’
values of Mies van de Rohe and Brancusi.
Generations
In the second example called “Generations”, the container is, again, more
specifically identified by content. The truncated cone here contains a
vertical tube from the end of which sprout two dichroic reflectors. The
configuration turns these reflectors into metaphorical flowers and, by
association, the container into a plant pot. Dichroic reflector bulbs are
clearly a more recent generation of light source than the classic and
generic ‘Edison’ bulb. The original term ‘light bulb’ was clearly coined
with reference to its shape, resembling that of organic bulbs and tubers.
In this construct, an upside down light-shade implies the containment
of the classic Edison bulb within the cone. From this ‘now potted’ Edison
bulb, newer generations emerge and flower. Here, again, Loos’s
Decoration and Crime (variously misquoted but commonly interpreted as
‘decoration is a crime’) is subverted despite using only the essential,
unadorned elements of light making. The configuration is essentially
figurative rather than abstract.
Task Light (Wall-washer)

In this third example, the truncated cone is inverted again and hung onto a
ladder structure. This ladder frame, by association, turns the reading of the
cone metaphorically into a window cleaner’s bucket. The aluminium
ladder enables low voltage current to be conducted through the frame.
This, in turn, allows the cone, now a ‘bucket of light’, to be lifted from
rung to rung and to relight on contact with each of the rungs.
The modernist preoccupation under examination here is ‘adjustability’.

However, instead of the sophisticated adjustability of the angle poise,
dimmer switch or multi-track lighting, adjustability is expressed here in
one of the most fundamental forms. The light source can only be height
adjusted by the simple process of lifting it from rung to rung: a simple,
visibly accessible, analogue process supported by a sophisticated and
invisible low voltage application.
Switch
The relationship of formal position is explored in the fourth object. The
conventional relationship in a freestanding standard lamp is clearly that the
shade covers the bulb at the top of a supporting column. In this study, the
shade is dropped to the ground, leaving the bulb unshielded. An
unshielded bulb is often referred to as a ‘naked’ light. The cone in this
ground level position may now be perceived as a dropped or slipped skirt.
The on/off positional relationship of skirt to bulb also acts as a switch for the
electrical on/off. The skirt may be moved from the ground back to covering
the bulb. The physical and electrical‘switch’ acts in opposition to each other,
doubling the ‘switch’ concept. Putting the skirt on (covering the bulb)
switches the light off, and taking the skirt off switches the light on.
Fig. 1-3 ‘the complete history of shelf supports’

timber paper card 200x250x900mm ©1998 Ralph Ball
“The Book of Sand” is a short story by the Argentinean writer Georges

Luis Borges (4). In this story, Borges describes the existence of an infinite
book: a book in which any page, once seen, can never be found again on
the book’s re-opening. A book in which front and back pages can never be
reached. Further pages always intervene no matter how hard the fingers try
Ralph Ball 7
to get between the pages and the covers.

“The Complete History of Shelf Supports”, illustrated above, represents
a similar work of infinite fiction. It is made up of two volumes, which
perform the function that the title describes. This is an inversion in which
the books support the shelf instead of the other way round. In this work of
fiction, volume one catalogues all of the shelf supports that have ever been
designed. Volume two contains all of the possible shelf supports, which
will be designed in the future.
Walter Gropius, director of the Bauhaus, called for ‘Starting from
Zero’ and ‘Continuous Revolution’. The purist rhetoric of modernism’s
agenda was a quest for ideal forms. Its aim, for any given functional
artifact, was to optimise form and material and to distil functional and
formal essentials. “The Complete History of Shelf Supports” represents an
ironic realisation of that elusive ideal. Being an infinite catalogue of shelf
supports, it must, by definition, contain the quintessential support! The
irony of that irony is that, as with Borges Book of Sand, when we consult
our infinite catalogue, this ideal form is still predestined to remain elusive.
Fig. 1- 4 ‘One Day I’ll design the Perfect Paper Lampshade’ chrome plated steel
heat-proof paper and ink, 400 x 250mm dia. ©2000 Ralph Ball
This piece is called “One Day I’ll design the Perfect Paper
Lampshade”. It represents, rhetorically, a similar quest for functional and
formal perfection. In this piece, a wire frame 'wastepaper basket' contains
a light bulb set in the centre. Crumpled sheets of paper surround the light
source, each sheet containing discarded sketch ideas for paper lights. The
rejected sketch sheets function as the diffuser or shade. Process and
product are intermingled; the process becomes the product and the
outcome is both a product and a narrative about the trial and error of idea
generation. The object represents a kind of perpetually renewed,
conceptual ideal. The quest for the perfect paper light shade becomes, in
itself, an icon for perfection. Legitimate, rational protocols conspire to
produce an informal and incidentally constructed form. This study,
following the advocacy of Gropius, ends in playful irony.
Fig. 1- 5 ‘power tower’generic plastic electric power sockets, plugs, bulbs and
flexes 2000x400x400mm © Ralph Ball 1998
The study illustrated above is called “Power Tower”. “Power Tower”

is a work of earnest rationality and, in consequence, also a work of
complete, pedantic madness. It takes the banal and generic components
Ralph Ball 9
associated with lighting (plugs, sockets and bulbs) and reconfigures them
in a more ‘poetic light’. The tower makes play with the modernist ideals of
‘adjustability’ using a mechanistic rather than electronic idiom. An
invented, historical possibility (something which could have existed before
track lighting), the piece is an absurd extrapolation into the past. The result
is a kind of retrospective track lighting system understandable in analogue,
pre-electronic format. In order to achieve this level of analogue
adjustability, more than 100 sockets are used. The sockets are set in four
different directions on each level of the tower. This enables the lights to be
plugged in with different orientations on any given level. This kind of
excessive effort turns the tower into a rationally irrational artefact.
Stripped down to rudimentary, pragmatic elements with no intrinsic
artifice, it is nevertheless a highly elaborate confection, both ordinary and
extravagantly decadent.
Fig. 1-6 ‘Transparent’ glass, glass cleaning bottles with fluid.

750x750x300mm © 1997 Ralph Ball
This is called “transparent” and is clearly a play on one of

modernism’s thematic preoccupations-transparency. Taking the axioms
‘form follows function’ and ‘less is more’ to absurdly logical extremes, the
meaning and function of this table is as explicitly ‘clear’ as can be. In the
modernist canon, transparency represents both unadorned form and the
elimination of visual weight. The legs (glass cleaning bottles) support and
maintain the glass top. Glass tops are often a pretext for the display of
legs. Here, the legs not only support the glass, but also ensure their own
visibility.
A contradiction or conflict with the term ‘clear’ is engendered. Whilst
the view through the surface is ‘clear’, the physical surface is not ‘clear’, it
is interrupted by the added, functional presence of the cleaning nozzle
heads. Here, multifunctionality gets in its own way. Integrating a secondary

function partially compromises the full use of the surface. Nevertheless,
the table has an explicit sense of self. Self-supporting, self-cleaning, self-
sustaining, self-promoting and self-evident… a visual narrative entirely
transparent!
This paper has focused primarily on lighting concepts together with
two examples from furniture studies in table and shelf typology. Further
studies in table and chair typologies have also been developed and form an
evolving series of experiments in visual narrative, rhetoric and polemic
design.
These form the material for further papers exploring the subject. Initial
indicative samples of further and ongoing studies using table and seating
typologies can be found in Form follows Idea (5).
1
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture
Robert Venturi
Publisher Museum of Modern Art 1966
2
Swan and Dolphin Hotels 1990
Disney World Florida
Architect Michael Graves
3
Tilt Towson MD 1978
Notch Sacramento CA 1977
BEST Supermarkets USA
SITE James Wines
4
The Book of Sand
Jorges Luis Borges
1975 Spanish 1977 English Translated by Norman Thomas di
Giovanni
Original publisher EP Dutton and Penguin Books
5
Form Follows Idea
Ralph Ball and Maxine Naylor
Publisher Black Dog 2005
HOW TYPE CAN MOVE US—
TYPE IN THE ENVIRONMENT:
FRANCE
JEFF LEAK
As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen
one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his
vilest when he erects a billboard. When I retire from Madison Avenue, I
am going to start a secret society of masked vigilantes who will travel
around the world on silent motor bicycles, chopping down posters at the
dark of the moon. How many juries will convict us when we are caught in
these acts of beneficent citizenship? David Ogilvy, Confessions of an
Advertising Man (2011).
Signs used as a means of communication within the environment today are

almost omnipresent. We mostly pass by them without taking the time to
notice, to read or to perceive them–something that many advertisers are
aware of these days.
As designers, we should try to make the time to see these signs.
Mankind has been using signs since ancient times to convey messages
before language developed into what we know today; for example, the
capitalised letter A is derived from an early depiction of a horned animal’s
head facing the viewer, that has simply been rotated by 180o.
Today’s painted signs exist thanks to a happy accident; their makers
unaware of the longevity of the message implied. French painted roadside
advertisements, like cave paintings, survive in part, due to a number of
factors: a lack of light, so that the pigments are not faded nor bleached; an
obscure or difficult to reach location that ensures that visitors and those
who might damage or develop the location have been deterred; a kind,
atmospheric environment that has not corroded or washed the signs away,
and perhaps lastly; that these images have ceased to be relevant to their
audience and simply been forgotten.
Perhaps parallels can be drawn between the caves of Lascaux and the
old painted roadside advertising that decorates the roadside in France, and
which this paper seeks to consider and discuss.
12 How Type Can Move Us—Type in the Environment: France
France
France is a flourishing hub of creative design and advertising, with
designers such as Grapus and Philippe Apeloig being notable and well-
known exponents of contemporary French poster design.
French posters initially developed a reputation for being the byword
for understated and powerful advertising.
Although the United States is still perceived as the mecca of advertising

innovation, French advertising has clearly developed its own unique style.
(Angelini and Federico, 1998)
Poster design, with the earliest and most notable being the work by
Toulouse Lautrec and Jules Chéret in the 1800s, was inherently French.
This birthright was developed and built upon with avant-garde posters by
Cassandre and Savignac continuing this tradition of innovation, wit and
clarity mixed with contemporary art influences. More often than not, one
did not need to speak French to understand the inherent semiology evident
in the striking imagery produced. The character of Bibendum – the
archetype for Michelin – is typical of this Gallic flair for visual
communication shorthand.
Today, France is also home to the JCDecaux Group, one of, if not the
world’s largest outdoor advertising company. It is this link, between the
need to communicate, creative design and site or environment, that is the
trinity of French poster advertising.
However, it is also perhaps this forward moving innovation that is
overlaying part of the discarded and forgotten heritage of the French
poster. This disappearing history is real and can still be found on the sides
of buildings up and down the country’s roads.
The fact that they have been neglected, if not forgotten, is part of their
allure and charm. “Every painting tells something about past times. It shows us
how society has changed”, (Bartolomeo, 2007).
This patina of age adds something to our contemporary understanding
of the visual message that is additional to that which was intended when
the sign was newly made. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006 p.35) state that it
is difficult to understand the ‘true’ meaning of such visual communication
without the benefit of cultural and chronological signifiers.
Particular features and modes of communication should be seen in the

history of their development, and in the environment of all the other modes
of communication which surround them. The use of the visual mode is not
the same now as it was even fifty years ago in western societies; it is not
Jeff Leak 13
the same from one society to another; and it is not the same from one social
group or institution to another (Kress, G and van Leeuwen, T., 2006).
Fig 1-7. The removal of the billboard has left this sign visible behind the later
poster frame
However, it is this sense of a time past, of a culture past that intrigues.

Travelling around France, one cannot help but be impressed by its
culture, its scenery, its history; the timeless nature of the landscape – both
natural and man-made. Despite the wow-factor of the Millau Viaduct, La
Defense and countless other public and private developments that might
embarrass Britain with their efficiency and expediency, it is the old and
crumbling, grand or antique that enchants.
This research has involved recording these signs at a particular
moment in time, in their own devolution.
Whether this need to record is born out of an impending sense of loss –
that these signs will not last forever and when they go, they will take a
piece of French culture with them–or whether recording them is an act of
preserving a moment in time that is contemporary and suggestive of the
now – that point in time, what was seen and experienced; the signs acting
as material signifiers of Gallic culture.
Advertising moved beyond the boundaries of cities and towns where
signs were predominantly seen by pedestrians.
The earliest images of painted advertising hoardings can be found in
the photographs of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877). Street scenes
of Paris show buildings that are decorated with fresh, vivid and legible
painted advertising messages.
France is a large country and so the development of the car and the rise
of French car manufacturers such as Renault, Citroen and Peugeot
amongst many others, was inevitable and also necessary to give the French
people mobility.
This, in turn, led to an increased opportunity to advertise to people on
the move, and so began the era of large roadside advertising hoardings.
Advertisers turned to houses, garages, barns or indeed any building
that had prominent gable ends or walls on which to promote their wares as
a medium to be exploited. Locations were sought on prominent structures
at the entry points to cities, towns, villages and even one-dwelling, blink-
and-you’ll-miss-it farmhouses and barns. A longer journey also reveals
advertisements painted onto buildings alongside long and winding country
lanes, seemingly isolated from commercial influence. This was to target
the motorist specifically, driving past with only the natural landscape as
companion–what better way to interrupt such beautiful monotony?
These spaces would have been highly valued by advertisers wishing to
promote their goods and services to the public and such walls were often
in demand; with their owners being courted by both advertisers and their
agents.
It is evident in some of the painted advertisements that there is more
than one message. Time and erosion will often damage the topmost
message, but then perhaps reveal the message underneath creating a
strange amalgam of words, colours and meanings; a type of palimpsest. It
is this practice of overpainting that has in some ways preserved the
underlying message somewhat more than the later overpainted sign;
creating a painted barrier against the elements.
Fig 1-8. This gable end shows four advertising messages all overlaid and revealed
by the passage of time.
Jeff Leak 15
Before, between and after the wars, posters were carefully and skilfully
hand-painted onto these large brick and rendered canvasses. Often these
advertisements were created by local signwriters working to clear, and
sometimes not so clear, guidelines. Other times, companies would
commission teams of painters to travel around and paint these
advertisements.
As such, the signwriters were often given an amount of franchise to
transfer the design to the wall. Often they were faced with irregular
shapes, unforeseen windows, gables or pipes. The wall may not have
corresponded to the shape of the logo or design or perhaps the material
texture of the wall’s construction may have placed limitations on the
design’s transfer or detailing. Signwriters, in many instances, had to adapt
and interpret, as can be seen in some of the variance, to be seen across
France. It resulted in the kind of brand variety that would cause
contemporary designers and brand managers to smile in bemusement or
wince in horror. However, this variety does give these messages a
personality that is lost in today’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ society. Does it really
matter that the letters are not quite aligned, or appear slightly different in
their style? The audience knows what they mean, what they are trying to
say, while brand signifiers today need to be clearly identified and legally
protected, it might be considered to be at the loss of the idiosyncratic, the
ingenuous and the human.
To transfer the design onto the wall, a signwriter would most often use
a grid-based technique: drawing equal-sized squares over the supplied
artwork and then, using chalk or graphite, drawing this same square grid
many times larger onto the wall or sometimes even a cloth or paper. The
contents of each square was then carefully transposed and enlarged into
the larger grid until the image was successfully copied and enlarged. If the
image was drawn onto a cloth or paper on the ground, it was then hung in
place against the wall; small holes were made at key points along the lines
of the drawn image and then chalk dust pushed through and onto the wall
to give a visual guide.
Once the design was successfully transposed, the painter would then
apply paint to the wall, following these guides. Often the paint used was
lead-based, although this has been long-since banned. However, this paint
gave the designs a strong opacity and colour transfer when originally
painted and it has also been a factor in their longevity. Usually the painter
would work to apply the lighter pigments first, building up to use the
darker colours later to overpaint and ‘correct’ the design as it progressed.
One has to remember that this was long before the computer and cheap
digital printing revolutionised the billboard, ensuring our visual senses are
now bombarded into passive submission.
These painted ‘posters’ were meant to last from a time when life
seemed slower. Products that regularly change, that espouse the ‘nouveau’
and improved today, were not as important then. The idea of change
serving to regularly maintain, grow or revive sales in the face of ever-
changing and aggressive competition was an idea seemingly without
place.
Complexity in their layout and design was shunned in favour of clear,
easy-to-read messages focussing primarily on the advertiser’s logotype.
This made them easy to read both at a distance and at speed from a car.
Occasionally, a simple sentence was added to serve as a witty mnemonic
or companion to a strong image.
The simplicity of many of these early painted signs might suggest that
the sophisticated readings and semiological layers that modern audiences
are able to understand, were not needed nor valued.
It is true that widespread literacy was less developed in the latter part
of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries. Perhaps
advertisers simply wanted their audience to remember a word’s shape or
colour so that they might recognise it in a bar or shop. Perhaps it was to
establish the product’s name into the collective conscience at a time when
there was no need to differentiate similar products in a crowded market.
Over time, these posters became a bright commercial counterpoint to
the often rural landscape of France; with vivid reds, greens, yellows and
blues enhancing and contrasting with the colours of nature.
Manufacturers such as Suze, Michelin, Dubonnet, Pernod, Igol and
more, shouted their sales pitch from painted posters that appeared on
buildings all around France. Brands more readily associated with, and for,
the motorist – those who sold drinks, food, lubricants etc. – were
seemingly the most widely promoted on these built hoardings.
Perhaps most surprisingly in a modern context, is the prevalence of
alcohol brands that seem clearly targeted at the motorist.
Eventually, however, these posters came to be seen as a blight on the
urban environment. Unlike today’s regulated environments, these images
sprang up without planning permission and invaded the streets; covered
and cloaked the local architecture in a host of messages that clamoured for
attention in a discordant visual feud.
While we now see these signs as being, perhaps, charming, the
government of the time sought to control them and rein in their spread,
dubbing them “the leprosy of the road” (Combier M., 2009).
Jeff Leak 17
Fig 1-9. These two signs for the alcohol brand Suze were photographed in different
parts of France and go someway to illustrating the visual differences that painted
signs wrought on brand marks.
After the Second World War, various Acts were passed in France to
control the permissions needed to allow painted advertising onto buildings
and also to limit these newly ‘endorsed’ images to a maximum size.
Further, these laws controlled advertisements and walls already in
existence and denied them being automatically repainted without these
new controls being enforced. Law 217 placed aesthetic control into the
hands of local administrators or wardens and non-compliance could mean
a criminal sentence for the advertiser or signwriter.
As a result, local municipalities were, and are, able to regulate
advertising beyond existing national frameworks by using their own local
courts and by enforcing zoning restrictions.
This had an immediate effect on the cities, where the repainting of new
advertisements had already been greatly affected by the Second World
War. Signs that had commanded highly visible positions on buildings were
neglected. It was too regulated or too expensive to overpaint them without
any obvious or ready commercial gain.
Those signs in the big cities, such as Paris, have slowly disappeared as
the city has developed and remodelled its buildings; and architecture has
been changed to reflect contemporary use. These signs have been built
over, knocked down or simply covered up. There is nothing to prevent
developers from doing this. These signs seem not to have any importance,
whether as an urban landmark, being part of local social history, or being
regarded as important historical artefacts. “A true palimpsest on the walls,
these graphic works are unfortunately being lost”, (Combier M., 2009).
This change in the law and the moving away from painted advertising
was not so dramatic however outside of the cities, but eventually the
economics of this kind of advertising versus the new paper-based, printed
posters and officially sanctioned ‘temporary’ poster sites meant that their
demise was inevitable.
Over the ensuing years, these painted signs became neglected. Modern
motorways bypassed the small single carriageway roads on which these
advertisements originally flourished. Radio and later television became the
advertising media of choice and these beautiful and semi-permanent
statements slowly fell into disrepair. Who needed these archaic messages
espousing long obsolete products and who even saw them now?
Life became faster

Fortunately, many of these signs have been neglected rather than
overpainted, refaced or bulldozed.
Part of the charm of France lies in its visual appearance; that of slow,
care-worn, timelessness. Has that door been painted in the last forty years?
How long has that chimneystack been close to collapse? Often, when it
comes to houses, it is a studious look that belies modern and well-
maintained interiors. However, many of these painted posters seemed to
have survived thanks to neglect. A lack of maintenance or the DIY spirit,
of the kind which Britain is currently enthralled, has ensured that,
thankfully, the only real enemy of these posters has been the elements.
Over the years, these images have been the victims of blistering heat
and sunshine, fierce winds and rain – the full gamut of France’s climate
and its variance from north to south, east to west.
As one might expect, the red colours in particular, in these posters,
have been the worst hit victims of the elements, being bleached and
degraded by the sunlight. Differing surface materials are also a factor
when considering the longevity of the images painted onto them. The paint
has reacted or been absorbed into the surface, or the texture of the wall has
Jeff Leak 19
caused the paint to peel where it has to flow over corners and around brick
or granite blocks.
But if you are careful you can still see the vibrancy of colour and form
that has been there for 50, 60, 70 and more years. But should these signs
be preserved, renovated or even restored?
Not too long ago, these painted advertisements were more often
viewed as an indecorous blight on buildings, defacing their beauty; their
modern and crass messages serving to vandalise the building’s historic and
aesthetic values.
With modern eyes, used to sophisticated advertising messages, we are
beginning to regard these messages as being connotative of a more erudite
and civilised time and as an integral part of our urban environment rather
than as an interloper.
We can understand them by the virtue of their continuity with our own
experience of being consumers of messages and yet we are often too
distant in time to be able to relate to them in the way that Kress and van
Leeuwen posit.
The position the signs hold within individual and collective memories
relates in some way to the survival of the decaying original rather than any
attempt to restore it (Roberts S., 2010).
The decay and neglect of these signs might be seen as having value in
defining our own discontinuity of experience and in helping us to
construct a personalised fiction of history. It is this very tangible
materiality that is central to the appeal of these advertisements.
There has been some widely documented renovation of some of these
painted signs, most notably the renovation of the “Savon Cadum” painted
sign in Paris on the Boulevard Montmartre.
This has sparked a heated debate among Parisians, some of whom are
delighted that the mural was saved and not destroyed, and others who see
the newly restored image as lacking ‘authenticity’ and making the social
history of the city seem unreal.
The ongoing debate around the social significance of the fading
painted walls of France and the lack of any planning controls to protect
them has led to the formation of a host of organisations being formed, as
well as interested individuals campaigning for them to be recorded and
respected.
As a response to this lack of protective policy to compel building
owners to maintain or restore their murals, CONPER (Conservatoire des
Publicités Extérieures et Routières) is a relatively recent voluntary group
whose mission is to raise awareness of, document, record and even

preserve the many painted advertising sites and locations across France.
Meanwhile, in French speaking Quebec, there recently seems to be an
enlightened approach to the issue of fading painted advertisements,
Since they are eligible for maintenance support as part of the external
appearance of a building, we ask to encourage their conservation and to
classify them as cultural objects, witnesses of social, urban evolution
(Brunel S. and Beaudet J., 2004).
The renovation of these posters would be, however, a retrograde

action. The charm and fascination that they hold is inherent in their age,
however this has degraded them; their originality. Recording and
protecting, rather than preserving these signs, should be made part of the
way that local municipalities act to preserve French culture; not only for
its own residents, but for the cultural wealth of the nation.
However, we can be comforted by the resurgence of interest in this
almost lost art form. In the US, companies such as the Colossal Media
Group, create new painted advertisements for enlightened clients. A
modern variation that explores the physicality of the medium involves
clever overpainting to create new or developing narratives, such as the
BBDO campaign for Gillette "The World's Biggest Shave" (YouTube,
2011).
In France, these historic painted advertisements, these faded and
overgrown murals and palimpsests, denote the sense of a time past, of a
culture past, that intrigues and engages the imagination. It causes one to
imagine the past in the context of imagined understandings. The simplicity
of their temporally altered messages implies a different kind of social
interaction; a more civilised societal code.
They denote Frenchness without any predetermined commission to do
so. They accumulate in the mind as you travel and create fascinating
narratives, disjointed in their message but unified in their visual approach
and sharing the bleached and deconstructed degradation bought about by
the passage of indeterminate periods of time and cultural history.
Advertising signs within the environment today are almost omnipresent.
We mostly pass by them without taking the time to notice, to read or to
perceive them but we should not underestimate their cultural significance.
Taken out of time, their meaning is made more apparent by our dislocation
and displacement; we notice them because they are no longer advertising
the brands or using the medium that we expect – they have become
unusual and therefore a significant and integral part of the French
countryside.
Jeff Leak 21
Bibliography
Angelini, Eileen and Salvatore Frederico. 1998. “Understanding French
Culture Through Advertisements”. Global business Languages. Accessed
September 09, 2007.
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=
gbl
Archeologue.over-blog. 2009. “Le retour de Bébé Cadum, tout propre,
tout neuf”. Accessed September 08 2011. http://archeologue.over-
blog.com/article-33650129.html
Brunel Suzel. and Joances Beaudet J. 2004. “La Murale Urbaine :Pratique
Et Fonctions”. Accessed May 09 2011.
http://www.cbcq.gouv.qc.ca/murale.html
Collingridge Vanessa. 2010. “Making History; Ghost Signs”. BBC Who do
you think you are? Magazine, August.
Colossal Media Group. 2011. Colossal Media. Accessed April 12 2010.
http://colossalmedia.com/
Combier, Marc. 2009. “la lèpre de la route” (tr. ‘the leprosy of the road’).
Accessed April 12 2010. http://culturcafe.blogspot.com/p/archives-
exposition.html
CONPER, 2008. “Le site officiel du CONservatoire des Publicités
Extérieures et Routières”. Accessed 24 September 2009.
http://conpermursreclames.uniterre.com/page2/&thisy=&thism=&thisd=
Ghostsigns UK. 2010. “Ghostsigns”. Accessed April 15 2010.
http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/
Ghostsigns Blog. 2007. “Ghostsigns blog”. Accessed April 20 2010.
http://brickads.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
Klein, Naomi. 2000. No Logo. London: Flamingo.
Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. 2006. Reading Images. The
Grammar of Visual Design. 2nd ed. Oxford: Routledge.
Mecanico, Bartolomeo. 2007. “Old Painted Roadside Advertisements”.
Accessed September 09 2007. http://www.elve.net/padv/home.htm
Ogilvy David. 2011. Confessions of an Advertising Man. London:
Southbank Publishing.
Roberts, Sam. 2010. “Ghostsigns: saving our hand painted advertising”.
The Ephemerist 148, spring 2010.
YouTube. 2011. “The World's Biggest Shave”. Accessed March 17 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U05yZFoiyjE
Images
Figures 1, 2 and 3 are photographs taken by the author between 2005 and
2007
DOUBLE WRITING
IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN:
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL-SEMIOTIC APPROACH
THEODORA PAPIDOU
Architectural design is regarded as what can be rendered as a text, and the

starting point for its study is the written traces, the first records of
architectural thought in the form of lines and words. In this way, we shall
explore the semiotic economy of a special iconic as well as verbal text,
which is circumscribed, the design text. Instead of the standard distinction
between depiction and verbally articulated expression as two fields which
by definition oppose each other, for architectural design, iconic and verbal
signs are elevated to a unit of signification. Depicting in lines and putting
into words represent two ways of enunciating the same gesture, the gesture
of writing: they constitute the double writing of architectural design. The
concept of the sign, as described by the German philosopher Edmund
Husserl, is what allows for a conscious shift from the distinction between
iconic and verbal signs to a joint approach towards them with regard to
design text, irrespective of their material status. Design text points beyond
itself and at something that is out there, rather than expressing its creator.
Because of that, by assuming spatial dimensions, the written signs of the
design text open up an interstitial – as it will be argued – space, that of
inscription, a space where writing prevails.
Let us consider architectural thinking. By that I don’t mean to conceive

architecture as a technique separate from thought and therefore possibly
suitable to represent it in space, to constitute almost an embodiment of
thinking, but rather to raise the question of architecture as a possibility of
thought, which cannot be reduced to the status of a representation of
thought. […] one considers architecture as a simple technique and detaches
it from thought, whereas there may be an undiscovered way of thinking
belonging to the architectural moment, to desire, to creation (Derrida,
1986, p. 17).
24 Double Writing in Architectural Design
The written traces of architectural thought

Architectural design: the process of transforming and translating a main
idea, which gradually assumes a specific form and which is finally
materialised in the work of architecture.
In its general form, the definition above conceals the role that the
written trace plays in the aforementioned seemingly linear process of
transforming and translating. Whether it involves the lines formulating
some initial sketches, or the first statements with single words and phrases
about the intentions of the architect-designer, the appearance of the trace,
iconic or verbal, defines the seemingly constant and abstract flow of
transformations and translations, as it sets the conditions for retaining
meaning. Before the final formulation of the work of architecture, and of
the piece of writing supporting the choices in design that have led to it,
architectural thought is initially sustained in lines and single words: lines
which seek a direction, and words which cannot yet configure a clear
conceptual framework for design.
That moment of first retaining, in lines and words, an intention that has
not yet been stated ushers in the activation of a mechanism ‘fixing’
architectural thought in graphic signs.1 This paper discusses the semiotic
origin of this mechanism,2 which demonstrates the special nature of
architectural thought.
From the graphic signs of architectural design

to double writing
Exploring the mechanism that fixes architectural thought in graphic signs
has rendered writing as the special viewpoint from which architectural
design is approached. Considered within a broader framework, and as
defined by the French anthropologist André Leroi-Gourhan, writing is the
ability of fixing thought in signs.3 In the case of architectural design
1
The term “fix” (Feststellen) is employed in this paper in the sense provided by
Martin Heidegger in his paper “The Origin of the Work of Art.” For Heidegger,
fixed is something which is “outlined, admitted into the boundary,” which, in turn,
“does not block off, but rather […] first brings what is present to radiance. […]
The boundary which fixes and consolidates is what reposes, reposes in the fullness
of movement” (Heidegger, 2002, p.53).
2
Research into this mechanism was also the topic of my doctoral thesis titled
Architectural Design and its Space of Inscription (El proyecto arquitectónico y su
espacio de inscripción), School of Architecture of Barcelona, UPC, Spain.
3
See Leroi-Gourhan, 1964, p. 261.
Theodora Papidou 25
specifically, writing is fixed in graphic signs but these are presented in two
ways: as iconic signs (sketches, diagrams, designs) and as verbal signs
(single words, phrases, texts). What is iconic and what is verbal, what is
spatially formulated and what is verbally articulated concur, therefore, in
the special writing of architectural design, although, in any case, they
appear as graphic signs, that is, as signs of writing.
Depicting in lines and putting into words represent two ways of
enunciating the same gesture, the gesture of writing. Instead of the
standard distinction between depiction and verbally articulated expression
as two fields which, by definition, oppose each other, for architectural
design iconic and verbal signs are elevated to a unity or, in other words,
to a unit of signification. That is, iconic and verbal signs are regarded as
graphic signs irrespective of their material status or, to put it in different
terms, irrespective of their signifying body. In this way, a special text,
iconic as well as verbal, is circumscribed, that is, the design text, through
which architectural design is approached and whose semiotic economy we
shall explore.
Therefore, architectural design is considered here with respect to what
can be rendered as a text, and the starting point for its study is the first
records of architectural thought in the form of lines and words. Its study
begins with what we have defined as design text, which is eventually
elevated to an agent of signification for the work of architecture itself.
Besides, the terms ‘line’ and ‘word’, instead of ‘form’ and ‘concept’,
specifically underline the quality of design text as manageable material,
they underline the material and written nature of language and depiction
and, thus, the written nature of architectural design itself. Finally, it should
be noted that a study regarding writing in architectural design does not
seek the code which can transcribe the intellectual workings of the
architect-designer clearly and thoroughly, but looks for those functions
that remain unaltered during the process of design.
The definition of the sign by Edmund Husserl

We shall ponder over this: do, after all, the linear writing of language and
the spatial writing of depiction jointly constitute the writing of design or is
our consideration of them as a double writing, as the special writing of
design, legitimate?
The answer lies in the definition of the sign. The concept of the sign is
what allows for the conscious shift from the distinction between iconic and
verbal signs to a joint approach towards them in design text, irrespective of
their material status. The concept of the sign, in particular, as this is
described by the German philosopher Edmund Husserl, is what clarifies

the semiotic function of design text.
According to Husserl, “[e]very sign is a sign for something […] [b]ut
not every sign has a ‘Bedeutung,’ a ‘sense’ (Sinn) that the sign ‘expresses’”
(Derrida, 2011, p.20). That is, there are signs which express something on
their own, and signs whose meaning is distant, spatially and temporally,
from them. In fact, in the second case, meaning results from that exact
transfer/(in)consistency.
More specifically, Jacques Derrida offers in his treatise an explanation
for the problem of the sign in the Husserlian phenomenology. Derrida
explains that, according to Husserl, the sign comprises two heterogeneous
concepts: expression (Ausdruck) and indication (Anzeichen). While
expression is exclusively related to the discursive sphere and, in a way,
voices an internal ‘soliloquy’4 indication, Derrida writes that it does not
express anything, because it does not transmit anything that could be
named “Bedeutung or Sinn” (Derrida, 2011, p. 15). Nonetheless,
obviously the fact that it does not transmit any signification does not mean
that it is a sign without signification. Indication is defined by some
“motivation” (Motivierung), in the sense of a movement, of a transition
from “actual knowledge” to “non-actual knowledge” (Derrida, 2011, p.
24). However, it is not just that. What indication succeeds in doing, and
this is important for this paper, is signaling the exit from any conceptual
space that the signs open up, that is, the exit towards the empirical world.
In indication, therefore, the body of the sign has a “physical side” and
what is indicated is “an existence in the world” (Derrida, 2011, p. 33; p.
28).
After taking into consideration this intrinsic dichotomy of the sign,
would it be possible to safely define the semiotic function of design text?
To firmly state, that is, that graphic signs are the expression of the
idiomatic design language of the architect-designer, as well as of the
widely discussed architectural language. Or, do graphic signs, by contrast,
constitute an indication of what preceded transcription, as well as an
indication of what has not yet been fixed?
4
“It will be very quickly confirmed that, for Husserl, the expressivity of
expression – which always assumes the ideality of a Bedeutung – has an
irreducible link to the possibility of spoken discourse (Rede)” (Derrida, 2011, pp
15-16).
Theodora Papidou 27
The function of indication in design text and the semiotic

space that design text opens up
Before taking a stand on the question above, we ought to follow the
reasoning of Husserl, who does not just settle for establishing this
dichotomy within the sign. At some point in “The Voice and the
Phenomenon” which is worth citing, Derrida explains the difference
between indication and expression as
a difference that is more functional than substantial. Indication and

expression are functions or signifying relations and not terms. One and the
same phenomenon can be apprehended as expression or as indication, as a
discursive sign or as a non-discursive sign. That depends on the intentional
lived-experience that animates it. […] Two functions can be interwoven or
entangled in the same concatenation of signs, in the same signification
(Derrida, 2011, p. 17).
Any phenomenon, therefore, any group of signs is characterised by the

fact that expression and indication are interwoven or entangled. The fact
that expression and indication are interwoven legitimises us to consider the
writing of design – although double – as one. Besides, the concept itself of
the text as ‘textum’ includes the aspect of interweaving: in the case of
architectural design, in particular, what is spatially formulated is
interwoven with what is verbally articulated.
‘One and the same phenomenon’ can, therefore, be regarded as
expression or as indication, depending on the ‘experience it animates’,
Derrida writes. Design text, thus, may firstly be related to thoughts, the
imagination of the architect-designer, and, secondly, it may refer to the
work of architecture. In the case of the latter, in fact, it refers to it in a
twofold way: as an expression that is stated thanks to resemblance and
symbolism, and as an indication of what-wants-to-be-fixed, first on a piece
of paper or a computer screen, and, later, beyond these.
In the case of the former, where design text is related to the thought of
the architect, voicing the thoughts and experiences of the architect during
the designing process is not expression, that is, a descriptive discourse, a
narration of some internal workings, but it rather resembles a gesture, it
takes the form of an indication of an experience, even though this is
sustained in words. Words “act like gestures”,5 and along with depictions,
they do not state explicitly the intention of the designer, but they imply it,
they indicate it. In the case of the second link mentioned above, design text
5
See Derrida, 2011, p. 32.
refers to the work of architecture, expressing, with the help of resemblance

and symbolism, what will be inscribed in real space. Design text,
therefore, expresses the work of architecture ensuring, as an accurate
design or a narration, its illustration and the way it is rendered in words.
By adopting recognisable symbolisms, it also expresses a wide range of
agreed-upon significations, like typologies, styles, terminologies, rules,
etc.
Nonetheless, design text refers to the work of architecture without
necessarily representing it and without symbolising something beyond
that. Instead of illustrating or narrating, and instead of adapting to a hyper-
encoded architectural language, design text is regarded as a written act
that opens up a special semiotic space facing, as we shall later explain, the
empirical world.
The function of expression which manifests itself with resemblance
and symbolism is, therefore, consciously suspended, in order for the
function of indication6 in the design text to emerge, as the index in Charles
Sanders Peirce’s semiotics “marks the junction between two portions of
experience” (Peirce, 1932, 2.285): in the case of architectural design, more
specifically, insofar as it marks the junction between the act of thinking
and the written trace, between writing and design.
This special hermeneutic space7 which the graphic signs of design
open up is defined as space of inscription8 (Fig. 1-10): facing the empirical
world, it aims at inscribing in it what-wants-to-be-fixed during the process
of architectural design. Design text, therefore, rather points at something
outside and beyond itself, and because of that, its graphic signs, by
assuming spatial dimensions, open up an interstitial space between the
ideational linguistic-geometrical space and the existential-architectural
space.
The space of inscription opens up by graphic signs and attempts to
reinstate the unity among the torn apart – due to being represented –
‘fragments of experience’ between expressing, demonstrating, pointing at,
illustrating and constructing. It is this unity that geo-graphy – this
6
Besides, Martin Heidegger defines signs as primarily “means whose special
character consists in indicating,” and what is indicated is nothing but the thought
that wishes to be preserved (Sini, 1989, p. 23; my translation). The function of
reference, of indicating, to use Heideggerian terms, is, thus, traced in the concept
of the sign itself (Sini, 1989, p. 23).
7
Besides, “the spaces [of the world] are hermeneutic spaces, that is, they are
connoted by signs” (Lobo, 1999, p. 26; my translation).
8
See chapter entitled “Lugar” in Papidou, 2013.
Theodora Papidou 29
fundamental architectural gesture of marking the ground,9 as Ferrán Lobo

used to say – declared by definition, where verbal articulation, graphic
gesture and construction concurred during the ritual of founding a place, a
city. In contrast, writing has the ability to attain a similar unity, as long as
it is related, not with what is (positively) sustained in its signs, but
primarily with what-wants-to-be-fixed, which keeps what will be fixed and
what will be eventually suppressed by the act of (in)scribing itself united.
Fig. 1-10. Space of inscription: it is circumscribed by double writing

and geo-graphy.
Yet, what is what-wants-to-be-fixed in architectural design? We can

briefly answer: design text refers to the work of architecture by showing
what-wants-to-be-fixed as locus.
Locus: the peculiar interpretability of architectural design

According to the “three-dimensional” semiotic model of Charles S. Peirce,
what-wants-to-be-fixed as locus constitutes the foundation (“ground”) of
semiosis, that is, the foundation for the triadic relation among design text,
architectural design and locus (Fig. 1-11). In correspondence with the
well-known definition of the sign,10 design text constitutes the
representamen whose object is the work of architecture, while locus plays
the role of regulating the relation between the two, taking into account the
sense that the interpretant assumes in Peirce’s theory. Acting as a kind of
9
See Lobo, 2000, p. 67.
10
See Peirce, 1955, p. 99.
interpreter,11 locus is what guarantees a semiotic relation of another type,

beyond resemblance and symbolism, between design text and the work of
architecture.
Fig. 1-11. Architectural design as semiosis.
What-wants-to-be-fixed as locus constitutes the foundation which

summons design text and the writing of design to unite with the future
inscription of the work of architecture in real locus. As an idea or
abstraction, what-wants-to-be-fixed as locus insists on remaining active
during the process of design, during the constant referencing of the graphic
signs to the work of architecture. Carlo Sini characterises this constant
referencing between representamen and interpretant as a game “in which
the nature of the sign emerges in its most profound essence” (Sini, 1989, p.
49; my translation).
To what extent, however, is it legitimate to apply the triadic model of
semiosis by Peirce to architectural design? Semiosis is regarded “as a
symbolic configuration of the dynamic multiplicity that experience is
characterised by and which the sign intents to capture or retain” (Bentolila,
2008; my translation). Interpreting architectural design with writing as the
starting point aims at integrating the multiplicity of experience that runs
through the phenomenon of design – illustrating, describing, inscribing,
naming – to a general form. And it is possible for this interpretation to
achieve some kind of classification, inasmuch as it has at its disposal the
material marks of this multiplicity, the written indications, as unaffected as
possible from the prevailing representational codes and symbolisms.
11
See Tordera, 1978, pp 105-06. Moreover, in Foundations of the Theory of Signs
Charles Morris marks the distinction between Interpretant and Interpreter, whom
he regards as the fourth factor of semiosis (Morris, 1944, p. 3).
Theodora Papidou 31
Synopsis
That moment of first retaining an intention in lines and words during the
process of architectural design ushers in the activation of a mechanism,
fixing architectural thought in iconic and verbal signs. From the traces of
this first instance of retaining up to the emergence of form and concept,
the text of the special design writing is regarded as a unit of signification.
Bypassing dialectics as a hermeneutic tool between the iconic and the
verbal, design text is considered to be a written act, whose signs are
regarded as indications facing the external world of the architect-designer,
and the empirical world.
As the function of expression – the orders of resemblance and
symbolism – of the design text is suspended, the semiotic process is
disengaged from imperatives of compulsory codes, so as for that Firstness
of the Interpretant to emerge, that is the possibility of the design text to be
interpreted before something or somebody interprets it based on a specific
code. Peirce has written that “[e]very sign has its own peculiar
interpretability before it gets an interpreter” (Peirce, 1987, p. 146; my
translation). For design text, this peculiar interpretability is the locus. The
essence of design can emerge within the constant referencing between the
text and the locus.
Bibliography
Bentolila, Héctor. “Signo y movimiento en el pensamiento de Charles S.
Peirce.” In Peirce en Argentina, III Jornadas GEP (2008).
http://www.unav.es/gep/IIIPeirceArgentinaBentolila.html
Derrida, Jacques. “Architecture Where the Desire May Live” [interview].
Domus 671 (1986): 17-25.
—. Voice and Phenomenon: Introduction to the Problem of the Sign in
Husserl’s Phenomenology. Evanston Illinois: Northwestern University
Press, 2011.
Heidegger, Martin. Off the Beaten Track, edited by Julian Young and
Kenneth Haynes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Leroi-Gourhan, André. Le geste et la parole. Vol. I, Technique et langage.
Paris: Albin Michel, 1964.
Lobo, Ferrán. “Signo, arquitectura, habitación”. In Pensar, construir,
habitar: Aproximación a la arquitectura contemporánea, edited by P.
Soláns, 55-69. Palma de Mallorca: COAIB, 2000.
—. Teoría del conocimiento: Ética y Estética [Lectures for the

postgraduate program “Teoría e Historia de la Arquitectura,” ETSAB,
UPC, Barcelona], 1999.
Morris, Charles. Foundations of the Theory of Signs. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1944.
Papidou, Theodora. El proyecto arquitectónico y su espacio de inscripción
(doctoral thesis). ETSAB, Barcelona, 2013.
Peirce, Charles Sanders. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce.
Volumes I and II: Principles of Philosophy and Elements of Logic.
Edited by Ch. Hartshorne and P. Weiss. Cambridge MA: Harvard
University Press, 1932.
—. “Logic as Semiotic: The Theory of Signs.” In Philosophical Writings
of Peirce, 98-119. New York: Dover Publications, 1955.
—. Obra lógico-semiótica. Madrid: Editorial Taurus, 1987.
Sini, Carlo. Pasar el signo. Madrid: Mondadori, 1989.
Tordera, Antonio. Hacia una Semiótica Pragmática: el signo en Ch. S.
Peirce. Valencia: Fernando Torres, 1978.

CHAPTER TWO:
DESIGN FOR PRINT APPLICATIONS

THE RENAISSANCE
OF ACADEMIC PUBLISHING:
THE DECONSTRUCTION OF THE JOURNAL
INTO A PRAGMATIC MANIFESTATION
OF A POSTMODERNIST SET OF DISCOURSES
ARTEMIS ALEXIOU
Ferdinand de Saussure has stated that: “Language and writing are two
distinct systems of signs. The second exists for the sole purpose of
representing the first” 1 . This project, partly influenced by the above
principle and in line with the Marxist idea restated by Neil Postman:
[…] that the press [is] not merely a machine but a structure for discourse,
which both rules out and insists upon certain kinds of content and,
inevitably, a certain kind of audience2
was developed on the hypothesis that academic research and journals are
two distinct systems of signs, whereas the second system of signs exists
for only one reason: to disseminate the first system of signs.
The study had philosophical and practical objectives, which (although
substantially different in nature) overlapped in many respects and were all
directly relevant to art and design sectors and academic disciplines. The
philosophical objectives were to highlight the importance of academic
reading and writing amongst art and design practitioners (including art and
design students) and promote the engagement with academic journals. The
practice-based objectives were to reassess the design and page architecture of
the academic multidisciplinary feminist journal Camera Obscura: Feminism,
Culture and Media Studies3 (Fig. 2-1) in order to reinvent a design that would

1
Saussure, Ferdinand De. Course in Linguistics. London: G. Duckworth, 1983.
2
Postman, Neil. Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show
business. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.
3
“Camera Obscura provides a forum for scholarship and debate on feminism,
culture, and media studies. The journal encourages contributions in areas such as

Artemis Alexiou 35
reflect the nature of contemporary academic discourse more accurately and

would improve the journal’s visibility, so as to succeed in the dissemination
of academic ideas to a wider audience, beyond the traditional disciplinary
academic community, and amongst multidisciplinary; interdisciplinary;
trans-disciplinary audiences.
Fig. 2-1. Snapshot fromTalk to Her by Pedro Almodovar. 2002. Front Cover Page.
148mm x 210mm. From: Camera Obscura. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.
In regard to the concept of ‘discourse’ (whether academic or otherwise),

Michel Foucault proposed that:
whether it is the philosophy of a founding subject, a philosophy of

originating experience or a philosophy of universal mediation, discourse is
really only an activity, of writing in the first case, of reading in the second
and exchange in the third. This exchange, this writing, this reading never
involve anything but signs. Discourse thus nullifies itself, in reality, in
placing itself at the disposal of the signifier.4

the conjunctions of gender, race, class, and sexuality with audiovisual culture; new
histories and theories of film, television, video, and digital media; and politically
engaged approaches to a range of media practices.” Duke University Press.
www.dukeupress.edu. 2013.
www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=45605 (accessed August
12, 2013).
4
Foucault, Michel. Archaeology of Knowledge. Translated by A M Sheridan-
Smith. New York: Pantheon Books, 1972.

36 The Renaissance of Academic Publishing
Thus, the above research concept of reflecting the nature of contemporary

academic discourse refers to the academic discourse as not being merely a
modernist, hierarchical structure of Author communicating to Reader, but
a more nuanced, postmodernist, equally balanced set of discourses moving
back and forth between Author(s) and Reader(s) and Reader(s) as
Author(s) in the academic community (as is frequently the case in
academic conferences and on research websites) and eventually, the text
that is the product of such discourse is:
[...] a multidimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them

original, blend and clash. The text [becomes] a tissue of quotations. [...] the
writer can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original. His
only power is to mix writings, to counter the ones with the others, in such a
way as never to rest on any one of them.5
Research Problem
An initial brief investigation showed that the majority of academic
presses publish journals with conservative appearance, conventional
structure, standard page layout and traditional typefaces. Thereafter,
following a rather extensive investigation, it was evident that even the
academic journals that are debating matters on art and design (which are
targeted predominantly towards relevant audiences) are equally deficient
in design integration as most of their scientific counterparts. Concurrently,
the majority of academic journals almost always accommodate lengthy,
heavily intellectual content with reduced levels of integrated design. Due
to this apparent circumvention of design integration, there is a
considerable amount of art and design practitioners (especially art and
design students), who do not read academic texts by choice. This is
predominantly because they find these publications unattractive externally
and monotonous internally, which lead to a difficulty in retaining
concentration and accomplishing comprehension.
Visual communication has been a significant aid towards the evolution
of print publishing. In the late 19th century, periodicals radically changed
(both in terms of design6 and marketing) and new technologies for printing
enabled mass production, causing new markets to expand. As a result, the
majority of periodicals – including weekly illustrated newspapers (i.e.
“The Graphic”, 1869-1932) and weekly feminist periodicals (i.e. “The

5
Barthes, Roland. The death of the author. London: Fontana, 1977.
6
The term is used anachronically for the purposes of this article, given that design
was not widely used as a term during the 19th Century.

Artemis Alexiou 37
Woman’s Herald”, 1891-1893) – were actively seeking new material

methods to progress and stand out amongst their counterparts. In the 1960s
and 1970s there was a rise of underground magazines (i.e. “Oz”, 1967-
1973), which were using rather elaborate graphics and designs in order to
promote messages on world peace and sexual liberation, and during the
1980s, graphic design practice for periodicals reached exceptional levels
of sophistication for few renowned discipline specific magazines (i.e.
“Émigré”, 1984-2005). It was then that:
academics argued that graphic design was more than the mere study of
technique and technology, more than form and function - it was an
intellectual pursuit that demanded philosophical fluency. […] during the
late 1990’s in part as a way to counterbalance the perceived primacy of
style, theory branched into a new rigor called ‘authorship’. […] more
importantly, authorship was always about designers expanding their
influence as creators rather than mere packagers of content.7
Nonetheless, the majority of academic presses have suppressed graphic

design assimilation in their journals, which has also discouraged graphic
design practitioners and practice-based researchers on that matter, who, as
a result, have shown a significant neglect towards publications of that
nature as graphic designers as well as readers and authors.
Consequently, graphic design research on periodicals has focused
mainly on magazines and almost exclusively within a contemporary
context; graphic design studies8 are usually general overviews of design
practices that focus primarily on magazines and, although new academic
journals are being introduced frequently and on many different subjects,
they have yet to be assessed as visual communication products and in
terms of their ability to communicate the message they aim to promote
through their exterior and deliberate within their interior.
Methodology
Since the beginning, this research project was to be practice-based in
nature, but it seemed essential to employ a theory-based qualitative
methodology for its initial stage in order to reassess the hypothesis (that
academic research and journals are two distinct systems of signs and the

7
Heller, Steven, and Audrey Bennett. Design Studies: Theory and Research in
Graphic Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.
8
i.e. Jeremy Leslie’s, Magculture: New Magazine Design, published by Harper
and Collins in 2003.

second exists for the sole purpose of disseminating the first) and also
potentially reconstruct the research question and sub-questions, based on
the primary and secondary data collected.
The first stage of the theory-based qualitative data collection included:
an informal focus group session; an online survey; two interviews; two
case studies. The focus group consisted of four participants. They were
presented with one issue of each of three different periodicals and they
were asked about three to four open questions. The online survey was a list
of 31 questions 9 (five of which were accompanied by visuals) and was
completed by a multidisciplinary group of 19 participants10 consisting of
art and design students, academics and practitioners.
The two case studies were based on the profession-specific magazine
Blueprint11 (1983-present) and the popular feminist magazine Spare Rib12

9
Twelve closed questions, eleven open questions, six demographical questions,
and two commentary questions.
10
The group of participants consisted of: two BA design students, 15 MA design
students; three academics and one architect. The younger participants were 18
years of age and the older was over 48 years of age. Two were between 18-23
years old; nine were between 23-28 years old; one was between 28-33 years old;
three were between 33-38 years old; two were between 43-48; one was older than
48 years. Overall, five participants were male and 14 were female. The group also
consisted of nine British citizens; one Portuguese; one North American; three
Norwegian; two Colombian; one Indian; one Dutch; one Greek. The chosen
mother languages were as follows; ten spoke English as their native language; two
Greek; two Portuguese; two Spanish; four other.
11
“ Launched in 1983, Blueprint was the first magazine to cross the boundaries
between design and architecture. It was established by Peter Murray and Deyan
Sudjic with the financial backing of leading architects and designers including
Norman Foster and Rodney Fitch. Today, it continues to be revered by architects
and designers around the world for its fresh and unconventional approach.”
Blueprint. Blueprint Magazine. 2013.
http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/about/ (accessed August 12, 2013).
12
“ Spare Rib emerged from the underground press (Time Out, Oz etc.) in 1972,
started by women from these papers who ‘still found they were always making the
tea'. The underground press (in particular Ink now itself defunct) generously
loaned money to finance the enterprise. There were then many scattered women's
liberation groups, but with little contact; and women's workshop literature was not
stocked on public bookstalls. A need was felt for a central magazine, publicly
available, which would cater for women's repression and form a link between
groups. In the face of huge costs, minimal encouragement and collapsing
magazines around, Marsha Rowe and Rosie Boycott contrived to get Spare Rib
established (and with howsplendid a title) so that it has now reached its 36th

Artemis Alexiou 39
(1972-1993). Both studies included visuals, text and interview recordings.

The two interviews were arranged and conducted through a similar
procedure, though they were both unstructured. Vicky Richardson (who
was then the editor of Blueprint) and Marsha Rowe (co-founder and co-
editor of Spare Rib) were the interviewees. The two sets of questions were
different, but there were specific structural and conceptual objectives for
both, in order to be able to assemble a group of answers relevant to the
research project questions.
The second stage of practice-based data collection was divided in four
sub-sections. The first sub-section was “Observation” and consisted of a
choice of short studies of periodicals that were somehow successful
examples of visual communication practice and the aim was to collect
enough visual material to form a comprehensive idea of former and
current practices. The second sub-section was “Information” and consisted
of an interview with Dr. Dipti Baghat, the Chair of Design History Society
and member of the editorial board of Design History Journal13. The aim
was to collect information about the practicalities of producing an
academic journal, including financial limitations and protocol procedures.
The third sub-section of data collection was “Evaluation & Testing” and
consisted of a formal focus group of four, who were presented with a
reconstructed version of the multidisciplinary feminist academic journal
Camera Obscura and were asked to comment on whether or not it was
visually communicating the proposed design concept. The final sub-
section of the practice-based methodology was “Action & Reflection”,
which also included self-evaluation and self-reflection in a form of a
diary/journal that was a physical record of the practice-based work.
Results
The results showed that for a journal to be appealing to an art and
design audience, it would have to embrace a distinctive appearance and
present the content in a comprehensive manner, while the materiality of
the publication was found to be a significant element towards the
engagement of wider audiences.

monthly issue and seems here to stay.” Bell, Hazel K. "Spare Rib." The National
Housewives Newsletter, Autumn 1975: 10-11.
13
“Journal of Design History is a leading journal in its field. It plays an active role
in the development of design history (including the history of the crafts and
applied arts), as well as contributing to the broader field of studies of visual and
material culture.” Design History Society. Journal of Design History. 2013.
http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org (accessed August 12, 2013).

I. Exterior Design & Audience Attraction

Form and texture can be significant tools for graphic designers and in
this particular case, a larger scale format with rectangular proportions in a
portrait arrangement, was found to be the most preferred choice amongst
the subjects participating in this research. These findings were in great
accord with the philosophical concept by Gerard Genette, who was one of
the first to adopt the concept of the bricoleur 14 and bricolage 15 (both
initially introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss), and who had previously paid
particular attention to the fact that:
[…] one must bear in mind the paratextual value, which can belong to
other types of expression: iconic (illustrations), material (everything which
proceeds, for example, from sometimes very significant typographical
choices made in the composition of a book) or purely factual […].16
Furthermore, considering the materiality of the publication, it was also

found that size is a highly influential factor when it comes to product
purchase or collectability but (in contrast to the general perception that
most readers prefer a small, easy to transport publications) this study
discovered that amongst art and design audiences a large scale format is
preferred.
There was also a marked preference for the front and also for the back
cover pages17 to be in accordance with the content. In other words, the
subjects were expecting to find the same level of design implementation
for both the exterior and the interior content of the publication (Fig. 2-2).
Furthermore, the two composition elements that were most important

14
“The bricoleur works with signs, constructing new arrangements by adopting
existing signifieds as signifiers and ‘speaking’ ‘through the medium of things’- by
the choices made from ‘limited possibilities’[...].”Levi-Strauss, Claude. The savage
mind. London: Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1974.
15
“ […] ‘The first aspect of bricolage is […] to construct a system of paradigms
with the fragments of syntagmatic chains’ (Levi-Strauss 1974), leading in turn to
new syntagms […]. ‘Authorship’ could be seen in similar terms.” Chandler,
Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2002.
16
Genette, Gerard, and Marie Maclean. "Introduction to the Paratext." New
Literary History (Probings: Art, Criticism, Genre) 22, no. 2 (1991): 261-272.
17
“ The cover page is the surface which allows the designer to visually communicate
with the audience in a direct manner and therefore, persuade them to adopt a
particular viewpoint, which could possibly mean persuade them to accept
particular information or data.” Tyler, Ann. "Shaping Belief: the role of teh
audience in visual communication." Design Issues 9, no. 1 (1992): 21-30.

Artemis Alexiou 41
about the cover pages were line, which, according to Downer, is the visual
path that enables the eye to move within the page, brought together by
inventive page architecture18, and colour19.
Fig. 2-2. Artemis Alexiou. Camera Obscura: feminism, culture and media studies,
Issue 68, Vol 23, N. 2 [Original Reconstructed Design]. 2009. Alternate Cover
Pages. Adobe InDesign. 420mm x 597mm. London Metropolitan University. 2009.
Lewis and Walker have defined typeface as the capacity of a typestyle

to connote meaning over and above the primary meaning, which is
linguistically conveyed by words20. During this study, this concept was
supported by the participants: the majority agreed that the typeface of the
brand name of an academic journal was a substantial component for
attracting new audiences and, based on the results, the typeface of the
brand name is usually expected to reflect the history and legacy of the
journal, as well as implement elements of the visual language which is
specific to the audience(s) the journal is aimed at and discipline(s) the
journal is debating about.

18
Downer, Marion. Discovering Design. Boston, Massachusetts: Lee, Lothrop &
Shepard Co., 1965.
19
Please note that colour was deemed an essential component, based on the results
of this study. Figure 2-1 is presented here accurately, however figures 2-2 and 2-3
were originally in full colour in the final reconstructed printed volume.
20
Lewis, C, and P Walker. "Typoraphic Influences on reading." British Journal of
Psychology 80, no. 2 (1989): 241-257.

II. Interior Design & Text Comprehension

Unity between the components on a page is significant for the
comprehension of the text, but the available space for page architecture is
limited, so the designer ought to be careful with elements in close
proximity and the relationship they appear to be communicating.
Alignment, size, colour and shape are very important elements for an
appealing composition, but they can also be misleading if used with
carelessness, so if they are used repetitively to create a sense of rhythm,
and essentially create a sense of unity, readers tend to prefer an identical or
a theme-based repetition. Visual continuation is also essential in creating a
sense of hierarchy, and it can be achieved by constructing a two
dimensional architecture that exists within the notional boundaries of the
page and in analogical distances from the edges.
The findings also revealed that size, colour and shape of all elements
on a page and their positioning in relation to the reader’s eye level are
essential tools with which the designer can create ascendancy. This
intentional structured hierarchy would then guide the readers along the
page and direct them from the more, and towards the less, significant
content of the page.
Fig. 2-3. Artemis Alexiou. Camera Obscura: feminism, culture and media studies,
Issue 68, Vol 23, N. 2 [Original Reconstructed Design]. 2009. Pages 26-27. Adobe
InDesign. 420mm x 594mm. London Metropolitan University. 2009.
Balance was also found to be critical and could be achieved in a

variety of ways, which could reflect different styles and motives in
harmony with the design concept of the journal. For instance, equal spaces
and gaps would traditionally reflect classicism and formality, whereas an

Artemis Alexiou 43
asymmetrical composition with various sizes, styles and shapes would

customarily reflect a contemporary style. In any case, page architecture
has to include a combination of text and visuals within the notional grid
(Fig. 2-3), which, according to Williamson, translates as the compositional
design matrix for controlling the placement of typography and imagery21,
in order to achieve successful comprehension of the content.
III. Colour and Visual Communication

Regarding the visual communication of a journal, colour was found to
be the one element that can revive or relegate a journal. The formation of a
colour strategy during the early stages, which is followed throughout the
design development and production, can complement the visual identity of
the journal and also emphasize the importance of consistency throughout
the design. A colour strategy can also contribute towards the hierarchical
and authoritarian principles of the design, by emphasising or drawing
away the reader’s attention or simplifying complex data for an enhanced
digestion of the information and ideas projected by the authors.
For the purposes of making this reconstructed model of Camera
Obscura more accessible to the reader, an innovative structure in
accordance with a distinctive colour strategy was applied on the content in
order to introduce a range of original components, which act as
complementary entries to the main body of the text. More specifically: i.
an abstract is printed at the beginning of each article22; ii. all references
mentioned in the articles are located on the same page, on the right or left
side of the body of text23, iii. general information mentioned in the articles
(essential for understanding the content) are also located on the same page,
on the right or left side of the body of text24, iv. any visuals appearing
amongst the main body of text is accompanied by commentary information
including a source reference 25 , v. any supplementary information found
inside the body of the text is tinted with a low impact colour26 and vi. all
quotations mentioned by the authors are clearly highlighted to stand out of

21
Williamson, J H. "The Grid: history, use and meaning." Design Issues 3, no. 2
(1986): 15-30.
22
Colour(s): (text) black.
23
Colour(s): (text) deep purple.
24
Colour(s): (text) cherry red [all biographies are also accompanied by a portrait
photo].
25
Colour(s): (text) black / (background block) bright yellow.
26
Colour(s): (text) light grey.

the main body of the text27.
Conclusion
One might argue that this revolutionary idea of transforming academic
journals into avant garde publications (with a distinctive colour strategy
for the whole generation of each journal; set number of authors writing for
each issue; specific theme for each issue; numerous implemented
commentaries and visuals; a larger format; lavish printing and binding
accompanied by quality paper; twin reverse cover pages, which allow the
reader to read the journal from both sides; an inside cover spread of an
artwork; complementary quotes) is an economically and practically
unrealistic concept, but one should bear in mind that there is a lot of space
for experimentation in print academic publishing. This reconstructed
model of the feminist academic journal Camera Obscura is a lone, modest
effort to contribute to the formation of the concept of a complete (but not
necessarily absolute) vision of what manifests as the action of academic
discourse(s); thus, the experimental concept of including authors coming
from different disciplines for every issue should be seen as an attempt to
favour the crossing and collusion of visions, all brought together
simultaneously in the realm of a discourse in order to create a platform
that would welcome multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and (most
importantly) trans-disciplinary discussion. Thus, this practice-based study
challenged the concept of graphic design assimilation by academic
journals and its essential value in the engagement of wider audiences
(especially from the art and design disciplines) and also emphasised that
graphic design incorporation could eventually allow new trans-
disciplinary and trans-sectoral audiences to benefit and progress by
incorporating academic knowledge into their practice and potentially
cultivate an interest towards authorship.

27
Colour(s): (text) black / (background block) light green.

MARKETING SEMIOTICS APPLIED
TO THE DESIGN OF INTEGRATED
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
DORA IVONNE ALVAREZ TAMAYO
Introduction
“Graphic design is a service profession, contemporary, which is produced
industrially by a creative process that is focused on the user” (UPAEP
2009). As a rhetorical action, its production requires the generation of
argumentative strategies to respond to persuasive communication through
the articulation of the functional, formal and symbolic characteristics of a
message given in a context.
Its exercise requires interacting with other disciplines that provide
information necessary for a process of user-centred design. Such is the
case of marketing, whose tools of marketing research and understanding of
consumer behaviour can develop the analytical stage of this process, and
semiotics, a discipline which is oriented to the study of signs and
signification processes.
This article focuses on the production of discursive systems aimed at
promoting the brand positioning through the articulation of visual
messages that are issued through the different media, by which an
organization, company or product use to contact their users. These kinds
of systems have been called integrated graphic communication systems.
The operational relationship between semiotics, marketing and graphic
design, will serve as the basis of the approach of the design process. This
implementation requires the integration of knowledge offered by people
with different training in order to constitute interdisciplinary powerful
teams. So, there is a proposal for a methodological model based on
interdisciplinarity, used to apply marketing semiotics and solve
positioning problems.
46 Semiotics Applied to the Design of Graphic Communication Systems
Integrated graphic communication system

The concept of integrated graphic communication system is my own term
taking in consideration the already-known concept of integrated marketing
communications (IMC) as a reference. In addition, the high impact of
visual stimuli was used to define the model programme. This was the
product of the planning process, which lets the visual messages work
together through contacts by the various sub-systems of communication of
an organisation. All of the messages must be consistent with the objectives
of the marketing and communication of an organisation. As a result, the
integrity of the messages guarantees the positioning in the minds of the
audience.
The integrated graphic communication system requires a global and
holistic view because the communication specialists must be trained to
understand the consumer, the market and the media. In the development of
persuasive speech, the person who has the tone of the interaction is one
that has the following: clear intent, knowledge of the topic, the receiver,
the context, the circumstances, the interpretation system and one who
recognises his or her own production process.
Effective communication requires to be carefully planned, focusing on
the consumer so that the messages are formulated around the personality
of the brand (Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn 2007, 98). These types
of integrated communication programmes require creative thinking to send
congruent messages and produce the appropriate arguments for specific
audiences. Integration is the strategy that sets the course of the production
of messages in different ways to contact the user, and it is based on the
agreement of who the customer is, what he wants and how he or she wants
and how to obtain it.
Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn (2007) explain that "The need
for integrated communications is the result of what we have learned about
the way humans process information and their experiences, and use it to
make purchasing decisions” (54). So, the knowledge of these passageways
of information processing becomes a prerequisite for strategic approach to
communication by an organisation, and therefore, the closeness with the
user is essential, it is our most creative source. Ries and Trout (2002, 4)
emphasise that the solution to a problem associated with the positioning is
not resolved by focusing on the product, nor in the mind of the sender of
the communication, but in the mind of the prospective customer.
It is also necessary for the strategist to understand that the user is
exposed to many messages that put up a competitive fight to win an
advantaged position in the users’ minds. In a highly competitive market,
Dora Ivonne Alvarez Tamayo 47
the unique products or services a company offers their target market, is

what can potentially give them a competitive advantage over their
competitors, in what the consumers think about the brand. (Schultz et al.
2007, 81). The consumer is the one who categorises and decides what is
relevant as a message through their interaction and experience with the
organisations and the signs associated with them. For this reason, in a
commercial context, organisations invest in programmes, resources and
communication mechanisms with the hope of succeeding. For Ellis and
McClintock (1993, 124) communication is a process of negotiation in
which each person involved seeks a common ground where they can reach
an agreement. The consumer´s own belief is what constitutes the true
brand value. By understanding this position, we can understand why
semiotics becomes an essential tool for the design of integrated graphics
communication systems; and, if one considers that 80% of the information
that a consumer receives comes from the sense of sight, then graphic
design plays a fundamental role in the design of the positioning strategy.
These kinds of programmes must define the desired brand positioning,
have clarity of personality traits based on identity and style, the argument
competitive and consumers’ benefits, and despite of it being a carefully
planned programme, its structure must allow flexibility.
Chaves and Belluccia (2003) state "what the public thinks about an
organization is the result of the interaction established by the organization
with the public" (26). They define two types of interactions between
organisations and the public, they are the following: the first one is
through the use of products and/or services generating a degree of
satisfaction associated with quality. And the second interaction is through
a communication system, through which the audience can understand the
profile of the organisation. Accessing the consumer's mind involves an
immersion into his or her mental categories and the way characteristic
features of the product in question in relation to their identity and style is
organised. Chaves and Belluccia (2003, 16-17) explain that an identifying
sign (whether verbal, visual, hearing, to name a few) behaves as a mark
surrounded by a series of semantic references that enrich the purely verbal
function (who is it?) with descriptive and evaluative functions (what and
how) to expand the meaning. This semantic load occurs inevitably as a
result of the social positioning of the entity and the mere effect of
spontaneous interaction with their audiences. The key of success in these
projects is planning; this is oriented to articulate the messages and
generate a systematic communication production. The result is a type
programme ready to be operated. These programmes are designed to
ensure that commercial communication will be highly effective in such a
way that the consumers will get the message sense defined by the
company.
Relationship between graphic design, marketing

and semiotics
The meeting point between marketing, semiotics and graphic design is that
their process is focused on the user; therefore the relationship helps
address situations of positioning.
Ries and Trout (2002, 4-5) define the battle to win a place in the mind
of the consumer as positioning, where the user organises what gets into his
mind in different categories. If we understand the basic rule for winning
positioning is not to prioritise the position we want to win, but to
recognise the position we currently have in the consumer´s mind, then we
could open strategic possibilities to create a competitive effect.
According to Yves Zimmermann (1998) designing is "the choice of
signs constituting a signal assigned" (98) consistent and aligned to the
communicative intention, which has the role of guiding all decisions made
during the configuration process. This means the design and intention are
very involved in the design process. Additionally, graphic design has a
rhetorical vocation; it means communicative intention is persuasive and it
involves changing from an initial mental state of a user to a desired mental
state that leads to actions that the consumer raises. From this perspective,
the design process requires an excellent knowledge of the audience and the
internal and external conditions that determine the interaction between the
situation and visual messages that are proposed. Responding to the
dimensions involved, a visual message will be successful when its
syntactical, semantical and pragmatical dimensions are well established
and able to respond to the communicative intention corresponding to the
linguistic demands of a client, based on knowledge and understanding of
the user.
On the other hand, the American Marketing Association (2007) defines
marketing as a “set of actions, institutions and processes aimed at creating,
communicating, and distributing the exchange offers that have value for
customers, partners and society in general”.
To meet the needs of a customer, marketing has a number of functions
aimed at specific purposes and that collectively make up its field of
intervention: market research, consumer behaviour, strategic management,
distribution and logistics, e-marketing, relationship marketing sales and
after sales, etc.
Consumers perform a series of actions to satisfy their needs such as to

identify, evaluate, search, buy, dispose and judge, and therefore to carry
out marketing plans, the strategist has to understand not only the
consumers’ actions of consumers, but the reasons why they behave in
certain ways. This information is fundamental for companies to be able to
find the most effective strategies to achieve their target market. Finally,
semiotics provides the base for designing instruments to collect and to
analyse information from the users. Human communication involves
cognitive processes to access the recipient's inner world, therefore it is
necessary for strategists to know the categories from which consumers
organise their thinking, which can be reached through market research. This
kind of research allows identifying denotative and connotative meanings, as
well as contextual factors that determine significance. To understand the
audience mindsets, it is required to make a systematic inquiry for recovering
their codes and recognise their belief system by which the interpretive
exercise is performed. Umberto Eco (2005a, 69) explains that semiotics is
concerned with the signs understood as social forces; it means each sign is a
cultural unit. The person who uses signs to communicate is occupying the
position of a receiver or a sender; he or she decodes the messages
considering his or her culture background, therefore social life is developed
based not on things but in cultural units instead of things. Within a social
group, these cultural units are organised according to rules that are built into
systems called codes, which work thanks to agreement and that humans
learn as part of the social dynamics. Trying to respond to the question “how
to get into the mind of the audience?” semiomarketing could be a great tool
in two ways: the first is as an analytical and production of signs tool, and
second as a marketing research tool to get data from the users through
qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
Marcelo López (2002) explains at the beginning, semiotics was used as
an assessment instrument after the design process (a posteriori), but now
semiotics starts to be used before the design process as an analytical tool
(a priori). Semiotics begins to take major importance in business to
evaluate their potential for innovation in the space of the phenomena of
consumer behaviour, marketing and advertising. This exploratory mode of
works is called semiomarketing.
Design process
Every effort to communicate through visual signs is an opportunity for
graphic design to intervene, especially in integrated graphic communication
50 Semiotics Applied to the Design of Graphic
G Comm
munication Systeems
systems, andd from this peerspective, sem

miotic techniqu
ques should bee included
in any proceess of this disccipline.
Accordinng to Sánchezz (2002, 233), a process parradigm consid ders three
key elementts: inputs, trannsformation aggents and outptput elements. To carry
out a designn process, whhen one think ks of it as a set of concep ptual and
methodological operationnalised aspectss, it is possiblle to create insstruments
that determiine the rules ofo thinking an
nd processing information needed
n to
build the vissual communiication strategies.
A designn process has three fundam mental momennts (see fig. 2--4) in the
solution of problems: thhe analytical, the strategiccal and the executive
e
stages.
Fig 2-4: Stagees of the designn process. Sourcce: Alvarez, 20005
In the analytical sttage, the strrategist pays special atteention to

understand aand to define the problem basedb on interrviews with cllients and
the recognitiion of the fieldd of interventiion. The audieence offers infformation
about their belief system m (previous agreements) and operativ ve codes.
During the strategic stagge, the designer works in tthe constructio on of the
argument tto achieve the t persuasiv
ve intention, and sets the signs
considering their syntactiical, semanticcal and pragm matical levels to design
the contacts with the userr. Finally, duriing the executtive phase, thee designer
develops thee technical proocesses of pro oduction and eestablishes the rules of
implementattion.
Followinng Chaves (1990, 107), the executionn of a prog gramming
exercise exiists between the
t detection of o the need too intervene in n the field
of image andd communicattion, and the production
p of concrete interrventions.
This program mming exerciise is a techniical process, w which produces the set
of specific requirements to be fulfilled by concrete actions. The result of

this work must be recorded in a model programme which makes an
explicic trait of the name´s sub-system, basic identification signs and the
communication subsystem.
Methodological model for the design of integrated graphic

communication systems
The methodological model is not a rigid structure, but it is the
understanding of the design process which shows that marketing semiotics
provides key-inputs in crucial moments:
ANALYTICAL STAGE
1. Understanding the controversy over design (a problem).
2. Analysis of the text from the client, making an interpretive exercise
based on an understanding of the contexts. Aim to understand the intention
of communication.
3. Verification of the organisational goals.
4. Description of profile (s) user (s).
5. Analysing the features of identity and style that the organisation wishes
to declare in a box positioning (See annex 1). This analysis implies a
symbolic mapping exercise based on categorical structures.
6. Audit of existing communications system (if any) through semiosis
levels of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic (diagnostic).
7. Design of tools to access the user's belief system and access their mental
categories.
8. Analysis of the data collected using semiotics. Mapping the user´s
representational system, identifying the level of significance, the
denotations and connotations, and the connections that come from
inferential processes.
STRATEGIC STAGE
9. Establishment of guidelines for message articulation and defining the
central arguments.
10. Definition of communication channels describing the discursive axis.
11. Development of the graphic concept from semantization processes.
12. Production of prototype applications of graphic communication.
13. Evaluation of prototypes through instruments based on semio-
marketing techniques.
EXECUTIVE STAGE
14. Definition of an implementation programme and its manual.
15. Monitoring and evaluation.
This process is flexible because it is a general strategy; it should be

tailored to the needs of each case of intervention. The choice of semiotic
resources for the implementation of the project also has some flexibility.
For example, it is suggested to establish systems for evaluation of the
product by taking as reference the levels of semiosis developed by Morris
and retaken by Eco (2005a), syntaxis, semantic and pragmatic.
Access to user codes can be analysed based on the theory of codes by
Umberto Eco (2005b, 81-119) through componential tree configuration.
The categories of firstness, secondness and thirdness described by Peirce
(2004, 69-118) can be put in practice and his studies of cognitive
processes regarding the meaning and the argument leading to action:
induction, deduction and abduction. The signs of the production process
can use the box of signs´ production of Umberto Eco (2005b), the design
game rules described by Roman Esqueda (2003) and/or treatment of iconic
and plastic signs raised by Groupe μ (1992).
Findings and conclusions

An integrated graphic communication system will articulate the
organisation issuing statements, encouraging the perception of their
audiences. This model has been monitored in a specific positioning
project. Thus, preliminary results have allowed us to reach the following
conclusions.
Consumer behaviour is a complex network of components that disrupts
the entire apparatus of cognitive and emotional human being. This
interlocking network of belief systems of motivation, values, experiences,
conscious and unconscious introjects, archetypes, pressures, prejudices,
customs, ideals, aspirations... makes such a deep study of consumer
behaviour that requires an interdisciplinary team able to develop the tools
to make the qualitative and/or quantitative research high effective.
When we accept that graphic design participates in solving positioning
problems, the marketing concept could be the basis of visual resources to
establish a series of images as signs. The relationship between the design,
semiotics and marketing shows great potential to promote the persuasive
communication objectives.
To access the inner world of the audience, semiomarketing offers
highly effective tools.
Semiotics has been applied as a tool to analyse the process of

signification in different areas, and to gain a higher importance in the field
of business from which it begins to evaluate a semiotic potential for
innovation in the areas of the consumer behavioural phenomena,
marketing and advertising.
The understanding of cultural codes becomes an important tool to learn
why users behave the way they do. The criterion chosen for semiotic
framework depends on the goals of each case and on participants’ profiles.
The design process could be a meeting point to integrate interdisciplinary
work teams through the interacademic work to develop a combined
project.
Bibliography
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identidad visual corporativa basado en el Modelo DHP. In Annais do
3er. Congresso Internacional de Pesquisa em Design. Río de Janeiro:
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Eco, Umberto. La estructura ausente: Introducción a la semiótica.
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Ellis, Richard and McClintock, Ann. Teoría y práctica de la comunicación
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Esqueda, Román. El juego del diseño: Un acercamiento a sus reglas de
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Procesos directivos, ejecutivos y de adquisición de conocimiento.
México: Trillas, 2003.
Schultz, Don, Tanenbaum, Stanley and Lauterborn, Robert.
Comunicaciones de marketing integradas. Cómo lograr una ventaja
competitiva. Buenos Aires: Granica, 2007.
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Annexes
Annex 1: positioning box
The positioning box is an instrument that helps build the features of a
brand´s organisation, company or product. The positioning box includes
information from the analytical stage of the design process. The box
displays the course to be taken by the efforts of the design based on the
communicative intent and the user, and can serve as reference for the
evaluation of products designed as part of the integrated graphic
communications strategies.
The component elements are:
TARGET: direct and indirect audiences

IT IS: identify characteristics
WHICH: offer
BECAUSE: arguments that support the offer
BRAND´S CHARACTER: style features
BRAND EXTENSION: description of style features (synonyms) and their
opposites (antonyms)
Target (user)
It is
Which
Because
Therefore the brand character is:
Concept Brand extension
Adjectives Synonyms Antonyms
Example: Actualized Modern, contemporary Old
Example: Effective, qualified Unqualified

Competitive
(DE)CODING THE FABRIC OF THE EUROPEAN
YEARS’ VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS
CAMELIA CMECIU AND DOINA CMECIU
Insights into the concept of Europeanization

“A reversible fabric, one side variegated, the other a single colour, rich and
deep”1 is the definition of Europe’s culture that Leonard Orban, the first
Romanian European Commissioner for Multilingualism used in his speech
on October, 3, 2007, in front of the European Parliament. Europe’s culture
as a fabric can be interpreted as the metaphorical representation of the
well-known syntagm “unity in diversity”.
Whereas diversity lies in the variegation of different colours (the source-

concept for European member states), unity is the deep structure bearing
the unifying colour.
Despite the promotion of the European Union as the embodiment of
unity, the shift of power to supranational European institutions may bring
forth a public and a democratic deficit. Two different dimensions of the
Europeanization of national public spheres2 may be linked to this deficit:
(a) a vertical Europeanization (instances of top-down), and (b) a
Europeanization through synchronisation (operationalised by the reporting
of EU topics). The pessimistic perspectives claim that the average media
coverage on the EU mainly provides a negative image, Brussels being
perceived as “the synonym for bureaucracy, regulation, and weak
1
This definition of Europe’s culture belongs to Alberto Moravia, an Italian
novelist. Leonard Orban’s speech may be found at
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/590&type=
HTML, accessed 20 September, 2008.
2
Marcel Machill, Markus Beiler and Corinna Fischer, “Europe-Topics in Europe’s
Media. The Debate about the European Public Sphere: A Meta-Analysis of Media
Content Analyses,” European Journal of Communication 21(1) (2006): 78,
accessed 20 March, 2009, doi: 10.1177/0267323106060989.
Camelia Cmeciu and Doina Cmeciu 57
compromises”3. The democratic deficit linked to the limited powers of the

European Parliament is considered to be the main reason for the absence
of a truly European public sphere4. The literature5 on Europeanization
highlights three main aspects at a discursive level: (1) the salience of an
expert-like discourse focusing on the ‘high diplomacy’ pattern and the
political elites; (2) a discursive representation of a symbolic distance
between Central and Eastern Europeans and Western Europeans; (3) the
sign of emptiness that Europe is associated with in Central European
campaigns.
The counterpart of these instances of the menace approach on
Europeanization focuses on a horizontal Europeanization model6 which
lies on the reporting of other EU states. This horizontal type of
communication, which is mainly made visible through national mass
media, has a twofold implication: on the one hand, the EU is no longer
perceived as a centre; on the other hand, decisions are desirable to be
reached through a negotiation between the governments of the member
states and the neighbouring states.
European Years (EY) – the EU official visual

representations
Besides the democratic deficit that the above-mentioned studies on
Europeanization revealed, there has also been pinpointed a symbolic
deficit7 that was officially recognised for the first time in 2004 by Romano
Prodi.
The syntagm “unity in diversity” has implications at the visual level as
well. Besides the 2004 attempt to change the European flag (Blue Europe)
3
Adreas Pribersky, “Europe as a Symbol in Political Image Constructions,”
Semiotica 159 (1/4) (2006): 146, accessed 15 April, 2011, doi:
10.1515/SEM.2006.025.
4
Donatella della Porta and Manuela Caiani, “The Europeanization of the Public
Discourse in Italy: A Top-Down Process?” European Union Politics 7(1) (2006):
78, accessed 10 February 2009, doi: 10.1177/1465116506060913.
5
Ágnes Kapitány and Gábor Kapitány, “Symbols and Communication of Values in
the Accession to the EU (Hungary),” Semiotica, 159 (1/4) (2006): 111–41.
Accessed 15 April, 2011. doi: 10.1515/SEM.2006.024; Machill, Beiler and
Fischer, “Europe-Topics”; Pribersky, “Europe”; della Porta, and Caiani, “The
Europeanization”.
6
Machill, Beiler and Fischer, “Europe-Topics”, 63.
7
Priberksy, “Europe,” 146.
58 (De)coding the Fabric of the European Years’ Visual Representations
into a barcode8, or the competitions for the European Capital of Culture9

and for the EU birthday logo10, European Years constitute another attempt
to reduce the visual deficit associated with the EU.
Since 1983, the EU has been increasingly promoting different social,
cultural or economic issues through European Years. The European
authorities have chosen a different topic annually. The main purpose11 is to
educate the widest possible audience, to attract the attention of the member
states’ governments on the respective issue, to foster intra- and inter-
European dialogue and to change the citizens’ attitudes or behaviours. The
verbal and visual strategies used in the promotion of European Years come
as a solution to the “lack of visual presence [of the EU] in the public
sphere” and consequently “the lack of symbolic representation of the
EU”12. Thus, European Years focus on a public sphere where European
citizens speak about the same issue (for example, volunteering in 2011),
they become aware of the other citizens’ verbal and visual representations
of the respective issue and try to use in their representations of the
European issue, the criteria of relevance specific to their national, regional
and local environments.
European Years’ visual guidelines – instances of a vertical

Europeanization
The acknowledgment of a visual deficit and of a negative perception on
two famous images of the EU, namely the ‘family photos’ representing the
meetings of the European Council or the image of a reconstruction site,
made the EU change its visual embodiments of power. The discursive
8
Priberksy, “Europe,” 146-47; Giorgia Aiello, “The Appearance of Diversity:
Visual Design and the Public Communication of EU Identity,” in European Union
Identity: Perceptions from Asia and Europe, ed. Jessica Bain, and Martin Holland
(Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2007), 148-50.
9
Giorgia Aiello and Crispin Thurlow, “Symbolic Capitals: Visual Discourse and
Intercultural Exchange in the European Capital of Culture Scheme,” Language and
Intercultural Communication 2(6) (2006): 148-162, accessed 17 August, 2012.
doi: 10.2167/laic234.0.
10
Giorgia Aiello, “All Tögethé® Now: The Recontextualization of Branding and
the Stylization of Diversity in EU Public Communication,” Social Semiotics 22(4)
(2012): 459-86, Accessed 10 August, 2012, doi: 10.1080/10350330.2012.693291
11
http://en.strasbourg-europe.eu/european-year,27569,en.html, Accessed 13 May 13,
2012.
12
Priberksy, “Europe,” 146.
strategy for each European Year is to verbally and visually represent

different issues that may concern the European citizens.
Coming back to Albert Moravia’s definition of European culture, our
analysis will focus not on the “reversible fabric, one side variegated”, but
on the other side, the “single colour, rich and deep”. Our aim is to provide
an analysis of the vertical Europeanization at a visual level. Our empirical
data will focus on the way in which four European issues are visually
framed within the visual guidelines that can be found in the
communication toolboxes that four European Years imposed on each
member state:
European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008);
European Year of Creativity and Innovation (2009);
European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion (2010);
European Year of Volunteering (2011).
When presenting European discourses in terms of inclusion and

exclusion, “a European nexus”13 may be identified. It implies
the ongoing negotiation of meanings of, and belongings to Europe in

many different public spaces occurring in a whole range of genres, and in
many languages14.
There are two instances15 of approaching the European nexus:

(1) from a low intensity point of inclusion focused on a horizontal
Europeanization, which implies reciprocal participation: national, regional
and local bodies may provide their own insights into the European Years’
issue;
(2) from a high intensity point of inclusion focused on a vertical
Europeanization, which implies all types of (visual and verbal) restrictions
imposed on member states. In the visual communication of Europe
through European Years, we will analyse the double layers of the high
intensity point of inclusion:
- the European Years’ branding process;
- the visual deontic modality within the visual guidelines of each European
Year communication toolbox.
13
Ruth Wodak, “Discourses in European Union Organizations: Aspects of Access,
Participation, and Exclusion,” Text and Talk 27 (5/6) (2007): 659, accessed 10
November, 2010, doi: 10.1515/TEXT.2007.030
14
Wodak, “Discourses,” 659.
15
Camelia M. Cmeciu, “Insights into the European Years’ Communication
Toolboxes,” Styles of Communication 4 (1) (2012b): 40.
Beyond the EY branding process

Having a temporal development, branding implies the adding of “a layer to
an already existing meaning”16. Beyond the mere representation of letters,
lines and colours, which form a logo, brands become semiotic resources
producing discourse17 and investing objects with an added value. The link
between a logo and a brand may be represented as a flow throughout three
layers18:
-the layer of metaforms implies an experiential abduction, focused on
an association-by-inference process;
-the layer of meta-metaforms should be understood in culture-specific
ways, implying indexicality in reference;
-the layer of metasymbols focuses on traces to a culture’s historical
past, being governed by conventions and culture-specific ways.
The European Years’ logos are actually signifiers/semiotic resources of

an already existing meaning/signified, namely the European syntagm,
“unity in diversity”. Using Marcel Danesi’s cognitive flow and
interpreting lines and colours as semiotic modes19, we will provide the
analysis of the three layers embedded within the shaping of the EY logos
(Fig. 2-5).
The interpretation of the EY logos (Table 2-1) lies on the
understanding of the three layers within the cognitive flow of meaning: the
layer of metaform, the layer of meta-metaform and the layer of
metasymbols.
16
Torkild Thellefsen, Bent Sørensen, Mikael Vetner and Christian Andersen,
“Negotiating the Meaning of Artefacts: Branding in a Semiotic Perspective,”
Semiotica, 162 (1/4) (2006): 374, accessed 24 February, 2009, doi:
10.1515/SEM.2006.085.
17
Carlos Scolari, “Online Brands: Branding, Possible Worlds, and Interactive
Grammars,” Semiotica 169 (1/4) (2008): 170, accessed 23 February, 2009, doi:
10.1515/SEM.2008.030.
18
We will interpret the EY logos in terms of Marcel Danesi’s layering theory
(2002) on metaphor.
19
Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, Multimodal Discourse. The Modes and
Media of Contemporary Communication. 2nd edition (London, New York:
Bloomsbury Academic, 2010), 57-9.
Fig. 2-5. Logos of European Years (2008-2011)
Table 2-1. The cognitive flow beyond the European Years’ logos
Layers EY 2008 EY 2009 EY 2010 EY 2011

Layer of curved curved & straight diagonal
metaforms lines, diagonal lines lines
colours lines colours colours
colours
Layer of human- sparks, bricks holding
meta- like synapses hands
metaforms figures
holding
hands
dancing synapses position lines

together Ļ of bricks Ļ
Ļ links Ļ working
Layer of “joie de between building together
metasymbols vivre” different together Ļ
Ļ fields Ļ unity
unity Ļ unity
unity
differently differently unequal differently
coloured coloured form of coloured
figures sparks bricks hands
Ļ Ļ Ļ Ļ
diversity diversity diversity diversity
The layer of metaform. Lines and colours are the formal semiotic
devices which provide “cohesion and coherence”20 to the four EY logos.
At this layer, the curved, straight or diagonal lines and the various colours
are modes without any reference to any object, thus reminding us of Ch. S.
Peirce’s level of firstness. As observed in Table 2-1, curved and diagonal
lines and red, blue, yellow and green colours are more salient in the
production of EY logos.
The layer of meta-metaforms. A semiotic device becomes a mode if it
turns into a resource for making signs. By indexicality in reference21, the
signifier-material can be used to carry the signifieds of sign-makers22. The
semiotic devices (lines and colours) in the layer of metaform turn into
semiotic modes for the design of EY logos since they become resources
for making signs. The straight, curved and diagonal lines and the various
types of colours are the signifier-materials which combine in order to
provide an indexical reference to distinct European Years’ signifieds:
human-like figures (EY 2008), stars and synapses (EY 2009), bricks (EY
2010) and hands (EY 2011).
The layer of metasymbols. The cognitive flow from signifier-materials
to semiotic modes reaches the last layer. The lines and colours acquire a
meaning potential through materiality and interactivity. As observed in
Table 2-1, the layer of metasymbols embeds the visual representations of
the European syntagm “unity in diversity”. The lines and colours as
semiotic modes are meant “to represent aspects of the world as it is
experienced by humans”23. Thus, the EY logos are European experiences of
interculturality (2008), creativity and innovation (2009), combating poverty
and social exclusion (2010) and volunteering (2011). Four unifying
conventional processes of interaction may have the significance of unity:
human figures dancing (2008), stars and synapses connecting different
fields (2009), bricks being placed one upon the other in order to build
together (2010), hands holding together and helping each other (2011).
The four pervasive colours (red, yellow, blue, green) have the meaning
potential of diversity at a double level:
- at the interpersonal level: colours as indexical embodiments of
different European member states or competences24;
20
Kress and Van Leeuwen, Multimodal Discourse, 58.
21
Danesi, “Abstract Concept,” 6.
22
23
Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, Reading Images: The Grammar of
Visual Design. 2nd edition (London, New York: Routledge, 2006), 42.
24
In the case of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, the stars signify
several competences: communication in mother tongue (pink), communication in
- at the intrapersonal level, colours as four instances of representational

processes25: red as a material process – our experience of the material
world, doing and happening; yellow as a relational process – a means of
characterisation and identification; blue as a mental process – our
experience of the world of our consciousness, sensing; green as a verbal
process – creating narratives.
The cognitive flows beyond the EY logos highlight the ways in which
the semiotic devices of lines and colours are shaped throughout the three
layers in order to visually represent European Years as embodiments of
unity through unifying social practices and of diversity through various
actions (doing, being, sensing, telling) within a European body.
Beyond the visual deontic modality of European Years’

visual guidelines
Despite the freedom of implementing the EY issues at a micro-level, the
restrictions to be found in the visual guidelines may be interpreted in terms
of a visual deontic modality26.
The EU institutions provide the visual regulations for each European
Year. The member states’ national, regional and local organisations have
to perform their activities within the visual context imposed by the
European institutions if they want to become a member of the EY “brand
discourse community”27. Thus, MS organisations become ‘the prisoners’
of the images of the European power and of the power of EY images28.
Our choice of ‘deontic modality’ for the analysis of EY visual
guidelines lies on the scale of authority intensity (Palmer, 1990, p. 16) that
this concept implies. In our case, the two discursive participants to be
found on the scale of authority are:
foreign languages (green), mathematical competence and basic competences in

science and technology (red), digital competence (yellow), learning to lean (light
blue), social and civic competences (purple), sense of initiative and
entrepreneurship (blue), cultural awareness and expression (orange).
25
Michael A. K. Halliday, An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 3rd edition.
(London: Hodder Arnold, 2004), 197, 210, 252.
26
The concept of “visual deontic modality” was first presented in Cmeciu,
“Insights,” 45-6. In this article the analysis focused on EY 2011 and EY 2012.
27
Thellefsen, Sorensen, Vetner and Andersen, “Negotiating,” 373.
28
We adapted William J. T. Mitchell’s syntagm (1994), “we are prisoners of images
of power and the power of images”, to the context of European Years.
(a) the European bodies (the Directorates-General29) which provide the

visual guidelines – the speaker/the writer/the participant providing
some instance of permission or demand;
(b) the MS national, regional, local organisations promoting the EY
issues – the addressee/the participant who is capable of producing the
suggested/ordered act.
Through Visual Guidelines, the European bodies ‘impose’ a

representation of reality on the MS organisations, which do not have the
freedom of choice if they want their social actions to be under the auspices
of the European Years. Thus, the visual deontic modality embeds two
instances of modality from social semiotics30:
an ideational modality (“provides through its system of modality
markers an image of the cultural, conceptual and cognitive position of the
addressee”31): the visual markers mentioned in each EY Visual Guideline
which are to be inserted in the MS organisations’ promotional items;
an interactive modality (“a system of social deixis which ‘addresses’ a
particular kind of viewer, or a particular social/cultural group”32): the
stipulations regarding the interaction of EY visual markers in order to
provide coherent and cohesive objects of promotion.
Content analysis was used to analyse how visual deontic modality was
framed in the Visual Guidelines of three European Years33:
the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 Style Guide;
the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 Corporate Design
Manual;
the European Year of Volunteering 2011 Visual Guidelines.
The coding procedure focused on two aspects:
the operationalisation of each Visual Guideline in terms of six visual
markers of deontic modality34: logo size, logo colour, logo brand space,
29
The EY 2008 and EY 2009 communication toolboxes were prepared by the
Directorate-General for Education and Culture. The EY 2011 communication
toolbox was prepared by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture, the
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Directorate-
General for Enterprise and Industry etc.).
30
Kress and Van Leeuwen, Reading, 172.
31
32
33
The communication toolbox for the European Year 2010 (prepared by the
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) did not include
any visual guidelines.
layout colour, logo position and typography. We identified the visual

references to the proper use of these six visual markers. The coding was
performed by two coders and the inter-coder reliability was 0.91 (pi
value).
the coding of EY visual markers in terms of a type modality and of a
token modality. For this operationalisation, we associated the type and
token modality with two processes that form the conceptual
representations35 in social semiotics: analytical processes and classificational
processes. Analytical processes “relate participants in terms of a part-
whole structure”36. Within the EY logos, the Carrier (the whole) is the
layer of meta-metaform of the logo (figures, stars, bricks, hands) and the
Possessive Attributes (the parts) are the size, colour, position of the
respective Carrier. Classificational processes “relate participants to each
other in terms of ‘a kind’ of relation, a taxonomy”37. In our analysis, we
identified the participants as visual embodiments of the European layers of
meta-metaforms/Carriers for each member state. This difference between
analytical processes and classificational processes determined us to code
the type visual deontic modality in terms of analytical processes (standard
EY images) and the token visual deontic modality in terms of
classificational processes (taxonomies of EY images for different member
states).
Our study focused on two research questions:
RQ1: What is the salience of the visual markers of deontic modality?

RQ2: What is the salience of the type versus the token visual deontic
modality?
Table 2-2 and Table 2-3 illustrate that the EY Visual Guidelines embed
247 references regarding the use of visual markers of deontic modality:
168 references for type modality (68%) and 79 references for token
modality (32%). Thus, standard EY images as instances of type visual
modality are more salient than EY images adapted to member states (token
visual modality). This dominance may be linked to the EU tendency of
standardising the visual representations of European Years.
34
These visual markers for EY 2011 and EY 2012 are also presented in Cmeciu,
“Insights,” 47-8.
35
Conceptual representations “design social constructs” (Kress and Van Leeuwen,
Reading, 79).
36
37
The hierarchy of visual markers for type visual deontic modality

(Table 2-2) is the following: logo position (35%), logo colour (29%), logo
size (18%), typography (11%). The hierarchy of visual markers for token
visual deontic modality (Table 2-3) is the following: logo colour (51%),
logo position (23%), typography (10%). As observed from these two
hierarchies combined, there is a salience of logo colour (89 visual
references – 36%) and of logo position (76 visual references–31%).
Table 2-2. Type visual deontic modality
Visual markers EY EY EY EY Total

2008 2009 2010 2011
Logo Size 21 1 0 9 31
(18%)
Colour 16 16 0 17 49
(29%)
Brand space 1 2 0 1 4
(2%)
Layout 3 0 0 1 6
colour 2 (3%)
(Don’ts)
Logo 46 5 0 7 58
position (35%)
Background 1 2 0 1 4
(2%)
Typography Theme 6 7 0 6 19
fonts/Type (11%)
face
Total 94 31 0 41 168
2 (100%)
(Don’ts)
The type visual deontic modality may be associated with structured

analytical processes, showing a coherent visual Carrier with all its
Possessive Attributes fitting together38. Two important aspects may be
included in structured analytical processes: brand space and logo size. The
brand space is the protective zone around the Carrier and its purpose is to
rule out any visual competition with other design elements39. The logo size
38
39
European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, Style Guide, 4.
is significant for visibility. Each European Visual Guideline mentions the

minimum recommended size of the logo for good visibility (2008–35%,
2011–45 mm). The Visual Guidelines of the European Year 2009 were
more permissive, the optimal logo size being “determined for individual
media, depending on the area of application. It is recommended to use the
long and horizontal version of the logo (...)”40.
The token visual deontic modality may be associated with two
taxonomies as part of classificational processes: a) taxonomies of the logo
designs and language adaptations for 23 member states (2008 and 2009),
and b) taxonomies of colour contrasts (nine possible combinations in
2011). The colours or typefaces are shown as parts, without visually
rendering the way in which these parts fit together to make up the Carrier.
Table 2-3. Token visual deontic modality
Visual markers EY EY EY EY Total

2008 2009 2010 2011
Logo Size 0 4 0 1 5
(Don’ts) (6%)
Colour 23 5 0 12 40
(51%)
Logo 0 2 0 10 18
position (Don’ts) (23%)
6
Background 0 7 0 1 8
(10%)
Typography Theme 0 5 0 2 8
fonts/ Type 1 (10%)
face (Don’ts)
Total 23 23 0 26 79
7 (100%)
(Don’ts)
When we presented the cognitive flow within the EY branding process,

we mentioned the salience of four colours in the European Years’ logo,
namely red, blue, yellow and green. We have analysed these semiotic
modes in terms of a functional perspective on representation. We believe
that two more logo possessive attributes are important in the visual deontic
modality, namely position and typography.
40
European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009, Corporate Design Manual, 4.
The type and token EY images can be interpreted as “socially

constructed knowledges of (some aspect of) reality”41. The logo position,
through its strict distribution of visual elements, makes reference to the
aspect of reality in terms of the power relations visually created between
three generic participants: the European Year, the European Union and
member state. The 76 visual references (31%) to logo positions in type and
token visual deontic modality emphasise the importance laid on the
position of the EY, the EU, MS logos within the image space. The Visual
Guidelines provide covert taxonomies on the specific position of the three
participants. Within the visual distribution of the EY, EU and MS logos,
the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 EY logo is always the last one in the
distribution line, being placed on the right-hand bottom position, thus
being the last visual item to be remembered.
Besides colours, typography is another important semiotic mode since
it has textual, ideational and interpersonal meaning and it is multimodal
and systemic42. Each European Year is assigned a typeface and a theme
font: Arial for EYID 2008, Myriad Pro and Tahoma for EYCI 2009, and
ITC Lubalin Graph and Interstate for EYV 2011. These five typefaces are,
firstly, presented as a medium, their provenance (designers, release years),
applications and possible variants being highlighted. The choice for these
typefaces lies in their humanistic characteristics as it is mentioned in every
European Year Visual Guideline. We will analyse these humanistic
characteristics in terms of curvature and orientation, two distinctive
features within the grammar of typography43. Opposed to angularity, which
signifies “technical and harsh”, curvature stands for roundedness which
implies smoothness, softness and organic. Whereas horizontal orientation
suggests “heaviness, solidity”, vertical orientation stands for “lightness,
upwards aspiration”44. These meanings can also be found in the
explanations45 provided for the Arial and Myriad Pro typeface:
a) “The overall treatment of curves [in Arial typeface] is softer and fuller
than in most industrial style sans serif faces. The terminal strokes are cut
on the diagonal which helps to give the face a less mechanical
appearance.” (p. 10)
41
42
Theo Van Leeuwen, “Towards a Semiotics of Typography,” Information Design
Journal +Document Design, 14(2) (2006): 154.
43
Van Leeuwen, “Towards,” 148.
44
Van Leeuwen, “Towards,” 149.
45
The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 Style Guide, 10; The
European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 Corporate Design Manual, 10.
b) “Myriad is easily recognised due to its special “y” descender (tail)

and slanting “e” cut, and rounded curves.” (p. 10)
Besides the humanistic characteristics, the choice of these typefaces

lies in legibility. Since all EY visual representations are the official
standpoint of the European Union, reading and formality should be two
significant connotations to be transmitted. Alongside with pictures and
logos, the EY visual items also include titles, subtitles and texts. We
consider that weight, expansion, slope and connectivity46 are the four
features of typography which carry the meaning potential of a formal style
that the European Union wants to impose upon the member states through
Visual Guidelines. Titles and subtitles are provided with a bold weight,
wide expansion, upright slope and disconnection in order to highlight the
important aspects of the respective information to be sent. Unlike the text
which has a regular weight and condensed expansion, titles and subtitles
also become visible through another semiotic mode, namely colour, thus
emphasising the importance of multimodality in the visual representations
of European Years.
Conclusions
The choice of annual issues as European Years to be implemented at a
national, regional and local level, has been a means of shifting the
attention from the centre (European Union) unto the margins (Member
States). Despite this intention, the European Union and the Directorates-
General show their power at a visual level by imposing a visual
standardisation and uniformity. Our analysis focused on the vertical
Europeanization, namely on the EY fabric, “the single colour rich and
deep”, as it was discursively embedded in the visual guidelines of each EY
communication toolbox (2008-2011).
The discourse of inclusion promoted in the EY visual guidelines has a
high intensity level point, which is attained by the EY branding process
and the type and token visual deontic modality. The logo position, colour
and typography are the most salient visual markers highlighting the
European authority. The instances of the standard EY images (type
modality) and of the MS visual taxonomies (token modality) reveal the
power relations among participants (EU, EY, and Member States) where
the indexical signs of the EU and the EY should prevail in the promotional
items of national, regional or local organisations.
46
Van Leeuwen, “Towards,” 148-9.
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INTERSEMIOTIC TRANSLATION
IN ADVERTISING DISCOURSE:
PLASTIC VISUAL SIGNS IN PRIMARY
FUNCTION IN COMMUNICATION
EVANGELOS KOURDIS
Introduction
In recent years, more and more advertising campaigns have been using
synthetic elements that represent universal human values such as ecology,
good health and respect for differences, which are based on contrastive
rhetorical forms (pollution/ecology, illness/good health, etc.). Advertisers,
we have noted, have not focused their efforts on key semiotic systems
such as language (slogans) and images (photographs, paintings, drawings),
but have, instead, upgraded their use of plastic visual signs, in particular
colours, graphics and typography, which, up until the late 20th century, had
been considered as supplementary semiotic systems of verbal and visual
iconic signs. It is particularly interesting to say that for Eco (2001: 221)
advertising is considered as a mass-communication text, a syncretic text,
which often involves more than one semiotic system and moves across
linguistic and cultural boundaries. According to him, this kind of text is
also useful for dealing with cases of intersemiotic translation.
Bearing in mind that language is considered to be a primary semiotic
system, I will show that secondary semiotic systems, as are plastic visual
signs, sometimes play a central role in communication through
advertising, despite being part of a broader semiotic system, that of
iconism. I will also examine how intersemiotic translation could be an
easy interpretative procedure, and at the same time a more complex
constructive procedure, and how it depends on cultural knowledge of the
verbal message’s connotative meaning.
Evangelos Kourdis 73
Visual signs in advertisements

Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (2001: 110), one of the founders of the Belgian
Mu Group, or Groupe ȝ, mentions that visual semiotics aims to endow the
reading of images (photos, cinema, paintings, designs, posters) with the
same precision that textual semiotics was able to develop in literary,
political and other speech. This precision was associated with the use of
the semiotic system of language, which leading linguists and semioticians
(Saussure 1986 [1916]: 9; Hjelmslev 1943: 109; Barthes 1964: 43-44;
Jakobson 1970: 511; Lotman 2001 [1990]: x; Eco 1979: 174) described as
a primary sign system. In contrast, where the visual system was concerned,
such views were indeed expressed, but only where this system was
accompanied by the verbal system (Barthes 1964: 43; Klinkenberg 2001:
110) with the aim of tackling the ambiguity of the visual system.
In the case of plastic visual signs, their value was noted from very
early on, especially in the field of advertising. One of the first systematic
works in semiotic studies in advertising to talk about plastic signs
(however, without using this term) was Barthes’ essay (1964: 42) “The
rhetoric of the image”. Barthes, in his study of the French advertisement of
Panzani pasta, classified the semiotic systems or messages into two main
types: verbal and non-verbal messages. He then classified non-verbal
messages into codified iconic and non-codified iconic messages, plastic
signs being the codified iconic messages. It is worth mentioning that in
Barthes’ (1964: 43-44) classification, the verbal message is premised in
relation to the iconic messages, since "writing and speech are always
complete terms of informational structure" and because it confronts the
polysemic character of the image. Guidère (2000: 39), commenting on this
trilateral division of advertising signs, states that it has turned advertising
language into an advertising giant, a cluster of disparate signs1.
Twenty years later, Groupe ȝ (1992), in their famous work “Traité du
signe visuel” (1992)2, elaborated on Barthes’ classification, criticising
linguistic imperialism and emphasising the specificity of the visual sign
(Vandeloise1995: 423) since, while any visual sign can be verbalised, a
visual sign does not correspond to any particular word. Groupe ȝ
categorised non-verbal semiotic systems into iconic visual signs and
plastic visual signs such as colour, form and texture. Groupe ȝ (1992:
1
My translation
2
Göran Sonesson said that this work was to visual communication what Saussure’s
Cours de linguistique générale was to linguistics.
74 Intersemiotic Translation in Advertising Discourse
361) defines the relationship between iconic visual and plastic visual signs
in the following way:
the plastic, being phenomenologically the signifying of the iconic signs,

enables the identification of the iconic. In turn, the iconic, once identified,
enables one to attribute a content to the plastic elements which don’t
belong to the iconic type.
According to Groupe ȝ, signifiers of an iconic entity coincide as a rule

with signifiers of a plastic entity, and vice versa.
But is there any relation between the two types of visual signs? For
Groupe ȝ (1995: 597), there is an iconoplastic relationship between iconic
visual signs and plastic visual signs, and this relation:
[…] is evidence that the plastic element is autonomous from the iconic
representation. In fact plastic and iconic elements complement each other.
Because it is the phenomenological signifier of the iconic sign, the plastic
element allows viewers to identify the iconic, while the iconic element thus
identified makes it possible to discover a content in the plastic elements
that do not belong to iconic types.
Another difference between the two types of visual sign is that iconic
visual signs create a triadic relationship between the signifying, the type3
(object) and the referent.
Plastic visual signs and intersemiosis

In contrast to iconic visual signs, plastic visual signs are independent of
types. One of the reasons supporting the autonomy of plastic signs is that
they can serve as one of the two poles in intersemiotic translation. The
autonomy of signs is of primary interest for intersemiotic translation.
According to Aguiar & Queiroz (2009: 205):
[...] intersemiotic translation can be described as a multi-hierarchical

process of relation between semi-independent layers of description. The
layers of organisation do not act independently but they are autonomous in
functional and descriptive terms.
Plastic visual signs include signs such as colour, form and texture, but
only to the extent that they refer to a signified and that we can approach
3
For a definition of type, see Klinkenberg (2001: 111).
them as a symbol or index (Klinkenberg 2001: 111). We should point out

that some plastic signs are important because they exploit a plastic rhetoric
(Klinkenberg 1996: 91) and that they are semiotic in that they associate
forms of expression with forms of content (Groupe ȝ 1995: 584).
Vandeloise (1994: 438) argue that:
[l]ike the distinctive features by which Jakobson represents linguistic

signifiers, plastic signs are grounded in a system of oppositions. Pertinent
contrasts are light/dark, simple/complex, vertical/horizontal, etc.
I will show later that these polarised elements are often used to create
intersemiosis as an interaction between semiotic systems.
In fact, intersemiosis characterises the whole semiotic phenomenon,
which is based on what Jakobson (2001 [1959]: 139) calls intersemiotic
translation or transmutation, that is ‘‘[…] the interpretation of verbal
signs by means of signs of non-verbal systems’’. However, many
researchers claim that intersemiotic translation should not necessarily
include verbal semiotic systems. This position gives a dynamic dimension
to intersemiotic translation which advertisers take into account, since, as
Gorlée (1994: 167) remarks:
(the) strong points (of intersemiotic translation) are not information nor
thought, but novelty and creativity, --in short, variance. Variance meaning
openness and possibility, it permits, and even encourages, multiple
interpretations.
For Torop (2003: 273):
[t]he understanding of intersemiotic translation starts from the realisation

of text processuality, on the one hand, and coexistence of diverse sign
systems, i.e. semiotic heterogeneity, on the other hand.
As we will see below, plastic signs can serve as intersemiotic translations

of verbal signs, in this way increasing the number of non-verbal signs that
produce intersemiotic translations.
Analysing the material of the study

This paper presents three selected cases of intersemiotic translation in
Greek advertisements adopting the Groupe ȝ (1992) approach. The
intersemiosis takes place between the verbal semiotic system and the non-
verbal semiotic systems, mainly the plastic signs, in the advertisements.
The three advertisements analysed below are print advertisements that

were placed in Greek newspapers and magazines.
The first advertisement (fig. 2-6) studied presents a banking product
offered by Cyprus Bank. The advertisement is divided into two parts: the
iconic message, situated above, takes up 3/5 of the composition, while
below we have the verbal message, which consists of seven separate
verbal messages. The verbal messages are placed in distinct positions
within the space provided and are written in letters of different sizes,
colours and thicknesses. However, two important pieces of verbal
information have been placed in yellow boxes: the verbal message
“ȜȠȖĮȡȚĮıȝȩȢ ȝȚıșȠįȠıȓĮȢ extra” [extra payroll account] and the message
directly below it, which is none other that the bank’s logo.
It is particularly interesting to see that the intersemiotic translation in
the advertisement is achieved through two non-verbal signs found in the
first of the seven verbal messages, namely the 5% interest rate offered to
any civil servant who opens a payroll account at this bank. The sign “5%”
comes under the semiotic system of mathematics and essentially consists
of two signs, “5” and “%”, which, in this context, do not make any sense
on their own. It is precisely this sign that the advertisers have translated
intersemiotically in the advertisement’s iconic message, since it is the
benefit that the depositor stands to gain, and it is this that the
advertisement focuses on.
It is, however, also interesting to note in what way this translation has
been achieved. The sign “5” is represented by a road with a broken
dividing line, and the sign “%” by means of two bushes and a river. Here,
the polarised elements are linked through intersemiosis, since the colours
used in this advertisement are contrasting: the bright green surrounding the
road contrasts with the light grey colour of this road, but is still not as
strong a colour as the dark green of the bushes representing the zeros in
the percentage symbol. In addition, the river is a bright blue that is in stark
contrast to the green surrounding the road. Thus, as Van Leeuwen (2011:
11) remarks, ‘‘colour (is) used ‘textually’, to create coherence between the
different elements of a larger whole and/or to distinguish between its
different parts’’. Moreover, the use of the proxemic sign in the graphic and
chromatic representation of the sign “5%” ensures that the latter can be
decoded and translated.
The fact that the shadow of the two bushes is included in the iconic
message allows us to claim that the transmutation of semiotic systems
does not preclude the use of realistic means of portraying reality. This is
also supported by the bushes scattered around the remaining iconic
message and not affecting intersemiosis but rather adding a sense of
realism to the iconic message. Furthermore, even though three colours,

namely blue, green and grey, have been used to create the iconic message,
it is the colour green that dominates, which indicates that the
advertisement follows the current trend towards green and ecological
products. Of course, the specific banking product has nothing to do with
ecology, but the advertisers preferred to use a colour that represents a
universal value and which advertisers have used ad nauseam in the last
decade. In other words, they are banking on the positive connotations of
the colour green. The verb “įȡȠȝȠȜȠȖȒıĲİ” [put under way], found in the
first verbal message in the second person plural, is also rendered
intersemiotically by the road. We can, therefore, claim that the graphic and
chromatic representation of the sign “5%” in the iconic message conveys
the same signified, but with a different signifier.
We thus have a differentiation, not of content, but rather of form4,
which allows us to speak of the transmutation of signs or intersemiotic
translation. Although Jakobson (2004 [1959]: 139) defined the two
synonymous terms as the ‘‘interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs
of non-verbal sign systems’’, translation semioticians such as Petrilli
(2003: 18) clarify that:
intersemiotic translation or transmutation […] consists of interpreting

verbal signs by means of nonverbal signs and vice versa, as well as
nonverbal signs of a given sign system with nonverbal signs of another
sign system.
Interestingly, the non-verbal sign “5%” found in the verbal message is

translated intersemiotically with the assistance of the additional non-verbal
signs of graphics (display typography), colours and proxemics.
The second advertisement (fig. 2-7) forms part of the advertising
campaign of Cosmote, a mobile network operator. Through this
advertisement, Cosmote endeavours to show that it is able to see the world
through its customers’ eyes, that it understands their different needs and
meets them with even greater flexibility and vision5. We note that the
operator’s logo (“Cosmote”) and the standard verbal message that always
follows it (“Ƞ țȩıȝȠȢ ȝĮȢ, İıȪ”, meaning “our world is you”) has been
4
This formulation is seemingly in contrast to that of the Russian formalists (Erlich,
1980: 197), for whom content was determined by form and hence each different
form had a different meaning. However, in advertisement we have fixed signifieds,
semantically reduced, as they refer to a commodity. So, in the end in advertising
the signified meaning is reduced to simple connotation.
5
See http://www.myphone.gr/forum/showthread.php?t=236992.
placed in the bottom right-hand section of the composition, just as in the

previous case (fig. 2-6). In this advert, the advertisers have also made use
of the rhetorical practice of abduction, moving from the general “our
world” to the specific “is you”, and employing the second person singular
so that the reader may identify with the use of this particular product.
Fig. 2-6: print advertisement of Cyprus Bank
Unlike the previous advertisement, the principal verbal message here

(slogan) – “ȉȫȡĮ ĲȠ 3G ıİ ĮțȠȜȠȣșİȓ ȩʌȠȣ țĮȚ ĮȞ ʌĮȢ”, meaning “Now
3G goes wherever you go” – has been positioned in the middle of the
composition. The slogan comprises three semiotic systems, two verbal
(Greek, English) and one non-verbal (number), and has been made white
in order to stand out from the blue (and other hues) of the sea. The
advertisers have placed the additional verbal message at the bottom of the
composition and have used black and white letters for contrasting
purposes. The green background on which this message has been placed is
the mobile network operator’s trademark colour.
As far as the colour system is concerned, we find that green and blue
and their various shades have been used in this advertisement, too. The
message “3G” found in the slogan and in the additional verbal message
has been graphically and chromatically reproduced at the top of the
composition. The number “3” has been reproduced in green as vegetation
growing on a cliff, while the letter “G” is represented in the form of a
cloud above the sea. For this portrayal to acquire semantic and semiotic
content, the advertisers have also made use of the proxemic sign,
positioning these two signs next to each other.
This advertisement, unlike the previous one, also has a purely visual
iconic message, showing a beach with sunbathers and the surrounding
mountain. It is on this visual iconic sign that the plastic visual signs
forming the message “3G” have been added, which enables us to claim
that an imaginary sign can be constructed on a real sign.
Fig.2- 7: print advertisement of the Greek mobile network operator Cosmote
The third advertisement composition (fig. 2-8), titled “ȈțȑȥȠȣ

ȆȡȐıȚȞĮ” [“Think Green”], is part of a new project launched by Piraeus
Bank in the social media, on the benefits of an environmentally friendly
way of life6. According to McCarthy & Mothersbaugh (2002: 671) “one
inference found repeatedly in persuasion research is ‘length implies
6
See http://www.econews.gr/2011/02/28/skepsou-prasina-trapeza-peiraios.
strength’ (and that) the logic is that the more a brand has to say about
itself, the better the brand must be’’. We argue that this position is not
applicable to this advertisement, where the principal verbal message is too
short (only two words). We also note that green is the dominant colour in
this advertisement. The verbal slogan (“Think Green!”) is here, too, found
in the middle of the composition and has been written in the second person
singular in an effort to establish direct communication with the reader. The
principal advertising composition is placed within a coloured frame;
around it is a second frame of a different colour containing the additional
message “ȂȚĮ ʌȡȦĲȠȕȠȣȜȓĮ ĲȘȢ ȉȡȐʌİȗĮȢ ȆİȚȡĮȚȫȢ” [“A Piraeus Bank
initiative”]. The advertising composition as a whole and the two verbal
messages appear to be in initial contrast with the business environment
promoting them, since ecological consciousness is being advertised by a
bank dealing in a starkly different environment – the financial world, an
environment not known among different cultures for its promotion and
respect for human values7.
Fig. 2-8: print advertisement of Piraeus Bank
What distinguishes this advertisement from the previous one is the

double occurrence of intersemiotic translation: the verb “ıțȑȥȠȣ”
[“think”] is written in white, the same colour as its intersemiotic translation
7
This is not a new location. As Corner (2004: 236) observes ‘‘it is the belief that
advertising does indeed work in a ‘dispersed’ way to encourage certain values and
beliefs, as well as in a ‘concentrated’ way to sell goods, that has generated so much
controversy about advertising as a communicative practice’’.
provided in the form of the (human) brain, which has replaced the tree’s
foliage in the iconic message. Directly underneath, the adverb “ʌȡȐıȚȞĮ”
[“green”] is rendered iconically by the tree trunk supporting the (human)
brain/foliage. It is interesting to see that different colours are used to
distinguish between the two intersemiotic translations and that the
translations include techniques of rhetorical expression. Thus, by
intersemiotically translating the verb “think” through the (human) brain,
the advertisers have chosen to translate/render the concept of thought, the
whole, by means of the (human) brain, a part of the whole, using the
expressive form of synecdoche. The same applies to the intersemiotic
translation of the adverb “green”, which is used to express flora as a whole
by means of the tree trunk, which represents part of the whole. There is no
intersemiotic translation for the exclamation mark accompanying the
slogan “Think Green”.
Cultural values, advertising and intersemiotic translation

For Ugo Volli (2000: 220), advertising belongs to a rich culture genre of
texts closely related to intersemiotic translation. The three advertisements
we have studied promote cultural values8 that are of primary interest for
the consumers. This is a standard practice. According to O’Guinn, Allen &
Semenik (2012: 187), ‘‘advertisers try to either associate their product
with a cultural value or to criticise a competitor for being out of step with
one’’. According to them:
[v]alues are enduring expressions of culture and they cannot be changed

quickly or easily. They are thus different from attitudes, which can be
changed through a single advertising campaign or a single advertisement.
Attitudes are in turn influenced by values as well as by many other sources.
The three advertisements tried to influence consumers’ attitudes (to

become clients of the two banks and of the mobile network operator),
based on their cultural values (financial profit, easy communication and
environment protection) and intersemiotic translation serves this effort
through the use of plastic signs. It is worth mentioning the cultural
dimension of plastic signs, especially that of colours. As Fowles (1996:
8
Even the direction of the letter's justification is a vehicle of cultural values.
McCarthy & Mothersbaugh (2002: 673-674) state that the ‘‘direction of
justification […] affect legibility […], and is likely culturally bound (e.g. right
justification being most legible for those Asian readers who read from right to the
left’’. In our case, the first two advertisements are written from the left to the right.
159) observes, ‘‘advertising distils from the variety of human appearances

the few that will be accepted as apotheosis and returns them in perfected
form to an audience desiring to see such singular rendition’’.
General remarks
The study of the three advertisements confirms Van Leeuwen’s (2011: 92)
remark that ‘‘the structure of texts in magazines, websites and other
modern media is now often signaled, not by means of words, but by means
of layout, colour and typography, so much so that without layout, colour
and typography many of these texts would be incomprehensibl’’. Plastic
signs play a major role in this effort, particularly when they signify
something connotatively. In our three cases, no matter what the product
advertised, green was used to enhance the advertisement since it has
positive connotations and is an often-used and recognised advertising
option in the Greek market. Colour differences and form (graphics) are
plastic elements that dominate, compared with verbal and visual iconic
signs, even though all the semiotic systems employed here have worked
well to convey the message successfully. In fact, we could say that they
have been upgraded in the compositions to the extent that they may have
gained certain autonomy in the advertisements through the intersemiotic
translation that has taken place with these particular signs.
It is, however, worth noting that the semiotic systems of proxemics and
display typography9 are almost always used to assist in the intersemiotic
translation of these signs. Display typography involves the interpretative
and illustrative use of letterforms, providing opportunity for the
associative values and the formal characteristics of letters to be explored
and exploited to deliberate effect. The display typography of the number in
the first advertisement and of the number and letter in the second
advertisement is intericonic. In other words, their traditional, expected
design combines – by incorporating into their form and composition –
other icons that assist further in conveying the message. This visual-
typographical game often appeals to viewers and enhances the
advertisement due to the witty way in which it combines two ideas in one.
9
According to Baines and Haslam (2005: 48) by the time of the Industrial
Revolution there was a growth in many kinds of printing to meet the demands of
commerce and these new ephemeral uses and needs required new typeforms whose
principal aim was to attract attention. Because of their scale and intended use, they
are sometimes referred to as display faces.

I believe that the advertisers’ choice to employ intersemiotic

translation between verbal and plastic visual signs is a successful choice,
since it helps them to break free from the visual iconic sign, whose
interpretation is more complex, and it also brings into play methods of
interpretation that are based on a cognitive procedure whose principal
characteristics are quick decoding and wittiness.
In lieu of a conclusion
Plastic visual signs often participate to expressive forms of rhetoric, such
as is synecdoche. Their polarised elements (for instance, light/dark) play a
central role in intersemiosis where plastic visual signs are always present.
Plastic visual signs, especially colours, can be used as symbols and
indexes: green colour for nature and ecology, grey for roads, white for
clouds. Thus, plastic visual signs in our study have all the characteristics
described by Groupe ȝ, plus – and it is something important for our
purposes – they can serve as one of the two poles in intersemiotic
translations because of their status as autonomous signs. This remark
shows us the importance the advertisers place upon them and that plastic
visual signs can be considered as a new and growing field in advertising
based on cultural knowledge and cognitive procedures.
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THE GREEK-CYPRIOT DIALECT IN WRITING:
ORTHOGRAPHIC CONVENTIONS
AND TYPOGRAPHIC PRACTICES
ASPASIA PAPADIMA, IOLI AYIOMAMITOU

AND STELIOS KYRIACOU
This paper investigates issues related to the interplay of typography and

orthography design for a non-codified dialect. Specifically, it deals with
the orthographic representation of the non-standard, Greek-Cypriot dialect
(henceforth GC) spoken by the Greek-Cypriots in Cyprus with a focus on
the unconventional and highly controversial orthography of the distinctive
phonological features of the GC dialect, all representing consonantal
variation (Schneider & Wagner, 2006)1. The analysis and interpretation of
the study’s findings revealed that traditionally the representation of the GC
dialect in written discourse has been characterised by non-systematicity. In
most cases the choice of spelling conventions has been underpinned by
contradictory language ideologies regarding the different types of
orthographic systems (Sebba, 2007)2. As Halliday stated, language has a
semiotic value, through language we construct to a great extent our
identities, our ideologies and experiences3. In the case of Cyprus, language
has indeed obtained the central and almost exclusive role in indexing the
national and cultural identity of Greek-Cypriots (Goutsos & Karyolemou,
2004)4. In addition, the study shows that a general confusion regarding the
1
E. W. Schneider and C. Wagner, “The Variability of Literary Dialect in Jamaican
Creole - Thelwell's the 'Harder they Come',” Journal of Pidgin and Creole
Languages 21, no.1 (2006): 45-96.
2
Mark Sebba, Spelling and Society : The Culture and Politics of Orthography
Around the World (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
3
Michael A. K. Halliday, Language as a Social Semiotic. The Social Interpretation
of Language and Meaning. (London, UK: Edward Arnold, 1978).
4
Dionysis Goutsos and Marilena Karyolemou, “Introduction,” International
Journal of the Sociology of Language 168, (2004): 1-17.
Aspasia Papadima, Ioli Ayiomamitou and Stelios Kyriacou 87
‘correct’ orthography of the dialect prevails, raising numerous debates

among linguists and lexicographers.
Introduction
In this article we present a part of the research that is being conducted by
the Language and Graphic Communication Research Lab, which is
operated by Cyprus University of Technology’s Department of
Multimedia and Graphic Arts. Our research focuses on how the Greek-
Cypriot dialect (henceforth GC) manifests itself in the written word, an
issue that is both multifaceted and complicated. Specifically, we will look
closely at orthographic conventions and typographic practices followed in
visual representations of the GC. We should mention, by way of
introduction, that there is a great variety of orthographic conventions for
the representation of sounds in the dialect that linguists, writers and
researchers have not yet implemented, and thus do not follow a common
practice as to how the dialect should appear on paper.
This study argues that, through the years, the absence of a single,
complete, systematic and commonly accepted orthographic system created
the need for different typographic practices, which in turn created a
discontinuity in the method of representing the GC in written texts. The
fact that the state encouraged the use of Standard Modern Greek
(henceforth SMG) language and orthography, in many instances at the
expense of dialectical sounds, reinforced this practice. Such a situation can
be understood only if one researches the historical underpinning of the
state that created the need for a continuous effort on the part of Greek-
Cypriots to preserve and protect SMG in both its spoken and written
forms, which confirms Halliday’s assertion that the official language of a
state has semantic value and reflects and manufactures identities and
ideologies.5 Furthermore, the absence of Unicode characters and a
properly designed font containing a number of separate characters to
render the GC created a number of problems for publishers, who used
alternative, but at the same time time-consuming and amateur practices
that did not conform to basic principles of microtypography.
In this study we will start by describing different aspects of the socio-
linguistic situation in the Greek-Cypriot community. Relevant information
regarding the method of analysis used and the data sources which support
our assertions will follow. In the following section we will present our
main findings concerning the dialect’s written language. Specifically, we
5
See note 6 above.
88 The Greek-Cypriot Dialect in Writing
will present a system for classifying writing systems for the GC, the
typographic conventions and practices used in writing it and issues related
to microtypography. Finally, we will look at the orthography of the dialect
as a common practice and uncover the ideologies hidden behind the choice
of one orthographic system over another.
Socio-linguistic underpinning
The Greek-Cypriot community is characterised by the phenomenon of
social diglossia. Two varieties linguistically related, the SMG and the
regional GC dialect, co-exist in a single continuum, each serving different
social functions and carrying a different weight. SMG is the official
language of the state and it is used for all official communication,
including that of the courts, mass media, education, and generally for
written texts. On the other hand, the GC is the mother tongue of Cypriots.
It is used in everyday oral communication and is considered to carry less
authority than SMG.
The contemporary GC does not have a normalised orthography, despite
the fact that we find it in written form as early as the 14th century in the
legal text “The Assizes”. The written representation of the dialect is based
on the orthography of SMG. However, due to the different phonetic
systems used by the GC and SMG, the Greek characters cannot accurately
accommodate the distinct dialectical sounds of the GC. Furthermore, the
dialect has additional consonants that sometimes function as allophones
and sometimes as independent phonemes that do not fit into the SMG’s
phonetic system. Below are the palato-alveolar sounds that exist in the GC
but not in SMG:
1. [Ȓ], voiceless, palato-alveolar, fricative. /x, s, sk/ when followed by /e,

i, j/
2. [ࣝ], voiced, palato-alveolar, fricative. /z/ when followed by /j/ .
3. [ȶ], voiceless, palato-alveolar, affricate. /k, ts/ when followed by /e,i,
j/.
4. [nȳ], voiced, palato-alveolar, affricate. /g/ when followed by /e,i/.
Research purpose
The purpose of this research is to explore the following questions:
a. What orthographic models and typographic conventions have been used
throughout the GC’s written history?
b. How do the means of writing and the receiver influence the way the
dialect appears in written form?
c. How do orthographic practices of Cypriots reveal their ideologies and
feelings towards the two linguistic varieties?
Methodology
Originally, we gathered data from published GC texts, dictionaries,
literature, academic books, blogs and websites, as well as from
unpublished GC texts, such as notes, text messages and email. GC words
that include GC-specific sounds were gathered into a single electronic
archive and classified for analysis.
At the same time, we carried out an experiment to examine whether or
not the written dialect is influenced by the medium it is written in and by
the receiver of the message. For the purposes of exploring the questions
mentioned above, five texts were dictated to subjects between the ages of
18 and 24 who happened to be students at the Cyprus University of
Technology. This specific age group was chosen due to the fact that
individuals on the threshold of adulthood are more spontaneous and more
familiar with contemporary communication media, as well as to the fact
that it would be easier to compare them with the other age groups. We
asked them to compose one message for their parents and one for a friend,
based on the dictations, using the same means of communication (i.e. text
message/email and Post-It note). The five dictations included GC-specific
sounds that pose problems when written. The dictations were:
Dictation 1: ȆĮʌȐ İȞ ȑıİȚ ȖȐȜĮȞ ıĲȠ ȥȣȖİȓȠȞ ʌȒĮȚȞİ ıĲȠ ʌİȡȓʌĲİȡȠȞ ĲȗĮȚ
ʌțȓĮİ șțȣȠ țȠȣșțȚȐ [Dad, there isn’t any milk in the refrigerator. Go to
the convenience store and pick up two bottles.]
Dictation 2: ȀȩȡȘ İȞ ȞĮ 'ıİȚȢ ȫȡĮ ȞĮ ʌțȚȐıȦ ĲȠ ĲȐȕȜȚ ʌȠȣ ȐĳȘıĮ ıʌȓĲȚ
ıȠȣ İȤĲȑȢ ĲȗĮȚ ĳȦȞȐȗİȚ Ƞ șțİȚȩȢ ȝȠȣ [Girl, will you have time for me to
pick up the backgammon board that I left at your house yesterday that my
uncle is asking for.]
Dictation 3: ȀȩȡȘ İȓʌİȞ ȝȠȣ Ƞ ǻȘȝȒĲȡȘȢ ȩĲȚ İȞ ȝȠȣ ȑıİȚ İȝʌȚıĲȠıȪȞȘ ĲȗĮȚ
șȑȜİȚ ȞĮ ȤȦȡȓıȠȣȝİ. ȆȐȝİ ʌȩȥİ ȞĮ ʌțȚȠȪȝİ ʌȠĲȩ ȞĮ ıȠȣ ĲĮ ʌȦ; [Girl,
Dimitris told me that he doesn’t trust me and wants to split up. Can we go
for a drink tonight so I can tell you about it?]
Dictation 4: ȆĮʌȐ İʌȒȡİȞ Ș ȝȐȝȝĮ ȝȠȣ ĲȠȞ ııȪȜȠȞ ıĲȠȞ țĲȘȞȓĮĲȡȠȞ ĲȗĮȚ
İȞ ȑıİȚ ȫȡĮȞ ȞĮ ʌȐİȚ ȞĮ ĲȠȞ ʌțȚȐıİȚ. ǼȞ ȞĮ ȝʌȠȡİȓȢ ȞĮ ĲȠȞ ĳȑȡİȚȢ İıȪ;
[Dad, mom had to take the dog to the vet and doesn’t have time to go and
pick him up. Will you be able to get him?]
Dictation 5: ȀȩȡȘ țȐʌȠȚȠȢ ȑʌțȚĮıİȞ ĲȘȞ ĲȠȪȡĲĮ ıȠțȠȜȐĲĮȢ ʌȠȣ ĲȠ ȥȣȖİȓȠ

țĮȚ İȞ ȑȤȦ ȞĮ ĲıİȡȐıȦ ĲȠȣȢ ȟȑȞȠȣȢ. ĭȑȡİ șțȣȠ ʌȓĲıİȢ ıĮȞ ȑȡțİıĮȚ ıʌȓĲȚ.
[Girl, someone took the chocolate cake that was in the fridge and I don’t
have anything to offer the guests. Bring two pizzas on your way home.]
Later, the data we collected was analysed with the concordance
software Monoconc 2.2 to verify the frequency with which different forms
of the dialect were used.
Results
Synopsis of orthographic conventions used by speakers
of the GC
On the basis of the information that we archived at the original stage of

collection, we tried to piece together a visual language of the dialect. To
do this, we classified the typographic conventions of the GC by separating
them into categories/orthographic systems according to the system that
was followed:
In the first system, Greek characters are put in bold type. This system
was first implemented at the beginning of the 20th century and was based
on the orthography of SMG, while using bold type for the phonemes of
SMG to indicate the different pronunciation of dialectical allophones. It
was found mainly in literature but is no longer in use.
The second system combines Greek characters and diacritical marks.
This system was based on the Historical Dictionary of the Academy of
Athens, and different types of diacritical marks such as the hatchek, the
brève or the apostrophe were used to indicate allophones. It sometimes
appears more etymological and at others just the opposite, according to the
ideology of whoever happened to have created it. We come across this
system in dictionaries, scholarly manuals and in literature.
The third system combines Greek letters with the letter ‘Ț’. To indicate
the Cypriot pronunciation of the word ‘țȣȡȐ’ on paper, for instance, the
combination of the letters -Ĳ, -ȗ, -Ț is used for the allophone /ț/. This
system is used in official and unofficial texts, textbooks in elementary
school and on the web.
Finally, the fourth system includes:
a. Latin characters slipped into Greek texts, a practice that was used in the
past in glossaries but which has fallen into disuse, and
b. “Greeklish”, which we encounter in communication via computers and
in text messages.
The GC’s visual language: Microtypography

Based on the dominant writing system used, which is a combination of
Greek characters and diacritical marks, the GC’s written form conceals an
amazing wealth of letter and word forms and contains a great variety of
combinations of letters that do not exist in SMG: words with many
consonants, with many double consonants, and words with an unequal
proportion of consonants and vowels within the same word.
If we try to illustrate this proportion using some words from the GC as
examples and compare them with words in SMG with the same meaning,
some interesting conclusions arise6. It is obvious that consonants are over-
represented in the GC, while the visual patterns, created in relation to the
consonants-vowels in the same word, are more balanced in terms of
distribution and alternation in SMG than in the GC. The total number of
letters in one word is greater in the dialect than in SMG, thus creating
more visual signs at the level of texts. (fig. 2-9)
Figure 2-9: Consonants-vowels representation in words with the same meaning,

both in GC and SMG.
The same phenomenon also occurs in words that are equally common
to both SMG and the GC. When these words are used in the GC, in many
cases we encounter double consonants not only in the middle of a word
but also at the beginning, as in the addition of the letter ‘Ȟ’ to the end of
neuter nouns, something that is foreign to SMG.
When we analyse letterforms and counterforms at the level of
microtypography, we discover interesting interrelated forms and symmetries
6
GC dialectal words are spelled according to the orthographic system followed in
the GC dictionary by ȀȦȞıĲĮȞĲȓȞȠȢ īȚĮȖțȠȣȜȜȒȢ, ĬȘıĮȣȡȩȢ ȀȣʌȡȚĮțȒȢ
ǻȚĮȜȑțĲȠȣ (ȁİȣțȦıȓĮ: Theopress, 2009).
that derive from the corresponding combinations, double consonants and

consonantal clusters.
This wealth is reflected graphically in a plethora of new forms that are
created in the negative space between characters and that enrich the visual
diversity of signs within the space. The new forms are sometimes dynamic
and at others graceful, according to the font used, creating motifs
reminiscent of dancing figures. (fig.2-10)
Figure 2-10: Motifs created by the counter-forms of characters in GC
The visual language is enriched still further by the addition of

diacritical marks above or below the letters that highlight the
pronunciation of the sounds. New visual diversity is thus created along the
horizontal axis of the text, in the counterforms in between the ascenders
and the descenders of the letters, when combined with the additional forms
created by the diacritical marks that appear in the spaces in between lines.
Gunther Kress, commenting on the multimodality of language, notes that:
There is here a specialization of tasks between image and writing. Writing

is used to tell what happened, it informs about the events; image is used to
show what there is or was, it informs about content. Language serves one
function, image another. Language is not the full carrier of all meaning, not
even of all ‘central’ or ‘essential’ meaning.7
7
Gunther Kress, “Sociolinguistics and Social Semiotics,” in The Routledge
companion to Semiotics and Linguistics, ed. Paul Cobley (London, UK:
Routledge, 2001), 69.
Assigning the role of the image to that of typographical design, we can

grasp what it means for the rendering of meaning and content in the
written word. As Danesi observes:
Alphabetic writing has become the norm in many cultures. But in every
alphabetic sign, there is a pictographic history and prehistory similar to the
one described above for the letter A. The pictographic content of our letters
goes unnoticed because our eyes are no longer trained to extract pictorial
meaning from them.8
Beyond all of this, the choice of font, the basic design features, as well as
size, weight, slant and the negative space along the horizontal and vertical
axes of the text, suggest, alter and finally dictate the form and means of
transmitting a complete message. Bringhurst, commenting on visual
communication within typography and specifically on the use of accents
and diacritical marks, mentions that:
Simplicity is good, but so is plurality. Typography’s principal function (not

its only function) is communication, and the greatest threat to
communication is not difference but sameness. Communication ceases
when one being is no different from another: when there is nothing strange
to wonder at and no new information to exchange.9
Looking back at Cypriot publications through the centuries, we can

understand better not only the significance of the visual polyphony that
derives from the dialect’s writing systems and typographic design, but also
the visual evolution of the written word at the design level. From the
embellished letter design and amazing diversity in the design of ligatures
during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, we gradually end up at the
simplicity and restraint of letter design in modern typography, which
expresses itself through the simplification of character forms in completely
basic shapes and reflects the evolution and simplification of the language.
Orthography as social practice

Research into the history of writing unveils the way medium influences
writing content as well as its characters. Writing evolved over many
8
Marcel Danesi, Messages, Signs, and Meanings : A Basic Textbook in Semiotics
and Communication (Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars' Press, 2004), 113.
9
Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style (Point Roberts, WA :
Hartley & Marks, Publishers, 2005), 89.
thousands of years and within its history, the history and evolution of
human culture is reflected.
Every culture’s writing developed not only according to the needs for
which it was created, but also according to its geopolitical position, its
available resources and materials, the writing surfaces used, the type and
angle of the writing implement, the skill of the writer and even the position
he wrote in. Katsoulidis notes that writing surfaces dictated not only the
type of writing implement, but also the form the characters would take.
Hard surfaces used at the birth of writing (such as rock, metal and pottery
shards) as well as the instruments used for engraving characters into these
materials, gave spare, geometric letters. As these materials yielded to
softer and more pliable writing surfaces (such as animal skins, wax tablets
and paper) and experimentation led to the appropriate writing implements
for each surface, there was the possibility to create more fluid characters
with a greater freedom in their form and direction.10
Technology played a defining role in the evolution of typographic
letter forms, as the formulaic and geometric nature of contemporary fonts
shows, the design of which is preordained by the austere nature of digital
pixel clusters11. Technology transformed not only the content and writing
materials but also its very space. Bolter, commenting on the refashioning
of the writing space in the late age of print, mentions that:
…Each writing space is a material and visual field, whose properties are
determined by a writing technology and the uses to which that technology
is put by a culture of readers and writers. A writing space is generated by
the interaction of material properties and cultural choices and practices.12
The new writing spaces in which the dialect is encountered in its written
form offer a wide field for typographic experimentation and implementation
of practices that differentiate between, or dictate, its written form
according to the technology and medium used, the ideology of the writer
and the receiver of his message.
On the basis of the information we collected from the experiment we
carried out for this research, we observed that the method of writing the
10
ȉȐțȘȢ ȀĮĲıȠȣȜȓįȘȢ, ȉȠ ıȤȑįȚȠ ĲȠȣ īȡȐȝȝĮĲȠȢ (ǹșȒȞĮ: ǼțįȠĲȚțȒ ǼȜȜȐįȠȢ
ǹ.Ǽ., 2000), 21-24.
11
The first printers that appeared in the 1980s could print only in pixel clusters.
This restriction led to very characteristic, geometric font designs.
12
Jay David Bolter, Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of
Print (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, c2001), 12.
dialect is influenced by the knowledge of orthography of SMG, by the

medium and by the receiver of the message.
The manner of writing differs according to who receives the text since
in cases where young people are jotting a quick message to their parents,
they prefer Greek letters for the most part and whole words, so that their
writing can be more easily read by their elders. Likewise, as we
confirmed, there was a higher frequency of English punctuation marks,
like the question mark, than Greek.
When young people leave a quick note for their friends or neighbours,
they use short hand and Latin characters more often.
Figure 2-11: How young people write in GC
On the other hand, as far as medium is concerned, when they send a

text message to their parents with their mobile phones, while they try to
write whole words in order to be more easily understood, they nearly
always use Greeklish. At the same time, they sometimes forget and
introduce characters they use in their everyday speech with friends on the
Internet into their writing, such as, for example, when they substitute the
number “4” for the Greek letter “ȥ”. Written communication between
young people mediated by computer or mobile phone typically features
Latin characters and short hand. (fig. 2-11)
Generally, in written communication, when young people use the
dialect when making notes on paper, they avoid using the more readily
identifiable dialectical forms. This probably owes to the fact that as long
as they are using Greek characters, they want to preserve the mental image
they have of proper orthography which comes from their knowledge of
SMG. On the other hand, when the dialect is used on computers and
mobile phones, dialectical forms are used because in this case they are
using Latin characters with which the speakers believe they can more
easily render the sounds of the dialect. Indifference to orthography and the
principle of least effort were also noted. For example, in monosyllabic
words they use only the first consonant (mou=m, sou=s), and at the same
time they avoid changing languages on both mobile phones and on
computers.
Hidden social messages in orthographic conventions

of the GC
The third goal of our research was to explore the hidden social messages
concealed by Cypriot orthographic practices and their meanings. For this
goal we adopted the theoretical framework introduced by Sebba, who dealt
extensively with the orthographic conventions followed in different
countries, their practice and what these practices indicate13. Sebba
considers orthography to be a social practice. Briefly, he considers
orthography itself as a social practice and notes that it is not a neutral
process but a symbolic action that carries social messages. Orthography is
intertwined with the culture and letter forms are shaped within social
practices in order to transmit messages/meanings. Members of a society
choose a specific way of writing out of a variety of likely choices.
Especially important in such a choice are the parameters that involve:
a. how different the writing is from the official variety and
b. the degree of recognisability, which, incidentally, must be close enough
to the norm/official language as to be recognisable.14
While analysing the data, we found that in the case of the GC, the
variety in orthographic conventions reflects the ideological position of the
user, which connects language with national identity. We classified the
interviewees into three categories:
In the first category, the supporters of etymologically correct writing
want an orthographic system based on the orthography of SMG where
dialectical sounds appear in bold or with symbols above the phonemes of
the SMG. In this case, orthography reveals national identity since it
establishes the connection between Greece and Cyprus. Sometimes,
however, in their attempt for a more historically accurate etymology they
are driven to extreme lengths, such as, for example, the word
13
See note 5 above.
14
Ibid.
ȤǿȤǿȪȜȜȠȢ=ıțȪȜȠȢ [dog], (written with a double ‘Ȥ’ and diacritical marks)

which is not used in SMG.
In the second category, the proponents of an intermediate solution,
always having the orthography of SMG as a model, designate dialectical
sounds with diacritical marks and/or combinations of Greek characters
such as, for example, the word ıǿɹɏɇɋ=ȤȑȡȚȞ [hand]. They show the
‘distinctness’ of the GC from SMG sometimes more and at other times
less clearly.
In the third category, the proponents of non-etymological writing use
Latin characters slipped into Greek/Greeklish and generally Latin
characters. They believe that they are representing the oral flavour of the
dialect more faithfully this way. They stress the Cypriot identity more and
keep a distance from SMG.
To answer the question “Why is Greek orthography used?” we must
keep in mind that SMG plays an important role in Greek-Cypriot society
and constitutes a state linguistic policy. This is relevant to the history of
Cyprus and to the intense politicisation of Greek-Cypriots, while the
language is irrevocably connected to national identity and constitutes
proof of the Greekness of the island.
Conclusions
The absence of an official orthographic system led to the creation of
multiple systems of writing that reflect the ideologies and feelings of the
speakers of the GC. The absence of a properly designed digital font creates
typographic problems when writing the dialect via electronic media. There
is a clear need for a complete and systematised writing system for the
dialect that will be based not only on linguistic criteria but also on the
needs of speakers, its use and its recognisability (Sebba, 2007)15. Many
studies have been conducted on the GC but none has focused, until this
moment, on typographical issues. This research is the beginning of further
research on the dialect from another visual angle.
15
See note 5 above.
Bibliography
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ǼȜȜȐįȠȢ ǹ.Ǽ., 2000.
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Newton, Brian. Cypriot Greek: Its Phonology and Inflections. Paris; The
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Orthography Around the World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
CHAPTER THREE:
DESIGN FOR SCREEN BASED MEDIA

SIGNS AT THE INTERFACE:
AN EXPLORATION OF SEMIOTICS
AND INTERACTION DESIGN
NIKOS BUBARIS
Semiotic theories have contributed constructively to the study of human-

computer interaction, both with respect to the semantic structures of
functional, aesthetic and interactive features of user interfaces and to the
interpretative practices of programmers, designers and users. Semiotic
theorists have concentrated mostly on symbolic representation as a
common element of user interface features and on the use of language as a
common tool of the people involved in the signification of user interfaces.
Some theorists consider semiotics to be a unifying theoretical method
(Nadin 1988) that encompasses not only the ‘soft’ but also the technical
aspects of computer systems (Andersen 1997), and thus they are
concerned with the relation between designers and users mainly in the
context of studying the construction of user interfaces (de Souza 2005).
However, other semioticians argue for a substantial difference between
human and computers in the way they process data (Nake and Grabowski
2001) and for the need to transcend the structural epistemological
foundations of semiotics in order to address novel features of digital
media, such as interactivity (O’ Neil 2008).
In a sense, the variety of semiotic approaches to the study of human-
computer interaction reflects the transformation of the role of computers:
from machines used predominantly for calculation to popular digital
media. The introduction of graphical user interface and the widespread use
of multimedia applications in various social, cultural and economic
contexts, among other developments, have rendered the layers of the
computational system and the associated practices highly specialised and
discrete. Indicatively, a commonly used client-server model of software
architecture defines three separate tiers: the user interface or presentation
tier, the application or logic tier, and the database or data tier (Eckerson
1995). This specialisation means that, for example, a visual designer may
have no knowledge of programming, since the logic of the visual language
on the screen differs substantially from the formal language and the
Nikos Bubaris 101
control/command speech acts of the software that underlies the

visualisations. However, recent research in new media and software
studies stresses the need to reconnect the analytically distinct layers of a
computational system, both with one another and with their cultural
context, since they are all effectively interrelated (Fuller 2008; Manovich
2011). To contribute to this direction, semiotics needs to move beyond the
application of a universal theoretical framework and to encompass diverse
conceptual tools that have been developed through the interaction of
semiotics with other epistemological traditions.
The structures of signification of multimedia screens are clearly
distinctive from those of other layers of a computational system. For
example, the semantics and the pragmatics of the user interface are
potentially ambiguous, polysemic and context-bound in contrast to the
decontextualised and formal logic of programming languages. At the same
time, the user experience in interacting with multimedia signs on the
screen is considerably shaped by the affordances of the computational
system. Hence, the ways that the cultural logic of computation (i.e. to
abstract, to formalise, to calculate, etc.) permeates the user interface is of
particular importance in studying the signs involved in multimedia
displays. Taking all the above into consideration, I propose in this paper a
synthetic model of the following four communicative functions of user-
interface signs:
a) modes of remediation
b) action-oriented representations
c) nodes in information maps
d) computational effects
I will illustrate these functions by reference to a multimedia application

that a team of students produced as an assignment for an undergraduate
course I teach on Cultural Representation. The application is about what
each of the four students identify as the most significant landmarks in their
experience when they go about their everyday activities in Ermou Street,
the main commercial street in the city of Mytilene, the capital of the island
of Lesvos in Greece.1 Henceforth, I refer to it as the Ermou Street
application.
1
For an online version of this application:
http://www.cubimension.net/flash/ermou.html (retrieved January 24, 2012).
102 Signs at the Interface
Fig. 3-1. The opening screen of the Ermou Street multimedia application
Fig. 3-2. Activating interactive objects
The opening screen of the application introduces its general topic

"Portraits of People in Ermou street" (Fig. 3-1, top left) and information
about the students, such as their names, years of residency on the island
and one-word description of their personality (Fig. 3-1, bottom right). An
animated visual image of the students moving along a dashed line, which
represents the street, is constantly at the centre of the screen (Fig.3-1 & 3-
2). By clicking on a student-sign, three images appear that correspond to
the most important landmarks of the student's personal experience (Fig. 3-
2). Hovering the mouse over an image causes a short text to appear
conveying the student's thoughts about the importance of the
corresponding landmark. For example, as one student said:
For a reason I can’t explain, the first thing that comes to mind when I think
of Ermou street is the carpenter’s workshop across the site of the old
Nikos Bubaris 103
mosque. I love the smell of wood and woodchips. The traditional character
both of the place and of the carpenter's craft is typical of the 'Old Market'.
The other two markers of the Ermou Street experience for this particular
student are his favourite restaurant (Fig.3-2, top right) and the occasional
smell of the sewage system (Fig.3-2, bottom right). The form and the
structure of the information presented follow the same pattern for the other
three students.
User Interface Signs as Modes of Remediation

The visual signs that comprise the on-screen interface of this application
are to a large extent remediated. In new media studies, the term
“remediation”, introduced by Bolter and Grusin (2000), describes the
double logic of immediacy and hypermediacy. Immediacy refers to the
sense of transparency of the medium in conveying meanings, which
creates an illusion of unmediated reality. Ǿypermediacy refers to the
opaque presence of media in constructing meanings and realities.
Immediacy conceals the special properties of each newly developed
medium by re-introducing features from older media that people are
already accustomed to. In the case of multimedia, older forms of visual
culture (i.e. paintings, photographs, moving images, texts, etc.) are
assimilated and sometimes enhanced in the design of visual interface
displays that guide the interpretation of the digital content.
Several principles of the visual grammar of older media can be found
in the screen design of the Ermou Street application. First, the Gestalt-
derived background/foreground relation: for example, the permanence of
the background throughout the use of the application creates a sense of
remaining within the same information space and thus enables the user to
focus his attention on the significant foreground information. Second, the
spatial organisation of images as codification of their differentiated
informational value: for example, the semantic relation of the students to
their personal landmarks is represented through the spatial structure of
centre/periphery, and their ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ for these landmarks through
the spatial structure of high/low, which corresponds to the ideal/real
distinction in Kress and van Leuween's (1996) terms. Third, the semantic
relation of multimodal visualisation to the narrative structure: the use of
generic pictograms representing the students, the use of pictures and
drawings as symbols and metonyms of their landmarks and the use of texts
for presenting the students' intimate feelings and thoughts form a threefold
navigation path, moving from the nondescript to the increasingly personal,
that invites the user to discover the personalised landmarks of the four
students and their reasons for selecting them. Finally, the function of
address: the placement of the student pictograms in relation to the stylised
building façades of the Ermou street, combined with the informal tone of
the text, casts the user in the role of an interlocutor or an interviewer who
collects information. These remediated principles as applied to on-screen
signs provide an initial framework for analysing the semiotics of the
interface design.
User Interface Signs as Action-Oriented Representations

Multimedia signs, however, are not mere reproductions of older media
images in new media environments. What is more, the user of multimedia
is not simply a version of the users of the ‘older’ media in a new ‘viewer-
listener-reader’ combination. ȉhere are new techno-cultural features and
properties at work. Along with digitisation, interaction is commonly
considered a qualitatively new feature. The images that constitute the
graphical user interface are designed to impel the user to do things with
them and not only to ‘read’ them. In his book “A Theory of Computer
Semiotics”, Andersen (1997) takes a first step in theorising interaction as a
meaning-making process by considering the properties of the action-
oriented representations on the computer screen. Andersen identifies three
classes of properties: handling features, referring to the input of user
actions through devices such as mouse, keyboard and touch screens;
permanent features, referring to the constant properties of a sign; and
transient features, referring to the internal changes of the state of the sign
caused by its use. Among the various types of screen signs, interactive
signs are, according to Andersen, unique to the computer medium.
Interactive signs have permanent and transient features. The latter can be
activated through their handling features, which make them responsive to
the actions of the user. Further, interactive signs can act upon other signs,
for example by bringing new signs on the screen or by changing the
transient features of signs already present.
In the Ermou Street application, the main interactive signs are the
pictograms of the students. The student-sign has permanent features (such
as its size and its movement along the horizontal line) and transient
features activated by the user (such as motion and stasis, opaque and
transparent colour). On activation, a student-sign stops moving, reveals the
signs of the corresponding personal street landmarks and affects the
transient features of the other student-signs (by turning their colour
transparent). All these events are designed to suggest particular meanings.
Simulating the real-world experience, the immobilisation of the student-
Nikos Bubaris 105
signs signifies an encounter of the student with the user in the virtual street
of the multimedia application and the availability of the student to show
and describe his or her personal landmarks. This relation becomes the
centre of the user attention, while the other students recede into the
background, forming a subordinate relation that is signified by the faded,
transparent colour of the corresponding student-signs. Thus, permanent,
transient and handling features are all combined in the formation of an on-
screen sign as a communicative unit. However, the correlation between
transient and handling features is the most crucial in interaction design.
At this point it should be noted that even when humans and computers
operate in concert, they remain two distinct performative systems, since
humans communicate at the level of sign and computers operate at the
level of signal. Computational systems operate with the highest possible
abstraction, relying on binary code and processing the difference between
sets of digital signals regardless of their reference. The founding father of
the mathematical approach to communication, Claude Shannon, notes
(1948) that signals are devoid of meaning and unrelated to content
variation. If screen signs were identical to digital signals in communicative
operational terms, the experience of interaction would be extremely dull
and confusing. Conversely, if digital signals bore an analogy to screen
signs, the communicative medium would be radically different from a
computer. This communicative gap between humans and computers is
bridged by software that provides, according to Nake and Grabowski
(2001), a sense of pseudo-communication by blending the formal
structuralism of the computational system with the designer's and the
programmer's objectives at any given instance. Software, through its
algorithms, makes the content of the presented cultural data abstract, so
that they can be processed in a way that is compatible with both the
deterministic logic of the computer and the potential polysemic
interpretation of the user. Consequently, a semiotic approach to software
as an interface between the user and the computer, is faced with two
additional issues that relate to the communicative functions of user-
interface signs. The first issue has to do with modes of relating screen
signs to the software and the communicative function of on-screen signs as
nodes in information maps. The second concerns the computational effects
of on-screen signs, namely modes of relating the software-driven signs to
computer signals.
User Interface Signs as Nodes in Information Maps

In interface design, information architecture outlines the semantic and
syntactical setting of human-computer interaction. The cultural data
selected for multimedia presentation are first categorised analytically and
then associated within non-linear structures that can be translated into
software relations. The act of analytically selecting, ordering and
connecting the previously undifferentiated cultural data into information
maps is a profound cultural practice of structuring meaning.
We tend to assume that the structural logic of the resulting information
maps is essentially identical to the algorithmic logic of the software and
the binary logic of computation. This is partly because among the various
forms of mapping cultural data, the tree structure is most commonly used.
According to Martinec & van Leeuwen, the tree structure is a particular
hierarchical model of knowledge representation based on “the semantic
principle of classification from general to specific” (Martinec and
Leeuwen 2008, 6). Besides the tree structure with its componential logic
of a whole-part hierarchy, the authors present other modes of structuring
cultural data. Most notable for our purposes here is the “nucleus-satellites”
relation between a central information element and attributes corresponding
to different modes of its ‘being’ and ‘having’.
In the Ermou Street application, the principal model of information
architecture is that of the nucleus-satellites. The personal landmarks of the
students are not conceived as components but as modes of experiencing
the city. At the same time, the internal classification of the personal
landmarks into likes and dislikes follows the binary logic of a tree
structure. This blend of nucleus-satellites model and tree structure is
represented in the screen layout and translated into acts of interaction and
into navigation paths. In the screen layout, the student-signs are placed at
the centre and are surrounded by the personal landmark signs arranged at
the top and bottom of the screen. Two of the three analytical categories
represented in the nodes of the information map (i.e. students, personal
landmarks and students’ quotes) are translated into interactive objects of
different importance: the superordinate student-signs are activated on
click, a haptic experience of control through grabbing; the subordinate
images of personal landmarks are activated when the mouse hovers over
them, an act that simulates a rather loose and unstable contact. Finally, the
design of navigation paths for the user translates the information map into
traceable connections among conceptual nodes. For example, the user
needs to first interact with the student-signs in order to follow the path
from personal landmarks to their corresponding text. The syntagmatic
Nikos Bubaris 107
structure of this navigation path is shaped by connotations of

anthropocentrism and individualism. Students are chosen as the principal
information unit; alternatively, it could be the landmarks, or even the
students’ quotes. Further, information is presented in the form of
monologues; there are no links between the personal landmarks or quotes
of each student and the other students, their personal landmarks or their
quotes.
Computational Effects in User Interface Signs

In the Ermou Street application, there is one particular transient feature of
screen signs that enhances the experience of interaction beyond the logic
of ‘click-and-get-info’. This feature changes how much and how fast the
student-signs move. The occurrence of these changes is not derived from
either the information map or the user actions. Rather, they are the
manifest effects of changes in the internal state of the sign, based on
calculations using a random function. The algorithms executed to produce
these changes are, in turn, enabled by the complex calculative properties
of the computational system. In semiotic terms, these properties operate in
the plane of myth. They are mythic because they over-code the structures
of representation on the user interface layer. In other words, binary code
seems to function beyond human action and perception. The pragmatics of
this experience partially undermine the established principle of user
control that is central to the usability model of interface design. However,
this design engages users’ fascination and effect as they interact with the
environment of the application.
This experience of a dynamic and partly random mode of interaction
with on-screen signs, which is facilitated by computational processes,
provides a hyper-mediated sense of being-in and being-with the
multimedia application. The user knows what clicking on the student-sign
signifies, but the act of chasing the mobile sign or waiting to click on it at
the right moment adds a playful act of synchronisation with the random
computational processes at work. The playfulness of the user experience is
driven by blending perceptual experience (i.e. following the movement of
the sign) with proto-semiotic experience (i.e. inventing ways to click).
Drawing on Peircean semiotics, we could argue that this mode of human-
computer interaction, which is based on the randomness of the system and
the corresponding playfulness of the user, intensifies the dialectic between
‘firstness’ and ‘secondness’, that is, between the experience of non-
differentiation of the user from the computer object and the presence of the
computational system as ‘other’, which forces the user to become aware of

his or her limitations and capabilities.
Conclusion
In this paper, I have illustrated how semiotics can contribute to the study
of user interaction with multimedia as a meaning-making process by
outlining four communicative functions of on-screen signs. First, on-
screen multimedia signs remediate established codes and other conceptual
tools drawn from the visual grammar of older communication media. They
thus provide recognisable, commonly accepted cognitive references for
designing interfaces that convey layers of meanings to the user. Second,
on-screen computer signs are not designed only to be ‘read’ but primarily
to be ‘acted upon’. Interactive signs have permanent, transient and
handling features, whose synergy embodies and shapes the interpretative
practices of the user. Furthermore, as humans and computers operate
differently in terms of semantics and syntactics, there are two more ways
of establishing communication through semiotic practices. The first
involves the use of interactive signs as nodes in the non-linear structures of
organising knowledge in multimedia. The second is related to the capacity
of computers as calculation machines to produce signs endowed with a
perceived quality of idiosyncratic behaviour keeping the user at the
threshold of semiosis. This last function in particular carries great potential
for enriching a semiotic approach to the study of human computer
interaction and for gaining a deeper insight into the emerging
communicative tropes of multimedia interfaces.
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LUDIC AND SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTION
DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN SMART CITY
DEVELOPMENT
PATRICK J. COPPOCK
Introduction
This paper focuses on how “ludic and social media interaction design
principles” (Murray, 2012) may be useful for mapping, planning,
designing and realising people-friendly urban spaces in Smart(er) Cities.
This latter concept has been in focus for some time, as evidenced in 2011
by inserts and articles1 in the “International Herald Tribune” highlighting a
cluster of cities: Auckland, Berlin, Barcelona, Cape Town, Copenhagen,
Curitiba, Montreal, Santiago, Shanghai and Vilnius all envisioning future
development policies in Smart City terms. That same year, the prominent
Italian economic broadsheet “Il Sole 24” dedicated a special number of its
weekend innovation supplement “Nòva”, to ideas and agendas for Smarter
Cities.
Smarter City Players in Europe and Beyond

Amongst the principal business and political actors in Europe are
American global technology giant “International Business Machines”
(IBM), and the European Union. The field is in rapid evolution: in 2011,
MIT established a “City Science Research Centre”2, and in 2011 and 2012,
Amsterdam, London, Budapest, Milan and other European cities hosted
Smart Cities conferences. The following sections sum up some relevant
issues raised at these initiatives. This is not intended as a comprehensive
representation of all the relevant issues, however, website links proffer
further information.
1
http://nyti.ms/oPpJHY
2
http://cities.media.mit.edu
Patrick J. Coppock 111
IBM
IBM’s Smarter Planet Initiative3 involves about 2000 cities worldwide that
signed agreements with IBM to develop short- and long-term Smart City
solutions. Amongst these are the cities mentioned above and others like
Seoul, Oulo, and the Province of Reggio Emilia, seat of the University of
Modena and Reggio Emilia Department of Communication and
Economics, and an experimental E-Learning Center. A pilot agreement in
2009 between IBM and Reggio Emilia, focused on education, training and
employment, through the creation of digital networks to facilitate data-
sharing among interested parties, as outlined in the following excerpt from
a press release announcing the agreement:
Initial projects within the strategic initiative in Reggio Emilia are expected
to include a pilot called “Classroom 2.0” in several schools around the city.
Students, teachers, parents and local companies will have a collaboration
platform to interact and exchange information about classroom
management activities, students' interests and results, workgroup activities
at specific schools, and job openings.4
The Classroom 2.0 collaboration is not yet implemented, so further

reference to it here is not possible. In what follows, we interrogate the
notion of Smarter Cities, offering considerations of how ludic and social
media interaction design principles, allied with site-sensitive ludic
initiatives based on these, may serve as strategic tools for involving
citizens in rethinking, reconceptualising, mapping, discovering and
evaluating – together with planners, designers and developers – hidden,
often unutilised, potentials that their own urban environments possess for
becoming ‘smarter’. In particular, we are interested in ways to further the
emergence of innovation processes rooted in nascent, or already existent,
social networks and their value systems.
3
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/;
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/global/files/us__en_us__smarter_cities__wsj_o
p_ad_final.pdf ;
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/overview/industries/index.html ;
http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/thesmartercity/ ;
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/solutions/soa/innov8/cityone/index.html
4
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/27281.wss
112 Ludic and Social Media Interaction Design Principles
The European Union

The European Union launched its “Smart Cities and Communities
Initiative” (SCCI)5 at an international Brussels conference on 21 June
20116. Three thematic domains, supported by funding for innovation,
research and development from the EU’s “Seventh Framework Program”
(FP7) and “Europe/Horizon 2020”7, focus on Buildings, Energy Networks
and Transport8:
Buildings:
New buildings with net zero energy requirements or net zero carbon
emissions when averaged over the year by 2015, thus anticipating the
requirements of the recast Directive on the energy performance of
buildings (EPBD). This requirement could be anticipated (e.g. 2012) for all
new buildings of the local public authority (city).
Refurbish existing buildings to bring them to the lowest possible
energy consumption levels (e.g. passive house standard or level of
efficiency that is justified by age, technology, architectural constrains)
maintaining or increase performances and comfort. This would include
innovative insulation material (solid insulation, vacuum insulation, vacuum
windows, cool roofs, etc.).
Energy networks
Heating and Cooling
Innovative and cost effective biomass, solar thermal and geothermal
applications.
Innovative hybrid heating and cooling systems from biomass, solar
thermal, ambient thermal and geothermal with advanced distributed heat
storage technologies.
Highly efficient co- or tri-generation and district heating and cooling
systems.
Electricity
Smart grids, allowing renewable generation, electric vehicles charging,
storage, demand response and grid balancing.
Smart metering and energy management systems.
Smart appliances (ICT, domestic appliances), lighting (in particular
solid state lighting for street and indoor), equipment (e.g. motor systems,
water systems).
5
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/initiatives/20110621_smart_cities_
conference_en.htm
6
http://scic.ec.europa.eu/str/indexh264.php?sessionno=dda04f9d634145a9c68d5
dfe53b21272
7
http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/reaching-the-goals/flagship-initiatives/index
_en.htm
8
Cited from http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/initiatives/smart_cities_en.htm
Foster local RES electricity production (especially PV and wind

applications).
Transport
10–20 testing and deployment programmes for low carbon public
transport and individual transport systems, including smart applications for
ticketing, intelligent traffic management and congestion avoidance,
demand management, travel information and communication, freight
distribution, walking and cycling.
Sustainable mobility: advanced smart public transport, intelligent
traffic management and congestion avoidance, demand management,
information and communication, freight distribution, walking and cycling.
Semiotically speaking, the term Smarter Cities evokes an optimistic,

positive vision of better, healthier, more meaningful urban lifestyles for all
in the future. It is easy to envision that, if all public service instances
function optimally; if pollution and energy waste in buildings and industry
reduced to zero; if public and private transport perfectly coordinated, with
low pollution levels; and if cars, transporters, buses and trains guaranteed
to function smoothly and arrive on time – how fantastic this would be:
almost like magic!
Indeed, the following three images (Fig. 3-3), symbolically and
rhetorically, denote a few of a veritable multitude of models, visions,
perspectives and understandings of Smarter Cities, all portrayed, implicitly
or explicitly, as offering carefree, happier, healthier futures for all – in
relation to the very diverse living conditions people face today in their
everyday lives all over the world.
Fig. 3-3 Smart City promotion images from three incidentally selected web sites9
However, images are images, and everyday life is something else. We

must ask ourselves in this context how will we all – in spite of our
diversities and divergences of priorities, interests, opinions, cultures,
traditions, languages, abilities, life environments – experience living,
9
http://vator.tv/news/2010-12-24-cityville-surpasses-farmville-in-popularity ;
http://www.spheru.ca/research_projects/projects/working-upstream-schk.php;
http://aecotic.org/?p=2938
studying, working, relaxing and playing in such Smarter Cities?

We are all well aware that greater or lesser disparities always exist
between futuristic, technology-driven visions like those represented above,
and their realisation, development and day-to-day functioning. So, it is
reasonable we begin asking ourselves, for example, questions like:
will Smarter Cities really be pleasing, aesthetic, comfortable places to
live in?
will they function equally well for friends, families, neighbours etc.
irrespective of respective income levels, ethnicities, social and
occupational profiles etc.?
will they offer easy access to necessary information and intellectually,
aesthetically, emotionally stimulating urban spaces?
will they function equally well for immigrants and casual visitors as
for us who already live there?
how can we balance and optimise ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’
decision-making in planning and implementation?
how can we map, document and utilise existent physical, human and
cultural resources that will contribute to successful Smart City
development?
No quick and easy answers to the above questions exist. Indeed, a lot
of effort is already being made to involve citizens, political and cultural
organisations, businesses and their social networks in large- and small-
scale conceptualisation, planning, design and innovation processes. This is
a fundamental presupposition for developing liveable – in Smarter Cities –
which could also be envisioned in combination with “Smarter Town,
Countryside and Regional” projects.
One ongoing global effort to involve citizens in innovation and
planning processes is the “United Cities and Local Government (UCLG)
World Council”, hosted from December 9-11, 2011 by the City of
Florence, here in Italy. There, 500 local and regional representatives from
over 40 countries engaged in discussion of current and future governance
and development models, with special attention to strategies for involving
citizens, community associations and businesses through social networking
and national, regional and local public meetings, workshops and forums.
Indeed, Bologna is currently hosting the initiative “Laboratorio Urbano”10,
inviting citizens to participate in open workshops, seminars and discussions
with politicians, architects, planners, IT experts and researchers involved in
urban innovation projects. Future visions for the city of “Urban Democracy”;
10
http://www.laboratoriourbano.info/
“Gender and Difference”; “City and Territory”; “Welfare Institutions”;

“Work”; “Digital City”; “Culture”; “University and Innovation”; “Mobility”;
“Green Economy” and “Local Development” are now being drafted. In
addition, there are some more informal settings where ludic interaction
and participation design principals are being tried out in different
environments. These reach and involve people and groups who may not
appreciate, have time to participate in, or feel attracted by, ‘formal’
opportunities for participation in innovation and design processes like
those mentioned above.
Before we look at alternative interaction and participation design
models, a few words on the concept of “Transcultural, Transmedia
Gameplay Space” (TTGS), a metaphor useful for understanding digital
cultural spaces and places as environments for explorative ludic
behaviours, and as globally linked ‘gateways’ to new ways of seeing,
thinking about and understanding less well-known aspects of urban space
and activities taking place there now, or which may do so in the future.
Transcultural, Transmedia Gameplay Space (TTGS)

Digital global networks and social and ludic media instruments offer a
powerful potential for creating global-local (glocal) places and spaces
where at-a-distance interaction facilitates easy sharing of ideas,
experiences, evaluations, values and own- or other-created digital artefacts
with people in cultures quite different from our own, creating a hybrid
cultural zone I often refer to as “transcultural, transmedia gameplay space”
(Coppock, 2010). Digitally mediated cultural spaces derive from, and
facilitate, innovation based on “convergence processes” (Jenkins, 2006,
2008), by recycling digital key content matter in “social media
ecosystems” (McLuhan, 1964). Convergence processes tend to merge
‘old’ and ‘new’ media technologies: their content, formats, codes,
languages and value systems. This offers potential for ‘win-win’ solutions
through participation in other ways of seeing and being, through openness,
transparency, creativity and collaborative action by individuals and
communities elsewhere, coupled with ecologically sound11 emergent
practices for managing, sharing and recycling natural, human, cultural,
technological and economic resources.
11
The term “ecological” includes both natural resources, human, cultural,
technological resources and social systems supporting activities, institutions and
lifestyles we rely on for survival and life quality.
Cultural places and spaces – material or immaterial, analogue or digital

– can be conceived of as potential sites for shared forms of ludic action.
Philosophical (Caillois, 2001; Wittgenstein, 1953/2001), anthropological
(Huizinga, 1971/1938; Sutton Smith, 2001), historical (Frost, 2009) and
other studies assert the central historical role of play and playfulness
(Dekoven, 2002; De Jong, 2009, 2010) in fostering logical reasoning,
problem-solving, experimentation, innovation and, more specifically, key
cultural institutions like the arts, science, technology, social and
interpersonal infrastructures, networks and relationships. Our quotidian
experience of TTGS literally ‘extends’ us as actors far beyond, and
transcends, our conceptions of historical ‘local’ conventions, habits and
limitations associated with:
physical and digital space and time
our societies and cultures
our language styles and local variants
established and emergent media forms and systems
environments we live, work and play in
In its heyday, around 2000, the science fiction notion of ‘Cyberspace’

carried with it strong cultural connotations of something powerful,
mysterious, vague, evocative and ephemeral: an ‘alien’ technologically
mediated space inhabited by artificial intelligence forms or ‘Cyborgs, far
distant from our everyday socio-cultural realities. This notion is now seen
as rather outdated, especially by younger generations: the ‘digital natives’.
Our physical and digital realities, and personal and collective identities
associated with these12, are becoming increasingly interdependent.
Today’s digital natives never knew any other media context, so for them,
TTGS is merely an omnipresent, quotidian, creative resource to be taken
for granted and made the most of.
Henry Jenkins, who coined the terms convergence culture and
participatory culture, sees global/local media convergences as changing
the ways we think about ourselves, our cultures, the world we live in, and
how we interact with one another and with our environment. A Macarthur
Foundation Report on “media education for the 21st century” (Jenkins &
al. 2009), characterises participatory culture as offering:
low barriers for artistic expression and civic engagement;
strong support for creating and sharing creations with others;
informal mentorship whereby what is known by the more experienced
is passed along to novices;
12
http://redsocial.uimp20.es/events/nuevas-identidades-culturales
members who believe their creations matter;

members who feel some degree of social connection with one another
(at least, they care what other people think about what they have created).
(pp. 5-6).
This “shifts the focus of literacy from individual expression to

community involvement” (p.6). “We are”, the authors note, “moving away
from a world in which some produce and many consume media toward
one in which everyone has a more active stake in the culture that is
produced.” (p.12). Here, it is easy to envision that with the advent of the
“Internet of Things” paradigm our possibilities of conceptualising,
creating and distributing both intangible media artefacts and tangible
cultural artefacts, will increase over time, as intersections between
experienced digital space and lived physical space become increasingly
fluid and porous.
Collaboration with remote others, whom we may never meet face to
face together, following innovation pathways from initial concept
development, to production and distribution of both tangible and
intangible cultural artefacts in places and spaces once considered
unthinkably distant from us, will be possible. Aesthetic conceptualisation,
visualisation and interaction design techniques and tools will craft ‘ludic
interfaces’ that allow us to access, chart, visualise, conceptualise and
utilise innovation potential in a hybrid digital space that is gradually
permeating and transforming our familiar lived spaces and places. We can
envision interacting over vast distances (also cultural) via ludic interfaces
with agile and complex digital information sources, physical tools, devices
and machines we can manage creatively, as we know exactly what and
how they can do things for us, even though we might never have seen or
touched them.
Feeding Innovation with Ludic Interaction Design

Principles
To exemplify how ludic interaction design principles may inform and
stimulate new ways of thinking in urban and global innovation processes,
we shall briefly present some “Augmented and/or Alternative Reality
Games” (A/ARGs) that embody ludic interaction design principles,
challenging and facilitating players in moving back and forth across the
borders of physical and digital cultural spaces they may or may not know
in advance. This design principle can evoke a liberating sense of ambiguity
as players cross borders between, and act in concord with, both rule
systems of game ‘worlds’, and those of the ‘real’ world.

Johannes Huizinga’s notion of the “Magic Circle” has often been cited
by game theorists since its introduction in the 1930s. He used it to
characterise the experiential divide between the fictional worlds and rule
systems of games, and the rule systems governing everyday life ‘outside’.
Dave Szulborski (2005) and Jane McGonigal (2011), take players’
subjective experiences in playful settings as a starting point, positing a
distinction between two cognitive frames: “This-Is-A-Game” (TIAG) and
“This-Is-Not-A-Game” (TINAG).
In a recent article (Coppock & Ferri, in press), game designer and
theorist Gabriele Ferri and this author note that players of traditional
games are always well aware of activities they are taking part in and where
these are taking place. The TIAG frame establishes player expectations
and acknowledgements as participants in play. Interactions with the game
system generate a ludic discursive universe in the TIAG layer,
acknowledging the fictionality of gaming interactions. As player
focalization (Genette, 1972/1980), switches to the ludic universe, TIAG
interpretive rules are activated, setting aside players’ encyclopaedic real
world knowledge – so they are no longer surprised, for example, by the
height of Super Mario’s jumps. However, many games also harbour a
secondary system of expectations nested in the TIAG layer: an intra-
diegetic frame where players adopt “a habit of pretending to believe this is
not a game” (Eco, 1989) – necessary for maintaining the TINAG frame.
Typically pervasive13, A/ARGs use these mechanisms to enhance player
engagement, by creating ambiguity regarding existential delimitations of
the TIAG and TINAG frames.
The following final section examines five examples of A/ARGs
designed for play in different cultural spaces and places that are
specifically local, or generically global, or a hybrid of both. All
demonstrate in different ways how ludic interaction design principles can
engage players in the learning processes by revealing for them new
dimensions of cultural spaces and places they already believe they know
well, and interact with daily.
13
Pervasive games are played in public environments like cities, shopping malls,
workplaces, museums, art galleries, schools etc., “played intentionally alongside
everyday life, often throughout the day, and serve as an activity [that] is allowed to
carry over into other areas of life” (Montola, Stenros & Waern, 2009: 226).
Five Examples of Ludic Interaction Design

The Beast (2001)
“The Beast” was a transmedia-based ARG created by the Puppetmasters, a
programming team at Microsoft, to promote Steven Spielberg’s film “A.I.:
Artificial Intelligence”. It ran for 12 weeks in spring and early summer
200114. Set in the year 2142, 16 years after events chronicled in “A.I.”
(located in 2126), it had three entry points to the game: “rabbit holes” in
ARG parlance:
1. Trailers and posters for “A.I.” with a credit for Jeanine Salla, Sentient
Machine Therapist among the main credits.
2. One trailer encoded a telephone number in the promotional text; if a
player called this number and followed instructions he/she would
receive the email: “Jeanine is the key” - “you've seen her name
before”.
3. An “A.I.” promotional poster in technology and entertainment media
outlets had this simple clue: “Evan Chan was murdered. Jeanine is the
key”.
Based on these clues, players had to solve the crime. Each rabbit hole
led to questions about Jeanine Salla. Googling her name brought up web
pages set in the fictional gameworld including Salla's employer, Bangalore
World University. Salla's bio page showed her phone number and a link to
the page of her granddaughter, Laia. These clues lead to the homepage of
Evan and Nancy Chan, family friends of the Sallas. Jeanine's phone
message reveals Evan’s death in a boating accident on his A.I.-enhanced
boat, the Cloudmaker. At this point, the player joins the investigation into
Evan's death.
To tackle the informational complexity of the game, players created a
Yahoo group called “Cloudmakers”. At its peak, its thousands of members
produced over 40,000 messages. The game was continually under
development as it was being played. The Cloudmakers constantly
challenged the game developers and influenced the plot. After the game,
the Puppetmasters admitted they relied on the vast knowledge base of the
Cloudmakers and other player groups to meet puzzles the designers had
created. For instance, a puzzle near the end of The Beast required players
to understand lute tablature, and sure enough, some Cloudmakers could
14
The most intensive play period was April 2001-May 2002, c.f.
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cloudmakers/
solve it. This game is often cited as demonstrating how globally networked
ludic and social media evoke growth of specialised knowledge
communities, or “collective intelligence”. (Levy, 1999; Rheingold, 2002).
Urgent EVOKE (2010)

“EVOKE”15 is “a ten-week crash course in changing the world”, “free to
play and open to anyone, anywhere”. Open to participants of all ages, from
a base age of 13 and up, it was developed by the World Bank Group
Learning and Knowledge arm. The ARG Master was researcher and
author Jane McGonigal of the “Games for Change Initiative”. The game
goal is to empower people to come up with creative solutions to the
perceived as the most urgent social problems where they live.
The first EVOKE season ran from March 3rd, 2010 to May 12th, 2010.
It is still possible to request to join the game. After the first game season,
successful participants became the first graduating class in the “EVOKE
network”. A few top players earned online mentorships with experienced
social innovators and business leaders, seed funding for new ventures,
and travel scholarships to share future visions at the EVOKE Summit in
Washington DC. McGonigal evaluated the project with members of the
design and management teams, and the results are online in a dedicated
section of the project weblog16. The project was a fair success in relation
to expectations. Over 4693 active players (target: 700) took part, and 37
EVOKATION prizes: 15 scholarships, 22 mentorships and 10 seed
funding awards were made. It has so far not been repeated.
An A/ARG is of interest due to its complexity, thoroughness of
organisation and global ambitions, and due to its rootedness in players’
own social realities; it is quite likely to lead to significant social and
economic developments in the long-run.
Mettiti in Gioco17 (2011)

“Mettiti in Gioco” (MIG) was designed during a workshop led by game
designer Gabriele Ferri, at the Department of Communication and
Economics at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, with the
objective of encouraging multicultural encounters and dialogue in urban
15
http://www.urgentevoke.com/
16
http://blog.urgentevoke.net/2010/07/26/what-went-right-what-went-wrong-
lessons-from-season-1-evoke1/
17
Trad: “Bring Yourself into Play”. A workshop to design MIG was supported by
grants from the Province of Reggio Emilia.
settings. A first trial of MIG was organised18 in Castelnovo ne' Monti, in

the Province of Reggio Emilia, in April 2011.
The design process began by selecting key features from Mary
Flanagan’s “Massively Multiplayer Soba”19 (MMS) series, to adapt it to
function in a small Italian municipality. The core mechanics of MIG are
similar to its American counterpart: the game is held in an urban area,
participants are divided into groups, each receiving a sealed envelope
containing a mission to complete. A modification relative to MMS was
that MIG players were given hand-held video cameras and were asked to
document experiences of the game.
The first mission required the translation of a recipe into Italian from a
language20 unknown to players, who had to ask for help from passers-by
fluent in these languages.
The second mission required players to collect a story set in the town
where the game was being played and retell it to a fixed video camera at a
“Story Bank”. While game organisers had some degree of control over the
first mission, the selection of which stories to collect, and who to approach
to ask for them was up to the players. The missions were designed to be
complementary, requiring players to interact with senior citizens to collect
stories from the past, and with immigrants to translate multilingual clues.
The third and fourth missions required participants to shop for recipe
ingredients and to prepare and cook the food, sharing it with other
participants, those they had asked for help.
The Story Bank element represents a significant difference between the
MIG and MMS game series. Only by ‘depositing’ their story in the Story
Bank could players complete the second mission and advance in the game.
Only the Bank could award, in exchange for stories, coupons needed to
shop for ingredients in the next mission. The fact that retelling a story is
recorded on video in exchange for a prize adds value to narration (a good
story is precious), serving to build personal, direct connections between
players, passers-by and the game environment. Participants are no longer
‘just players’; they also take responsibility for small but significant, place-
specific story-telling, collection and archiving practices.
18
“Co-organized with L'Ovile–Cooperativa di Solidarietà Sociale, with the support
of UNAR (Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali), Province of Reggio
Emilia, Municipality of Castelnovo ne' Monti, and Rete Contro le Discriminazioni.
19
http://www.tiltfactor.org/massively-multiplayer-urban-games
20
Eg. Russian, Arabic, Urdu and Reggio Emilia regional dialects.
Falkland Ghost Hunt (2011)

This A/ARG was designed by Mads Haahr of “Haunted Planet Studios”21,
a National Digital Research Centre22 spin-off in Dublin, Ireland, in
collaboration with The National Trust for Scotland23 and ZOLKc24.
Falkland Royal Palace was built between 1501 and 1541, in the heart
of a medieval village, as a country residence and hunting lodge for eight
Stuart monarchs, including Mary Queen of Scots, who spent some of the
happiest days of her life there: “playing the country girl in the woods and
parks”. Falkland Palace is surrounded by a collection of beautiful gardens
housing the Real Tennis Court (1539), Britain's oldest tennis court and a
royal tennis club.
The Falkland Ghost Hunt game used satellite positioning and A/AR
technologies to bring ghosts, banshees and Mary Queen of Scots ‘back to
life’ in the palace gardens. Players were required to use a “radar-enabled
paranormal detection device” – an Android-based mobile phone application,
allowing them to visualise and ‘hunt down’ ghostly apparitions, and prove
their existence by capturing images and recording disembodied voices
from the screen.
Samples of what players experienced via their phone screens and
headphones is available on YouTube25. During the Halloween 2011 trial
period more than 300 people took part. Some were video-interviewed and
their impressions can be heard on YouTube26. One of the most often
repeated comments was that the game made the place and its history
‘come alive’ in an exciting, entertaining way.
Immaterials: Light painting WiFi (2011)

“Immaterials Light painting WiFi” is an online video27 by Timo Arnall,
Jørn Knutsen and Einar Sneve Martinussen, participants in the “YOUrban
Project”28, at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), in
collaboration with InterMedia, both of the University of Oslo, Norway.
21
http://www.hauntedplanet.com/
22
http://www.ndrc.ie/
23
http://www.nts.org.uk/Home/
24
http://www.zolkc.com/
25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIqaTHnDprU&feature=channel
26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0M7U65RO5M
27
http://yourban.no/2011/02/22/immaterials-light-painting-wifi/
28
http://www.aho.no/no/Arena/Forskning/UL/YOUrban/
The background for this aesthetic visualisation project is the fact that
city spaces host an invisible landscape of WiFi networks that are rapidly
becoming an integral part of daily life. These and other sensor networks,
our increasingly sophisticated mobile phones and portable digital devices,
influence how we experience and understand urban environments.
The video explores and reveals what the immaterial ‘terrain’ of WiFi
signals looks like and how it relates to the city. It is essentially about
discovering and contextualising WiFi networks through specialised
visualisation tools, in a continuation of earlier explorations29 of intangible
phenomena with further implications for design and production choices,
affecting how cities are experienced in the future. Matt Jones of BERG30
has characterised ‘Immaterials’ using sociality, data, time and radio as
typical examples. Radio and wireless communication are a fundamental
part of today’s life in networked cities, generating what William Mitchell
(2004) refers to as an intricate and invisible ‘electromagnetic terrain’
hinted at only by the presence of antennas.
To understand spatial and material qualities of wireless networks, the
Immaterials team built a WiFi measuring rod that visualises WiFi signal
strength on a vertical bar of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). When moved
through urban space, the rod displays a changing WiFi signal strength. A
strong signal activates more LEDs so a greater rod length is illuminated.
Long-exposure photographic sequences of the rod as it is carried through
the WiFi field allow visualisation of network signal strength as light
pattern cross-sections.
Conclusion
A/AR projects adopt a ludic stance to explore convergences between
imagined fictional worlds and the real world. Innovation processes depend
on imagination to envision possible worlds differing in significant,
relevant ways from what we conceive of as reality. This article argues that
use of A/AR Game interaction design principles to evoke ambiguity in
players as they move between TIAG and TINAG frames, is a positive
strategy to encourage ‘stepping outside’ normative sociocultural
constraints of reality in familiar settings, enabling fresh, innovative ‘re-
readings’ of them. This opens up for a re-envisioning of familiar spaces
and places, generating ideas for their redesign as more humane, functional,
29
http://www.nearfield.org/2009/10/immaterials-the-ghost-in-the-field
30
http://berglondon.com/
pleasant, stimulating, ecologically balanced places for us to live, work and

play in, within future Smarter City contexts.
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TYPOGRAPHY AND LANGUAGE:
A SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE
JACK POST
Alphabetic writing is traditionally seen as the logical endpoint of the

evolution of all preceding writing systems. In this ethnocentric and
teleological perspective, each form of writing would ‘naturally’ develop
into an alphabet that visually represents the sounds of a language and its
writing perceived as secondary to speech, as a mere instrument to
represent spoken language. With the emergence of French semiology
based on Ferdinand de Saussure’s “Course in General Linguistics” (1968,
1983) in the 1960s and 1970s, the relation between written language,
typography and spoken language suddenly came to the fore. Most scholars
on the semiotics of writing and typography were of the opinion that
Saussure held a very traditional view on the relation between written and
spoken language. Johanna Drucker, for instance, characterises in her
seminal study on typography “The Visible Word” (1994), Saussure’s
“Course in General Linguistics” as an important milestone in the
emancipation of written language but contends that Saussure “held to the
position that the linguistic sign, although conceptual and nonmaterial, was
constituted in spoken language” (20). Roy Harris (2000, 63) states that
Saussure considers writing as merely meta-signs that signify the signs of
speech and Anne-Marie Christin (1999) argues that for Saussure the
graphic and visual manifestations of the alphabet were without any
semiological pertinency. They all refer to “Course in General Linguistics”
in which Saussure seems to characterise written language as accessory and
secondary to spoken language. Although Saussure acknowledged the fact
that writing and speech are two distinct systems, he seems, according to
Drucker, to denigrate writing at the same time by according primacy to
speech. In other words, albeit Saussurian semiotics originates in
linguistics, and written language and typography are closely linked to
language, his theory was not seen as an adequate point of departure for the
development of a semiotics of typography.
Jack Post 127
Roland Barthes’ essay “Elements of Semiology” (1967) was the first

systematic introduction to, and overview of, semiological theory and
constituted the point of departure for a whole generation of linguists and
semiologists. Barthes’ interpretation of cardinal analytical concepts of
Saussure’s theory (such as sign, signifier and signified) and Louis
Hjelmslev’s theory (such as denotation, connotation, expression and
content) is still the accepted standard in contemporary semiotic research
on typography. Barthes predicted that “the future probably belongs to a
linguistics of connotation” (90), and indeed the concept of connotation has
become one of the central concepts in semiological studies on typography.
It was the central concept in Gérard Blanchard’s extensive study “Pour
une Sémiologie de la Typographie” (1980) and more recently Theo van
Leeuwen (2005, 139, see also 2006) took Barthes’ definition of
connotation as a starting point for his semiology of typography. Barthes’
interpretation of denotation and connotation, however, and in particular his
description of connotative systems as ‘staggered systems’ (1967, 89) and
his conception of the function-sign (1964, 106, 1990, 264-65), are at
certain points at odds with Saussure’s and Hjelmslev’s teachings.
Moreover, “Course in General Linguistics” was never published during
Saussure’s lifetime, the critical editions were based on lecture notes of his
students. The manuscripts, including the draft of a book on general
linguistics that were discovered in 1996 in the orangerie of Saussure’s
former residence,1 show, according to Simon Bouquet (1999, 2002), that
the edited versions of “Course in General Linguistics” not only distort and
occlude but even contradict Saussure’s thoughts on essential points.
A critical assessment of Saussure’s approach to written language in the
light of the recently found manuscripts and of Hjelmslev’s concept of
connotative semiotics, shows that a semiotic of typography based on the
‘original’ editions (and translations) of Saussure’s “Course in General
Linguistics” and Barthes’ interpretation of Hjelmslevian connotative
semiotics is flawed because both Hjelmslev and Saussure contend, as is
also stated by the Paris School of Semiotics, that typography and writing
are expressions of the language system in their own rights. It would,
therefore, be more promising to develop a semiotic approach of
typography based on the premises of the semiotics of the Paris School.
1
The manuscripts were published in de Saussure 2002, English translation 2006.
128 Typography and Language: A Semiotic Perspective
Gérard Blanchard – Typography and Connotation

Gérard Blanchard2 was the first to develop a comprehensive connotative
analysis of typography in the tradition of Barthes. Blanchard defines
typographical signs as material (technical) objects that depict the letters of
the latin alphabet. Blanchard explains that when Gutenberg designed his
typographical system to mechanically ‘duplicate’ the written language, he
had to normalise and rationalise the handwritten signs in such a way that
he was able to mechanically segment the handwritten language into a
limited set of ‘moveable types’ (minimal signs of the written forms) (1980,
30-33, 42-43). The effect of his typographical system was the unification
and standardisation of writing laid down in a set of technical rules and
practices which we now call typography. Since typographical signs stand
closer to material (technical) objects than to ‘immaterial’ linguistic signs,
they are perceived as an imbrication of the technological and signification.
Blanchard’s semiology of the typography is clearly indebted to Roland
Barthes’ “Elements of Semiology” (1967) and in particular to “The
Fashion System” (1990). Next to the concepts of denotation and
connotation Blanchard refers extensively to that of the function-sign to
account for the fact that typographical signs are perceived as material
(technical) objects. Barthes defines function-signs as utilitarian and
functional objects. A material, everyday life object like a fur coat is in
itself “an inert entity which neither produces nor receives meaning, but
merely transmits it (…) because the garment is not in itself a system of
signification, as is language” (1990, 265-66). The moment these objects
exist in society and are socially used, they convert into function-signs,
which only get meaning when they are incorporated into the larger whole
of linguistic signs. In Barthes’ semiology, the world and its material
objects only become meaningful in and through language. The function of
a fur coat (as an object) is to protect us from the cold (function-sign), the
semantisation converts the function-sign into a linguistic sign ‘a fur coat
that protects us from the cold’. This meaning usually shifts to the
background to make place for what Barthes calls secondary or connotative
meanings. In our Western society, a fur coat is more likely to be perceived
as a luxury item or more recently as a sign of negligence of animal rights
(secondary connotative meanings), than as a practical garment that
protects us from the cold (its primary denotative meaning based on the
function-sign).
2
With exception of Gérard Blanchard’s study, typography was only accidentally
object of semiotic research Mounin 1970, Lindekens 1971, Lindekens 1976.
Jack Post 129
Fig. 3-4: Connotative system
The function-sign (object-sign) thus becomes the signified of a

denotative system, which in turn becomes the signifier for a new
connotative system of additional socio-cultural meanings, which grafts
itself so to say onto the denotative system (Barthes speaks about a
parasitical relation) (1990, 40). Barthes calls the connotative signifiers
connotators and the whole of the connotators a rhetorical system.
Blanchard considers the typographical form as a signifier of connotation
and illustrates the workings of the typographical connotation with an
analysis of the nameplate (logotype) of the French quality newspaper “Le
Monde” (1980, 299).
Fig. 3-5: Nameplate Le Monde (1945)
The logotype forms the basis of a function-sign which denotes ‘gothic

characters’ and refers to the characters used in the Gutenberg bible. The
denotative system which is based on this function-sign simply denotes
‘gothic character’ and constitutes the signifier for a secondary connotative
system. The signified of this connotative system refers to the “Gutenberg
Bible” and creates the following rhetorical trajectory: the original Gothic
type positions the journal on the one hand as a journal of the truth (because
it refers to The Bible) and on the other hand as a figure of supreme
printing (because it refers to the Gutenberg print revolution). The
ideological form of the signified of the connotation refers to the myth of
the origin of printing and to the stabilised time of The Bible in opposition
to the ephemeral time of the daily journal. The rhetorical effect of these
connotations is that the logotype functions as an ideological reassurance
against the fears that the daily fluctuations in the news provoked by its
readers.
Louis Hjelmslev – Writing and language

In Barthes’ interpretation of Hjelmslev connotative semiotics a
connotative sign consists of two systems “which are imbricated, but are
out of joint with each other, or staggered” (1967, 89). Blanchard’s analysis
of the nameplate of Le Monde inserts indeed the function-sign into the
signified of the denotative system and the denotative system into the
signifier of the connotative system. Hjelmslev however, never talks about
imbrication or insertion because the connotative semiotics represents in his
theory a formalisation of the varieties of the denotative semiotics. Take for
example four realisations of the letter “d” of the Latin alphabet:
Fig. 3-6: Four different realisations of the letter d
Hjelmslev would describe these realisations as projections of the pure

abstract form “d” on the content plane upon the substance of the
expression plane of the denotative semiotics. On the content plane is the
“d” as a pure abstract form in opposition with the “b”, “p” or “q”. The
projection of the “d” on the substance of expression manifests the form of
expression /d/ which establishes the norm or the ‘bandwidth’ so to say,
within all possible varieties of the letter “d” that can still be identified as
“d”. To resume, on the level of the content of the denotative semiotics the
“d” is an invariant which is independent from, but presupposed by, its
possible social realisations (the varieties of the letter d) and material
manifestations /d/ (variants) of the form of the substance of the expression.
From the perspective of the content plane of connotative semiotics
however, every variant /d/ is related to a different variety of the letter “d”
and thus to a different form of the content. Changing the “d” from
blackletter into Futura or from regular into italics remains from the
perspective of the denotative analysis within the norm, since they are all
varieties of the “d”. From the perspective of the connotative analysis,
however, they represent different variants /d/ (connotators) and are as such
related to different forms on the content plane of the connotative
semiotics. They are evidently different letters and at the same time the
very same letter “d”.
Jack Post 131
The connotative analysis thus takes care of the overwhelming

variability of the fonts produced by usage, i.e. the acts of the individual
users and the habits adopted by a society (what Saussure called parole).
Hence, before a connotative analysis can formalise the varieties of the
denotative semiotics, an inventory of the invariants of the denotative
semiotics (what Saussure called langue) should be made up: “after the
analysis of the denotative semiotic is completed, the connotative semiotic
must be subjected to an analysis according to the same procedure”
(Hjelmslev 1969, 119). Thus, when Blanchard inserts the function-sign in
the denotative sign and subsequently the denotative sign in the connotative
sign, he actually ‘neglects’ the analysis of the denotative system itself. His
analysis of connotation has, therefore, more in common with a traditional
description of connotations as secondary, accessory or supplementary
meanings that are added to the referential meaning. Just like typographers
speak about the dress (connotation) and the body (referent) of the type (see
Stoeckl 2005). The object of semiotic analysis is, however, the description
of the formal schema of the denotative or connotative plane and not as
Barthes argues a connotative analysis of the (material) substance of the
connotative plane. Hjelmslev defines connotators as varieties of the
invariants of the plane of content and not as additional meanings which are
added to the denotative meanings or in the more politicised wordings of
Barthes, as meanings that are naturalised by the denotation and which
conceal the denotation. The task of the semiologist is not to ‘decipher’ the
‘real’ denotative significations buried under a crust of ideological
connotations (Barthes 1967, 94), but to describe the usages on the basis of
a description of the semiotic schema. Only a description of the denotative
semiotics opens up the possibility of a formal and systematic study of the
varieties and the variations of the usages, that is a connotative analysis
(see also Badir 2000, 78-83).
Ferdinand de Saussure – Writing and speech

By explicitly taking the substance of expression into account when
analysing semiological signs or function-signs, Barthes’ semiology re-
introduces the third term of the referent again in the binary couple of
signifier and signified and departs thus from a ‘traditional’ triadic
interpretation of the sign as for instance Umberto Eco (1988) presents in
his “Le signe”:
Fig. 3-7: Triadic sign model
For Eco, comments Badir, “the signifier horse for example, has (in the
real world or the possible world) the animal as referent in function of a
signified–idea, concept, or something that takes its place - which relates
both” (2000, 174). It is exactly this triadic model of the sign that becomes,
inspired by Barthes’ publications, dominant in French semiological
research in the 1960s and 1970s. Saussure, however, insisted on the binary
relation of the signifier and the signified on the one hand and of the sign
and the extra-linguistic reality on the other. Merging both conceptions in a
single triadic relation is, according to Badir, impossible because
the relation between signifier and signifier is established on the level of the
langue whereas the relation between sign and ‘referent’ is situated on the
level of the parole (175).
Saussure states repeatedly in his “Course of General Linguistics” that the

combination between the signifier and signified produces a form and not a
substance.
By defining the function-sign (or semiological sign) in terms of its
usage and substance, Barthes places himself in the tradition of functional
linguistics of the Prague Linguistic Circle and André Martinet who define
the signs in terms of their substance (or matter) (see for the discussion
between Martinet en Hjelmslev Arrivé 1985). Human language contends
Martinet is not only defined by the principle of the double articulation but
also and primarily by its phonic substance. Hence, only languages with a
double articulation and a phonic substance are human languages. Systems
not based on phonic substance, such as written language and ipso facto
typography, are what Barthes calls semiological systems. In the case of
fashion, the signifiers of the function-signs are “always part of the physical
world which is the clothing content, the fragment of the bodily space
occupied by the clothing item (a woman’s suit, a pleat, a clip brooch, gilt
buttons, et cetera)”. In Barthes’ function-sign signifier and signified collapse
because “every object is also a sign” (1990, 264), which is indicated by the
Jack Post 133
fact that in “Elements of Semiology” the bar between the signifier and
signified of the function-sign in the schema of the connotation is omitted.
Hjelmslev takes explicitly stance towards the functionalist linguistics
of the Prague Linguistic Circle and André Martinet by excluding not only
the phonematic but also the graphematic substance from the linguistic
analysis, although in his opinion both are co-existing systems with equal
rights (1973a, 271). Writing and speaking are actually not two separate
systems but “the same system manifested by two different substances,
respectively the phonic and the graphic substance” (1973a, 271; see also
Arrivé 1983). The fact that we express language through sound is,
according to Hjelmslev, not due to the nature of language, as argues
Martinet, but the consequence of our anatomical-physiological
constitution. In other words, the alphabetic system is not, as is traditionally
believed, based on a phonetic analysis of language:
not the articulation of the pronunciation, but the articulation of the

language itself has been recognised or attempted to be recognised by the
invention of the alphabet. Not the phonetic substance has been transposed
into a graphic substance but the linguistic form of expression has been
imprinted directly into the graphic matter to take hold of it (1973b, 229).
Hjelmslev objects to the traditional view on writing as a derivation of

the pronunciation or as a transposition of the spoken language into the
visual order. Language can be expressed in substances other than sound,
such as gestures or graphical symbols for instance. Although scholars of
the history and theory of typography and writing, like Johanna Drucker,
reproach Saussure to make written language subservient to spoken
language, Saussure never puts the domains of the written language and the
spoken language into a relation of dependency. He excludes matter,
because the combination of the signifier and the signified produces a form
and not a substance (1986, 157), just like Hjelmslev excludes material
criteria from the definition of language. Sound is just material and not
necessary for the definition of language itself (164-165). Because he never
defines sound elements in language positively but always negatively in
terms of oppositions and relations, language is pure form and signifiers are
always immaterial and incorporeal.
Curiously enough, Saussure explains the question of the material

aspect of language with a discussion of the writing system. Firstly, he
argues that “the signs used in writing are arbitrary. The letter t, for
instance, has no connexion with the sound it denotes” (165). It seems as if
Saussure here, when he links the letter to the sound, is at odds with his
own theory. The editors of “Course in General Linguistics” have probably

adjusted the text to the traditional view on the relation between written and
spoken language. However, in the notes of his students, which formed the
basis of the “Cours de Linguistique Générale”, it is stated that Saussure
said “la chose à désigner” [the thing it indicates] and not “le son qu’elle
désigne” [the sound it denotes] (see critical edition by Rudolf Engler, de
Saussure 1968, 269). In other words, as remarks Michel Arrivé in an
analysis of this passage, Saussure refers here to the incorporeal signifier
(2007, 71-72). In the found manuscripts, Saussure remarks that “there is
never in any way a link between a certain sibilant sound and the shape of a
letter S, and similarly it is no harder for the word vache than the word
vacca to refer to a cow” (2006, 147), which is in total agreement with the
next step in Saussure argumentation.
Fig. 3-8: Saussure 1986, p. 165
The same person can write a “t” in many different ways, because the
letters are not defined positively and materially, but negatively,
differentially and incorporeally. The only thing that matters is that the t is
not confounded with other letters such as the “l” or “d”. In a third step,
Saussure explains that because the letters are dependent on their mutual
oppositions within a defined system of a limited number of elements, the
graphical sign is arbitrary and thus the forms of the letters are of no
importance. The last point Saussure discusses is that the means of
production of the sign is indifferent to the system:
Whether I write the letters in black or white, engraved or in relief, with a

pen or with a chisel–none of that is of any importance for their meaning
(1983, 118).
This is exactly the passage on the basis of which Anne-Marie Christin

concludes that graphical and visual elements are for Saussure without any
semiological pertinency (1999; see also Christin 2002, 12). As is argued
above, the question is more complex. When Drucker asserts that it is not
possible to generate “a concept of materiality out of Saussure’s theory of
the sign” (1994, 23) because Saussure in his will to establish a “purely
differential system of linguistic function” rejects “the materiality of the
Jack Post 135
signifier as substantive, as having a role to play in the production of

meaning” (1994, 26), she is right and wrong. She is wrong in the sense
that a semiotic theory of the substance of the signifier is not possible. It is
possible but only on one condition: that it studies the typographical form
of the manifestations (usage) and not the substance matter itself. The
means of production of the written signs are of no importance for the
language system (denotative plane) itself but they are relevant for the
analysis of the connotative plane. She is right because an analysis of the
connotative plane excludes the typographical substance or matter as such,
which are in Hjelmslev’s opinion the objects of other sciences: in the case
of typography for instance perception psychology (readability research),
design history and theory, or informatics. Indeed, as Drucker herself
explains, her research moved from “the role of the visual manipulation of
the signifier” to “the way in which materiality of signifying practices (…)
is inextricably bound up with the production of history and subjectivity in
artistic practices” (1994, 2). The first question is of course a semiotic
problem, the second more like the object of art and design historical
research (maybe informed by semiotics).
Conclusion
After the initial euphoric phase of the 1960s and 1970s many scholars
turned their back on semiology, partly because of the fact that a
connotative analysis à la Barthes turned out to be a very laborious
construction of a traditional inventory of supplementary meanings. As A.
J. Greimas remarked somewhat harshly
semiological analysis of a connotative nature could only succeed in

producing a redundancy of commonplaces, unless it where to seek a
foundation elsewhere. Either in a certain form of psychology (at which
time the object-semiotic system becomes the ‘signifier’ for psycho-
analysis) or in a certain sociology (at which time semiology becomes the
post-facto justification of a theory of ideology).
(Greimas and Courtés 1982, 283).
Semiology in the tradition of Barthes, argues Greimas, lets the

signifieds choose their own signifiers and thus does not take into account
one of the basic postulates of semiotics, namely that the signifier and the
signified presuppose each other reciprocally. Semiotics as developed by
Greimas and the Paris School (see Greimas and Courtés 1979, 1982, 1986)
approach writing differently, namely as an expression of the system of the
natural language on the one hand and as a graphic system that is part of the
figurative (visual) semiotics on the other. The graphic materiality

manifests a plastic signifier that can conventionally be interpreted as the
compact objects of figure-letters. Moreover, it also has other possibilities
of signifying, because it “could give rise to a subarticulation of letters into
their constitutive features, thus revealing an underlying graphematic
organisation” (Greimas 1989, 637). The segmentation of the graphematic
organisation into plastic units differs fundamentally from the double
articulation in that it breaks the plastic manifestation of the signifier down
into plastic formants, figures and topological, eidetic and chromatic
categories of the plastic form (638-644). Greimas explains that the
analysis of the plastic signifier3 does not just proclaim that plastic objects
signify, but wants to understand how they signify and what they signify
(644). It does not restrict itself to the analysis of the meaning of the
individual typographical characters, but also to how they give form to
larger and more complex organisations such as lines, paragraphs, chapters,
type pages and concrete poems, calligrammes or credit sequences in
cinema (see also Zaganelli 2008, 89-111).
Depending on the point of view taken, the question whether typography
is a language can be answered differently. Typography is not a natural
language but neither is speech, both are expressions of the langue in the
sense of Saussure. Typography is at the same time inextricably interwoven
with the natural language and should therefore always be analysed in
relation to the langue. Typographical signs can thus be analysed in a
twofold way: either as letters of the Latin alphabet or as elements of an
independent plastic organisation with its own meaning production.
Greimas even speaks about the autonomous organisation of the plastic
signifiers and its signifieds as a secondary, poetical language (1989, 646-
47). Typography can, therefore, also be considered as a poetical or
aesthetic language that subverts the primary functions of the alphabet and
written language as the pertinent analysis of futurist poetry by Giovanni
Bove (2009) illustrates. A semiotics of typography is thus possible and
especially the idea that typography can be approached as a secondary
poetic organisation of the planar written surface suggests that a radical
different alternative to Roland Barthes’ project of a connotative semiotics
exists.
3
The analysis of the plastic signifier is according to Greimas the task of a semi-
symbolic semiotics (1989, 644-47).
Jack Post 137
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—. Cours de Linguistique Générale. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1968.
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—. “Introduction à la Discussion Générale des Problèmes Relatifs à la
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FILM AND NEW ART MEDIA SEMIOTICS:
ON THE FIGURAL
IRINI STATHI
Introduction
Many presemiotic discussions of the cinematic medium can be traced back
to the early years of film history. Most of them were mainly interested in
film syntax instead of the effects the figures produced in the image.
But it was Christian Metz, the semiotician, who initiated in 1964 the
semiotic discussion of film as language on a linguistic basis. Metz’s
provocative statement that the film is “langage sans langue” (1964) gave
rise immediately to a heated debate about the semiotic status of films. If
filmic language cannot be related to langue in the Saussurean sense of
system because it does not consist of a finite number of elements
organised according to the rules of a specific syntax, then we must ask the
crucial question of how this language can be described. Several Italian
semioticians were stimulated by this problem. For Umberto Eco, film
language cannot possess a ‘double articulation’, as natural language does.
Instead, because of the complexity of filmic signs, it must be conceived of
as a visual articulation, described in terms of three dimensional
coordinates of kinesic figures. This register of the filmic signification is
the basis of iconic signs that are located in the synchronic and diachronic
dimensions. In the wake of this discussion, Emilio Garroni (1968)
raised the issue of which level of formalisation can be obtained in film
semiotics. Rather than being grounded on Metzian syntagmas, such
formalisation could start from different filmic codes. These codes were
later elaborated by Eco in his writings about the semiotics of the
audiovisual in general (Eco 1980).
Eco’s view gives priority to a natural iconicity based on perception,
but he seems to understate the symbolic regulation of iconic meanings in
abstract-iconic forms. This ‘interleaved’ description of iconic and
symbolic forms is an advanced aspect of the conceptions of iconicity and
diagrammatic reasoning explored by Peirce. On the other hand, in the
140 Film and New Art Media Semiotics: On the Figural
Soviet Union, Juri Lotman's “Semiotics of Cinema” (1973) did aim at the
creation of some further semiotic reflections on this film language. Its
detailed analyses, which bear upon the filmic illusion of reality, the filmic
shot, forms of filmic narration, the question of film as a synthetic art, and
the development of modern cinematography, make a foray into the
ideological and aesthetic functions of cinema as the dominant mass media
art of the 20th century. In Lotman’s study, the cinematic language is
related to other media and other codes, thus setting an agenda for further
research on the relationship between different codes or filmic materials
(linguistic, figurative etc.).
Semiotics gives a foundation for the classification of signs according
to different forms of iconicity, ranging from the concrete-iconic forms of
filmic images, over the abstract-iconic forms of graphs and diagrams, to
the symbolic forms of symbols and languages (May 2007). These forms
correspond to three underlying similarity measures analysed by Peirce: the
concrete-iconic forms rely on a similarity of properties, the abstract-iconic
forms rely on a similarity of relations and the symbolic forms rely on an
‘induced’ similarity of conceptual structures. These types of similarity
correspond to systematic differences in the interpretation of the main
iconic forms. Thus, images are interpreted as referring to their objects
through a similarity of properties and languages and symbols are interpreted
as referring to their objects through a metaphorical similarity of conceptual
structures (figurativity).
From parole to figure

The discourse that distinguishes between a linguistic and a figural
approach on film semiotics can be extended and cover a multitude of other
expressions related to images. What is hiding behind the expression ‘to
claim the figural’ or ‘to see the figural’ is primarily that we will use a
loose limitation to art that somebody looks at on a screen, and most
importantly video and computer screens, which is what some might
call new media art. Ideas connected to the experience concern the figural
as an aesthetic concept and a reading of the concept in relation to moving
images and new media art, may prove the importance of the term in
understanding film and new media aesthetics. Thus, we will speak from a
theoretically film-oriented perspective, but it is well known that the figural
is a concept initially used when talking about static pictures, paintings, but
nevertheless some kind of process or dynamic event in the images:
something that triggers interpretation.
Irini Stathi 141
The sense of the figural can be developed in three steps. First, by making
some remarks on the concept, its contemporary versions and different
methodological aspects; secondly, we will try to establish some connections
with the film theories of/on Jean Epstein and the figural in relation to
moving images, and thirdly we will hint at some possible connections with
digital media.
An attempt to detect some kind of origin in the use of the concept
to Jean-François Lyotard and his dissertation “Discours, figure” (1971)
will demonstrate the importance of the term’s significance in the figurative
representation. For Lyotard, the figural is an inherent dynamic in images,
but something that is not primarily a representation. Lyotard opposes the
reduction of art to linguistic units and he tries to position himself against
some linguistic theories that have been very influential and were so
indeed when Lyotard wrote this book. “A painting is not something
you read, or understand”, he argues, and writes that standing inside the
representation one “seeks plastic and libidinal events”, (Lyotard 1971).
Lyotard, in the introducing chapter, calls his book a protest against the
idea of text. The figural as such proposes, in this sense, that the image in
itself is a form that thinks. Philippe Dubois emphasises three orders within
the figural: order of (an) event, detail and intensity (Dubois 1998). The
figural event in an image is related to and emerges through fulgurance,
rupture and presence. The rupture is manifested through the effects of
otherness and modification/distortion/alteration. Thus, the figural, as a
visual event in an image is a ‘moment in process’, lies between “something
unpredictable and necessary” and is the “interplay between these two
extremes”, (Dubois 2004, 245). Lyotard stresses three characteristics
related to the figural: its opacity, its relationship to the truth and its quality
of an immediate expression. The first characteristic refers to the figural as
to something in the image that is not manifest, thus that does not belong to
the part that is transparent in the represented. The figural, as if stricto
sensu, does not really represent something, it ‘disturbs’ the represented; it
displaces it, runs over the representation, defies it and thereby defines its
aspect. The figural is primarily a visual phenomenon; it is a “constant
unpredicted event that is imposed to the work of art through the changing
composition”, (Faure 1922/2003, 10).
We can also think of the figural as a threshold, as the limit of the
visible. This brings us closer to the notion of the “aesthetics of confines”
(G. Didi-Huberman 1990). Painters who were working, having in mind the
concept of the aesthetics of the limits, were endlessly trying to capture the
non-representable, the ‘something’ that was always already eluding,
evading the image. Therefore this aesthetics is also called
aesthetics of l’image à venir. In our notion of the figural this is exactly

where the figural resurfaces. Even though Didi-Huberman marks that this
aesthetics shows us its imperfection and is about approximating something
that cannot be attainable and despite the fact that the figural can be
accessible (as an act) in its imperfections–in its surpluses, overabundance,
excess, absences-these two as if borderline “concepts” overlap in an
intensive and extensive register; both try to make us see the invisible
(either from the side of the unattainable the question is how do we
represent the divine) or from the side of the fleeting, changeable,
inconstant and almost capricious (the exclamation mark is-how do we
catch and experience the figural). As Olivier Schefer observes, the figural
is “the expression of reality in excess, overflowing the discursive
order” (Schefer 1999).
Figural and aesthetics

It is quite obvious that we could say that the figural is an aesthetic concept
we use to discuss dynamic fields in images where the focus of the
aesthetic experience is connected to the materiality or plasticity of the
images. It may also be related to a breaking up of the relationship
between the plastic and the linguistic, a blurring of the categories of text
and image. Despite this being an extreme simplification, it is necessary
here, and we can consider it as an operational one that might facilitate
the conciliation between images and meanings. It is not necessary to go
into any conceptual history of the word figural, or figure which is a word
with many interesting meanings and uses; the term ‘figure’ denotes a
form or shape, often that of the human body in particular. The most
obvious one is the Latin origin in fingere, which connotes for example
modeling, but a more thorough history of the word would be a completely
different discussion. Erich Auerbach has written an interesting genealogy
of the word and its biblical context in his short book, called “Figura”
(1993). Lyotard also draws attention to movement and rhythmical aspects
of the figural, that one can see as a step towards the figural in a context of
moving images.
In cinema studies as well as in art theory, the concept of the figural has
gone through a small revival o v e r the last years. Mostly in Europe
with film scholars like Jacques Aumont (1996), Philippe Dubois (1998)
and Nicole Brenez (1998) and art historian Georges Didi-Huberman, and
recently D.N. Rodowick (“Reading the figural or philosophy after new
media”, 2001). Rodowick's book is a good introduction to the figural,
and in it he develops also from Lyotard, more political and social
aspects of the concept, which explain a significant part of the figural’s
appearance in several expressions of cultural life.
Irini Stathi 143
These different figural approaches are mostly about the re-articulation

and re-evaluation of certain aesthetic and philosophical aspects that have
been with us in different forms throughout most of the history of art and
philosophy. There are probably different reasons why the figural is put
forward today, but one common denominator is the desire to focus on the
image as image (and not the image of something which is the Peircean
thought) and what might be some casual dynamic fields in these images.
The intention here is not about finding some kind of figural essence or
specificity in new screen media, but simply to make some connections that
could help develop a more aesthetically oriented discussion on new media
art. Many artists and scholars say that what matters with digital technology,
from an artistic point of view, is that manipulation, experimentation and
access have become easier, more free, and varied. Just to mention one
significant example, this is the case with Malcolm Le Grice who has been
working with video and digital media since the 1960s and more recently
has been writing quite a lot about the relationship between film and new
technologies (Le Grice 2001). It is obvious that all possibilities of
manipulation and modeling of moving images make the figural an
interesting concept, when discussing new media aesthetics. This approach
as a counterbalance to a lot of the theoretical writings on new media that
have been focusing on aspects of textuality, narration, or to speak with
Lev Manovich’s words: language (Manovich, 2001). There are also
writings on the interrelationship between art, information and science, for
example Stephen Wilson’s book about what he calls “information arts”
(Wilson, 2001). Yet another category of writings might be the
interrelationship between different media: intermediality: most known is
perhaps Bolter’s and Grusin’s book “Remediation” (1999). But in a l l
these writings, and many others, we have the feeling that the question
of information tends to shadow, and even contaminate, the aesthetic
discussion. There are quite a few serious and interesting aesthetic
approaches, if we propose the figural as one possible way to take towards
an interpretation of the image’s meaning.
Despite the many faces of the figural in contemporary theory, it is
quite easy to identify some fairly clear methodological aspects. There is
one basic starting point in the idea that the figural comes from the images
and not from something the analysis itself brings to them. The analysis
starts from the images, which tends to get the status of subjects (not only
and exclusively objects). For example, the French theoretician Jacques
Aumont writes about images that ‘think’, images create problems and
constantly ask questions. He writes for example in his book, “A quai
pensent les films” (1996), which is the book where he develops the sense
of figural, that: “The object of film analysis [...] is the problems that the
films create”, (Aumont 1996, 150). He also argues that “[...] Le sens d'une
œuvre d'image soit dégagé, le plus possible, a partir de l’œuvre elle-
même”, (Aumont 1996, 88)1. Nicole Brenez seeks a similar film analysis
“with a starting point from the questions that they create”, as she argues
(Brenez 1998, 11). And Philippe Dubois promotes the idea that the
figural operates “[...] selon les modes associatifs ouverts et multiples de la
matière visuelle en elle-même”, (Dubois 1998, 270)2.
Nicole Brenez starts her discussion on the figural by saying that it is
difficult, if not totally impossible, to have a method for figural analysis.
In a strict sense, aspects related to the figural are perhaps too vague and
too ambiguous to be organised in a method, but that is a methodological
standpoint, and she, in her text, by establishing some principles for
figural analysis is creating a method for that purpose. Maybe it is more
appropriate to call it simply a figural approach. Without any further
development, this approach seems to share many ideas with a contemporary
version of phenomenology (for example through the attentiveness to the
images and the kind of knowledge when looking at them).
Seeing the figural

At this point we will consider some of the many aspects of Jean Epstein’s
writings and films that could be mentioned in relation to the figural. What
concerns our analysis is perhaps most evident in the movie, “Le
Tempestaire” (The Storm Healer, 1947), where he draws to their extreme
his ideas on temporality and speed variations. This film is the most
obvious example of what Epstein calls a “temporal perspective” (Epstein
1946, 16). In the film the sea outside Bretagne is continually filmed in
slow motion and the sound is equally manipulated in order to create an
effect of ‘incorrect’. Epstein writes for example: “Entre l'eau et la glace,
entre le liquide et le solide, il se crée une matière nouvel1e, un océan de
mouvements visqueux [...]”3, (Epstein 1975, 45).
The use of slow motion here is a way to work and present the very
figural aspects of the film medium (Dubois 1998, 267-8). The speed
variations of the filmstrip become a way to visualise the film matter itself,
1
“[...] meaning of a work should as much as possible be sought in the work
itself.”
2
“[…] by the associative, open and multiple modes that exist in the visual matter
itself.”
3
“Between water and ice, between the liquid and the solid, a new matter is created,
an ocean of viscous movements [...]”
Irini Stathi 145
which means, to visualise the real flow of time, which is constantly

imperceptible in real life. Epstein’s perspective is a temporal one and more
precisely it is about different effects of temporal elasticity. This is an
elasticity of space and time that in the real flow of life is impossible to
capture. For Epstein, film is not primarily a way to reproduce movement,
but to create a new movement based on variations of the image matter.
This movement is the visualisation of an invisible dimension of reality.
Generally, in Epstein’s films and writings, from the 1 9 20s and on,
there are several other techniques and aspects related to the figural:
multiple exposures, dissolves, the dissolution and stretching out of
movement, kaleidoscopic images; all aspects related to the technology
which is central to Epstein’s thought, writings and the art of film. In this
context, technology constitutes an aesthetic approach based on the figural
and the most important thing is materiality itself, and even if there are
technological conditions behind, for example slow motion and other
special effects, it is the image event itself that relates to the figural.
Epstein’s most famous book called “L’intelligence d’une machine” [The
intelligence of a machine, 1946], is not about thinking of machines in the
sense of a computer (a means able to automatically compose not realistic
movement), but more about creating something new with technology, to
let machines ‘think’ and, to some extent, create their own forms and
figures. This is probably one reason why Epstein’s thought is interesting in
relation to new media art.
The figural is perhaps a process, something primarily described in
terms of a process; thus it is not an object. It has to do with something that
‘happens’ to the image as image. This is linked to the idea of/on the image
as presence, not as form or representation, and this presence is nothing
else than the presence of the material and different effects due to the
plasticity and the materiality of moving images. This is only more
interesting since moving images are often regarded as immaterial, as a
flow which is impossible to touch. Light, time and sound are also often
thought of as immaterial but through manipulations they move towards a
more obvious presence of their material, towards a tactile or haptic
dimension. This is of course easily seen and represented in a considerable
number of experimental film and video. The most interesting example is
Bill Viola’s work. These aspects also exist most significantly in non-
experimental films or art works, and often an interesting tension is
registered there. Except Epstein, whose films are mostly quite popular
narratives, we can think of the films of Wong Kar-Wai, for example
“Ashes of Time” (1994).
Figural and new screen media

To develop the figural in relation to new media art, there are possibly at
least two major ways to follow: the first one is the montage where
overlapping and different image-relations become more flexible and
potentially dynamic, with interesting manipulations of time and space. The
second is the facilitation of working with matter, working with pixels,
the radically increased degree of manipulation (especially in relation to
moving images). The special effect in motion pictures and animations that
changes (or morphs) one image into another through a seamless transition
(morphings), for example, could lead to discussions not only of time-
matter but also of space-matter and it is clear that experimentation and
manipulation becomes easier, it becomes easier to model the image: a fact
that has, as we know, influenced the idea on an indexical image of reality.
The idea of indexicality has lost a great deal of its importance and, the
figural could be a mode that in a certain sense assumes the role to promote
some of this importance.
At this point we consider significant to hint at one example from
new media art that is quite explicitly about materiality and screen
plasticity. It comes from the “artintact” series and aptly titled “The Sub-
division of Electric Light” made by Perry Hoberman in 1996. The work
is made up of a series of screens and projections where the stability and the
two-dimensionality of the screen are continually manipulated. It is a work
that testifies about the need or desire to integrate the projection in a three-
dimensional space. And the tool to do it is the subject matter of the
screen itself. There are screens as objects (where the projection is made
on different objects), screens as rooms (the projection is made on walls in
a room), moving screens (the projection is made on moving objects) and
screens as crease or fold (the projection is made on a creased screen, like
an accordion-screen). The different types of screens often go into each
other but the interesting thing is that Hoberman works with the figural
because he works with the very materiality of the screen and with plastic
aspects. In that sense he is actually representing (here in the sense of
materialising though screening) the figural.
A figural approach could be a way to drive the discourse on new media
and new technologies from information to aesthetics. If collage or
montage is the basic 20th century technique for artistic expression, as
Clement Greenberg (1971) puts it, it seems that new media is the
prolongation and reinforcement of these practices. A higher degree of
manipulation and easier experimentation can also bring us closer to the
details, to the materials of the media, and here the figural is an aesthetic
Irini Stathi 147
concept that can provide an interesting parallel discussion and/or

development of certain aspects. There is a tendency to mention examples
that work with time and light or the relation text/image as subject matter,
but there are other possibilities, for example with colour and sound that
would also fit into what we might call aspects of materiality in the digital
realm of immateriality.
Finally, the figural could be a concept and an approach that can be
useful in order to discuss aspects of aesthetic displacements related to
experimentation and manipulation of moving images in film and new
media art. Even if we give a very simplified and operational definition
of the figural, this as a way of reducing the concept to one specific meaning,
that would be to violate its dynamic and potentiality. Instead, if we
consider this approach as a free variation to test some conceptual qualities,
then we prepare and let the concept meet the images, to confront them
in some sense. It is not unproblematic to draw a line from conceptual
ambiguity and mobility to complex and ambiguous images, but this
could be one very interesting way to develop the figural as an aesthetic
concept in relation to both film and new screen media.
Conclusion
Semiotic research has become increasingly aware of the intertextual and
intermedial statuses of film, moving images and digital images as well,
recognising that the making of meaning depends on, among other factors,
processes of multimediality and intermediality, but also of new
figurativity, which imposes a new way to consider the digital images from
the point of view of the figural as approached before. Ernest W.B. Hess-
Lüttich, tackles this problem by analysing multimedia semioses, the
function of transfer processes and code changes in the mental activities of
the spectator. But the heterogeneity and complexity of multimodal coded
texts require probably new semiotic concepts and probable new methods
of research in order to delineate the role of the figural in the screen-based
arts’ signification.
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KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY:
A SEMIOTIC EXPLORATION
THEO VAN LEEUWEN AND EMILIA DJONOV
1.
Kinetic typography has existed for some time, for instance in film titles
and television commercials. Early observers, such as typography historian
Beatrice Warde, immediately grasped its significance. After watching an
animation film by Norman McLaren projected on the gigantic Animated
Electric Screen in Times Square, New York, in 1961, she commented
(quoted in Bellantoni and Woolman, 2000: 5):
I saw two Egyptian A’s walking off arm in arm with the unmistakable
swagger of a music-hall comedy team. I saw base serifs pulled together as
if by ballet shoes, so that the letters tripped off literally sur les pointes. I
saw words changing their mind about how they should look even more
swiftly than a woman before her milliner’s mirror. After forty centuries of
the necessarily static alphabet, I saw what its members could do in the
fourth dimension of Time, ‘flux’, movement.
More recently kinetic typography has moved into a new stage. It is no

longer restricted to professional designers and animators, but has become
available to anyone with access to a computer, potentially transforming
everyday forms of writing. A fundamental change in the semiotic
landscape has taken place in front of our eyes. And as always, the
semiotician asks: ‘What is the meaning potential of this new semiotic
mode?’, ‘What can we ‘say’ with it, and how?’, and ‘How does this
meaning potential come about?’.
2.
The literature on the subject is still emerging. Richly illustrated books by
design academics (e.g. Bellantoni and Woolman, 2000) trace the history of
kinetic typography and show the work of key designers, captioning the
Theo van Leeuwen and Emilia Djonov 151
examples with brief descriptions and indications of their meaning

potential, as when a moving logo is said to “capture the pace and energy of
a younger age group in vibrantly coloured actions that use water paint,
fire, lens flares and electric sparks”, (ibid: 35).
Research papers begin to map the new territory. Kinetic typography is
likely to be used in
email, digitally based expressive communication such as books, poetry or

essays on CD-ROM, agent representation (using kinetic typography to
communicate personality), information design on pagers and PDS, and
motion graphics (Ford et al., 1997).
It will be able to “convey a speaker’s tone of voice” (Forlizzi et al., 2003:

377). Pitch, for instance, can be transcribed by upward and downward
motion, loudness by increasing size, weight and sometimes colour or
contrast, and tempo by modifying letter tracking and spatial stretching to
stretch time (ibid: 380). And it will be able to convey “qualities of
character, and affective (emotional) qualities of texts” and “explicitly
direct or manipulate the attention of the viewer” (ibid: 377). In
‘kineticons’ the pixels of icons rotate, stretch, etc., in ways that “relate to
real world events, objects or actions to convey meaning” (Harrison et al.,
2011: 1999) and are understood on the basis of our “innate understanding
of how the world operates physically. Metaphors such as mass, rigidity
and inertia are readily portable to digital domains” (ibid: 2001).
In technical literature software, designers describe systems and
interfaces for kinetic typography programs (e.g. Möhler et al., 2004;
Minakuchi and Tanaka, 2005; Uekita et al., 2000) in ways discussed
below.
3.
The move to introduce kinetic typography, first in artistic experiment, and
more recently in everyday writing software such as PowerPoint is not, it
seems, driven by immediate practical necessities, but by broader cultural
trends that manifest themselves also in other domains. Four can be
discerned.
Pictorialization
Early writing used simplified pictures. More recently such pictures have
returned, mingling with letterforms. In the early 20th century, Otto von
Neurath began to develop his international picture language, Isotype, and
152 Kinetic Typography: A Semiotic Exploration
Futurist poets like Marinetti began to mix expressive letterforms and

simple pictures in their ‘concrete poetry’. In today’s writing practices
images and letterforms happily mingle, e.g. ‘emoticons’ in emails, and
letters and icons in logos.
Ten years ago, McLean, in the “Thames and Hudson Manual of
Typography” (2000: 56), could still write “When rope is coiled to form the
word ‘Ship Ahoy’ or branches writhe into ‘Our Trees’, that is illustration,
not calligraphy”, but in today’s kinetic typography illustration is common.
The word ‘circular’ may go round and round. The word ‘long’ may be
stretched. The word ‘loud’ may expand to become big and bold. And
“adding a small vibration to the word ‘help’ can convey a sense of fear”,
(Ford et al., 1997: 269).
Informalization
Many writers see kinetic typography as restoring the expressiveness of
speech that comes from tempo, rhythm, intonation and voice quality.
Möhler et al. (2004: 1505) call it “a technology to enhance text with
speech-like expressiveness”. Writing is to lose its lofty formality and its
impersonal tone, and to become more like everyday informal speech.
Historians have documented how, in the 1920s, writers of radio
commercials began to write lines like “Thank you (GASP OF RELIEF).
My gawd, I’m glad that’s over” (Barnouw, 1966: 168) and radio speakers
were encouraged to speak in a low-key, conversational manner, introducing
deliberate hesitations, repetitions and slips in order to sound more
‘natural’, all of which were meticulously scripted (Cardiff, 1980: 31).
Even Joseph Goebbels (quoted in Leitner, 1980:26) recommended that
radio speakers should sound “like the listener’s best friend” and use local
dialects. Soon, such informalities became more common in print as well.
This is a significant shift. Writing made it possible to separate words
from their speaker, to make the text, rather than the speaker, ‘say it’. Much
of the authority of the written word rested on this. Today we are moving to
forms of writing, which, like informal speech, rely on non-verbal
information and shared context for their completion and full understanding
(cf. Joos, 1967).
Emotivization
Contemporary culture, following a trend begun in advertising, seeks to
invest formerly formal and impersonal genres of writing with affect, to
make it appeal to our emotions, so that it will be ‘owned’ and believed and
felt, rather than just understood. Yet the computer screen impoverishes
writing’s affective qualities. Writing loses the individuality of handwriting,
with its strong traces of personality and mood. Print loses the smell and
texture of books and paper. All this must be compensated for by what can
be visually and aurally transmitted – colour, visual texture… and movement.
Dynamicization
The adjective ‘dynamic’ was already a keyword in the Futurist and
Constructivist art movements of the 1920s, and continues to be a
repository of positive values today. Whatever is still static must become
dynamic, typography included – occurring in real time, like speech, ever-
moving and ever-changing.
As Lewis Mumford (1939) showed more than 70 years ago, innovation
rarely results directly from technological inventions. It is set into motion
by a period of ‘cultural preparation’, taking the form of often apparently
peripheral ideas, science fiction fantasies purveyed in fiction, toys and
games. Long before rigid timing was introduced into everyday life, the
clock was already an object of fascination. Long before film was invented,
people were fascinated by toys that created the illusion of moving images,
from flipcharts to complex kinetoscopes. Long before software such as
Adobe After Effects made kinetic typography accessible to every
computer user, artists tried it out in experimental films that often required
painstakingly slow manual work. The drivers behind such innovations
may not always be consciously understood, but the direction in which they
are moving is irreversible and eventually they become an integral part of
the fabric of social life. Until recently, animation was a rather peripheral
cinematic genre. Today, it has moved centre stage, not just in cinema, but
in all visual and audiovisual communication.
4.
Kinetic typography developed in the context of film titles, though there
have been other early forms such as the Animated Electric Screen on
Times Square which so impressed Beatrice Warde, a 720-square-feet
signboard made up of thousand of light bulbs showing the news ‘coming
in as it happened’ – just as today at the bottom of the screen in Bloomberg
business news and similar types of TV news.
In early film titles the words were not usually animated. Movement
came from ominous shadows or light flashes cast over the title and credits,
especially in horror films. In the original “King Kong” in 1933, large
leaves formed the wipes between the titles, as though the viewer was
wading through a dense jungle. In the 1950s and 1960s title designers such
as Norman McLaren, Saul Bass and Pablo Ferro began to animate the
titles themselves. In Norman McLaren’s animated titles and experimental
films of the 1940s and 1950s letters sprung to life and moved around until
they spelled words and names. Saul Bass’ famous title sequence for
Hitchcock’s “Psycho” mixed abstract graphic elements and letterforms.
Grey bars aligned to suggest a curtain, raised to reveal the names of the
stars, or the shower in which Janet Leigh will be murdered, or the bars
behind which Norman Bates, Anthony Perkins’ character, will eventually
be imprisoned. The title and some of the credits split horizontally into two
halves, which were disaligned to suggest the split personality of Norman
Bates, then aligned, then split again. Such titles used kinetic typography to
tell a story and began to create the elements of a ‘language’ of kinetic
typography.
In this early stage of the development of that language of kinetic
design, it was a growing collection of individual inventions, usually based
on metaphor. Serifs could suggest shoes, as in Warde’s example, because
in common with shoes, they are elongated horizontals on which something
stands. Vibration could suggest fear because when we are afraid we
tremble. The splitting of words could suggest the splitting of the mind in
schizophrenia. Here, meaning came directly from the material properties
of the forms and movements the designer worked with in the same way
that sculptors may see the potential for sculpting a human figure in the
natural form of a rock or rusted metal.
Once discovered, such inventions became part of a developing lexicon
of clichés. ‘Dictionaries’ of visual language list them alphabetically and
illustrate them with examples. In Thompson and Davenport (1982:55), for
instance, we read under the heading “clockwork”:
Mechanically motivated, the childhood fascination of winding up

clockwork toys with a KEY is shared by designers. Sometimes the
symbolism is concerned with the manipulation of people.
Four pictures illustrate how the clockwork motif has been used in book
covers, advertisements, posters, etc.
Jim Martin (1992) calls this kind of ‘language’ “lexese” – a language
which has a vocabulary but no grammar, a language which expresses
everything through the equivalent of word meaning, without being able to
combine these word-level meanings into larger wholes to form the
equivalent of phrases and clauses. It is the kind of language Roland
Barthes referred to when he wrote about what he called the “posing of

objects” (1977: 23).
The objects are accepted inducers of ideas, or, in a more obscure way,
veritable symbols. Such objects constitute excellent elements of
signification: on the one hand they are discontinuous and complete in
themselves…while on the other they refer to clear familiar signifieds. They
are thus the elements of a veritable lexicon.
What decides whether a particular semiotic mode will be a ‘lexese’, an

inventory of individual and separate signs, or a ‘language’ with a grammar
and a vocabulary? Some years ago, in London, Theo van Leeuwen
conducted a series of seminars with PhD students on the subject of smell.
They read an article by Brian Eno, who argued that smells are, and can
only be, unique individual experiences, often associated with specific,
individual memories, and evaluated in highly subjective ways. There can
be no ‘grammar’. Smells will forever defeat the semiotician’s quest for
codification. Then, they had a guest lecture by an aromatherapist who
explained how aromas are put together. There are about 50 basic smells,
she said. These combine to form complex smells consisting of three
elements, a ‘head’, a ‘body’ and a ‘base’. Basic smells have to have
specific qualities (e.g. degrees of volatility) to be able to function as ‘head’
or ‘body’ or ‘base’. The complex smells, in turn, are combined to form
aromas. Everyone was stunned. That is how language is described. An
average of 50 phonemes combine to form words according to certain rules,
and these words, in turn, combine to form sentences, complete messages.
The same semiotic mode can apparently be a ‘lexese’ for the consumer
and a language with a grammar for the producer.
But when consumers become producers, as is the case with kinetic
typography now that it is available to all computer users, things change
and a language may develop that is not restricted to specialists.
5.
In Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, Gunther Kress and
Theo van Leeuwen (2006 [1996]) devised a ‘grammar’ of images. Until
then, the language of images had been described as a ‘lexese’ by most
semioticians and art historians. More recently, Leao (2012), in her work on
film titles, has been developing a ‘grammar’ of animated movement. The
principle behind such ‘grammars’ can be explained by means of an
example. Linguists have generally made a distinction between ‘stative’
and ‘dynamic’ verbs (see e.g. Quirk et al, 1972: 39), though not always in
the same way. Halliday’s systemic-functional grammar (Halliday &

Matthiessen, 2004), for instance, distinguishes between ‘processes’ which
signify some kind of permanent or quasi-permanent state (usually realised
by verbs such as be and have) and ‘processes’ which signify some kind of
action, whether material (as realised by verbs such as jump, break, etc),
verbal (as realised by verbs such as say, ask etc) or mental (as realised by
verbs such as know, hear, fear etc). These different processes combine
with different kinds of ‘participants’ (realised by names, nouns or noun
phrases) to form clauses or complete messages. Quite similar content can
either be formulated as a ‘relational’ (stative) or a ‘mental’ (dynamic)
process. Consider, for instance:
He is curious
Carrier Relational process Attribute
He wondered what it was

Senser Mental process Phenomenon
Reading Images suggested that the distinction between ‘stative’ (or

‘conceptual’, as it was called there) and ‘dynamic’ (or ‘narrative’) can also
be realised by the compositional structure of images (and other visuals, for
instance diagrams). In other words, Kress and Van Leeuwen argued that
the structures described in Halliday’s grammar are not unique to the
English language, but underlie culture as a whole, and can in principle also
be realised by other semiotic modes (and other languages). They are
semantic structures. What is unique to language is only the way they are
realised – through nouns and verbs.
To make this point, Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen used a page
from an Australian primary school social studies textbook, which
contained two pictures, printed side by side. The left picture showed three
Aboriginal artefacts, an axe, a basket and a wooden sword, symmetrically
arranged against a blank background. Even though in reality they differ in
size, the picture gives them the same size and the same orientation towards
the horizontal and vertical axis. In this way it suggests that the axe, the
basket and the wooden sword belong to the same category. It is a
‘conceptual’ image. It classifies the three objects, indicating a supposedly
permanent characteristic of them (although it does not indicate the
category to which they all belong – the caption simply reads “Stone axe,
bark basket and wooden sword”). Such ‘classificatory’ pictures can readily
be found elsewhere. Advertisements, for instance, often have symmetrical,
or almost symmetrical, arrangements of the range of products of a brand,

or the variety of consumers who use it.
Fig. 3-9: A conceptual and a narrative image
The right hand picture is an early 19th century engraving showing two
‘British’ (as they are called in the caption) pointing their guns at a group of
Aboriginals seated around a fire. ‘The British’ and the group of
Aboriginals, the most salient ‘volumes’ (Arnheim, 1982: 154), realise the
‘participants’. They are connected to each other by means of a vector
(ibid), formed by their outstretched arms and the guns, which realizes a
narrative visual ‘process’. This results in a structure, which could have
been realised linguistically by nouns and verbs, but here it is realised
visually by volumes and vectors. It is, of course, striking that Aboriginal
technology should be depicted as ‘static’ and British technology (the guns)
as ‘dynamic’.
A similar distinction is made in Leao’s (2013) work on animated
movement. She recognises two broad types of processes, those involving a
change of state or a change of identity, and those involving the
displacement of participants or parts thereof. In the former, participants
can appear or disappear, change colour or size, or transform into some
other kind of participant (e.g. a letter can change into a picture, or vice
versa). These are, therefore, akin to conceptual processes, though of course
in a dynamic way. The latter expresses actions through the physical
displacement of participants or parts thereof, actions like falling, bouncing
or pinning, or transactions involving two participants, with one participant
bouncing off another or squashing another, or fusing with another, and are
therefore similar to narrative processes. A presentation created with the
software Keynote by one of Theo van Leeuwen’s students, for example,
had curly brackets open up like sliding doors to reveal text which plunged
down, raising a little dust cloud before settling in position.
Leao (2013) distinguishes many sub-categories of both types of

process, showing that kinetic typography, or rather animated movement
generally, can be described as a language with a lexicon and a grammar.
Kinetic typography is, therefore, not just an emotional overlay on words,
but a means of expression in its own right, and just one aspect of a
language of animated movement in which the participants can be letters or
parts of letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, pictures or parts of pictures,
or abstract graphic elements, or some combination of all of these, and in
which these participants are related to each other to form meaningful
wholes through animated movement.
6.
Describing the semiotics of animated movement in this way effectively
changes a ‘lexese’, a repertory of creative inventions that have become
“accepted inducers of ideas” to use Barthes’ (1977) term, into a language
with a grammar and a lexicon. But semioticians are not the only ones
engaged in turning kinetic typography into a language. Software designers,
too, lay down ‘what can be said’ with kinetic typography and how. For
Möhler et al. (2004: 1505), for instance, kinetic typography serves two
communicative functions, “expressing a desired emotion” and “emphasizing
words that are important for the user”. Users enter text, which is
automatically broken down into lines, and then choose which words they
want to emphasise and which ‘animation scheme’ (e.g. ‘hesitant’,
‘assertive’) they want to apply, but the software decides how ‘hesitancy’,
‘assertiveness’ etc. will be expressed:
Users should not need to think about how to achieve a coherent aesthetic
output. This is the task of the visual framework that defines the overall
look, but at the same time enables the user to choose from a large variety
of animations although in some case it is beneficial to let the user
manipulate certain aspects of the visual appearance (ibid: 1506).
Other software designers take a different road. The approach of

Minakuchi et al. (2005: 222), for instance, is closer to Leao’s, distinguishing
two broad types of movement, separate “physical motion that mimics
natural phenomena” such as ‘falling’ and ‘bouncing’ and ‘physiological
phenomena’ that express emotions such as ‘turning red’ and ‘shedding
tears’. In this kind of work the semiotics of kinetic typography is no longer
a theoretical proposition. It becomes a reality which in the case of
ubiquitous software such as Adobe After Effects and Flash will deeply
influence what users actually say and do with kinetic typography, as a scan
of examples on the Web will quickly verify. In an interview with Lawrie

Hunter, Ellen Lupton (in Hunter, 2006: 135) said that “we do have a
language of vision now, but it was created by corporate software
designers”. We could paraphrase: “We do have a language of kinetic
typography now, but it was created by corporate software designers”.
Some writers are concerned that this constrains the creativity of earlier,
manual forms of kinetic typography. In an article on writing in Flash,
Sorapure (2006: 423) comments:
Software that does not allow access to the underlying code is more
restrictive and positions writers more narrowly in line with what corporate
planners and programmers intend.
But writing has always had an underlying code, and writers have
always had to follow authoritative formats. The difference is that the rules
are now imposed by software, rather than by school teachers, subeditors,
house styles and so on. On the other side, writing has also always allowed
creative and poetic expression, despite the confines of its rules of spelling
and grammar. Contemporary software, likewise, can be used creatively, as
David Byrne has shown with the much maligned medium of PowerPoint
in an exhibition of works entirely created with PowerPoint and
subsequently turned into a book and DVD, titled Envisioning Emotional
Epistemological Information (Byrne, 2003). In one part of this work, titled
“Architectures of Comparison”, arrows wander meaninglessly across the
screen, accompanied by slow, dreamy music. In terms of visual grammar,
these arrows are processes. But here, they do not connect participants.
They come from nowhere and go nowhere, thus becoming an end in
themselves. As Byrne explained (2003):
Goal oriented behaviour is like sleepwalking. It is easy and purposeful, but

what is its purpose? Its purpose is itself.
In another work, titled “Self-Exemplification”, time words, from

‘seconds’ and ‘minutes’ to ‘eternity’ and ‘forever’, rise slowly from the
bottom of the screen, stopping in the centre of the screen where they begin
to overlap each other until at last they form the indeterminate chaos which
was once dissected and ordered by the very words that constitute it.
Here, Byrne uses the language of kinetic typography within
PowerPoint, a language that has often been decried as trite (e.g. by Tufte,
2003), to create insightful ideas and powerful poetry, giving us a glimpse
of a future of creative writing which has kinetic typography at its very
centre.
Acknowledgement
The paper is part of a larger project, “Towards a Social Theory of Semiotic
Technology: Exploring PowerPoint’s Design and its Use in Higher
Education and Corporate Settings”, which is supported through an
Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.
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CHAPTER FOUR:
PEDAGOGY OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

100 THINGS:
A PROCESS FOR FOUNDATION
IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
LAW ALSOBROOK
Visual communication comes about through the

manipulation of visible signs to create designed messages
This is perhaps one of the basic tenets and core philosophies for the
Graphic Design department of Virginia Commonwealth University in
Qatar (VCUQatar). But to design messages is actually much more
complicated than stated in the sentiment of this sentence. One must learn a
great deal about signs and signifiers in order to use them well to create an
effective visual message. As most students discover, this is not an easy
task.
While most students believe they know how to think, learning to
design is learning to think about thinking and its relationship to
communication. To facilitate this type of metacognition, many design
education programmes teach semiotics. Through the investigation of signs,
students tap into the realm of constructed meaning, which in turn assists
them in formulating messages and visually designing their form. This is a
challenge that requires students to observe many facets of their thinking
and apply this learning to their own design process.
Learning to communicate visually is challenging because in many
ways it is like learning a second language; graphic design has its own
finicky vocabulary and strange terminology. For many of our students at
VCUQatar this will, in effect, be their third language, as many of our
students already know Arabic, and must prove proficiency in English
before joining our programme. To establish a foundation and provide
models to build upon, we rely upon “Visible Signs” by David Crow. We
find this book to be most in keeping with the departmental philosophy, one
that employs fitting visual examples as well as coherent, easily understood
information. At present, we also couple it with “How to Use Images” by
Lindsey Marshall and Lester Meacham. We find the combination helpful

Law Alsobrook 165
in providing the basic theoretical framework for our class. This essay
articulates the way we, graphic design educators at VCUQatar, try to teach
visual communication through the manipulation of visible signs in a
project called 100 Things.
Fig. 4-1: 100 Things (photo by author)
100 Things
“100 Things” is an introductory project we use during the sophomore year
of graphic design education at VCUQatar. The project is implemented
within the class Design Methods and Processes, a class structured to
deliver the basics of visual communication, visual semiotics and process.
This class also furnishes a structural framework for the design process we
promote. It is an intense project divided into four phases; each phase is
tailored to cover various aspects of the design process while delineating
critical features along the way using salient vocabulary within its
application to design and design thinking. In essence, “100 Things”
provides the application of theory in action.
“100 Things” requires approximately seven weeks to complete and is
probably the largest project most students will tackle up to this point in
their educational career. It is designed to overwhelm both mentally and
physically in order to push boundaries and explore thinking. Furthermore,
it is a slow project — one that requires directed attention to the process of

166 100 Things: A Process for Foundation in Theory and Practice
individual thinking and how that affects message making. As in nearly any
design programme, the VCUQatar design department feels it is paramount
that students receive both theoretical models coupled with practical
application; “100 Things” is a problem that attempts to constantly bridge
these two arenas in a dynamic exchange of thinking and making.
Initially conceived by John Nettleton and Paul Mazuka at Oregon State
University, this project has been one that we have developed into a
thorough, yet basic, understanding of visual semiotics and its application.
The power of this project lies in its introduction to design thinking via the
design process, with focus applied to each individual student. Process is a
vital ingredient to design and in how meaning is made because it functions
as both a laboratory of experimentation and the testing ground for these
ideas. The approach this project employs creates a ‘slowing down’ of the
students’ thinking and making, so they can begin to see what it means to
communicate and how, by breaking down the design process into
incremental states. This ‘slowness’ puts the student in a state of awareness
that allows them to observe communication and how it goes from thought
to action, idea to execution.
The phases we employ correspond to the model we instill as our
general design process:
Phase I – Point of Departure — divergence

Phase II – Editing & Refining — convergence
Phase III – Making Meaning — verbal/visual equations
Phase IV – Production — pulling it all together
Equally important, though not technically an independent phase of the

project, is the process book, a critical tool in both the teaching and
learning aspects of any project we undertake at VCUQatar. We pay
particular attention to the creation and development of the process book
during this project because it serves as a template for all subsequent
process books students encounter throughout their time at university.
Phase I – Point of Departure

We begin the project, “100 Things”, by requesting that students bring in a
tool that fits in their hand and performs one (perhaps two) basic
operation(s). We explain that these tools are extensions of the human
body. This object will become the locus for their own discovery in
thinking and making; consequently, this exploration will model many
aspects of the design process. We ask them not to agonise over this

Law Alsobrook 167
selection too much since there is no wrong or right answer in picking a

tool; just keep it simple and mundane. We assure them that the journey is
more important than either the beginning or the end of the project.
Students have brought in expected objects like: staplers, keys,
paperclips and the like, but even some unexpected objects turn up: eye-
lash curlers, kitchen whisks and screwdrivers. iPods, cameras, etc. are
discouraged as being too complex, having too many functions or operations
and often associated with too much cultural or personal baggage.
As a point of departure, the tool a student chooses to explore functions
as a concrete focal point for the generation of ideas. All the signs they
create will begin with the contemplation of this simple tool. Additionally,
the tool will act as an irritant around which a great deal of knowledge can
be grown. This layering process of knowledge is one way to slow down
the process of their thinking. We attach the specialised vocabulary of
design and semiotics to the exercise so that they understand the
connections and learn to identify it in their process.
To begin, students are tasked with observing their tool and describing
all they believe they know about it. We ask them to write about it, use it,
etc. Every aspect of the tool, as they understand it, should be annotated
and recorded. Phase I of the project, however, begins in earnest with the
introduction of binary oppositions as a way to continue the students’
investigation of their tool.
We use binary oppositions because it seems to be one of the simplest
forms of enquiry available in the Western canon and one most easily
observable within the academic context. The concept of observing binary
oppositions began with Aristotle who noticed a preponderance of
oppositional terms to describe human relationships between themselves
and their environment. Because we are an American university, we use
this feature of Western thinking as an introduction to the contemplation of
meaning and its subsequent composition. We explain to the students that
many things exist in antithetical states, and because of this it is relatively
easy to name one thing and then describe its opposite. This is a powerful
tool for designers because in exploring one idea, looking into what
happens if you explore the opposite, often leads to new ideas and
connections. The students’ investigation begins with a list of 40 pairs of
common opposites (masculine:feminine, correct:incorrect, lie:truth, and so
on) we give them as examples after which to pattern their explorations.
The students supply the last 10 pairs. This activates their participation in
the project so that they feel ownership in these explorations. The 50 pairs
comprise 100 things.

To help the students understand the relevance of this task, we ask them
to brainstorm about their tool, make associations and then make the signs.
They are taught how to mind map, shown word association games and
given other methods of generative production that designers use to create
the raw material of their ideas. Students begin to step away from what the
tool means and see that it comprises a much larger realm of associations.
Because graphic design often relies upon making new connections, this
new departure or divergence, is the students’ first foray into a more
expansive way of thinking. Many practicing designers go through a similar
generative phase when receiving a project brief. We underscore this for the
students so that they can become comfortable with what divergence is and
how to use it to create signs they might use in their own communications.
Rather than ask the students to create a list of 100 disconnected things,
the purpose of this initial activity is to imbue the process with inherent
meaning. We endeavour to show the students that they are delineating
boundaries they will later push against as they begin to formulate meaning
using signs they generate. The tool is just a physical surrogate for the act
of sign creation and crafting messages. The binary oppositions allow
students to explore models of semiotic theory while developing a
repository of images they can visit throughout the duration of the project.
Concurrent to the generative, exploratory nature of phase one where
students are physically making their signs, we begin the first in a series of
lectures concerning semiotics and the science of signs. We examine types
of signs they need to be aware of (icons, symbols and indices), explaining
that these can take many forms and often have distinct meanings based on
the context. We also discuss modes of communication and explain that
there are at most three modes they need to concern themselves with as the
basic forms of visual communication: the pragmatic, the poetic and the
persuasive. At this point, students are given the first weekend to create 40
things.
When we reconvene, the students are excited about their achievements
and are eager to show each other their sets of 40 signs. Some have
attempted to create a few oppositional pairs, but many have created
solitary signs with no designated partner. Most signs the students have
created only step away from the original tool in tiny departures. A few will
have begun to experiment with the edges of where their tool has led them,
but nearly all of them will assure you that they have exhausted the reaches
of their tool. We point out to the students that they still have to make 60
more things before they have achieved 100.
The true testing ground for whether or not an idea is working is the
critique because ideas exist in the realm of cupcakes and unicorns, glitter

Law Alsobrook 169
and rainbows. In essence, ideas exist in an untarnished and perfected state.

It is only in the execution of ideas – when they enter the realm of the
tangible – that they show signs of viability and staying.
We instruct the students to lay out all 40 of their signs. We invite them
to look at each other’s work and observe how each individual approached
their design objective. We encourage them to ask each other about
methods or techniques used in making certain signs, and we allow them to
revel in all that they have made. We then break the class into groups and
invite individuals in each group to present an icon, a symbol and an index
they have created. The other students in their group critique them based on
what they know about semiotics. Surprisingly, they know more than they
thought; only in the critique can they see what they know. Inspired, we
spend the rest of the day with in-class sign making based on the
explorations of binary oppositions and what they have learned from each
other. We also meet with the students individually and guide them or offer
advice on the various aspects of the project they may be struggling with.
Two weeks after being assigned, 100 things are due; on this day, each
student hangs all 50 of their binary pairs (100 things) in a meter-by-meter
square in the halls of the Graphic Design department. It is a flurry of
activity, but one filled with a sense of accomplishment. For many, this is
the largest project they have ever contributed to (several thousand total
pieces), but for most, it is also a realisation of just how much they are
capable of when it comes to exploring an idea and trying to create signs
that encapsulate it.
We then introduce the students to a critique method we call a visual
audit. We invest this one with more rigour and importance by disguising it
as a test to gauge vocabulary and their understanding of semiotics. In this
case, the visual audit is a handout comprised of three sections, each
devoted to a particular area of semiotics we have covered. We ask the
students to draw the requested terms as well as identify and explain its
nature and implication. Students are paired, and together they audit each
other’s work. We want the students to understand that they can, and
should, rely on each other for support because the design process is more
than just individual effort. Once the audit is complete the first phase of 100
things is done.
Phase II – Editing & Refining

The second phase of “100 Things” concentrates on two aspects of the
design process: convergence (editing signs to better emphasise a specific
meaning) and the use of these signs in creating visual associations. With

convergence, raw ideas are winnowed, categorised and/or improved for

later use in a designed message. It is the creation of these visual
correspondences that pose the most interesting learning for students
because this process entails the mechanics for how meaning is assembled.
Commencing phase two requires each student to select from amongst
their spectrum four signs they wish to explore as a way to extend and
complete the following:
Reduction :: Elaboration
Concrete :: Abstract
Literal :: Metaphorical
Cultural :: Universal
The chosen signs function as the fulcrum, or pivot point, by occupying

the middle space between two new signs the student creates that fulfill the
comparison in visual terms. This list is neither arbitrary nor without basis
in design but, in fact, indicates some of the ways designers might
manipulate signs in order to create units of meaning that reach a target
audience. These pairs represent some of the interpretative ways designers
tailor signs. This exercise proves especially challenging because
maintaining the essential meaning of a sign, while refining its
representation in order to manifest a particular and intentional
significance, is not easy. Editing of this sort requires attention to detail and
nuance of meaning that various visual forms can take.
To help the students achieve this goal, we introduce the concept of sign
manipulation. An idea is only as good as its execution. If “100 Things”
constitutes the creation of raw signs, the students must exert
representational control in order to communicate to a specific audience.
Accordingly, this editing is known as sign operations and includes
addition, subtraction and substitution. Put simply, this model introduces
the students to a method of refinement. Indeed, this step should invariably
lead to better signs students might use in obtaining their communication
objectives.
The students begin the exercise by placing their chosen signs into the
middle of these word pairs. They may refine this initial sign, vis-a-vis the
editing process of addition, subtraction or substitution, to arrive at a sign
that more clearly corresponds to their intended idea. Each new sign they
develop, for either side of this comparison, should maintain a semantic
link to the initial sign while at the same time also maintain a visual link in
some manner, too. This practice in manipulation of signs is aimed at
showing how desired goals in communication can be achieved through the

Law Alsobrook 171
skillful manipulation of signs in order to precisely impart some aspect of a

message visually.
The challenge appears daunting at first to most of the students. Editing
is difficult at the best of times, but when one is made aware of it, and how
it happens, it is both a moment of clarity and frustration. Primarily because
they have never been asked to think about how something means what it
does. We inform the students that this is the nature of design thinking and
the heart of how any message has been created. We assure the students
there is no real way to get this wrong, if they at least attempt to do the
exercise. However, we explain that there are perhaps more favourable
visual solutions. We do this so that the students are obliged to create
several compositions in order for them to see and take note of when and
how certain configurations work, or when they do not and why. Revisiting
earlier critique methods allows the students to understand when their
intentions are working and when they are not. From what starts out as a
series of trial-and-errors for most students ends with a deeper
understanding because as they gain mastery of the edit, they begin to see
how it allows them to visually say what they intend.
Phase III – Making Meaning

Phase three of “100 Things” we call: word:: image:: image::word because
in this exercise this is exactly what they must deal with – words and
images. Again, revisiting their 100 things, the students are asked to
retrieve three signs they wish to explore. This time, in addition to being
allowed to edit these signs, vis-a-vis the previous sign operations they
have learned, they are to pay particular attention to achieving a syntactic
(formal) relationship between the new signs they will be producing.
Producing the syntactic in signs is where many beginning graphic
designers excel because it is a territory with which they are most familiar.
Colours, shape, line quality, etc. are all qualities most artists recognise as
vital to visual communication. No less is the case with design, but again,
because they are being made aware of how and why this happens, design
students find it harder only because they are not used to observing
themselves in these moments.
To underscore the importance of the syntactic to design, we introduce
the students to the principles of Gestalt psychology, demonstrating how
artists and designers use visual cues the brain is seemingly hard-wired for,
to direct viewers to see and comprehend messages. We demonstrate to the
students that they do not often know why they do certain things with
regard to visual stimuli; we explain how this happens by discussing and

showing the students examples of Gestalt in action. Akin to revealing how

a magic trick is done, we show them the example of the Fedex logo, and
point out, to many for the first time, the arrow that has been hiding in plain
sight for most of their lives. Once they see it in action, they never forget
how the syntactic play of signs enforces visual communication.
Fig. 4-2: An example of word :: image :: image :: word (photo by author)
This portion of the project highlights the inherent dialogue that takes
place when any text is paired with any image. It is the first time students
are actively made aware of what the implications are for this and how it
affects communication. As this is perhaps the first time students are
requested to ‘play’ with language, the words the students choose should
engage a flexibility that opens doors to interesting communication (a
moment of hmm? – concentration or contemplation) as opposed to those
that are closed (a moment of duh – boredom or apathy). The point being
that to place the word “red” next to a red apple is virtually pointless, but
placing the word “sin” next to it makes for a more meaningful, and thus, a
more interesting exchange. For most, it is a struggle to try not to repeat
what the images are already saying, but this is the point of most graphic
design and a problem that they will face multiple times in their career.
Phase IV – Production
Upon completion of phase three, the final phase of “100 Things” has led
the students to their first concrete manifestation of a designed artefact –
their first piece of visible communication. It has varied over the course of
years, but the most successful results for this project usually come in a
poster format – some form of large-scale communication. With this year’s
assignment, the students were asked to create an explication poster – a
poster that graphically explores the adventure of the previous seven weeks
in investigating a tool of their choice. This final convergence brings with it

Law Alsobrook 173
a critical moment of reflection for many of the students because here they
can see what a design process – their design process – leads to.
Once again the students are tasked with exploring their 100 things.
This time, however, they possess a critically enhanced facility towards
choosing the signs they want to use as a means to communicate their
experience, their learning, their process and design thinking. We reiterate
that almost any project ends with the evolution of an idea into some
cumulative outcome. Part of the impetus for “100 Things” is that it
establishes a template for the design process that students can alter,
improvise upon and/or return to as their needs arise and grow with their
career. We believe it is important that they have a complete model of a
normative design process, so that later, should they choose to explore and
tinker with their various ways of making and thinking, they have a
foundation upon which to build.
To get them started with the poster, we explain the mechanics of its
construction with a lecture about various aspects of poster design. We give
them a preliminary presentation about systems and systemised thinking.
Examples are hung about the room for students to study, and they are
encouraged to research posters and poster designs so that they understand
the medium they are about to attempt. At this juncture, students are once
again encouraged to free-write about various aspects of their tool
exploration as an aid to help access topics they might feel like discussing
in a visual manner. We find that beginning each major project with this
technique, and revisiting it again at various stages in a project, allows the
students to articulate those things that only they see in their head.
As we meet with the students and have them critique each other’s
direction of thinking, one predominant poster idea usually emerges. This
happens because as the students have been forced to re-imagine their
message to activate the disparate modes, the new signs they use in these
constructions forge new connections and visual solutions the posters can
take visually. The poster is born from a ‘Frankenstein-like’ approach of
selecting those features most interesting to each idea and combining them
into a complete message. What students conceive of as isolated moments,
we endeavour to show as flexible and supportive to each other. One mode
will dominate, but it will do so supported usually by more meaningful,
subordinated modes of communication.
As the students’ ideas progress and evolve, they are continually called
upon to employ the various convergent methods of refining and editing
signs into the specifics of what they desire to communicate. As is often the
case, some ideas are outpaced by technology while others expire under a
relatively short shelf life. The students have learned, however, that ideas

are flexible and can be explored via other means of production and
making. What they undertook as part of the generative, exploratory phase
at the beginning of the project is still with them and should be continually
revisited when seeking visual answers to their particular communication
conundrum. As frustrating as it is in these moments, when students make
this connection, the rewards of a strong design process becomes an
electrifying moment of coalescence.
Fig. 4-3: Student critiquing another student’s work (photo by author)
As the students progress in creating their poster, but before the final
full-scale version is due, we introduce a final and fairly powerful critique
method. Students bring in full-sized roughs of their poster and hang them
on the walls in the class. In turn, we explain that each student must write
one criticism about every poster. This allows for two things: it prepares the
class for the seriousness of the critique, but it also gives those more
introverted students a moment to compose their thinking. What is most
telling is in the amount of information students get in their criticism (some
of which we, as teachers, may have missed).
When the final due date arrives, we take the students through the
design process one last time, indicating all the features they learned about
and how they used these in the final production of their poster. We quiz
them about the vocabulary they know and again go over how it has

Law Alsobrook 175
affected their thinking and making. For many, the end of “100 Things” is a
release from something that seemed to go on forever. At the same time, for
most of them, it is an immense feeling of accomplishment to know that all
that they have learned and experienced has led them to this moment.
Fig. 4-4: Final poster examples from 100 Things (photo by author)
Conclusion
“100 Things” is a massive project for a beginning student. Indeed, it is
a project with a reputation that many hear about in their foundation year.
For the many students who have endured it, the experience reveals to them
what they are able to accomplish, while at the same time, gives them
valuable skill sets they can continually use and improve upon. But “100
Things” is more than a test of design endurance. In earning these skills, the
students have pushed themselves both mentally and physically as they
explore the boundaries of their design process and thinking. Once these
areas are stretched and expanded, they can never retain their previous
shape. They have experimented with media and material, both familiar and
unfamiliar, as a means to capture signs that visually declare just what they
intend them to. From their initial incursion into semiotics and the
production of signs, the students have learned a new language, a new
vocabulary and a new way of thinking. Lastly, through various critique
methods and strategies they have learned to better refine their ideas so that
the signs they employ will converge on exactly what they mean to
articulate.

Bibliography
Crow, David. Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics. New York:
AVA Publishing, 2007.
Marshall, Lindsey, and Meacham, Lester. How to Use Images. London,
Laurence King Publishing 2010.

VISUAL DIASPORAS:
COMICS AS TRANSCULTURAL PHENOMENA
HOLGER BRIEL
Introduction
In 2006 Andreas Hepp published his Transkulturelle Kommunikation, a
comprehensive text on transnational and transcultural ways of
communicating in an ever more digital world. His book has since gone on
to become a mainstay of communication research in the German speaking
academic community, and deservedly so. On the cover of his book there is
a frame depicting the hero of one of Judith Park’s Manga, Y Square
(2005), Yoshitaka Kogirei, rendered with a slightly stressed-out face in
front of an urban background.
Hepp comments on manga in his introduction, noting the specific
connotation of manga reception in Europe and that “the globalization of
media communication is not a one-way street (any more)” (Hepp 2006: 8).
The interesting thing here is that the manga frame on the book cover is not
of Japanese origin at all. Judith Park is one of Germany’s foremost
mangaka and her work is published by Germany’s leading manga
publishing house, Carlsen. With this sleight of hand, Hepp is requesting
inductive reasoning from his readers, playing with their preconceptions
and visually highlighting his central tenet, namely that transcultural
communication has already and irrevocably permeated our lives, whether
we know it or not. In the following, I would like to capitalise on this
notion and broaden its implications especially for visual communication
studies.
Over the last 20 years or so, Japanese Manga have become ubiquitous
the world over: they have helped to stabilise a downward Western comics
market and infused new ways of drawing and thinking into standard
Western comics practices. This being the case, the following questions
require some answers though: what is the cultural basis for these pictures-
stories and how are they received? Why are they so successful? What are
the contexts and the co-texts in which they appear and how are these
178 Visual Diasporas: Comics As Transcultural Phenomena
changing? And, how exactly do they participate in a transnational and

transcultural flux of what Vilem Flusser termed TextImages (Flusser
1998), the inseparable interlacing of visual and textual material?
It was the arrival of American comics into Japan after WWII which
started modern-day manga in their westernised version in Japan. While the
Japanese comic phenomenon is itself hundreds of years older than its
American counterpart and a much broader social phenomenon, this arrival
of Western comics would set into motion a cultural machine which,
beginning in the 1990s, would come to haunt American and European
indigenous comics’ markets, and here especially those of France and Italy.
Judith Park is of course not the only non-Japanese to draw manga,
there are many more, including many of their fans. An early example was
Frédéric Boilet and his "Nouvelle Manga Manifesto" (Boilet, n.d.). Boilet
lives and works in Japan, fusing Western and Eastern styles in his work.
He makes clear in his manifesto that the time for rigid distinctions between
“Western” and “Eastern” comics has come and gone. Manga have much
more in common with Europe than their exoticising marketing might
suggest. Quite a few of their features, such as their oftentimes “exotic”, i.e.
Eastern and Western settings and their discursive practices and style
elements, such as the characters’ over-sized eyes, allowed for the
emergence of a globalised comics style that bears strong transnational
traits, and exudes a strong artistic influence on other arts and even PR and
advertising practices. Manga in the West then have begun to live up to
their constitutive hybridity, in cultural contexts as well as in their
combination of particular textual and visual elements and with the inherent
semiotic challenges these pose to their respective audiences.
One of these challenges is to problematise the perceived ease with
which pictures can be viewed. As has already been underlined by scholars
such as Jencks (1995), the bane of visual studies is the popular notion that
images do not require any translation, as, supposedly, humans universally
understand them in the same way. Much of the difficulties inherent in
transborder image transport and (de)codification are due to their imagined
simplicity. One could cite the example of the image of a man with his shirt
not tucked into his trousers. Depending on its cultural origin, this image
can symbolise very different things in different cultures: rebelliousness,
casualness, formal wear, etc. In this way, such an image represents
realities in very specific, even opposing ways. All its subtexts forcefully
call into question the erroneous belief that images are easy to decode.
Comics, and especially manga, are a convincing case in point.
As I have demonstrated elsewhere (Briel 2007), readers take many
shortcuts when decoding foreign comics and only use a limited number of
Holger Briel 179
tools on offer to decode them further. It is unfortunate that, unlike in

Japan, when it comes to understanding a phenomenon as highly complex
and influential as manga, their explication in and to the West has only
recently been picking up speed. To date, there exists only a small number
of studies, which put emphasis on the transculturality and transnationalism
of manga and the many ways in which they are so compellingly expressed,
as for example. In Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama’s The Four Immigrants
Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924 (1999) or
Miné Okubo’s Citizen 13666 (2004).
After a short analysis of the social situation in which theses manga
enter the Western markets, a small study conducted in 2009 in Cyprus on
cultural elements in comics with special emphasis on manga will be
introduced. Its analysis will engage the themes of hybridity,
transnationality and readability more closely and the data collected will
demonstrate how manga are exerting their particular influence on
advertising styles, in cultural productions and in Hollywood films such as
Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003/2004), which carried an animated
sequence within its main body. While there still exist exoticising
tendencies within some Western reception strategies, by now an uncanny
familiarity has tied the Western world to manga producers and consumers
in the East in general and in Japan in particular and has begun to create
new forms of glocal visual styles and reception modes.
Transnational developments, hybrid cultural products

and identities
If just a few years ago one could still work under the hypothesis that there
existed a unilateral dataflow from the USA/the West to the rest of the
world, this has decidedly changed with recent interventions and especially
through the World Wide Web. And not only the USA has been challenged
by the arrival of non-western-centred media, it is the West in general
which sees its media dominance dwindle. Today there are more websites
outside the USA, more bloggers in Japan than in the USA, more films
produced in India and more Manga sold in France than native comics
products. A cultural debordering has taken place, in which transnational
companies produce and package cultural products for different markets
(cf. Bourdieu 1984: 30 ff.). Much of these trends were facilitated by
increased global transportation and telecommunication technologies, thus
leading an increasing number of transnational (cultural) migrants to have
several places to which they owe allegiance. This has had strong cultural
repercussions, with social and geographic space oftentimes drifting apart.
At the same time, transnational agencies began to appear or receive more

power. One could think of EU agencies and their accompanying
philosophies, NGOs or transnational companies. While these were by and
large economic developments, concomitant cultural changes took place as
well. Also, while today there still remain postcolonial streams of
communication in place(s), these are mainly holding on due to linguistically
determined markets – the (Ex-) Commonwealth with its dominant English
language culture, Francophone Africa and Spanish/Portuguese speaking
Central and South America. But the manga phenomenon has transcended
these culturally encoded streams of infotainment. As such, it challenges
Hesmondalgh’s theory of geocultural markets defined by particular
historical cultural spheres of influence (Hesmondalgh 2002), as this is
decidedly not true for manga which have cut right across any of these
geocultural straights.
Several of the countries with a strong comic culture (e.g. France,
Belgium, the USA), have had their markets taken over by the transnational
and transcultural manga phenomenon. If one were to look for a similarly
strong non-Western product in music, one could point to the music of Bob
Marley, whose cultural reach easily transcends nations and national
cultures. However, his reach not only exemplifies the growing hybridity of
products, but also of their audiences. If a taxi driver in Africa or Asia
typically puts on a Marley cassette the second s/he has a Western
customer, because the Western customer will recognise it as part of his
own canon and revel in the exoticness of this aural hybrid localisation,
then the question of cultural positioning of both product and its reception
is in need of much deeper probing. Manga display similar qualities, as they
are typically consumed in a similar culturally hybrid setting.
When thinking about where transcultural trends take place, one area
most affected is the so-called mesolevel of cultural production. At the
microlevel, local products tend to saturate the market, and at the
macrolevel, typically transnational corporations dominate the markets. It is
on the mesolevel where new audiences are formed, irrespective of their
physical geographies and cultural histories. Furthermore, hybrid audiences
can mostly be found in urban settings. (cf. Sassen (2006) and Saunders’
Arrival City (2010)), both of which discuss the hybridity of urban dwellers
at the beginning of the third millennium). To reflect much of their
audiences, manga oftentimes are staged in such urban settings. As such,
they incorporate the avant-garde lifestyle of new cosmopolitans, who wish
to consume cultural products exotic and local at the same time. As such
they are a privileged but growing part of the global and transnational
(cultural) migrant population, being offered hybrid narratives as an
Holger Briel 181
accompaniment to their own life circumstances. As part of the new

internationalists, their mobility changes the way they perceive and
consume media. In recent years, the mobile internet and the arrival of
smart phones has once again drastically changed the way we represent the
world to ourselves and us to the world. This process is far from over, with
Augmented Reality (AR) in the guise of Google’s Glass and Social TV
just around the corner.
This mobility, then, includes not only comics, but also television and
(satellite/internet) radio, which allow for a global consumption beyond the
traditional, national airwaves. Thus the media are creating/feeding off of a
growing steam of cultural remigrants who participate in their various
localised cultures, even if their origins are geographically different.
Hence, today identity is to be considered not as a finalising movement but
rather as a series of identifications. In practice, this view has been
expounded by a number of internet studies which suggest that rapid
change of virtual identities has shaped the way we live offline as well. If
our online identities are fluid, this will eventually also be played out in the
offline world. Identity is never solid, but a never-ending identification
process (cf. Nagy 2010). Or, in the words of Sherry Turkle (1997: 75),
Online experiences challenge what many people have traditionally called

identity: a sense of self is recast in terms of multiple windows and past.
This sliding scale of identities is then also used by the identities of comics
products consumed.
Neither globalisation nor its transnational implementation would have
happened without the media. At first, local media would transmit images
of the world, and later on, transnational/foreign media would bring us
these or fairly similar images. Over the last 15 years or so, every major
power has introduced an English language news channel, available
anywhere in the world, which would allow it to describe its worldviews to
a global audience. This global push is also evident in the cultural sphere. It
was in Japan where the phrase for Glocalization (dochakuka) was coined,
a term originally reserved for preparing agricultural products for different
Japanese regions, then translated for industrial products and their exports
and lastly introduced into cultural theory by British sociologist Roland
Robertson. Thus, in a very telling way, this is related to the term culture,
which originally also stems from agriculture. The (cultural) difference
manga sell as manga is evident in the way they are marketed as exotic
products. But such hybrid glocal consumption is not without its critics; it
was criticised by Stuart Hall who, in a 1997 interview, had already
developed the theory of how such cultural difference has become a
profitable good in itself. According to Hall, this is the case for all products
which are sold with a “difference surplus” such as ethnic cuisines, an
“exotic” vacation, or indeed “world music” (Hall 1997). While this was
true then, his thesis would have to extend further today and incorporate the
fact that contemporary audiences are of hybrid nature themselves. In the
global village, homogeneity has been problematised and cultural
differentiations are the norm. On the one hand, this might be a positive
development, as this shows that large parts of the world are moving into
Homi Bhabha’s “third space–an arena of hybridity allowing for
multiculturalism and transnationalism as positive and formative forces. On
the other hand, this fact which might be also described as Derridean
différance might then have to be written forth into the future, and
eventually go unnoticed, much to the detriment of the added exotic value
peddlers in each “distinct” culture, who have build their empires on “pure”
local cultures.
If non-local products are consumed in the transnational world, the idea
of representation needs to be addressed, as more and more phenomena are
represented in foreign settings and as these products take on representative
functions: of a genre, of a culture or of a place of origin. Here,
representations can include things, concepts, and signs and it is their
specific mixtures which generates specialised discourses. These discourses
also include the exchanges of, and between, different kinds of cultural
products. Some time ago already, such discourses have decidedly left the
local and are opposing, interacting and cross-breeding with each other in
the global market place; most markedly so again on the World Wide Web.
If, as was claimed earlier, media have played a major part in
transnationalism, this is certainly also the case for the distribution of
manga. Without the Internet, their rapid and wide distribution would have
hardly been possible as much of the cult status some manga attained was
due to exchanges about them in Internet fora.
Over the last two decades or so, both cultural homogeneity and the
idea that a nation as a whole can solely be represented by its “own”
national cultural artefacts have become a contested field. Here one might
cite national cuisines as an example. Given the interlacing of ethnic
restaurants and restaurateurs, these days one might just get the best
Indonesian cuisine in Amsterdam or indeed the best curry in Bradford; this
gastronomical exchange used to be strung along post-colonial lines. But
given recent trends such as fusion food and ever increasing tourist streams,
the best French food might also be served in New Caledonia or Cameroon.
These hybridized cultural products then serve particular local and
translocal consumers. Even the idea that there exists one national cuisine is
Holger Briel 183
a chimera. And this is not only true for food. As Sumita Chakravarty has
already demonstrated almost 20 years ago (1993) for film, the national is
too grand a theme to be properly re-presented or indeed representable. If at
all, it can form a context in which individuals participating in its
civilization can be portrayed in film or are performing some of its
functions. To do justice to this fact, she created the fitting neologism
“inperson-nation,” incorporating abstract national ideas into proper bodies.
The national itself has also received a new contextualisation at the
hands of the media, e.g. first with satellite TV, whose scope much
extended national broadcasting limitations and then with the Internet, in
which few things these days are national. This particular medial
deterritorialisation can again be seen as further proof of the world moving
away from American media paradigms towards more localised and non-
Western media structures and content.
But the transnational itself creates its own new challenges.
Theoretically, transnational media spheres are still considered problematic,
especially when it comes to the public ones. The question, Is there a
transcultural and/or a transnational public sphere? is oftentimes negated.
Thus, Jim McGuigan views this belief in a transnational sphere as a
“Western fantasy”, a last attempt at global hegemony maintained by the
West. (1998: 95ff). In regard to transnationalism proper, an answer might
be easier to postulate, as nations still have very clear geographical boundaries
as do transnational companies which are still largely incorporated in Western
countries. And it is consequently only this transgressive culture which
continues to create trouble for states, especially those who want to defend
their citizens against outside influences, for better or, usually, for worse.
The move into digital media has changed this dramatically though.
Internet distribution of cultural products is typically decentralised and
multiple. The big advantage of the Internet over earlier media is that it
gives instantaneous access to material previously unavailable. Much of
manga reception continues to be dominated by the Internet and the
computer rather through TV or in any kind of written form. Oftentimes,
manga reception and local adaptation are achieved through a variety of
sources – be it schoolyard talk, Internet fora or personal comparisons –
and then through the incorporation of these images into one’s own cultural
consciousness (cf. Gillespie 1996). If properly reflected, such consumption
can become the basis for further and more sophisticated cultural
considerations. Reflected consumption is typically underpinned by interest
in, and knowledge of, the cultural co-text in which artefacts are created.
The classic Liebes/Katz study with Dallas audiences in various countries
demonstrated that the cognisance of the cultural background of a cultural
artefact is an indicator how well such material will be received in another

culture. Further reflection will then also concentrate on the difference
referential to one’s own life and how well this is bridged (Liebes/Katz
1993: 248-249). How successful, or rather how comprehensive, such day-
to-day practices of such adaptations of culturally hybrid material are, will
now be discussed below in relation to a comics study conducted in late
2009 at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.
The study
The study consisted of the analysis of the reception of manga in relation to
Western comics and was conducted in October 2009 at the University of
Nicosia in Cyprus. The student body at the university is mixed, with the
undergraduate majority being of a Greek-Cypriot background. In its
Master’s Programmes, oftentimes more than 50% of the students are non-
Cypriot. Both undergraduate and postgraduate courses are taught in
English. The study was a small qualitative one with 30 participants: 12
undergraduates from the BA in Graphic Design’s 4th year cohort, 10
postgraduates from the MA in Media and Communication and 8 faculty
members from the Humanities disciplines. The age range was 22-40 for
the students and 27-46 for the faculty. In the first instance, a questionnaire
was handed out, asking questions about the participants’ background and
comics acculturation (see appendix I). Then, they were handed copies of
three different comics and asked to comment on these. The comics were:
1) Battle Royale, a manga based on the controversial 1999 novel by
Koushun Takami. The original manga print run was from November 2000
to January 2006. In 2000 the manga was made into a feature film, directed
by Kinji Fukasaku. Its huge success prompted Hollywood to come up with
its own take on this phenomenon, the immensely successful Hunger
Games (dir. Gary Ross, 2012), although the author of the novel claims not
to have heard about the Japanese original. In Japan, the original film was
then followed in 2003 by Battle Royale II: Requiem. The plot is quickly
told: in an alternate timeline, a Japanese Junior High School class is
kidnapped and brought to an island where they have to kill each other;
only one survivor will be allowed. The individual battles are broadcast live
on TV. The students are wearing electronic collars which allow the
director to view and hear everybody and also to kill them if they do not
follow the rules. The series as a whole could be described as a
combination of Golding’s Lord of the Flies and The Truman Show on
Angel Dust.
Holger Briel 185
Particular technical details typical for this manga series include

traditional frames, but with conjunctive writing. It also makes usage of
filmic techniques such as extreme slow motion. In terms of content one
can point to the political content, as the series describes and decries a
dystopic Japan in which TV supervision, survival of the fittest and
nationalism rule. Examples are the exoticisation of the villain, the hero’s
portrayal in front of a large historic Japanese flag, and the graphic display
of violence.
2) The second comic series handed out were Gilbert Shelton’s
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. They first appeared in 1968, have sold
over 40 million comic books worldwide and have been translated into 14
languages. The print run by San Francisco’s Ripp-Off Press lasted from
1971-1992. The subjects of the comic are Fat Freddy, Phineas Freak, and
Freewheelin' Franklin, living hippie lives in 1960s Northern California.
Much of their time is devoted to the procurement and consumption of
drugs, and the comic highlights their parties and their battles with police
and landlords. The series had a large cult following and continues to draw
a mostly counterculture readership. A stop-motion film has been promised
for some time but is still lacking funding. Technically, the comic is drawn
in typical American underground style, with small frames and even
smaller captions and barely legible text.
3) The last comic distributed was Tank Girl, a British comic largely set
in a post-apocalyptic Australia, created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin.
It follows the adventures of the title heroine who lives in a tank and fights
evil, more or less. While it adheres to traditional framing, the content of
tank driving women and mutant kangaroos in the Australian Outback and
the vivid psychedelic colours used in its drawings made Tank Girl a cult
comic. Its print run lasted from 1988 to 1995, when the magazine it
appeared in folded. Tank Girl itself was revived in 2007 though as a stand-
alone series and was made into a motion picture in 1995.
After a short introduction to the three comics, group discussions
followed and then participants were asked to fill in Questionnaire II (see
Appendix) to assess their ability to discuss in-depth culture related
questions about comics. Finally, the answers given in both questionnaires
were further analysed.
Especially the answers to the culture-related questions in Questionnaire
II were rich in yield. The following questions from Questionnaire II had
been especially designed with such culture probing in mind:
y What would you say is its specific cultural “other”? Be precise,
mention particular frames, objects, attitudes.
y Do you think you understood the specific cultural references? How

many? (in percent)
y In your opinion, what are the Western influences on Battle Royale,
if any? Be precise, mention particular frames, objects, attitudes.
Results
The results of the study display the state of cultural in-between-ness which
characterises much of cultural production and reception in the “developed”
West. But they also pinpoint local differences which might be viewed as
positive barriers to an all-too-facile taking-over of the cultural channels by
big international media.
To begin with, results confirm that today comics have become an
acceptable part of cultural formation. There were no indications that the
students’ parent generation had negatively influenced their children’s
enjoyment of comics. Only two non-Western participants expressed some
mild reservations about comics in general.
Perhaps surprisingly, two thirds of the participants were not familiar
with manga (20/30). This could be interpreted in at least two ways: first as
an indication for the relative unfamiliarity with the term “manga” for
certain comics, or alternately, that manga are not noticed any more as a
distinct artistic format within the field of comics.
When asked about their comics’ background, most cited Disney
cartoons and magazines – demonstrating that there continues to be a large
dominance by American comics and cartoons worldwide. This is
especially true for the Mediterranean basin. Only three respondents
mentioned Arkas, arguably the most famous Greek comic, as a decisive
force in their comics formation.
One of the main facets of Japanese comics is their “Cuteness Factor” –
the way certain characters take over the narrative with their own cute
whimsicalness. This could be compared to certain rote models in theatre –
the old fogey, the young heroine, the smart servant, etc. The difference in
manga is that this cuteness factor persists in almost all genres, no matter
how gruesome some of the other facets of the manga are. As such, this
“cuteness” is one of the main estrangement factors of Japanese manga, but
it was not mentioned at all by any of the participants. This is surprising,
not least because of the ubiquity of the phenomenon. Also, the participants
almost completely reduced adult manga to violence, sex and erotics. Only
three participants, two women and one man, thought they also dealt with
women’s stories and were designed to “make you think”.
Holger Briel 187
Furthermore, only those participants having grown up in the US were

aware of newspaper comics and the “Saturday morning ritual” of watching
cartoons on TV. The others were not aware of these cultural practices,
although today this format has taken over most Saturday morning TV
station programming. It might be argued that a younger cohort would have
probably had a different reaction, as global animated TV is only a recent
invention. When it came to the relationship between comics and video
games, this age differentiation in the study became apparent once again.
By far the largest group of video game players were undergraduates. This,
however, did not automatically correlate to heightened manga or comic
usage; if at all, these participants were less aware of the cultural
underpinnings of their practices than their older peers.
Generally, in the participants’ age group, Japanese cartoons did not yet
play a significant role; only Dragon Ball Z (1984 through 1995) was
mentioned once, with the only other non-American animated series
mentioned being Maja the Bee, based on a 1924 book by the Czech writer
Waldemar Bonzel and originally aired in Japan from April 1975 to April
1976 and consequently adapted for the European market. However, most
Europeans would not know that the series actually is a Japanese
production. Otherwise, Mickey Mouse ruled supreme, closely followed by
Spiderman.
What was surprising was the fact that Tank Girl was largely ignored
whereas the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were correctly interpreted and
discussed at length, but then also dismissed as purely 1960s counterculture
American comics. Apparently, Tank Girl’s psychedelic appearance and its
own “weirdness” factor did not endear it to its audience.
Lastly, manga’s cultural Other was not overtly commented upon nor
realised in the Western readings. The participants, although overwhelmingly
familiar with comics and cartoons, were not reading/watching these with
an eye for cultural differences and did not comment upon them.
The above results allow one to speculate a bit further. First of all, if the
study had been conducted in France or in the USA, the results would have
probably been different, as the majority of the participants would have
been more knowledgeable about comics products. Much of their own
cultural upbringing would have evidenced a higher degree of familiarity
with comics and a more differentiated assessment of the different kinds of
comics available. Furthermore, if one had taken younger individuals as
participants, the results would have probably differed again. On the one
hand, they would no doubt have been more acquainted with Japanese
manga; on the other hand, their ability to correctly differentiate between
manga and non-Japanese comics might have been more impaired than that
of the participants in the present study. Comics styles have become more
Japanised over the last decade, and it is becoming more and more difficult
to decide upon a comic’s geographical or cultural background. This is not
necessarily a bad thing. However, it does evidence that cultural hybridity,
for better or for worse, has become a day-to-day occurrence.
This hybridity is further evoked by the production processes inherent
in many of contemporary manga. Perhaps similar to Hollywood
productions, whose main audiences are today increasingly localised
outside of the USA, Japanese mangaka have also begun to
“internationalise” their products. In line with Lu (2008), one can describe
three main ways in which Japanese manga and anime producers have
incorporated internationalisation in their products. These are:
x De-politicised internationalisation, which primarily serves as a
commercial tactic to attract international audiences;
x Occidentalised internationalisation, which satiates a nationalistic
sentiment;
x Self-orientalised internationalisation, which reveals a cultural
desire to establish Japan as an ersatz Western country in Asia.
Lu claims that these products have adapted themselves to their
expected audiences by toning down some of the more idiosyncratic
Japanese cultural themes in order to make them more easily consumable
outside of Japan. However, this strategy is one fraught with risk, because
if the very reasons why Westerners were attracted to manga in the first
place, i.e. their foreignness and exoticising moments, are reduced in order
to make them more palpable to the Western eye, then this is a risky move;
it potentially threatens to undermine the unique selling point these
products had in the first place, and this especially at a time when Western
comics themselves have begun to become more Japanese in style if not in
content.
Conclusion
By now, it has become apparent that many cultural products have set out
on their victorious march across national and cultural borders and have
evolved into new hybrid cultural manifestations in the process. The case of
manga is an important one in this phenomenon as they have easily and
quickly penetrated the global comics market and were the first comic
genre to rely on the World Wide Web for primary transnational
distribution. The transnational and transcultural have begun to interrelate
in that undertaking in that manga production, dissemination and reception
have become dependent on both phenomena.
Holger Briel 189
To continue, when analysing comics today, one has to take into

account a quickly changing audience, which is used to consuming more
and more globalised products. As this is becoming the norm and
availability and accessibility have become less of a problem, what is still
lagging behind though is the differentiability of these products in their
readers’ minds. More and more, consumers have trouble recognising
where these products originated from and which cultural streams they
follow. It is still a bone of contention whether this really matters, as this is
still a recent phenomenon, but it is clear that globalisation has successfully
entered the comics market and can now account for having created a
globalised audience. This audience is not sure anymore where the products
they consume originate from and at least, according to the small-scale
study above, they are increasingly unable to pinpoint cultural “trademarks”
and conventions. Here, educators are clearly asked to increase their
engagement with visual studies contents and methodologies in order to
further educate students about the cultural products they consume.
Accessibility can only be a first step, visual literacy and participation
training has to follow if a more comprehensive understanding of diverse
cultural artefacts is the aim.
Lastly, it is becoming ever harder to distinguish between “local”
audiences’ make up, individually or collectively, as large global urban
centres have taken over the prime audience function from distinct national
and linguistic markets. At the same time, the cultural products themselves
have also been adapted for a global audience and these changes influence
their very creation if not their cultural distinction and characteristics. Thus,
it is not just manga but also their audiences who circulate around the
globe. This includes not only frequent changes in geographical location,
but also an emerging platform and device in(ter)dependence when it
comes to accessing and storing (moving) image files, many of them
migrating to mobile devices or some kind of cloud storage. The diasporas
of erstwhile distinctive cultural productions have been multiplied and
continue to appear in ever changing digital formations.
Bibliography
Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 2nd edition,
2004.
Boilet, Frédéric. "Nouvelle Manga Manifesto."
http://www.boilet.net/am/nouvellemanga_manifeste_1.html (Date of
Access: 15 July 2013).
Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction. London: Routledge, 1984.
Briel, Holger. “The Roving Eye Meets Travelling Pictures: The Field of
Vision and the Global Rise of Adult Manga.” In: Berninger, Mark
(Ed.). Comics as Nexus of Culture. Jefferson, North Carolina:
McFarland, 2010: 187 - 211.
Chakravarty, Sumita S. National Identity in popular Indian popular Film
1947 – 1987. Austin: U of Texas P, 1993.
Flusser, Vilem. Kommunikologie. Frankfurt: Fischer1996.
Gillespie, Marie. Television, Ethnicity, and Cultural Change. London:
Routledge, 1995.
Jenks, Chris."The Centrality of the Eye in Western Culture: An
Introduction." In: Chris Jenks (Ed.). Visual Culture. London:
Routledge1995.
Kiyama, Henry Yoshitaka. The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese
Experience in San Francisco, 1904 1924. Stone Bridge Press
Berkeley, CA, 1999.
Liebes, T, Katz, E. Export of Meaning. Cambridge: Polity1993.
Lu, Amy Shirong. () The Many Faces of Internationalization in Japanese
Anime. In: animation: an interdisciplinary journal. Vol. 3(2) 2008):
169–187.
Martin, Alan and Jamie Hewitt. Tank Girl. Milwaukee: Dark Horse
Comics, 1993.
Martin, Alan and Jamie Hewlett. Tank Girl One. London: Titan, 2005
(originally in Deadline (1988)).
Nagy Péter. “Second Life, Second Choice? The effects of virtual identity
on consumer behaviour. A conceptual framework.” 2010.
http://kgk.uni-obuda.hu/sites/default/files/pnagy.pdf (Date of Access:
15 July 2013).
Okubo, Miné. Citizen 13666. Seattle: University of Washington Press,
2004.
Park, Judith. Y Square. Hamburg: Carlsen, 2005.
Sassen, Saskia. Cities in a World Economy, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge
Press, 2006.
Holger Briel 191
Sheldon, Gilbert. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. San Francisco:

Rip-Off Press, 1971ff.
Taguchi, Masayuki. Battle Royale. Tokyo: Ohta, 2000-2006.
Turkle, Sherry. “Multiple Subjectivity and Virtual Community at the End
of the Freudian Century.” Sociological Inquiry, 67(1) 1997: 72-84.
Appendix I
Questionnaire I
Age:
y Gender
y Nationality:
y Did you read comics as a child? If yes, which ones? What are your
earliest memories of comics?
y Did you watch cartoons as a child? If yes, which ones? What are your
earliest memories of cartoons?
y What were the reactions of your parents?
y Do you watch cartoons today? Which ones?
y Do you play video games? If yes, which ones?
y Are you a comics reader today?
y Do you use the Internet to find – read – download comics? (Circle the
correct one(s). Which web pages do you use?
y Are you familiar with Manga? If yes, what do you think of them? Why
are they so popular?
y Are you familiar with the concept of “adult” comics? If yes, what do you
think it means?
y Do you think there are different cultural/national/linguistic centres for
comics? If yes, which are they and why? (Problematic question, not
many knew what to do with it)
y Do you think pictures need translating? If yes, why and how?
(Problematic question again, not many knew what to do with it)
y Any other remarks you might have regarding comics:
Appendix II
Questionnaire II
y What did you think of Battle Royale? Why?
y What would you say is its specific cultural “other”? Be precise, mention
particular frames, objects, attitudes.
y Do you think you understood the specific cultural references? How
many? (in percent)
y In your opinion, what are the Western influences on Battle Royale, if
any? Be precise, mention particular frames, objects, attitudes.
y How would you compare Battle Royale with the Fabulous Furry Freak
Brothers? How with Tank Girl? Be precise, mention particular frames,
objects, attitudes.
y Would you want to see the film of Battle Royale? Why/not?
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VISUAL LITERACY
COURSE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
ANASTASIA CHRISTODOULOU
AND GEORGE DAMASKINIDIS
The aims and scope of this study

The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece has provided a
curriculum for the postgraduate programme titled “Italian Language and
Culture”. Our contribution to this curriculum was an innovative course
titled “Visual Literacy in Language Teaching and Learning” for students
specializing in Applied Linguistics. We have followed the “new
pedagogies of multiliteracies”1, shifting from the dominant print text and
examining how literacy can be practised when analysing video, as a new
form of multimodal text, in the new millennium. By employing this new
concept of pedagogy, we aim to introduce a framework consisting of two
elements, a systemic functional (SF) approach and multimodal discourse
analysis (MDA), to describe the activities of individuals as they identify,
read and create new texts using various semiotic codes. This approach to
literacy was introduced in a university setting in response to the call for
higher education to adopt a strong commitment to a socially pertinent
visual literacy2.
While the programme’s curriculum offers a variety of courses to
improve students’ language skills for this specialisation, its focus has
remained relatively narrow. It is now apparent that changes primarily
brought about by the use of video as teaching material in the language
classroom have created new opportunities for video as a tool to promote
and enhance the study of non-verbal semiotic modes of communication in
multimodal texts.
This course was developed because we realised the need to design an
introductory course that would meet students’ basic requirements for
1
New London Group, 1996
2
Bleed, 2005
194 The Development of a Visual Literacy Course in Higher Education
understanding visual communication. Two conflicting aspects had to be

balanced: firstly, there was the time constraint, since the course had to be
completed in 12 lessons of three instructional hours each, and secondly,
given the fact that visual literacy is a wide-ranging subject, we had to be
very limited in scope and particularly focused. For that reason, we decided
to use only one type of multimodal text, namely video, by adopting
established theoretical concepts, teaching methods and tools.
This paper reports briefly on the course’s first intake. Since we are still
in the cyclical process of designing, applying, reflecting on and modifying
the course, we now present an overall evaluation, with the intention of
making the necessary amendments for a future version.
The pedagogic potential of the visual

According to Turner3, we could analyse image composition and sequencing
in ways similar to the vocabulary and syntax of verbal language. Such an
analysis, we argue, could be expanded by substituting ‘verbal language’
for all ‘semiotic modes of communication’ with a structured form (e.g.
images, colour, music, graphics). Bearing this in mind, we aim to
demonstrate possible ways of analysing the video as a multimodal text in
order to find out which semiotic resources of representation have been
exploited to favour one viewpoint and render all other irrelevant.
Our starting point has been the social and visual research methods used
by Iedema4, Jewitt and Oyama5, and Tseng6. We followed Iedema’s work
to analyse a documentary by employing a social semiotic analysis of tele-
film based on the hypothesis that all meaning-making resources perform
three overarching functions, or metafunctions7, that is, the “representational”,
“interpersonal/interactional” and “compositional”. Teachers that understand
these three meanings would be able to choose or create the right images
and use them to teach English language skills and sub-skills.
By adopting Jewitt and Oyama’s visual social semiotics approach as a
tool for use in critical research, we aimed to help students identify and
analyse possible relations between the verbal and visual elements of a
multimodal text, and to bring to light initially unapparent contradictions.
Tseng’s8 work on the interaction of co-occurring modalities and how they
3
Turner, 1994
4
Iedema, 2001
5
Jewitt and Oyama, 2001
6
Tseng, 2008
7
Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996
8
Tseng, 2008
Anastasia Christodoulou and George Damaskinidis 195
combine and cohere to create meanings became a method for the students
to investigate how meaning creation takes place. In addition, according to
Jin and Boling9, teaching that integrates both verbal and non-verbal
semiotic modes demonstrates better outcomes than does teaching with
verbal-only or non-verbal visual modes.
Similarly to other researchers, we investigate two key questions using
the video as a data-multimodal-text: first, if the processes involved in
watching videos develop different cognitive abilities than those required
for reading and writing traditional print-based texts, and second, if these
new modes of communication merely require traditional literacy skills to
be applied to new types of texts.
Curriculum documents and assessment requirements for reading and
writing are based on established theories on the reading and writing of
print-based texts. These theories have determined specific approaches and
strategies for teaching reading and writing at different stages of learning.
Yet, ongoing research is required to theorise the interactions that occur as
learners read and process various visual, aural, spatial and textual modes,
separately or simultaneously, in multimodal texts.
Although the backbone of the course was the visual, we aspired to
develop a classroom learning experience that would be appropriate for all
forms of literacy. Thus, we needed to examine how new semiotic modes
can be integral to classroom communication. For example, teaching
English as a foreign/second language involves four skills: listening,
speaking, reading and writing. If we were to consider visual literacy as an
additional aspect of language teaching, then “viewing” could be added as a
skill in the future. Moreover, this visual aspect is relevant to students and
teachers alike.
Defining visual literacy

A broad definition of visual literacy is the ability to understand and use
visual images, including the ability to think, learn and express oneself by
means of visual images. Such a definition has become common knowledge
and might even be accepted in academia to the extent that references are
omitted. However, the definition of literacy is still fluid. Given the
existence of multiple levels and kinds of literacy, no single level of skill or
knowledge could qualify someone as being literate. This does not mean
that the term visual literacy is completely new. It was first used by
9
Jin and Boling, 2010
Debes10, a pioneer in the field who contributed to the systematic,

theoretical understanding of visual literacy skills.
The term “visual literacy” originated from a variety of disciplines, with
many conflicting definitions resulting. According to Hortin11,
[d]isciplines such as art, education, English, linguistics, philosophy and

psychology have contributed to our knowledge and understanding of visual
literacy.
Another factor contributing to this status quo has been the fact that visual
skills have been thus far acquired through experience rather than formally
taught.
Based on experimental studies, Avgerinou12 concluded that
in the context of human, intentional visual communication, visual literacy

refers to a group of largely acquired abilities, i.e., the abilities to
understand (read), and to use (write) images, as well as to think and learn
in terms of images.
This course’s design and the empirical work conducted are also seen as
a continuation of these studies aiming at refining and validating the
definition of “visual literacy”. As there are many definitions of visual
literacy, each visual medium has its own characteristics, producing
different visual literacies and requiring different skills. For the purposes of
our course, we define visual literacy as
the ability to understand and produce visual messages… a group of

competencies that an individual can develop by seeing and at the same
time having and integrating other sensory experiences…a nd the ability to
interpret messages as well as generate images for ideas and concepts.13
The need for visual literacy in the language classroom

Well before the 21st century, we were flooded with visual messages of all
types in a wide range of media, both in personal and private spaces. The
ability to decode visual expressions and to consider them critically has
become an essential skill for researchers and teachers in education. It is
high time this skill was passed on to students as a powerful learning tool in
10
Debes, 1968
11
Hortin, 1994: 21
12
Avgerinou, 2003: 36
13
Bleed, 2005: 5
the development of creative, critical and independent thinking. We do not

imply that teachers and researchers have fully mastered visual literacy. On
the contrary, we believe that imparting this body of knowledge to students
will better enable teachers and researchers to reflect on their practices and
to propel the field of visual literacy one step forward.
Bernhardt14 argues that
[r]eaders of on-screen text interact physically with the text. Through the
mouse, the cursor, the touch screen, or voice activation, the text becomes a
dynamic object, capable of being physically manipulated and transformed.
Bernhardt stresses our need to begin using visual literacy in the

composition class given students’ increasing interaction with these
‘dynamic’ texts in school and on the job. Following these arguments,
rather than merely viewing the video, our students were instructed to use it
interactively to convey ideas and to solve problems.
Nevertheless, visual literacy-based activities in the language classroom
should be included with great caution. In a writing programme at Virginia
Tech, teaching visual literacy was believed to exceed first-year
composition level competences.15 This concern was voiced because the
addition of lessons to cover visual literacy moved the academic essay to
more electronic or visual formats. Therefore, by shifting the core writing
requirements, first-year composition would have to shift to match the
change.
In foreign language teaching, visually literate teachers that are capable
of choosing or creating visual images could use them to enhance student
learning. In addition to teaching visual literacy skills to language learners
per se, the integration of a visual component in some of, or all, the stages
of the teaching and learning processes, might enhance the teaching of the
four traditional language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Visual literacy may also help teachers to design more attractive teaching
and learning processes that could better engage students in learning
activities. Studies have consistently revealed that teaching with words and
visuals has more favourable results than teaching using words or visuals
alone.16
Moreover, separating language and image would create an unnatural
boundary. In the visual and verbal dyad, one is not higher than the other;
14
Bernhardt, 1986: 154
15
Brizee, 2003
16
Jin and Boling, 2010
in fact, they complement each other. This is pertinent to McKim’s17

argument that “the thinker who has a broad command of graphic
languages… can find more complete expression for his thinking”. Thus,
recognising the value of the theories surrounding visual thinking and
visual language (and their pedagogical implications), composition instructors
are now applying elements of visual literacy in writing classrooms.
The structure of the course

Although initially designed for language purposes, the course was flexible
enough to be adapted across the curriculum. An example of such an
approach is mirrored in an undergraduate anthropology course, where a
research paper in the form of a print assignment was replaced with the
creation of digital movies.18 In our course, the students were given
electronic assignments, in the form of slideshows consisting of visuals,
audio and short written commentaries, to demonstrate the application of
relevant theoretical concepts. Table 4-1 provides an overview of the course.
The course was structured around a basic pedagogical framework:
orientation, research and evaluation. First, the students were introduced to
the study, they then applied the new knowledge, and finally they went
through a process of evaluation. Given the aforementioned limitations, we
divided the course into 12 lessons of three academic hours each.
With this SF-MDA model-based course, students can communicate in
social practice and investigate meaning arising from the integrated use of
multiple semiotic resources. The creation of meaning could be explored
through three metafunctions: representational (narrative and conceptual
structures), interpersonal (visual acts, social distance and perspective) and
compositional (information roles, salience and modality), all potentially
valid and necessary. These metafunctions are filtered through the elements
of MDA examination: content, design, production, expression, distribution
and discourse. This paper’s limitation precludes an in-depth analysis of the
relevant theories.
Overall, the course introduces the grammar and expressive potential of
visual forms. It applies methods developed by the social sciences and
humanities to study perception and interpretation of the visual world. It
requires students to be both creators and interpreters by producing visual
statements, such as visual essays, and expressions using new media.
17
1980: 124
18
Bleed, 2005
Finally, it prepares students to view and understand information presented

in modes used in a variety of disciplines and areas.
Table 4-1: An overview of the structure of the course
Lesson Description Design

1 Assessing students’ visual literacy skills. Pre-
measurement
2 Introduction to visual literacy and the SF-
MDA model. Contact with
the visual
3-5 Lectures on the three metafunctions and video-
based practical applications.
Literature review of Greek sources
Increasing
6-7
Holistic application of SF-MDA. Visual
Awareness
Discussion and reflexion on visual literacy.
8-9 Practical applications of SF-MDA in Consolidating
multimodal texts. Visual Literacy
10 Students’ literature review on visual literacy.
11 Re-assessing students’ visual literacy skills. Post-
measurement
12 Retrospection on the course through written Self-evaluation
assignment and focus group interview.
Pre-measurement
In this first stage, we assessed students’ visual literacy skills by means of a
questionnaire and focus group discussion. We argue that there are, as yet,
no established methodological tools to assess visual literacy skills.
Therefore, we narrowed down this stage by presenting only its practical
considerations, leaving theoretical input for later stages of this research.
First, we used a semi-structured questionnaire divided into four
sections. These sections consisted of a set of questions corresponding
roughly to the three stages of the SF-MDA model and to a fourth stage
called “the intertextuality of the video”. The questionnaire was
accompanied by a print-out of 50 selected still frames extracted from the
video. The interview was semi-structured and conducted immediately after
the students had seen the video. It was structured around our analysis, but
we allowed the discussion to expand into other areas as well. We did not
help the students to answer the questions so as to ascertain the extent to
which these questions are helpful without any support.
We chose a short video (eight minutes long) from the military field,
whose provocative content was expected to stimulate students to answer
spontaneously either by arousing their curiosity or by raising anti-war
feelings. Produced in the mid 70s, the video presents “Stinger”, a man-
portable, shoulder-launched, guided, missile air-defence system, in a
documentary-like style.19
Due to space limitations, we have provided only a summary of the
students’ answers. As regards the representational metafunction, half of
the students divided the video into roughly three stages, 00:00-00:30
(introduction), 00:31-08:30 (main part) and 08:30-08:40 (conclusion),
without justifying their answers. These time periods coincide (almost) with
our four-part split of the video based on the different music motifs.
Interestingly, one student divided the video deductively from the outcome,
through a reverse course of action. Occasionally, there were sincere efforts
to support their choices with references made to particular frames. For
example, a few students identified triangles or squares formed by various
participants making a group of people.
In the interpersonal metafunction, the sound element played a key role.
The music’s intention, according to the students, was to attract the
viewer’s attention, either by producing negative emotions or by creating
excitement. Additionally, it was noted, but without further elucidation, that
the narrator’s intonation varied throughout the video.
Data on the third metafunction is limited because the students ran out
of time, thus answering very briefly or not at all. Of particular interest are
answers of the type “the rigidness of the participants’” bodies attracts
attention” or “the lack of colour gives to the video a sense of robustness
and solidity”.
The few students who managed to complete the fourth stage related the
video intertextually to the genre of the historical collection and documentary.
In the focus group interview that followed, some students said that the
particular questions were designed to guide their thinking, but they could
not tell in which direction. Also, the number of attached video frames was,
according to the students, small for the purposes of the activity.
Lastly, the video clip of a popular song was used to demonstrate
Windows Movie Maker, a program available on every computer running
on a Windows operating system. The students were introduced to the basic
19
See also Christodoulou and Damaskinidis, 2011
functions of this program so as to be able to edit visual and audio elements

of videos.
Contact with the visual

The students were given a basic bibliography in visual literacy including
international and Greek sources, and were asked to locate additional Greek
sources. Additionally, they were introduced to the SF-MDA model. This
introduction consisted of basic principles of visual literacy, systemic
functional linguistics and multimodal discourse analysis. For three
consecutive lessons, a full lesson was devoted to each metafunction,
consisting of a brief lecture followed by a practical application to a video
advertisement about the Porsche 911.20 Bearing in mind that multimodal
analysis is time-consuming, the advertisement’s short duration (3.5´)
allows for an in-depth analysis of the whole video, and as an
advertisement it is suitable for analysing the association between verbal
and visual elements.
In the lectures, we used actual pictures from magazines and textbooks
rather than images projected on slideshows so that students would engage
in active, ‘tangible’ discussion amongst themselves and with their
instructors, rather than just passively watching slideshows. The application
of the three metafunctions involved discussion around short pieces, static
frames and audio elements (sound/music/dialogue) extracted from the video.
The students encountered three problems in this phase. First, they
lacked the necessary theoretical foundations of the visual, and of systemic
functional linguistics, though it is difficult to establish what entails a basic
theoretical introduction to visual theory. Second, they encountered difficulties
with the ‘technical’ (according to their own statement) terminology used to
describe visual material. Third, they struggled to locate relevant Greek
references for these metafunctions. Despite these difficulties, all students
responded positively and demonstrated a willingness to participate in the
lessons.
Increasing Visual Awareness

A core strategy was to give students the opportunity to explore visual
literacy by preparing a short literature review of a limited number of
relevant sources from the Greek bibliography. Thereby, they would
20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-lVDfb5PTI
assume responsibility for their own learning, while at the same time
honing their general research skills.
The students had to comment on some of the references they had found
in the previous phase and to determine to what extent the three
metafunctions were covered in the Greek literature. In order to achieve a
holistic application of SF-MDA, we used the same video as in the previous
stage so that they could follow the complex discussion more easily.
However, some students found watching the same video again and again
boring, while others considered repeatedly listening to the accompanying
music ‘depressing’.
Consolidating Visual Literacy

Here, the floor was given almost exclusively to the students. They had to
choose a six- to eight-minute long video and apply the SF-MDA model.
They could choose to apply the entire model, or a particular section, to
short extracts, static frames and audio elements from the video. Although
they could prepare their slideshows in their own way, all students followed
the model we presented. The videos ranged from advertisements and
movie trailers to environmental and social messages found on the Internet.
Most subjects were relevant to students’ potential dissertations or
professional background. Additionally, the students submitted a Greek
literature review on visual literacy as a written assignment.
Post-measurement
We repeated Stage 1, the “pre-assessment” stage, in exactly the same
experimental conditions, to find out the differences in students’ answers
before and after their introduction to visual literacy skills. We did not aim
to examine the extent to which the course increased visual literacy skills,
but simply to explore its effect on students in order to improve subsequent
versions of the course. We believe that it would be premature to establish
generic criteria of what constitutes a visually literate person.
On the whole, the students now provided more extensive answers and
were more willing to elaborate on them, however without being very
critical. Most noticeably, various sounds (e.g. narrator’s intonation, music
and missiles launching) were associated with different effects, such as
attracting the audience’s attention, denoting solemnity or connoting
triumphal tones. Some students related the scientist’s white shirt with a
sense of formality, scientism and research. But where the music and the
narrator’s intonation were concerned, the students felt as if they were
watching a film. Other students ignored all sound elements and paid
attention only to the moving pictures. Another instance indicating an
awareness of the interpersonal metafunction is the human silhouettes’
‘rigidness’ as an attention-attracting device. Several students noted the
lack of diegetic sounds such as dialogues, moving vehicles and lab
activity.
If the students had to remake the video today, they would prefer
electronic music, a narration with a different intonation and more
frames/shots of the missile, rather than humans, since the purpose is to
present technology. Finally, some students answered simply by giving the
number of a frame.
Self-evaluation
As homework, the students had to compare and contrast their answers in
the pre-assessment and post-measurement phases. We then conducted a
critical analysis of all aspects of the course through a focus group
interview with the students in the classroom. Of particular interest is the
students’ acknowledgement that in the post-measurement phase their
answers were affected by the theories and practical applications learnt
during the course.
The fact that they had already seen the video enabled them to be more
attentive this time. Also, some difficulties in understanding semi-
specialised vocabulary during pre-assessment had been solved by then. All
students felt somewhat uncomfortable discussing non-verbal elements,
which probably stems from a lack of contact with visual literacy. Some
students said that although the video was in fact a documentary, the music
gave it the feel of a film, and they described this contradiction as a conflict
between the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions.
Finally, the students said that had they known in advance that there
was a post-measurement stage, their answers in the second questionnaire
would have been biased.
Conclusion
In this paper, we presented the design, application and evaluation of a
postgraduate course in visual literacy. Despite limitations concerning the
number of instructional hours and students’ lack of formal learning in
visual literacy, we reached some very interesting conclusions. Most
interesting was our difficulty explaining two important aspects: why we
need visual literacy skills, both as individuals and foreign language
teachers, and the concept of video as an autonomous type of (multimodal)

text that is to be viewed, edited and analysed for pedagogical purposes.
We frequently had to resort to parallelisms with other more traditional
methods of teaching and learning in order to demonstrate this need. For
example, the participants in a video were compared to the characters of a
novel, and the different frames, shots, scenes and sequences to the unfolding
of the plot.
The SF-MDA model provides an effective tool for teaching visual
literacy skills, yet is dependent on background knowledge and theoretical
concepts of the visual as a semiotic mode of communication, as well as
systemic functional theories and verbal-visual associations. The questions
asked and the different stages remained the same, rather than being
modified after taking into account the video as a channel of communication,
or its particular subject. This reinforces the need to refine the model by
developing different questions, and even stages, for different types of
multimodal text.
The students were initially unable to see the overall purpose of
analysing visual material for teaching language skills. The literature
review they prepared was poor in Greek references. Nonetheless, bearing
in mind their limited background in visual literacy, they were relatively
eager to identify possible areas of application for the SF-MDA model and
became excited about choosing their own videos to present their
application of the model in the classroom. Most of these presentations
showed an understanding of multimodal principles, as demonstrated in the
classroom, without however going into in-depth critical analyses. Their
choice of video shows an understanding of the most appropriate video-text
for their own teaching practices.
Our initial intention was to provide a very specific, though sharply
defined, point of view in visual literacy, namely that of the SF-MDA
model applied to the analysis of a video. Hopefully, this approach will be
supplemented by other approaches in verbal-visual education. The
findings reported here point to the need for further research towards
gaining an understanding of how to aid the development of teachers and
students’ visual skills in language teaching and learning.
Finally, we are faced with the dilemma of whether to offer this course
again to postgraduate students or whether to design a modified one for
undergraduates. Although still undecided, we are inclined towards the
second option because we consider students who lack formal education in
visual literacy ill-equipped to be introduced to the SF-MDA model.
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“MY FIRST EXPERIMENT” “MY FIRST EX”:
A MULTIMODAL TOOL PROPOSED
IN THE DIDACTICS OF LITERATURE
SYMEON DEGERMENTZIDES
Generals
The educational software proposed – which I have called “My First Ex” –
was used during a year-long (2008–2009) action research in two
Gymnasiums (Thessaloniki, Greece), incorporated into flexible constructivist
learning environments (Didactics of Literature): due to technical
difficulties, the students mainly used it as a digital tool for their homework
assignments. Structured in the tripartite synchronic signification of reality
(material, social, semiotic), the theory of Hybrid Signs that I am proposing
in my capacity as researcher is semiotic and fictional at the same time,
being in connection with socio-cultural data characterising its practices
(Degermentzides, 2011): “My First Ex” served as a tool for practical
application of the basic structuring mechanism of the theory of hybrid
signs, multimodal metaphor, i.e., copying/cutting and pasting of material,
social and semiotic data and is based on Internet search for information,
which the student must then organise with critical thinking, in order to
write his/her own text. Therefore, since special techniques and digital data
management skills are required by the student, we enter into more special
issues of technological literacy. Apart from the evaluative criterion of the
contents of writing – which presupposes a qualitative analysis of related
data – we can detect certain factors and special features determining the
technical, aesthetic and communicative philosophy of every website. My
First Ex aims at investigating the degree of influence of such multimodal
factors on the student using quantitative criteria. In other words, I seek to
correlate the student’s interest in a website with more specific multimodal
factors making that particular website attractive to the student, and I
document my findings with statistically measurable results. The objective
is to arrive at conclusions about different criteria and conditions for
208 A Multimodal Tool Proposed in the Didactics of Literature
selecting data in the construction of new knowledge, when the students

browse the web to gather related information.
Brief presentation of the objectives

and operation of My First Ex
“My First Ex” is based on a constructivist design philosophy and has been
tested for quite a long period of time, so as to be subject to the
modifications required in order to make its use more functional.1 My
principal objective is its usability; thus, it is characterised by simplicity in
operation. Apart from the ease of transition from one step to another,
special attention is given to cooperative learning [the software has been
designed for cooperation among three students (Anthoulias, 1989:67-69)],
which takes place in the classroom, whereas, in case this is not possible for
different reasons, teamwork takes place in the classroom without the use
of Educational Software and collection of digital material is done
individually at home. Although the use of “My First Ex” is easy, the
related software includes a very complex background for processing
multimodal data: in particular, the student gives a code, in order to prevent
others from having access to his/her personal data and, at the end of
his/her search on the web sources, the first statistical data of multimodal
factors are presented. Further processing of metadata, which are stored
using special tools (Mathematica, Matlab), gives us both the mind diagram
of the digital path of each student and graphs or associative representations
of multimodal factors.
My First Ex
Is based on constructivist foundations and, mostly, on the Vygotskian
conception of the meaningful word, according to which the meaningful
word is the microcosm of consciousness (Vygotski, 1988: 436).
Serves as a tool for practical application of the basic structuring
mechanism of the theory of hybrid signs, multimodal metaphor, i.e.,
copying and pasting material, social and semiotic data.
Aims at developing the student’s meaning-making manipulations, thus
rendering Literature a conceptual bridge between Myth and Reality.
1
I owe my grateful thanks to the analyst and programmer, Mr. Vasilios Iliadis,
whose contribution has been invaluable in terms of the technical part of the
software.
Symeon Degermentzides 209
The student browses the web using as conceptual coordinates the

keywords he/she chooses for each of the three fields mentioned above
(LITERATURE, MYTH, REALITY) in order to collect and record
relevant information. The student’s final aim is to write an essay or a
literary text, where he/she will compose any information drawn from all
three fields: for example, he/she may cultivate his/her creative writing,
creating a dialogue with a mythical hero, a character of a literary book and
a real person or a real fact. The student may choose any word he/she
wishes as a keyword for every field. The difficulty of the entire project lies
in the fact that there is no rational assumption in advance for connecting
the relevant data; as a result, its construction rests exclusively with the
student’s learning ability2. The student will use the software to surf the
web, based on the keywords of the search, which he/she enters
himself/herself or after a dialogue with his/her classmates on the subject, if
this has been preceded by cooperative learning. At the end, quantitative
data on the student’s search path and on the websites the student has
followed, will be gathered. In particular, the pieces of information that the
software will record are:
the name of the website (url)

the time the user spends on that site
the background colour of the web page
the number and size of images on every web page
the number of videos on every web page
the number of paragraphs, fonts and styles on every web page
In addition, general information will be recorded, e.g., which student

asks for a website, as well as the motives of such search. Moreover, it is
possible to record further personal data per student, while there will be a
simple, though useful, Notepad available for the student, so that he/she
may save any information of his/her essay he/she considers useful.
2
Cf. Brad Hokanson & Robert Fraher, (2008), where the prerequisite for placing
the structure of a myth in educational planning is the ‘connection’ between ‘the
content and the student’, while ‘the most effective structure for such a connection
is achieved through a narrative form’ (31).
Operation of My First Ex
The toolbar includes the well-known Word icons with the corresponding
scrollbars, while the left and right arrows are a useful tool invented to help
the student move forward or backward, until he/she finds his/her cognitive
‘step’. Below, there is a typical presentation of the basic steps of use of
“My First Ex” through the presentation of the related displays, in order to
make its operation clear. I must note that the related steps were given to
the students and the teacher both in electronic and in printed form right
after my intervention during the action research, so that they could answer
by themselves any of their questions at any time.
1st screen: The user chooses to activate either the main software
application, or word processing.
2nd screen: The initialisation process is activated. The program supports
one to three students for teamwork.
3rd screen: The student enters his/her personal data.
4th screen: Every student enters a keyword per field.
5th screen: A window uses the all-powerful Google search engine as the
main search mechanism of the software. Google search engine
provides a list of websites with thematic content related to that of the
keyword.
6th screen: The student may start from any field and use the corresponding
keys of the software to move forward or backward.
7th screen: The student chooses “New”.
8th screen: The student chooses “Draft” and then “ȅȀ”.
9th screen: We have two active windows at the same time. The second
window provides a plain word processor, so that the student may save
any useful information he/she finds on the Internet. In addition, it is
possible to save or print in a separate file.
10th screen: The student chooses the piece of information he/she is
interested in and then “Copy” to copy the text.
11th screen: The student puts the cursor on the Draft Note and then
chooses “Paste” to paste the text. The program automatically saves the
information on the background.
12th screen: When the web search process is over, the student chooses
“Save As”, to enter the notepad in the desirable storage unit as *.txt.file
and process it subsequently during text writing.
13th screen: At the end of the entire process, the teacher/researcher presses
the “ǹǹ” key and then enters the protection code for the student’s
personal data, in order to ensure the confidentiality of his/her analysis
through a code.
14th screen: The preliminary data results have been created. In the
meantime, the metadata, which require further specialised analysis
using additional software tools (mathematica, matlab etc.), have been
saved in another file.
Multimodal factors and mind diagrams:

utilisation in teaching
Multimodal factors as criteria of website attractiveness
The multimodal factors, whose role I am examining, are: hyperlinks,
images, video files/links, audio files/links, paragraphs, fonts, background
colours, font colours, and font styles. Their categorization, according to
the three levels of the theory of hybrid signs, results in the following
classification:
Table 4-2 Multimodal Factors
Categorisation of Multimodal Factors According to the

Theory of Hybrid Signs
Multimodal Factors of Hyperlinks Student’s Time Per
Representational Web Page:
Structures in Digital Hybrid Similarities
Texts Under Construction
Multimodal Factors of Images Student’s Time Per
Interactive Resources in Video Files/Links Web Page:
Digital Texts Audio Files/Links Hybrid Dialogue
Under Construction
Multimodal Factors of Paragraphs Student’s Time Per
Synthetic Meanings in Fonts Web Page:
Digital Texts Background Colours Hybrid Metafiction
Font Colours Under Construction
Font Styles
Mind Diagrams
Navigation of the student through websites is not a linear process with a
beginning, a middle part and an end, but it is rather characterised by its
dynamic character and the synthetic construction of meanings. This
evolutionary course of the student’s thinking during his/her web search
may be illustrated through “My First Ex” in the form of a mind diagram,
accurately recording the degree of complexity characterising the student’s
reasoning according to the order of websites he/she has visited. The
objective for the teacher is to form a clearer opinion of the quality of
knowledge constructed by the student, with the help of a diagrammatic
representation of the way the latter connects myth, literature and real facts.
Quantitative analysis and statistical measurements

Introduction
Use of the software results in data and metadata, which enable us to draw up
the mind diagram of each student (that is, the entire course of his/her
navigation through the web for drawing information based on the keyword of
each field) and draw useful conclusions about the effect of multimodal factors
on the formation of his/her thinking, using statistically measurable
parameters3. These two mechanisms are particularly helpful for analysing the
digital Zone of Proximal Development (Hedegaard, 1990) for every student,
but in this paper a more specific analysis of such form is omitted, given that it
does not constitute a substantial objective of my research action. Therefore, I
shall confine myself to briefly presenting the general results drawn from the
digital information search process by the students, with the help of “My First
Ex”.
3
Cf. Somekh, B. (2007), regarding the ‘mapping of concepts as means of
understanding the way students apprehend New Technologies in their world’
(167): “The method draws directly on Vygotsky’s conception of ‘instrumental’
psychology, by which ‘higher functions incorporate auxiliary stimuli, which are
typically produced by the person himself (sic)’. In other words, our efforts to
achieve any outcome are supported by cognitive tools which are an integral part of
our skilled use of actual artifacts”. As an example, I am citing a similar case, where
‘the evaluation of the method of concept mapping was checked through a
qualitative analysis’ and, as Somekh reports, this was done for a total of two
thousand students, approximately (169).
Example of a student’s mind diagram

In the following example, we can see the typical representation of a mind
diagram, i.e., the path that this particular student has followed during the
pilot presentation of “My First Ex” in the computer lab of the school
complex, in order to collect useful information for subsequent writing. I
gave the students complete freedom to enter any keyword they wanted in
every field, in order to rouse their curiosity more and stir their
imagination. The choices made by the student called Odysseus excited the
interest of all students: the anagoge of the literary character Captain Nemo
from the novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne
to the mythical archetype of Jason in the context of the Argonautic
Expedition was related to reality through Greece’s triumph in the
European Football Championship, Euro 2004!
Example:
Myth: Jason (Argonautic Expedition)

Literature: Captain Nemo (20000 leagues under the sea)
Reality: Greece winning the European Football Championship
What is evident from the above-mentioned typical example is the student’s

cognitive feedback while collecting and processing information on the
Internet, a condition that helps him/her construct new knowledge in terms
of a dynamic access to digital data
both on a level of conceptual mixtures

and on a level of meaning-making manipulations.
One can easily discern the dynamic character of the student’s

navigation through websites, a process that gives him/her the necessary
background to proceed to the synthetic construction of his/her notional
correlations. With a similar mind diagram for every student at their
disposal, the researcher and/or the teacher are able to ascertain the
following, among other things:
the exact course of the student’s digital path according to the order
of web pages he/she has visited,
the evolutionary course of his/her thinking while searching for
sources of information on the Internet, and
the degree of complexity characterising his/her reasoning.
Such a diagrammatic representation of the way a student connects the

fields of myth, literature and reality may serve as an auxiliary teaching
tool, so that the researcher and/or the teacher may ascertain the quality of
the student’s cognitive constructions and evaluate the writing process as a
whole, forming a clearer opinion of the phase of collecting and processing
digital data.
Overall quantitative data of multimodal factors

Below I am selectively citing – given the large size a full presentation
would occupy – the overall data of measurement of multimodal factors
and characteristics concerning the technical, aesthetic and communicative
‘identity’ of websites visited by the students throughout the research
period. My objective is to investigate the frequency of occurrence of such
multimodal factors and draw conclusions about their role in the meaning-
making manipulations of the students. Considering the multimodal factors
as criteria of website attractiveness for the students, it is deemed necessary
to record their graded role with regard to the influence they have using
quantitative criteria: on the one hand, the statistically measurable results
allow one to investigate
the criteria and

the conditions of data selection
during the cognitive construction, and, on the other hand, to deal with
more specific issues of digital literacy. The way I have classified the
multimodal factors in the three following categories, evaluating their role
and function in digital texts based on the criteria of hybrid similarities
(Representational Structures), hybrid dialogue (Interactive Resources) and

hybrid metafiction (Synthetic Meanings), was described in the above-
mentioned theory of Hybrid Signs.
Thus, the overall quantitative data, which resulted during the research
period, are:
Total web pages: 522

Average number of hyperlinks (per web page): 111.53 hyperlinks
Average number of images (per web page): 12 images
Average number of audio files/links (per web page): 0.01 (or 1%
of web pages contains audio files)
Average number of video files/links (per web page): 0.03 (or 3%
of web pages contain video files)
Average time spent by the student (per web page): 75 seconds
Average number of background colours: 2.6 (per web page)
Average number of font colours: 2.1 (per web page)
Average number of paragraphs: 8.3 (per web page)
Average number of fonts used: 4.5 different fonts [bold/italics/
headings, or the font size, have not been included]
Average number of font styles: 9.3 including different font sizes
An interesting element resulting from the above-mentioned data is the

extremely small number of video and audio files/links per web page,
which suggests that the designers of Greek websites mostly choose to
communicate with their users ‘interactively’, i.e., through images.
Basic Diagrams
Relation between time and web pages
Remarks
The time a student spends on each web page ranges from a few seconds to
more than three minutes. The final conclusion drawn is that, on average,
the students do not seem to feel obliged to read the entire page; on the
contrary, their interest lasts for about two minutes maximum. During this
period of time, they focus their attention on selected points, depending on
the attractiveness of multimodal factors incorporated into the web page.
This condition implies that the student/user usually accepts the multimodal
‘proposals’ of the designer of the site, who has formed it according to
his/her own objectives. Thus, the short-term navigation of the student
through every web page presents increased probabilities of collecting the

data that the designer wishes to set off.
Multimodal Factors of Representational

Structures (Hybrid Similarities):
Relation between web page and links
Remarks
The number of links per web page is rarely less than 10 and on most web
pages it exceeds 100 links. In some cases, it may even exceed 200 links.
The incorporation of a large number of links in the structure of the web
page refutes the static notion of culture and the unimodal access to
resources that produce meaning through writing. The collected data reveal
that the design philosophy of the web pages that the students visited,
places a large part of its expectations to the direct connection of the users
to other digital sources, thus echoing a dynamic conception of culture,
which gives priority to alternative considerations and multimodal
constructions of material reality.
Multimodal Factors of Interactive Resources (Hybrid Dialogue)

Remarks
The measurements only refer to static images, ActiveX and advertisements

with a scrolling image. In addition, the system only includes globally
recognised and valid archive types of images. The sizes of the images have
been recorded, despite the fact that I am not presenting them here. Their
size ranges from very small to relatively large (640x480 display data),
although large images were very rare. An obvious reason for that is that
large images are avoided, because there is a delay in the downloading of
the website.
The fact that, on average, every web page includes about 12 images
shows that the students prefer designers who seek to develop a hybrid
dialogue with the user. The interactive relationship between them is
interpersonal and mediated by the different Designs represented by each
one of them: the criterion of Dual View of Interpersonal Resources may be
applied here, given that the designer prompts the user to alternate semiotic
modes, having ensured to offer the user alternative modes of dialogue with
his/her digital material. Thus, the students searched for their fictitious
interlocutors behind the images and, since their choices acquire great
weight, it is established that the students were open to dialogue, mainly

choosing websites with versatile presentation and ideology, usually in the
form of multimodal verbal and visual resources.
Multimodal Factors of Synthetic Meanings

(Hybrid Metafiction): Background colours per web page
Remarks
Here, I am measuring the different background colour of the web page. I

note that even the slightest change in the colour of the web page (e.g., a
pixel), may be considered as a different colour by the system. Some web
pages had images on the background; these were not recorded however as
different background colours, but rather as images.
The formation of semiotic reality as an exchange of informative material
between mostly verbal and visual structures on the websites visited by the
students is associated with an alternation of background colours and
constitutes a multimodal criterion of correlation of hidden analogies in
various elements of meaning-making resources: by choosing colour
mixing as background of meaning-making resources, the students choose
the renegotiation of their abilities (affordances). The different background
colours perform multimodal metaphors, compressing different cultural and
aesthetic contexts through framing: the connotative interference of similar
stylistic or chromatic selections refers to a different cultural or aesthetic
pattern, attracting the student/user.
Paragraphs per Web Page

Remarks
A paragraph is defined as any appearance of the special paragraph mark on

the web page, which constitutes an indication of the beginning of a
paragraph. Sometimes this criterion may possibly lead to a false
measurement; such cases, however, are quite rare.
The structure of verbal resources in eight to nine paragraphs per web
page reveals that the students prefer a narrator who ‘breaks’ the narrative
flow of his/her text to ‘discuss’ with them. This rupture of the
narrative/mythical structure runs along with the contribution of different
background colours and images. The above-mentioned process of
alternation of semiotic modes, which forms the width and the possibilities
of reinterpretation of semiotic reality of every web page by the students, is
combined with the homological function of the alternation of paragraphs

in the narrative resources as possible ‘breaks in the synthetic myth’ that the
designer deliberately leaves in order to talk to the student/user, or the latter
discovers in order to interpose his/her own interpretation of semiotic
reality (the end of each paragraph signals the potential integration of
treated meanings and gives the student/user the sensation of temporarily
releasing him/her).
Results of correlations in terms of the multimodal factors

of Interactive Resources: Diagrams of time spent per web page
in relation to the number of its images
Time per web page when there is no image
Average time spent: 26.4 seconds
Time per web page when there are 1–3 images
Time per Web Page when there are 4–8 images
Time per web page when there are more than 8 images
Summary of Results
Relation between Time and Images
Remarks
With regard to the metadata of web searches in the computer lab of the
school, this result admits of a possible interpretation: due to the slow
Internet connection of the school network, loading of images – especially
of large images – is a time-consuming process. Given the limitations to
which the interest of the student, and of the Internet user in general, is
subject to, this particular result must not be considered to be cut from the
general context where it is placed. On the contrary, the Internet connection
speed must also be incorporated into the context of interpretation.
Therefore, it is rational to assume that the faster the Internet connection
speed is, the greater the number of images that the student may download
is, before he/she loses his/her patience.
However, the greater number of metadata of web searches were saved

on the PCs that the students had at home and were transferred with USB
flash drives, so that the above explanation is only partially valid. The
interpretation of the students’ preference for web pages with four to eight
images is explained based on the fact that the fictitious dialogue developed
between the two subjects (designer and student) finds a better channel of
communication with an average number of images: when they are fewer,
the interpersonal interaction is not adequately mediated, while when there
are too many images, the interactive relationship between the two persons
involved in this metafunction of subjects becomes difficult due to the
multitude of interposed images–points acting in a disorienting way.
Results of correlations in terms of the multimodal factors

of Synthetic Meanings: Results of Correlations of Time
and Background Colours
ǹ. One background colour
Average time spent: = 93.5 seconds
Ǻ. Two background colours
C. Three background colours
D. Four background colours
Ǽ. Five background colours
Average time spent: = 74 seconds
Correlation Results
Remarks
The above diagram shows that the background colour is not directly
involved in the determination of the average time the student spends. On
the contrary, the only unambiguous element is that the students have spent
more time on web pages having a single background colour. In this
particular case, the related choice lies in the fact that the students have not
paid so much attention to the background colour, but rather to the search
for information, focusing their attention on the multimodal factors, e.g.,
links and images. This means that, while they visit web pages with
different background colours and this particular multimodal factor is a
pole of attraction, finally, it does not maintain its power for a long time,
since the students very quickly focus on verbal resources.
Results of Correlations of Average Time & Background

Colours & Paragraphs per Web Page
Remarks
Here, I am making an attempt to correlate the paragraphs and the

background colours per web page with the average time of the student/user.
We can clearly see that the latter prefers plain background colours, in
order to study a text. In addition, the number of paragraphs does not
substantially affect the student’s time to a large extent, although – as we
can see – the latter mostly prefers one or two paragraphs: certainly, this
correlation is also connected with the size of the paragraphs.
In broad outline, in the case of number of paragraphs, what was true
for the previous case of background colours of the web pages also applies
here: while the students are attracted to texts with several alternations of
paragraphs – as in the case of different background colours – in essence,
these multimodal factors do not play a crucial part and do not keep their
interest keen for a long time, since the students practically seek simplicity
and resolution in the background, but also seek short texts, of one or two
paragraphs, which will give them quick solutions.
Conclusions regarding the statistical analysis

of multimodal factors
It was established from the extensive use of “My First Ex” during the
action research that the role of the multimodal factors of every web page
in the formation of the student’s thinking is important, since the related
process constitutes the starting point in the organisation of digital material
with critical thinking and final writing. In this sense, both the factor of the
individual absorption rate of interpretable reality and that of each
student’s self-activity in original interpretative attempts are associated with
special techniques and digital data management skills by the student, i.e.,
they are related to more specific issues of technological literacy. A large
part of the effect of the socio-cultural context on the student’s meaning-
making manipulations with the help of “My First Ex” became detectable
and was investigated in the interactive learning environment between the
latter and his/her web sources.
In particular, “My First Ex” served as a tool for the practical application
of multimodal metaphor: the quantitative analysis of digital data and the
statistical measurements of multimodal factors based on the students’
choices on the Internet provided typical answers with regard to the
mechanisms of multimodal metaphor. The multimodal factors were
classified into three categories, evaluating their role and function in the
digital texts based on the criteria of hybrid similarities (Representational
Structures), hybrid dialogue (Interactive Resources) and hybrid
metafiction (Synthetic Meanings) according to the theory of Hybrid Signs.
The graded role of multimodal factors as criteria of attractiveness of the
websites enabled me to investigate the criteria and the conditions of data
selection. Thus, “My First Ex” allowed me to draw useful conclusions
about the multimodal choices of the students, the mode of processing of
the material under consideration and the factors that influenced the
structuring process of new knowledge.
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DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ VISUAL DESIGN
COMPETENCE THROUGH SITUATED
LITERACY PRACTICES:
THE CASE OF THE ERASMUS IP “P.S.BOWMA”
CATHERINE DIMITRIADOU
AND ANDRONIKI GAKOUDI
Introduction
People, places and things included in any learning context are combined in
visual ‘statements’, whereby they can articulate a multimodal environment
for embedded learning (Dimitriadou 2010). This multimodal environment
consists in the material space that includes natural and man-made
environment, the structural elements of which reflect social structures and
institutions. According to the theory of symbolic interactionism (Dennis
and Martin 2005) these elements signify the communities’ potential,
reflecting human ideologies and offering meaningful interpretations for
culture (Edwards and Usher 2000; Dimitriadou and Kesidou 2008). Thus,
the experiential study of an area gives opportunities for the examination of
a wide range of literacies concerning the local history, the social structure
and the cultural identity of the communities located in the area.
The present paper explores the ways situated literacy practices can
contribute to the development of student teachers’ semiotic awareness and
their competence as educational agents through at least two interrelated
and successive procedures: making signs and creating teaching scenarios
in the form of multimodal texts. The first part outlines the context of the
study, its relation to the structure of the IP and to the space where it was
developed. The aims of the study and the method of data analysis are
included in the second part. Finally, the outcomes of the analysis are
discussed and concluding remarks are made in the third part.
Catherine Dimitriadou and Androniki Gakoudi 225
The context: an Erasmus Intensive Programme (IP)

In 2010, a two-week (28 June – 9 July) Erasmus Intensive Programme1
(IP) was developed by three Universities: a) Western Macedonia (WM)
(co-ordinating university), Florina, Greece, b) Ljublijana, Slovenia and c)
NHL, the Netherlands. The participants of all three universities were given
the opportunity to approach the challenges of living in the borderlands and
experiencing the landscape as a crossroads formed by three countries:
Greece, F.Y.R.O.M., Albania. As its title suggests, “People and Space in
the Borderland of Western Macedonia: tracing historical, social and
intercultural features” (P.S.BoWMa), the IP was a lifelong learning
programme focusing on the exploration of the natural and man-made
environment in the borderland of the north-west corner of Greece
(www.eled.uowm.gr/ip). During the programme, the borderland of WM
was transformed into a vast international classroom where 27 students (21
student teachers and six ethnographers) and 19 teachers were actively
involved in situated literacy practices by interacting with the local
community through observation and interpretation while being involved in
literacy events and practices.
Multiliteracies and Semiotic practices within the IP

“P.S.BoWMa”
Given that visual literacy could inform the university education being
offered across all disciplines – the humanities, the social sciences and even
the natural sciences (Elkins 2008; Mitchell 2008, 14) – one of the IP goals
was to develop a curriculum and a pedagogic model informed by the
theory of Multiliteracies and Semiotic Pedagogy. Additionally, drawing on
Barthes (1977), Kress and Van Leeuwen (2001) and Van Leeuwen (2005)
the IP curriculum was designed to focus on the visual character of a
variety of symbol systems that could function as signifiers for the WM
borderland area. These signifiers could also serve as resources for shaping
meanings through flexible teaching procedures on the part of the
participants. This transformation of signifiers into educational resources
highlights the importance of exploiting visual design for the development
of the future teachers’ teaching competence.
The pedagogic model mentioned above was designed in order to make
the multimodal design of texts explicit to students as one way of exploring
1
An IP is a short programme of study which brings together students and staff
from Higher Education Institutions of at least three participating countries.
226 Developing Students’ Visual Design Competence
multimodal meaning through the construction of teaching scenarios. To

this end, participants
x were immersed in an acquisition-rich environment, with a focus on

situated practice (experiences and designs were available in the
real life worlds);
x were given overt instruction through the analysis of how image and
word are organised in multimodal texts as well as an analytical
vocabulary for understanding the design process in meaning-
making systems;
x were asked to connect meanings to their social contexts aiming at
the interpretations of the context of designs (critical framing); and
x were prompted to recreate and recontextualise meaning across
contexts through the compilation of teaching scenarios (transformed
practice) (Cope and Kalantzis 2000).
The participants’ involvement in the last procedure was based on the

idea that a teaching scenario is a highly complex, interrelated sign system
with formulations and configurations of symbols, icons and indexes
(Bopry 1994, 37).
The concept of design

A key concept throughout all the phases of the IP was that of design,
which characterised the processes of knowledge co-construction,
recontextualisation and situated teaching (Table 4-3). The students were
asked to collect material relating to the concept of borderland in the
context of WM and transform it into teaching material for a small-scale
elementary or secondary school project. Using the affordances of
computer technologies (Unsworth 2001, 12-14) they compiled PowerPoint
multimodal texts, which were approached as a process of design aiming to
induct learners to the idea of the borderland of WM as experienced within
the IP. Within this process, the teachers were both sign-makers and
designers at the same time. While designing their teaching scenarios, the
students would give meaning to things and features around them by
interpreting and handling symbolic, i.e. semiotic resources. The students’
conceptualisation of cultural meanings, while being derived from their
interaction with, and negotiation of signs, were expected to influence their
representations created within the above context. In this sense, the
participants were transformed into designers of the context of borderland
they had perceived, after having recontextualised the content of the subject
matters taught in the IP.
Table 4-3. The semiotic practices comprising the IP P.S. BoWMa

within the concept of “design”
The five levels of “design”
LEVEL DESIGN PROCESSES DESIGNER TOOL

The IP
Constructing the culture organisers
1st of WM in the context of as designers The IP curriculum
IP of the IP
curriculum
The teachers
Recontextualising the
as designers
culture of WM in the Situated literacy
2nd of lectures
context of knowledge to practices
and
be taught
workshops
The students
Recontextualising the as designers
culture of WM as of the Educational
3rd
knowledge to be knowledge content
acquired acquired to be accessed
during the IP
The students
Recontextualising the
as designers
culture of WM in the
4th of Teaching scenarios
context of compiling
teaching
teaching scenarios
material
Exploring the The
participants’ creativity researchers Semiotic analysis
5th and recontextualising as designers of the data
the teaching scenarios as of analytical
research data tools
The aim of the study

Based on the idea that teachers can transfer representations of the world to
the students by using multimodal texts, the aim of the study was to show
that curricula informed by a pedagogy of visual literacy (Simons, 2008)

can contribute to developing students’ awareness on the contextual nature
of knowledge production and also offer student teachers opportunities to
incorporate multimodal representations of the world into flexible teaching
practices.
Research questions
The research questions posed are as follows:
1. What symbols and meanings of the region of WM were selected by

the IP participants as resources encoding life in the borderland?
2. How did the participants recontextualise these resources as visual
representations of the borderland reality in a semiotic pedagogy
perspective?
Attempting to answer the aforementioned research questions, emphasis

will be placed on the ways in which semiotic resources are deployed in
order to develop meaning-making systems in a variety of contexts, thus
facilitating teachers’ informed and effective intervention in students’
learning (Unsworth 2001, 2-3).
Study method
In order to answer the first research question, the teaching scenarios were
analysed as multimodal texts consisting of slides, which in turn were
analysed as images following Kress (2003). First, Semiotic Analysis, as a
practice of description and an analysis of signification, was employed for
the examination of the detailed inventory of the resources used in
compiling the participants’ teaching scenarios (Table 4-4). This
examination involved the description of ‘objects’ that resulted from the
participants’ involvement in a process of social construction through the
relationship of the “signifier/signified” signs. Second, Kress and Van
Leeuwen’s (2001) grammar of images method was used to analyse the
photographs and maps so as to establish how visual representation of WM
influenced the participants’ understandings of place. As for the
implications deriving from participants’ familiarisation to techniques of
creating teaching material incorporating visual representations of reality,
assumptions were made as to how they transformed semiotic resources to
communicative facts.
Data analysis
Nine teaching scenarios in the form of PowerPoint presentations
comprised our data. As the analysis of the PowerPoint slides shows, in
Table 4-4, each of the multimodal texts corresponded to a variety of
symbols selected for the teaching of the concept of WM borderland.
Specifically, the participants chose to refer to representational (denotative)
and symbolic (connotative) signifiers (Barthes 1977, Van Leeuwen 2003)
in landscapes, pictures, drawings, photographs that correspond to concepts
in a narrative or conceptual way: two scenarios selected symbols from the
natural environment of the WM borderland (“Arcturos”, “The Dam”),
another three made use of historical and religious symbols (“Landmarks in
Prespes”, “Tracing Monuments in Western Macedonia”, “Museum and
Archaeological sites”), while the remaining four referred to representations
that correspond to “doings” and “happenings” as well as to “conceptual
patterns” (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2001, 56-61; Kress and Van Leeuwen
2002; Jewitt and Oyama 2003; Bell 2003).
In this respect, the nine texts were approached as examples of
“ensembles of modes” brought together to realise particular meanings of
three kinds: ideational, interpersonal and textual (Unsworth 2001, 10, 72-
73; Kress 2003, 66). In order to solve the problem assigned to them, the
students were prompted to design representations of material, social and
semiotic reality of people and space in the borderland and to select the
symbols they would use as resources encoding life in the area. As
illustrated in ȉable 4-4, the BoWMa borderland was represented by a
combination of narrative and conceptual messages presenting unfolding
actions (“The Street Market of Florina”) and events (“The Dam”,
“Arkturos”, “Museum and Archaeological sites”, “Tracing Monuments in
Western Macedonia”, “Landmarks in Prespes”), processes of change
(“Borderlines in Fashion”) and transitory spatial arrangements (“Graffiti”,
“Florina & Bitola”) (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2001, 59) that illustrate
understandings of meanings related to the concept of borderland. In this
meaning-making process, the physical resources of the landscape were
changed into signs and used to make meaning. Due to space limitations,
only four (out of a total of 129) slides have here been analysed in order to
illustrate that each of the multimodal texts produced by the students,
shapes an argument for a particular understanding of the concept of
borderland.
Table 4-4. Inventory of the resources used for the compilation of the
teaching scenarios
Title of the Photos Photos

Number Wipe
teaching Background & without Diagram Map Video
of slides effects
scenario print print
Arcturos 8 White/green 6 9
Landmarks in
12 Red-purple 2 3 9
Prespes 9
Graffiti 20 Back 17
Borderlines in
20 Lilac 10 1
Fashion
The Street
Market of 12 Light blue 4
Florina
White with
Florina &
19 fine blue 5 2
Bitola
lines
Brown
Mountain
The Dam 13 5 2 9
Blue sky
/water
Tracing White with
Monuments in fine blue
12 14 9
Western horizontal
Macedonia lines
Museum and
Archaeological 13 Misty blue 9
sites
The teaching scenario, entitled “A comparison between Florina and

Bitola”, indicates that the geographical border is not an equivalent to a line
between cultures and that we are not able to label cultures as belonging to
particular spaces inside boundaries. Instead, it should be understood that
cultures often transcend the lines of geographical borders. The group of
student teachers who compiled this scenario aspire to highlight the
transient nature of borderland culture through a comparative examination
of the architectural styles adopted in Florina and Bitola, two cities that sit
on the fringes of borderlands the former in Greece and the latter in
FYROM. Specifically, the Balkan type of house (Fig. 4-5) is a cultural
characteristic reflecting the arbitrariness of dividing cultures through
borders in a way that denies the existence of the unique culture that exists
between the borderlands. Both Greek and FYROM architecture share
common characteristics: stone foundations, lighter upper floors of
buildings, small windows on the ground floor while larger windows on the
first floor. In this sense, the tendency to assume the geographical border as
equivalent to a line between cultures is not confirmed by our data analysis.
Fig. 4-5: teaching scenario A comparison between Florina and Bitola
Drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen (2001), the first slide of the teaching
scenario, entitled “Arcturos”, is analysed as an inclusive conceptual image
that invokes a metaphor (Fig. 4-6). Arcturos, a Greek non-governmental
organisation, develops actions for the sustainability and conservation of
wildlife in the transborder areas of the south Balkans. One of its first tasks
was to provide a hosting facility for confiscated dancing bears. Wild bears are
an important feature in the region of Western Macedonia and are invoked as a
symbol of the WM borderland through the Arcturos logo. This logo is
superimposed on the photo in a background of beech forest, which is
associated with the natural habitat of the wild bears living in the region.
Fig. 4-6: The teaching scenario Arcturos

In contrast, the seventh slide of the teaching scenario, entitled

“Christian Orthodox Religious symbols in Prespes”, is an example of a
conceptual image whose analytical pattern is exhaustive in as much as it
shows all there can possibly be to an image of a religious symbol: the
Christian cross as background, in the top right- and bottom left-hand
corners, two other smaller slides of this landmark appear with a wipe
effect, both of which have a heavy black border (Fig. 4-7). The print is in
black bold, plus two bullet points. In the top left-hand corner, the name of
the landmark appears in a white box with a heavy black border and bold
black print. In a metaphorical sense, the Cross in the context of the
borderland shows that people living on this side of the border are
Christians, they are ‘us’, while people living on the other side of the
border are heterodox, and are ‘them’. As a result, the text (two bullet
points: “sign of loyalty” and “visual border“) in this slide relates directly
to the photos.
Another group of students approached the study of borders as imaginary
constructs that can be taught by drawing a comparison between the
imaginary constructs of borderlands and stereotyping through fashion.
“Borderlines in Fashion” compared the countries’ borders with those
borders stereotyped through appearances. This teaching scenario focuses
on the idea of fashion as a demarcation of border. In semiotics, ideas are
signs too: they are indexes. In other words, they are signs that indicate a
fact or condition. Fashion is approached as a condition that indicates
borders, which are used not only to mark difference, but also to implicate
the twin narratives of inclusion and incorporation on the one hand, and of
exclusion and dispossession on the other. Those who are dressed following
a particular code belong to the same group and are included, are thought of
as ‘us’, while those who follow a different dress code are excluded and
consequently considered to be ‘them’. Also, focusing on the abstract idea
of ‘border’ helps us to identify and analyse the politics of socio-cultural
identities which tie individuals in particular groups or border regions.
Their lives are part of cultures and forms of meaning which they share
only, or, principally with other ‘borderlanders’, on the same or the other
side of a constructed abstract demarcation, the borderline.
Fig. 4-7: The teaching scenario Christian Orthodox Religious symbols in Prespes
Discussion
This study employed socio-semiotic analysis in order to consider the way
the IP participants transformed semiotic resources so as to represent the
concept of BoWMa in their teaching scenarios. It did not provide an in-
depth semiotic analysis of the semiotic resources referred to by the
participants, neither did the analysis focus on all the representations
connected to their socio-cultural contexts. Rather, it combined semiotic
analysis of multimodal texts as parallel manifestations of how semiotic
resources can be recontextualised in educational contexts. Based on the
grammar of visual design, as maintained by Kress and Van Leeuwen
(2001) in their social semiotic theory of representation, the visual
structures of the students’ teaching scenarios pointed to particular
interpretations of experience and forms of social interaction that were
negotiated by the participants in the co-constructed emergent culture of the
2010 IP P.S.BoWMa. The students, as learners attending the IP, instilled
borderland with their meaning-making practices while at the same time, as
future teachers they compiled their teaching scenarios through which they
recreated the historical and cultural significance of a sign and transformed
it into a historical or cultural teaching resource. In other words, the
participants, in their capacity as designers of educational material,
recontextualised historical or cultural semiotic resources in educational
contexts. They were involved in a process of making signs by forming
their representations of a region through their immediate contact with it
and not through the representations offered in cultural constructs, such as
museums, book illustrations, postcards, literature or historic texts (Haskell
1994). During this process, modes and forms were selected in such a way
so as to express the meanings that the makers of signs wished to give.
The nine groups of students constructed nine newly made signs shown
in table 4-4: The Street Market of Florina The Dam, Arcturos, Museum
and Archaeological sites, Tracing Monuments in Western Macedonia,
Landmarks in Prespes, Borderlines in Fashion, Graffiti, Florina & Bitola.
It can be argued that through the recontextualisation of their multimodal
resources during the process of producing teaching scenarios, the
participants developed their creativity as a process of meaning-making
(Kress 2004, 36-40). Furthermore, in line with Kress (2003, 42) it is
argued that because the relation between the signifier and signified is
motivated, they did not approach their signs as ready-made entities,
consisting of signifiers and signified whose content was determined by
social conventions in an absolute sense, as for example the signifier of
borderland being signified by the notion of border demarcation. Rather,
they were engaged in a process of forming a whole new variety of
relations between the signifier and the signified thus constructing newly
made signs the meaning of which, as shown, can change according to the
local context in which they are encountered. The symbols chosen, as the
titles of the scenarios suggest, illustrate that the semiotic resources were
used by the participants so as to create images and ideas across
geographical and socio-cultural spaces in ways that affect how young
people learn and interact. The way the participants devised their teaching
scenarios was a semiotic system itself, part of a system of cultural signs
determined by the repertoire of images, words, diagrams and other
interpretants provided by the students’ knowledge and culture.
The conception of the WM borderland was the locus of an encounter
between external reality, the recontextualisation processes shown in table
1 and the local dynamics of the semiosis which they created. During these
design processes, negotiations and transformations of the conception of the
WM borderland brought about semiotic change that reflected the values,
structures and meanings of the social and cultural world of the participants
as meaning-makers.
The students, having been involved in semiotic practices and in the co-
construction of content and procedural knowledge, contributed to their
awareness that learning is situated within authentic activities. What is
more important, they created their understanding in visual images and
learned from their own experiences that they need to engage their learners
in a variety of purposeful cross-media activities incorporated in a curriculum
and a pedagogic model informed by the theory of Multiliteracies (Cope
and Kalantzis 2000).
However, it has to be noted that this making of signs is a semiotic
reconstruction which constitutes a structured and largely coherent whole
for the 2010 IP participants only. It is expected that participants attending

the same curriculum in future IPs held in the same region could very well
approach the concept of borderland in their own uniquely different ways
because, as shown above, meanings, as well as resources for meaning-
making, are constantly negotiated and transformed in the process of sign
making.
Conclusions
This paper aimed to show that IP BoWMA participants developed their
semiotic awareness by being transformed into sign-makers and teaching
material designers. They decoded the organisational and functional rules
of the communities located in the area, recontextualised meanings through
a teaching perspective, and produced multimodal texts. What is more
important, they demonstrated that learning and teaching can traverse
institutional boundaries not only by collapsing disciplinary boundaries, but
also the ones between “in-school and out-of-school literacies” (Leander
2001). They constructed contextual narratives (Herman, 2009) that situated
concepts in practice after they had approached borderland people and
space in situ through situated literacy practices that included activities
bound to social, cultural and physical contexts (Anderson et al. 1996).
Thus, students made steps towards knowledge construction and
development of their visual design competence along the following three
axes:
(a) identification of signs characteristic of the WM borderland: interstate
agreement for the conservation of wild bears, religious identity symbols
transformed into borders of exclusion, dressing codes, traditional
architecture;
(b) recontextualisation of these signs into multimodal texts so as to signify
notions, conventions, socio-cultural institutions of the natural and man-
made environment of the area; and
(c) redesign of the multimodal texts for their use as digital educational
material.
In other words, the development of the participants’ visual design
competence seems to consist in content and procedural knowledge of
interdisciplinary topics since their involvement in visual literacy practices
contributed to their reading and interpretation of the semiotic universe as
well as to a more meaningful understanding of the world.
Furthermore, the students, while transforming the WM semiotic
resources into meaningful communication events through the manipulation
of visual messages and symbols, were actively involved in a process of
symbolic interaction, which, as Dennis and Martin (2005) claim, brings to

the surface issues of power and its distribution. Furthermore, the
participants made steps to developing their technological literacy, since
they used digitally mediated representations of the WM borderland in the
context of the IP and from text consumers were changed into mediators
and designers of meaning-making systems by developing their computer-
based visual literacies.
The responses to the research questions highlighted the way in which
semiotic resources are deployed to make meaning-making systems in a
variety of contexts, thus facilitating teachers’ informed and effective
intervention in students’ learning (Unsworth 2001, 2-3). They also led to
implications about the way in which the participants’ readiness to design
multimodal teaching material could affect both their own and their
provisional students’ visual literacy. One way in which Pedagogic
Departments can respond to this task is to make student teachers aware
that the diversity of signs and cultural meanings that circulate in the
classroom need to be broadened (Buckingham 1993). To this end, teachers
need to design their teaching on a wide range of modal resources,
concentrating, for example, on the semiotic resources of image, as our
study showed.
Although the conclusions drawn from this analysis are based on a
relatively limited amount of data. it is important to note that by
transforming their socio-cultural context into semiotic recourses used for
the design of multimodal texts, not only do students enhance their
creativity through the creation of multimodal ensembles, but they also
improve their visual literacy, and most importantly, their teaching
competence (Cope and Kalantzis 2000). These conclusions, also, highlight
the need for a transformative educational agenda that calls for the redesign
of the curricula offered in Education Departments so as to be informed by
Semiotic theory and the Theory of Multiliteracies.
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THE QUEST FOR “VISUAL THINKING”
AND THE DOUBLE BIND OF EDUCATION
MILTOS FRANGOPOULOS
Introductory Remarks
In these hard times we are going through, visual rhetoric comes to the fore.
The current conjuncture of global financial crisis offers itself to a
proliferation of images based on stereotypes.
Greece, being at the epicentre, becomes an easy target of abuse, where
reference is made to its widely known ancient past and cultural heritage,
through graphic manipulation of landmark monuments such as the
Parthenon or works of art such as the Venus de Milo.1
Apocalyptic imagery is in the order of the day: cities as battlegrounds,
teargas clouds and impending doom.
Certainly, the unending series of local wars keeps feeding us with
horrific scenes from the charred remains of Iraqi soldiers to the gory
images of Gaddafi’s demise. It is here that some things become
unspeakable, and – at least since the footage of the concentration camps at
the end of World War II – the presence of the sign in these contexts
becomes so pronounced as to be blinding. This, of course, would lead to a
different discussion than the one suggested here. However, the
ubiquitousness and proximity of such ‘imagery’ does not allow us to
forget it – even if ‘safely enclosed’ between brackets.
At any rate, in our contemporary context, in our immediate experience
of a debate about the current financial crisis, which could easily become
political and social, communication is effected through a visual rhetoric
laden with ideological messages.
1
Betrüger in der Euro-Familie (2010.02.20). Focus Magazin. Munich: Focus
Magazin Verlag GmbH Germany. The 20th February 2010 issue cover, alongside
the title of the cover story (“A crook in the Euro-family”), featured a manipulated
photograph of the Venus de Milo statue, complete with arms, gesticulating
indecently toward the viewer.
240 The Quest for “Visual Thinking” and the Double Bind of Education
But culture throughout has been primarily visual. It is perhaps part of

our existence as a species; it is perhaps the way we perceive the world.
Exploring origins, one could make forays into the past, or along the
meeting of the diachronic and synchronic axes, such as we find in
Australian aboriginal art, with human signatures of tens of thousands of
years ago, and images that may function as narratives, as descriptions, as
initiation rite codes, as maps, as covenants of land custodianship, as
‘dreaming’. One could look toward the Middle Ages, where, as Umberto
Eco has suggested, people
inhabited a world filled with references, reminders and overtones of

Divinity, manifestations of God in things. Nature spoke to them
heraldically: lions or nut-trees were more than they seemed; griffins were
just as real as lions because, like them, they were signs of a higher truth.2
This would apply to any society at any given moment in history, and a
similar inversion is in evidence in a most famous example of visual
rhetoric whose analysis ushers in the semiotics of the everyday in the
contemporary era: the cover of the 25th June 1955 issue of “Paris Match”
magazine.3
The story of Roland Barthes’s encounter with the photograph of a
young African saluting in French army uniform is well known. In a way, it
replicates the story of Newton and the falling apple, as it makes the
ordinary yield something beyond itself, beyond its ‘mere appearance’, and
it engenders, if not a law of universal physics, at least a whole new way of
seeing things.
Surely, ideological critique was not something new by the 1950s, but
what Barthes did was to provide, drawing on linguistic theory and social
anthropology, a systematic way of discerning and dissecting the
ideological trappings of everyday life.
What this kind of critique does is to acknowledge the allegorical
content – much like in the Middle Ages – but at the same time to
undermine it: instead of affirming ideology, it questions it.
In tune with modernity, it accepts the basic tenet that everything
ideological possesses meaning, but assuming a stance that posits ideology
as false consciousness.
This introduces an element of tension which accompanies the
exploration of signs in the modern social context, in terms of a contradiction
2
Eco, U. (1986). Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages. New Haven: Yale University
Press, p. 52.
3
Barthes, R. (1972 [1957]). Mythologies, New York, Noonday Press, p. 59.
Miltos Frangopoulos 241
apparent in all our interpretive activity, while it imbues everything with a

degree of complexity.
Modern Examples of Visual Thinking

This interpretative process requires a mode of thinking that can map out
the elements at play, which can present them visually, so that they could
be grasped at once in their totality.
This negotiation of complexity and contradiction can be seen in one of
the most famous examples of “visual thinking”, Charles Eames’s
definition of design (fig. 4-8). It is only by finding the meeting point, the
overlapping area of varying interests and concerns that one can begin to
design ‘meaningfully’, where design is understood as a socially determined
activity.4
Fig. 4-8. Statement of the Eames Design Process by Charles Eames for the
exhibition “What Is Design?” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1969. ©
Eames Office LLC (eamesgallery.com)
Negotiating complexity and contradiction is very much in evidence in

another example of visual thinking, billed sometimes as a masterpiece of
visual literary criticism.
It is the graph from Moholy Nagy’s book “Vision in Motion”5
completed in 1946, presenting the structure of James Joyce’s most
ambitious literary work, “Finnegans Wake”, published in 1939 (fig. 4-9).
4
See Lupton, E. and Philips, J.C. (2008). Graphic Design; The New Basics, New
York and Baltimore: Princeton Architectural Press & Maryland Institute College of
Art, p. 11.
5
Moholy-Nagy, L. (1947). Vision in Motion. Chicago: Paul Theobald, p. 349.
The concentric circles (sharing the writer’s initials JJ as the pivotal point)
represent the four cycles of Giambattista Vico’s theory of history, while
the rectangles on the right list a long series of different levels (familial,
historical, mythological, cabalistic, biblical etc.) on which the story can be
registered, seen in terms of the roles of the main personages, the family of
HCE (H.C. Earwicker), his wife ALP (Anna Livia Plurabelle), and their
children (daughter Issy, and sons Shem [Jerry] and Shaun [Kevin]) – and
what they stand for. The rays run through the layers of the narrative
creating axes around which the story can revolve anew, on different planes
of reference – both cosmic and local, such as the four evangelists, the
twelve signs of the zodiac, Dublin’s Phoenix Park etc.
Fig. 4-9. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Visual Representation of the novel Finnegans

Wake by James Joyce, from Moholy-Nagy, L. (1946). Vision in Motion. Chicago:
Paul Theobald, p. 347
“Finnegans Wake” aspires to be a repository of all western culture and

the chart as a visual presentation of the grand project, rises to the
challenge.
If we were to indulge in a sort of Panofskean iconological analysis, we
would say that this graph could be taking its cue from another visual
device used on the cover (dust jacket) of a book of essays dealing with
Joyce’s preliminary work on “Finnegans Wake”, published in 1929 by his
friends and supporters – among who, were Samuel Beckett and William
Carlos Williams – to counter adverse criticism. The book bore the Joycean
title “Our Exagmination Round his Factification and Incamination of his
Work-In-Progress”.6 This full title can be read round the edge of the circle
or wheel whose spokes are made of the names of the contributors to the
volume.
This geometric pattern, with a reference of motion, carries a hint of the
descriptive (progress) as well as of the occult (wheel of fortune), links up
with Moholy Nagy’s chart and sends us “by a commodius vicus of
recirculation” – to use an original Joycean phrase – to other geometric
structures of similar ambitions.
The reference here is to that great chapter of “visual thinking”, which
is the “Art of Memory” and its “Theatre”.
Ars Memoriae
There is a very long story here, taking us back to Greek and Roman
antiquity, where we need not go at present, but suffice to say that at the
time of the Renaissance an attempt was made to bring together all
knowledge under the sun in one place as images within an actually
constructed wooden theatre based on Vitruvius – the “Theatre of
Memory”, put together by Giulio Camillo (1480-1544) in Venice in the
1530s.7
What this structure was, we learn from two letters written to Erasmus
by his friend Viglius, a doctor of jurisprudence, who travelled to Italy in
1532.8
It was a theatre, following the principles of Vitruvius, a large model
presumably large enough for two men to walk in and inspect the variously
recorded and drawn items of knowledge arranged therein, spreading
outward from the orchestra, whose half circle was divided into seven parts,
representing the seven pillars of wisdom and the seven celestial bodies.
The Art of Memory, based on linking places or events with images was
the greatest of aides to rhetoric, and was said to have been invented by the
Greek lyric poet Simonides around 500 BCE. (So, we cannot really avoid
the journey into the past). Based on a story recorded by Cicero, some 500
years later, Simonides was at a banquet in Thessaly, where he was insulted
by his host, who would not pay him the agreed amount for a hymn the
poet had composed in his honour. This mean host was to be punished by
the gods. For it so happened that shortly after this incident a servant came
6
Beckett, S. et al. (1929). Our Exagmination Round his Factification and
Incamination of his Work-In-Progress. Paris: Faber and Faber (see dust jacket).
7
Yates, F.A. (1974 [1966]). The Art of Memory. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press , p. 129.
8
ibid, p.130.
saying that two men requested that Simonides urgently meet them outside
the house. No sooner had Simonides exited the house than the roof of the
building collapsed. The host and his guests were crushed to death, and
they were so completely deformed that their relatives could not tell them
apart and could not properly bury them. But Simonides was able to tell
who was who by his recollection of the exact place in the hall in which
each of them had been sitting.9
This suggested to him the discovery of the truth that the best aid to
clearness of memory consists in orderly arrangement. He inferred that
persons desiring to train this faculty must select localities and form mental
images of the facts they wish to remember and store those images in the
localities.10
Giulio Camillo, who put his ideas in writing in a book entitled “L’Idea
del Teatro”, was considered somewhat of a quack by Erasmus and at odds
with the prevailing climate of the Renaissance, so was soon forgotten after
his death. Interest in his work was revived in the 1960s by the research of
Frances Yates at the Warburg Institute in London.
Yates wrote extensively on the Art of Memory, and by the 1980s the
new computer technologies recognised a precursor in Camillo’s systematic
storage of memory data in the form of a theatrical space. This was also the
time that Bill Viola produced his video installation entitled the “Theatre of
Memory” (1985), now at the Orange County Museum in California, while
in the early nineties Brenda Laurel published her “Computers as Theatre”
(1993).11
The German writer and professor of media aesthetics Peter Matussek
has provided a broad picture of the influence of the tradition of the Art of
Memory on several major players in the development of personal computer
technology, especially what is called Human Interface Guidelines, where he
says:
[…] the Human Interface Guidelines,12 which were developed by Apple in

the eighties could well have been borrowed from the traditional teachings
of rhetorical ars memoria.13
9
see Cicero, Marcus Tullius (1967). De Oratore, Book II [86.351], with an
English Translation by E. W. Sutton, Completed London Heinemann, Loeb
Classical Library. pp. 464-5.
10
ibid.
11
Laurel, B. (1993). Computers as Theatre. Boston: Addison-Wesley.
12
Apple Computer Inc. (1987). Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop
Interface, Apple Publications, Reading, Mass. The computer screen icons were
developed by Susan Kare (graphic designer) and Bill Adkins (computer
Citing the example of the basic "See-and-Point" principle, which recalls

the ancient “loci et imagines”, as well as to a series of other concepts. He
further adds that “as Nicholas Negroponte has implied, there is an affinity
between Simonides of Ceos and Steve Jobs”. 14
Indeed, the first set of Mac desktop icons (1984) bears a striking
resemblance to the devices produced by medieval and renaissance
practitioners of the “Ars Memoriae”, as in the Romberch visual alphabets,
that help conjure up the words and concepts. In one example, drawn from
Frances Yates, “Predicatio” is memorised by the bird beginning with a P
(Pica or Pie) which she holds. “Applicatio” is remembered by the Aquila
(fig. 4-10). “Continentia” is remembered by the inscription on her chest in
the “objects” alphabet (the reader can refer to the objects representing C,
O, N, T in the “objects” alphabet).15
Fig. 4-10. Grammar as “memory image” (left) and “object” alphabet (right top),
from Johannes Romberch, Congestionum Artificiose Memoria, Venice 1533 (after
Yates, F.A. (1974), The Art of Memory. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
p. 114), and 1984 Apple Macintosh 1.0 screen icons (right bottom), designed by
Susan Kare (Susan Kare Icons (2011) susankareprints.com)
The Primacy of Words

But in all this, the image is still subservient to the word. The iconic device
is a mere appendage, an aid to a verbal memory – for since its origin, the
programmer). See Meggs, P. B. (1992). A History of Graphic Design. New York:

Van Nostrand Reinhold, p. 469.
13
Matussek, P. (2001). “The Renaissance Theatre of Memory”. Janus 8 S. 4-8,
electronic version http://www.peter-matussek.de/Pub/A_38 (accessed 29.01.2012).
14
Negroponte, N. (1995). Being Digital. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 109.
15
Yates, F.A., (1974). op.cit. p. 120.
“Ars Memoriae” has one principal goal: to serve the great art of Rhetoric.
In the end, in the final analysis (as we would say) it is words we are after.
And this prominence of the word can be seen in heraldic art where it is
the word and the specific vocabulary of blazonry that are accepted as the
true and valid description of the coat of arms.
What is perhaps more striking is that in 1593 Cesare Ripa could
publish his “Iconologia” without any images whatsoever. All the icons of
the “Iconologia”, almost 500 of them, were presented in descriptive texts.16
Even as late as 1604, Karel Van Mander in the Netherlands, as he
undertook to present the lives of the great painters of northern Europe,17 in
an attempt to emulate Vasari he had to develop a strong argument in
defence of his project. Were the painters a worthy subject? Did they
warrant such interest as would poets, kings and generals?
Indeed, since the mid-fifteenth century, a lively debate had erupted in
the Low Countries concerning the status of painting and, indirectly, that of
the artist as well. The issue was to define whether it was legitimate to
consider painting as a liberal art, comparable to those included in the
“Trivium” and the “Quadrivium”. In other terms, one had to prove that the
theoretical knowledge of a painter was one of the essential components of
their activity, something readily acknowledged for the poet.
Van Mander’s book in 1604 pressed for the ‘recognition’ of painting as
a ‘liberal’ art, one requiring much more than the menial tasks involved in
the actual practice of painting.
It was a rather slow process of emancipation, but the artists gradually
broke away from the guilds and thanks to the astute Louis XIV found
shelter in an institution that recognised their lofty status: “L’académie de
peinture et de sculpture” in 1648. This was modelled on the Rome
academy that had already been established by Giorgio Vasari and Angelo
Montorsoli in 1563, but the royal support and specific direction given by
the French king, the most powerful ruler in Europe at the time, provided
the prestige needed for painting to become a fine art.18
The subsequent development of the ‘salons’, which became a
permanent feature of ‘society’ in the early 18th century, led to exhibitions
where art was contemplated on its own merit, where a volte-face occurred
as these exhibitions were accompanied by printed leaflets providing
16
Ripa, C. (1593). Iconologia, edited by Maser, E.A., (1971) New York: Dover
Publications.
17
Van Mander, K. (1604). Het Schilder-Boek, edited by Miedema, H (1994). In 6
vols. Soest: Davaco, Doornspijk, vol. 1, p. 50.
18
Lemaire, G-G. (2004). Histoire du Salon de Peinture. Paris: Klincksieck, pp. 15-
18.
descriptions of the works displayed: the text serving the picture or a return
to ut pictura poesis. Gradually, these descriptive texts developed into
essays, such as Diderot’s, which in turn led to theoretical discussions that
gave rise to “Aesthetics” and a philosophy of the visual arts.19
The Emancipation of Design

In this sense, visual art was emancipated, but at a cost. That is to say it was
accepted as a lofty practice only because it proved it could be translated
into words. And thus, it was obliged to develop a theory. Still in the
beginning not dealing in the highest of knowledge, the noeta, what is
perceived by reason, but the experience felt by the senses, the aestheta,
hence the discipline of “aesthetics”,20 before the advent of a full philosophy
of art.
This legacy still permeates the intellectual climate, or has at least left a
strong residue. To a large extent the issue is still with us, as when we turn
to design, we find that it was only recently acknowledged as a subject
worthy of university education (in my country it is still struggling). It
could be said, perhaps, that the twentieth century was for design, in terms
of education and professional standing, what the seventeenth century was
for painting.
So, “Art” was finally emancipated, but if, now, “Design” were to
become an academic subject proper, it would have to resolve its own status
as a “liberal” art, i.e. to prove that it could be translated into words, a
logocentric narrative (a blazonry of sorts). It also needed a history, as well
as a philosophy. It was in this respect that design education allied itself to
semiotics (underpinned by psychology and sociology). And in this sense it
is ‘doomed’ to develop a theory.
From the point of view of semiotics, of course, all human – indeed all
natural – life is ‘semiosis’. From Peirce’s ‘man is a sign’ to Sebeok’s
19
ibid., p. 45.
20
Baumgarten opens his Aesthetica (1750) with this definition: “Aesthetica
(theoria liberalum artium, gnoseologia inferior, ars pulcre cogitandi, ars analogi
rationis) est scientia cognitionis sensitivae” [Aesthetics (theory of liberal arts,
inferior gnoseology, knowledge of beautiful arts, art analogous to reason) is the
science of knowledge of the senses]. See: Beardsley, M.C. (1976 [1966]).
Aesthetics from Classical Greece to the Present: A Short History. Tuscaloosa: The
University of Alabama Press, p. 156.
‘global semiotics’ all phenomena are perceived as part of a system of

interrelated semata.21
Certainly, this is the era of global communication and of the
development of novel media for information and, more generally, sign
transmission – a process set in motion with the advent of mass production
and mass society.
In the new context one could say that the situation is inverted: for in
the old “Ars Memoriae” the image was an aid to summon up the word – in
the process of oral rhetoric in front of an audience, whereas in the modern
era of mass communication the image is all the more often in the driver’s
seat, supported by the word (as can be seen in cases ranging from the
famous “beat the whites with the red wedge” poster by El Lissitzky in
1919 to the “Silk Cut” cigarette and “Nike” sportswear advertisements in
the 1990s).
These messages within our lifeworld are filtered through ideological
markers and delineate our existential hold on or relation with our
surroundings. As we have already seen at the beginning of this
presentation, meaning and ideology are inextricably linked. Here, at first
instance, the stereotype is at work, which – before attracting our critique –
places us firmly in the world.
This is perhaps the point made by Robert Venturi’s “Symbolic
Communication” drawing, where architectural details function as signs
that trigger off interpretations with a profound psychological imprint. For
instance, the entrance to the driveway conjures up the image of a grand
gateway, the columns at the door to the house the image of a monumental
propylaeum, the curving street with the rail fence a sunset in the
countryside.22
The process is akin to that observed in the Middle Ages, as presented
by Umberto Eco through a reference to the great medievalist Huizinga:
The Middle Ages never forgot that all things would be absurd, if their
meaning were exhausted in their function and their place in the
phenomenal world, if by their essence they did not reach into a world
beyond this.23
21
Sebeok, T. A. (2001). Global Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
pp. 1-16.
22
Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D., Izenour, S. (1972). Learning from Las Vegas.
Cambridge Mass: MIT Press, p. 158.
23
Huizinga, J. (1924 [1919]). The Waning of the Middle Ages. p.194; quoted in
Eco (1986), p.52-3.
The contemporary world is not radically different. The symbolic and

allegorical realms are still with us. As Venturi puts it:
We live in a communication era teeming with symbols. Don’t forget that

words and letters, which inundate all of our environment, are symbols. We
like to say we haven’t an accepted set of symbols the way the Middle Ages
had, but we do, via all the advertising media, in great variety and
complexity. The valid base for often superficial supergraphics is that it is
architecture connecting with the idea of communication in space.24
But the condition may be seen as not determined by historical

circumstance, indeed it may be seen as diachronically at work, as Huizinga
goes on to suggest:
This idea of a deeper significance in ordinary things is familiar to us as

well, independently of religious convictions: as an indefinite feeling which
may be called up at any moment, by the sound of raindrops on the leaves
or by the lamplight on a table.
Such sensations may take the form of a morbid oppression, so that all
things seem to be charged with a menace or a riddle which we must solve
at any cost. Or they may be experienced as a source of tranquillity and
assurance, by filling us with the sense that our own life, too, is involved in
this hidden meaning of the world.25
Thus, returning to Venturi, we can appreciate his drawing and the

deeper significance of those rather trite architectural details.
These details, of course, carry another layer of meaning. And here we
enter the realm of critique. For this drawing is part of a book that strongly
criticises what is known as modern architecture, a book with the tell-tale
title of “Learning from Las Vegas”, Venturi’s magnum opus and one of
the landmarks of the postmodern movement.
This is not the place to investigate the advent of postmodernity, but
suffice it to say that the opening-up of the intellectual field into a
centreless deconstruction of received ideas that could be debated ad
infinitum, coincided with the increasing interest in the theories of the sign,
linked to globalisation and the attendant development of mass communication
networks.
24
Quoted in Larson, M.S. (1993). Behind the Postmodern Facade: Architectural
Change in Late Twentieth-Century America. Berkeley: University of California
Press, p.223.
25
quoted in Eco (1986) op.cit. p. 52-3.
Ways of Thinking
As these theoretical discourses developing in this domain – bearing upon
linguistics, psychology, art history and philosophy – started entering into
the field of design education, a feeling of liberation prevailed, as in the
well-known case of the Cranbrook Academy in Michigan USA in the early
1980s26.
Postmodernity in its ‘fluidity’ was well suited to art and design
education, but at the same time its excessively rhetorical discourses placed
too heavy a theoretical burden on the average student in the creative
disciplines.
This, though accentuated by the specifics of postmodern discourse,
was a symptom of a more general complication. For once art and design
are called to conform to academic standards, two major problems emerge:
the first is a contradiction between the intuitive and the rational, and it
would seem that those entrusted with the development of curricula for
design studies acknowledge this. The Quality Assurance Agency of the
Department for Education of the UK puts it as follows in its latest “art and
design subject benchmark statement”:
The role of the imagination in the creative process is essential in

developing capacities to observe and visualise, in the identifying and
solving of problems, and in the making of critical and reflective judgements.
While convergent forms of thinking, which involve rational and analytical
skills are developed in art and design, they are not the only conceptual
skills within the repertoire employed by artists and designers. More
divergent forms of thinking, which involve generating alternatives, and in
which the notion of being “correct” gives way to broader issues of value,
are characteristic of the creative process.27 (emphasis added)
This is a concession, albeit not a very generous one, by the university

education authorities towards the student in the creative disciplines. A
further qualification is perhaps needed to describe more fully the process
involved.
Delving into these divergent forms of thinking, which could initially be
the juxtaposition of the analytical and the synthetic, it is often said that the
26
See Lupton, E. and Abott Miller, J. (1994). “Deconstruction and Graphic
Design”. Visible Language, 28(4), pp. 345-365.
27
QAA [Quality Assurance Agency], UK. (2008). Art and Design Subject
Benchmark Statement. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/ Publications/InformationAnd
Guidance/Documents/ADHA08.pdf (accessed 29.01.2012). p.3.
syllogistic approach of deductive or inductive thought is not the one that

should be applied in this context.
Rather, we should acknowledge an inferential interpretation process, or
reasoning, based on conjecture, which does not conform to a rigorous
“elenchus”.28 Recently, this approach was glorified in the obituaries of the
hero of our times, Steve Jobs. Without the need to drop acid (as Jobs
appears to have advised Bill Gates to do) this is a kind of informed
guessing, or of lateral thinking, arising on a hunch based on an intuitive
grasp of current conditions. If one were to give it a name, one could say
that this approach is based on “abductive thinking”. The term may arise
from Aristotle’s ĮʌĮȖȦȖȒ, although this has been traditionally translated as
“reductive”.29 Abductive appears as a better rendition, and perhaps closer
to the kind of unverifiable, unprovable ‘reasoning’ at work here, as we are
dealing with the infinitesimal and the almost imperceptible, something
extremely complex that may often seem more vague than decisive.
This raises the question whether a communicative act, properly
speaking, can firmly take place on this basis, and in turn causes a second
tension, a further level of complexity and contradiction, in the process, as
we try to approach the field of education in the creative disciplines.
The tension becomes apparent when we read the list included in the
“subject benchmark statement”:
2.2. Learning in art and design develops:

the capacity to be creative
an aesthetic sensibility
intellectual enquiry
skills in team working
an appreciation of diversity
the ability to conduct research in a variety of modes
the quality of reflecting on one's own learning and development
the capacity to work independently, determining one's own future
learning needs. 30
The list does not appear very systematic; neither can it ever be
exhaustive. And there is a glaring omission: Meaning.
28
The reference here is to Charles S. Peirce’s differentiation of ‘types of
reasoning’, as discussed in his ‘Lectures on Pragmatism’ (1903). See: Peirce, C.S.
(1960 [1931]). Collected Papers, Vol. V, Pragmatism and Pragmaticism,
Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, I, 6, §4, par. 171.
29
Ross, W.D. (1964). Aristotelis Analytica Priora et Posteriora. Analytica Priora
69a20-36. Oxford UP: Oxford Classical Texts.
30
QAA (2008), p. 3.
Design as an Academic Subject

Meaning in visual communication is a difficult issue. Perhaps the writers
of the document wisely chose not to broach it. The ‘visual’ meaning,
harder to produce as it is easier to consume, requires that process of
condensation where a number of different stimuli function at once to
produce a ‘spark’ – something like Barthes’s punctum31 – that can bring
together the manifold in a single image, in a unified sign. But even that, as
the decades of the hegemony of deconstruction, evoking the principle of
uncertainty, have shown us is not something stable.
In such circumstances, it is obviously difficult to explain to students
what meaning is in terms of a visual language, as we go backwards and
forwards explaining image by text and vice versa, while offering no final
verdict.
Education is constantly caught between these two sides, made more
unstable in the shifting sands of postmodernity, while students find
themselves in that situation in the classroom where a move is required
from consumption to production, or more precisely, invention.
And although an increasing number of people are acquiring new skills,
building their own narratives through social networks, facebook, twitter
and the like, these have been learned mostly through collateral learning,
unwittingly as it were, and hence uncritically. So, here, the crucial
question is: what do their stories tell? Invariably, something not very
different from what is already served by the mass media.
Here is where meaning comes into the picture. For the crucial issue is
that which does not appear in the QAA list: The capacity to generate
something meaningful, something relevant to our presence in this world.
This, of course, can become unduly dense, inordinately theoretical for
our students. Perhaps we need to work the other way round and to
introduce them to a method that takes us back to a process described by
Cassirer:
Whatever appears important to our wishing and willing, our hope and
anxiety, for acting and doing; that and only that receives the stamp of
verbal “meaning”. […] for only what is related somehow to the focus point
of willing and doing, only what proves to be essential to the whole scheme
31
Barthes, R. (1986). Camera Lucida. London: Fontana. pp. 26-27. The idea of a
revelatory ‘moment’ where things congeal and become comprehensible may be
found also in the work of other thinkers such as Walter Benjamin (‘dialectical
image’ and ‘monad’, The Arcades Project) and Jacques Lacan (‘creative spark’ in
The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious).
of life and activity, is selected from the uniform flux of sense impressions,
and is “noticed” in the midst of them–that is to say receives a special
linguistic accent, a name.32
It is exactly the point where something becomes important to their

willing and doing that meaning may arise.
Initially, we may find ourselves, as teachers, in a situation which is the
inverse of that described by Cassirer, as the students at first instance
cannot find a focus of interest which is properly their own, and they see it
as something imposed from without, a focus of interest that is not their
own. They feel alienated from the work at hand and it is difficult for them
to see the ‘meaning’ of the effort they are asked to put in. The notion that
in the end a textual account of what they do is needed, brings on the
dreaded ‘critical reflection’ that creative practice was supposed to save
them from.
This can be seen quite clearly when one approaches the discussion
regarding the higher echelons of education, and more specifically on the
attempts to build art and design PhD programmes. Indeed, it is very
difficult to agree on what exactly such programmes would look like.
Victor Burgin, for example, proposes three different types;33 Mick Wilson
brings four theses into the debate.34 This is not the place to join this
discussion, but the lack of consensus shows that it is not a clear-cut issue –
an issue which perhaps boils down to the question: “how much text and
how much image?”
The second problem is even more serious as it refers to the quality of
the current exchange of messages. For as the contemporary setting
requires faster and faster deciphering of a rapidly increasing volume of
information, a new type of communication is being developed that is
addressed to very short attention spans and carrying simplistic content.
But, the backdrop of complexity and contradiction I have been
suggesting as the main characteristic of our contemporary situation,
requires delicate and sensitive communication. It also calls for a deepening
cultural understanding.
Though a significant amount of players do try to develop exchange on
new levels, a rapidly growing number of crude and crass messages are
32
Cassirer, E. (1946). Language and Myth. New York: Dover, p. 38-39.
33
Burgin, V. (2009). “Thoughts on Research Degrees in Visual Arts
Departments”, in Elkins J. (ed.). Artists with PhDs; On the new Doctoral Degree
in Studio Art. Washington: New Academia Publishing, pp. 72-79.
34
Wilson, M. (2009). “Four Theses Attempting to Revise the Terms of the
Debate”, in Elikns J. (ed.). op.cit, pp. 57-70.
produced and transmitted. Stereotypes and gross generalisations come out

of dusty closets and whole peoples are made fun of, a preamble of
demonisation. The “Focus” magazine cover we saw at the beginning of
this presentation has had an impact in the blame-game in the current
European financial crisis far stronger than any written article. How is
communication through abductive thinking to become capable of developing
subtle debates?
The problem is a wider cultural one. As designer Dietmar R. Winkler
has pointed out
when communication images, standing alone or in groups, or supporting

text messages are constructed on the basis of limited cultural understanding
there are great opportunities for breakdowns in the quality of discourse.
Worse, insensitivity may create dangerous confrontations.35
Indeed, visual communication requires more sophisticated intellectual

baggage than does oral or written rhetoric, precisely because it registers on
so many levels at once and deals with the almost imperceptible.
The Double bind

But beyond the issue of cultural exchange, which relates to the designer’s
sociopolitical and ethical responsibility, there is the issue, of an equally
ethical dimension, of the designers’ work, their employment and their
daily practice in visual communication.
Following Ponzio and Petrilli, who condense quite succinctly a widely
accepted description of communication in our contemporary world, it
could be posited that communication
understood as “communication-production” is communication totally

adherent to the ideo-logic dominating present-day capitalist social
reproduction. Communication in the globalization era is world
communication not only in the sense that it extends over the entire planet,
but that it accommodates the world as it is.36
35
Winkler, D.R. (2009). “Visual Culture and Visual Communications in the
Context of Globalization”, Visible Language, 43(1) (electronic version
http://visiblelanguagejournal.com/web/abstracts/abstract/visual_culture_and_
visual_ communication_in_the_context_of_globalization accessed 29.01.2012).
36
Petrilli, S. (2007). “Reading Augusto Ponzio, Master of Signs and Languages”,
in Petrilli S. (ed). Philosophy of language as the art of listening, pp. 281-327
(electronic version http://www.augustoponzio.com /Critical/19._Petrilli.pdf;
accessed 29.01.2012. p. 11).
Equally valid, I find, is the caveat for an alternative they propose:
However, in the face of a corporate-led globalized world special semioses,

different languages and cultures continue to persist and can be interpreted
as signs of the potential for critique and resistance. 37
This is the vice in which the teacher is caught, in so far as he or she

seeks to motivate students towards a stance that does not merely
accommodate the world as it is.
Thus the third tension: a predicament constantly restraining originality.
How is a student to develop an attitude that challenges perceived ideas,
without losing touch with the market which could secure their livelihood?
In this series of unresolved contradictions, between word and image,
invention and stereotype, rebelliousness and acquiescence, emerges the
double bind of education that posits its endless challenge to the teacher of
visual communication.
But as our brief survey in the first part of this presentation may have
shown, the old art of “visual thinking” may yet hold the key for future
developments.
37
ibid.

PROJECT MY CITY MY PLACE:

A CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATION
IN GRAPHIC DESIGN
MARYAM HOSSEINNIA
Introduction
Graphic design students from Minnesota State University Moorhead and
The American University of Kuwait participated in a cross-cultural poster
exchange. Students were asked to research their environments and produce
posters showing their place in this space using artefacts and symbols. The
posters were put online for the students to critique. Through the process,
students learned to be more aware of their environment and the environment
of the other students. In addition, they learned how individuals across
cultures use different signs and symbols to represent their personal space.
The researcher also analysed the posters in order to see similarities and
differences in outcomes.
Graphic designers communicate messages through form and content.
As these messages or signs are shared across different cultures, there can
be quite a contrast in perception. Using the semiotic approach, these
messages/signs can be analysed, processed and interpreted to understand
their meaning and their influence on people’s interpretation in different
parts of the world.
The Middle East and the Arabian Gulf are often stereotyped in the
media as a place of terrorism. The geographical areas conjure up visions of
war, fear and danger. The typical images are of camels walking through
dusty deserts on an underdeveloped landscape.1 The West is perceived by
Arab youth as the land of opportunities. The images are of pop stars, fast

1
Marvin Wingfield and Bushra Karaman, “Arab Stereotypes and American
Educators,” American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee (March 1995),
accessed November 21, 2011.
http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=283&no_cache=1&sword_list%5B%5D=stereot
ype.

Maryam Hosseinnia 257
food, arts and entertainment. In terms of the latter, America in particular is

considered a hotbed of culture, from the film studios in Hollywood to the
heart of creativity and the cultural scene in New York City.
Kuwait and Minneapolis, Minnesota are two distinctly different places;
their geographic location, the extreme contrasts in weather conditions, the
contours of the land, and their physical distance from the heart of the art
and cultural scene make this collaboration and case study more of an
enriching experience. For example, in Minnesota the weather is incredibly
cold and snowy six months out of the year, and the land is flat and mainly
agricultural. In Kuwait, six months out of the year the weather is
unbearably hot, while the land is a flat desert. Minnesota’s economy is
based on agriculture, while Kuwait’s is petroleum-based.
Because of its prosperous oil-based economy, most Kuwaitis enjoy the
same amenities as Americans. The stereotype of underdevelopment is truly
a falsehood. Kuwait is a very developed country with access to the same
goods and services as in America. Unlike many surrounding Arab nations,
Kuwaiti Arabs enjoy a modern and industrialised society. At times,
however, the old values and ways of doing things conflict with the
changes brought about by modernisation and urban life.2
Kuwait and the United States are allies with close economic ties.
Kuwaitis are generally appreciative of the US military’s role during the
Gulf War. Most educated Kuwaitis are able to speak English, a fact that
contributes to good communication between them and the Americans
living there. Furthermore, the younger generation, in particular,
increasingly identifies with the Western world, and Western media and the
Internet are the two vehicles most responsible for this trend, bringing the
country’s youth in contact with the rest of the world.3
College life for students in the United States is the foundation and
springboard for learning to live independently. In the US, students
experience going to a bar for the first time. They learn to think for
themselves and develop their own moral codes. They become more free-
spirited and develop new social networks. New life experiences, making
mistakes, developing careers, falling in and out of relationships and
building life-long friendships are part of growing up and experiencing
college years in the US. Students at college level are independent, they
live either in dorms or share housing with other students. Most students
work part-time or even full-time while in school. Some are single parents.

2
Soloman Isiorho, Kuwait (London: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002), 58.
3
Isiorho, Kuwait, 108.

258 Project My City My Place
They have the responsibility of paying bills and some even pay for their
own education.
America has many sub-cultures, so it is difficult to generalise the
average college student experience. Kuwait, on the other hand, has a
strong sense of tradition, often based on Islam and their family beliefs.
Thus, Kuwaiti university students have very different experiences. They
live with their parents, and even married students live in the family home.
Most Kuwaiti students do not work nor are they responsible for paying
bills. The family is the most important aspect of Kuwaiti society (Kuwait).
Parents expect their children to be in contact with them throughout the
day. Maintaining traditions is also important. There is a continued
segregation between boys and girls. They rarely socialise together, as this
is a taboo. Female students hardly ever travel alone.
One form of socialisation is the diwaniya (pronounced dee-wahn-ee-
ya). These are usually held weekly. 4 Diwaniyas are formal or informal
gatherings in a special room of a house and are traditionally male social
events. There are family diwaniyas, but male friends will also get together
once a week in the diwaniya to socialise. At the more formal diwaniyas,
discussions revolve around politics and general life. While at informal
diwaniyas, boys watch movies, eat and play games (cards, video games).
Another typical type of social activity is going to malls. Families or
friends will gather in malls to have lunch or dinner and go shopping.
Another difference between these cultures is the summer experience
for college students. It is common for the Gulf State Arab families to travel
abroad to places such as Europe or the United States for their summer
holidays. In the US, college students may return to their hometowns to work
a full-time job. Alternatively, they may travel independently or with
friends. Some families continue the tradition of the family summer getaway.
Participating universities
Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) is a four-year, public
university located in Moorhead, Minnesota. The average number of majors
in the Art and Design College emphasizing on graphic design is around
180 students. They offer BAs and BFAs. The American University of
Kuwait in Salmiya, Kuwait, is a four-year, private liberal arts institution
based on the American model of higher education. The average number of
majors in the Art and Design Department is 80. They offer BAs. The
programme is six years old, and the language of study is English.

4
Isiorho, Kuwait, 68.

Semiotics in visual communication

According to Hall, the genuine task of a visual communication designer is
process; it is not product related. The notion of interpreting something
unique about the culture or identity using the tools of visual
communication, processes and context for creating to understand meaning
in a variety of different ways is semiotics. 5 Semiotics in visual
communication, in its simplest form, can be described as the study of
signs. There are two fundamental aspects to a sign: signifier and signified.
Signifier refers to a symbol, sound or image (as a word) that represents an
underlying concept or meaning. In the language of visual communication,
we work with type, image, colour, composition and symbols to convey a
message, and this language in its wide form, is a series of meanings. There
is also the language of abstract or ambiguous design: images that leave the
perceiver to decide the meaning. The more ambiguous a sign is, the more
the viewer has to work through it to identify it. Signified refers to a
concept or meaning as distinguished from the sign through which it is
communicated. Semiotics, then, is about the tools, processes and contexts
we have for creating, interpreting and understanding meaning in a variety
of different ways.6
As visual communicators, graphic designers are obliged to design with
the audience in mind. In this case study, students began by brainstorming,
mind-mapping and collecting artefacts to generate ideas. During each class
period, work was pinned on a board for group critique. They were asked to
continuously question themselves to further develop their concepts.
Questions asked were, “who is the audience?”, “what is the message?”,
“how do I communicate my ideas?”, “are my ideas being communicated
effectively, and are they clear to the audience on the other side of the
globe?”
Project outline
Through means of digital technology, students from each of the
institutions were required to design a poster about themselves, personally
illustrating something unique about the place in which they live. They
were to use type to advance their own interests on a subject as well as
record observations or comment upon issues. They were able to explore a

5
Sean Hall, This Means This, This Means That: A User's Guide to Semiotics
(London: Laurence King Publishing, 2007), 5.
6
Hall, This Means This, 5.

broad spectrum of approaches using cultural/historical references to

express effective and experimental visual communication. In addition,
they were asked to address spatial, hierarchical and typographical concerns
that are central to the design process (signifier). The final designs were
then exchanged digitally on a blog (mycitymyplace.wordpress.com) to be
critiqued by all the students involved (signified).
This project was given to the students at the beginning of the spring
semester in 2011. Each student had time to investigate their ideas, narrow
them down to a single concept and develop them further for final
submission. They had two weeks to complete this task. They were free to
use any material as long as the final output was on A3 paper and produced
digitally.
Students were free to draw from found typography and imagery to
illustrate the buzz of city life, daily rhythms, cultural background,
neighbourhood, transportation, communication, childhood memories and
mapping. They were encouraged to use a variety of methods and media to
document and to generate designs. This process reflected each student’s
unique interpretation of what it is to develop an identity of a place.
A list of random questions related to the topic was given to the
students to use as a benchmark in their creative process. They were to
write and collect data based on the following questions:
What is the earliest memory of your chosen place/home?

What was the first job in your city/town?
What area/street is special to you?
One thing you would recommend to a visitor?
Favourite shop?
Best building?
Favourite museum/gallery?
Best park/open space?
Hobby?
Usual way you get about?
Best walk/ride?
Best view?
Things you least like about your home/city/town?
The instructor’s objective was to gain insight into the students’ creative
processes. In addition, the project introduced collaboration as ideas were
exchanged between two cultures. In turn, the project fostered the
importance of networking with peers using the Internet.

Methodology
The project was two-fold: students critiqued one another, while the
instructor looked at student outcomes from a design perspective and
through semiotics. Four posters were selected for analysis and critique.
The result of their work in relation to semiotics and visual communication
was broken down into three different ways to decode or to interpret the
meaning of the forms within the semiotics context. These were conceptual
structure, sign and symbol, and visual structure.
Analyses of Student Posters

In the original study, six student posters were randomly selected then
critiqued and compared cross-culturally by the author. Here, a few of the
results and outcomes are discussed.
Figure 4-11 was designed by a male Kuwaiti student, who took a rather
humourous approach to the ordinary life of two Kuwaiti men. The subjects
in the poster are using colloquial language, mimicking dialects phonetically
and linguistically. The student even went so far as to misspell a few words.
This shows an honest conversation about politics, culture, entertainment
and economy between two Arab men. It also relates the idea of personal
through text.
Left: Fig. 4-11. AUK. Male Kuwaiti student, age 29

Right: Fig. 4- 12. MSUM Male American student, age 22.
The use of typographic elements justified on the page in different sizes

engages the reader in the rhythmic tone of the their dialogue. The

symbolic words that carry phonetic and semantic significance can also be
carriers of elements such as humour and metaphorical significance, not
only through their literal meaning, but also through the relationship
between meaning and visual decisions.
This student demonstrated the ability to use the bulk of text as visually
telling. It is not literally significant in his decisions of size, spelling, colour
and harmony with the image and the awareness of space and hierarchy as
well as relationships through colour and size. The notion of parcel or
recycled paper used on the background and the contrast between digital
and illustrative adds a feeling of mystic and comic to the overall
composition. Despite the clear content of the text, which a viewer would
have to read, the inferences within the text do not work alone; in fact, they
are entirely dependent, despite their size and hierarchical dominance on
the page, on the two walking figures. Interestingly, the image could
represent any of the Gulf countries, which means that it does not necessarily
communicate my city/my place. The text gives the aspect of personal.
However, for the audience to know this, they would have to be aware of
the fact that the dialogue is a very accurate description of a typical
conversation between two young Kuwaiti men.
One American male student participant chose icons to visually
communicate a typical day of his college life (fig. 4-12). A pearl border
was combined with a central silhouette of binoculars. The title of the
poster “A Field Guide to My Life” is an illustrative play on wildlife
manuals. The symbols are carefully illustrated and arranged on the poster
in chronological order, mapping his daily life from morning to night. The
poster is subtle but effective, impersonal but extremely representative of
the student’s life. It is well structured and designed in a straightforward
manner. There is no question to this individual’s routine. The cool grey
background is neutral and allows the symbols to tell the narrative.
A female Kuwait student’s poster focuses on globalisation and the
Western influence on the Middle East. It reflects what it is like to be a
Muslim woman in Kuwait or the Middle East.
The poster consists of a silhouette of a faceless head of a woman
wearing a hijab. The colours are washed beige and white. The Arabic word
“globalisation” (originally in fuchsia) over the image carries a strong
message of how Westernisation has become part of the girl’s identity. It is
in coloured font in the foreground, almost on her face. It supersedes her
other features and qualities, those of nationally, interest and studies, which
are an afterthought in the background.
As stated, the most prominent aspect of the poster is the warm fuchsia
word “globalisation” written in Arabic. The position of the fuchsia colour

on the page, and its contrast to the rest of the form, could be seen as the
loss of Arab identity in the sense that the language is now under the
pressure and weight of the English language. She seems to convey the
message that she is losing her sense of self in the global era.
Left: Fig. 4-13. AUK. Female Kuwaiti student, age 19.

Right: Fig. 4-14. MSUM. Female American student, age 20.
A junior-level female student depicts the sequence of her daily

activities using digital photography (fig. 4-14). As with other American
students in the study, she includes her name on her poster. The majority of
the images are of herself, of getting up and coming home. She also depicts
her friends, food, computer and workplace. She visually represents her day
through common, but personal, glimpses of her life in sequential order.
The poster time-lapse photography tells the chronological narrative. This
interesting photographic element is almost like stop-motion animation or a
flipbook. The first and the last photographs are simply glimpses of the
remainder of the student’s day, giving the piece varying speeds and thus
hierarchy between the series of photographs. Visually, it is extremely
personal; the photographs of her getting out of bed in the morning
exemplify this.
Cross-cultural similarities and differences of symbols

and visual interpretations
Analysing the posters reveals both similarities and differences between the
American and Kuwaiti students’ interpretations of the project, their cities
and themselves. In terms of the similarities, the sophomore and junior

students have a good sense of composition and storytelling. Some of the

layouts have strong visual structure, while others are vernacular. The use
of colour was varied in both groups, and they used a variety of techniques
(i.e. drawing, photography and text (handwritten and digital) to express
themselves.
In terms of differences, the students had very different ways of
expressing their personal lives. MSUM student posters are far more
personal than those designed by the AUK students, as the former chose
images of themselves and their lives as college students. The examples
show that the American students are not shy of sharing their private spaces
and life; they are more expressive and honest with their daily activities.
Figure 4-11 shows two Kuwaiti men walking away from the viewer.
Above them is their conversation, which could be a dialogue between any
Gulf Arab men. There is no actual identity placed on the people in the
poster, except for the clothing, which is traditional for the local
geographical area. The Kuwaiti girl’s poster (fig. 4-13) shows a silhouette
of a face. It is anonymous. On the other hand, the American girl’s poster
(fig. 4-14) is intimate. Kuwaiti students, in general, did not show actual
photographs of their faces, remaining anonymous in a project entitled “My
City My Place”. As stated, the American student was not shy of sharing
her private space and life. This implies the notion of a closed Kuwaiti
society and culture. On a daily basis, young Kuwaiti college students
expose themselves to their friends and acquaintances at school and around
the town. Perhaps revealing themselves beyond the boundaries of their
community may be a taboo or at least, uncomfortable.
There is also evidence that the students have different interests and
priorities. MSUM students showed a variety of objects or artefacts that are
part of daily rituals. There was a focus on material items as representations
of their likes. On the other hand, there are no direct visual artefacts in the
Kuwaiti student posters. Interestingly enough, the Kuwaiti student posters
seem to be more introspective, but also allude to the idea of Arabism. The
focus is broader, on themselves as members of a society (figures 1 and 3).
There is no evidence of them trying to express who they really are to this
foreign audience. Perhaps the concept of “Arab Spring” and what has been
happening politically in the region have had an impact or an influence on
their way of thinking. In their silence, they are artistically expressing an
opinion. There is also more of an emphasis on strong traditional values or
culture. They had a chance to show what Kuwaitis or Arabs are really like,
yet this was not expressed. Instead, the posters show that this generation is
cross-cultural. There is a subtle combination of the opposing ideologies.
This result can be compared to the opposite outcomes in the American

students’ posters (figures 4-12 and 4-14). They show typical American
college experiences; they are open, honest and non-judgmental. They
share who they are in their place.
In terms of content, MSUM students relied more on imagery than text.
AUK students’ solutions incorporated an equal amount of text and images,
or they relied more on content than visual expression. In addition, only one
student used Arabic and English lettering to express a cross-cultural
connection (fig. 4-13). Through the silhouette image and Arabic and Latin
text, we can differentiate cultures. Even though English is considered the
second language in Kuwait, the new generation uses English as its first
language. In a way, the Arabic language and culture is in transition as it is
being affected by globalisation.
Student and instructor reactions to the project

The students, my colleague and myself had many reactions to the project
from start to finish. In terms of feasibility, fitting the project into a hectic
timetable was not too difficult. The industry requires one to be trained and
ready to produce multiple projects at the same time. Today’s technologies
made this collaborative project much easier to accomplish in a short
amount of time. Because of the short timeline, students had very little one-
on-one time with their instructors. We were not too concerned about this
because one of our goals was to push the student notion of critical
thinking. We wanted them to focus on the delivery of the message and to
tap into their personal voice without our interference.
The list of questions we provided the students with was meant to
activate their creative process. Nevertheless, some students found the list
more confusing; they felt that it made it more difficult for them to narrow
down their ideas. However, the point was to have students really
investigate their total environment.
The critical point in this process was at the end when students critiqued
each other’s posters. Students quickly became aware that their work was
being seen beyond the walls of the studio for the first time. One Kuwaiti
student stated that she did not want her family pictures or name to be
exposed to the other side; it was all right to share these with students in the
class but not with the MSUM students. This unknown or invisible
audience made us both, the professors and the students, anxious about the
outcome.

Conclusions
This case study discusses a cross-cultural collaboration in design learning
between second-year students at the American University of Kuwait
(AUK), and second/third year students at Minnesota State University
Moorhead (MSUM) in the United States. Fifty students were asked to
examine an aspect of their social and/or cultural environments and produce
a poster that showed their place in this environment. The posters were
uploaded onto a blog for students to critique. This study examined four of
the posters.
In terms of outcomes, Kuwaiti students used a broader approach to
show something about their city and place. American students focused on
campus and personal life. In addition, American students used more
photography than text. We interpreted the results to show that American
students are far more open and willing to share or expose their private
lives and space.
Yet, the goal of this project was for students to further investigate the
creative design process, self-authorship, personal voice, how to think and
investigate more about their roots, identity and history. In addition, this
project aimed to develop a sense of understanding of the media’s influence
on people’s perceptions in different parts of the world.
While developing technical skills, students expanded on communication
tools to share and exchange ideas, particularly across cultures. The students
learned about thinking globally, since their outcomes were viewed outside
their immediate environments. In a studio environment, the effective way
to encourage content development is to ask students to draw from personal
experience and to communicate that to a broader audience.
Through critique, we could determine what was important to each
design student. Personal mythologies emerged when new forms and
meanings were discovered in relation to familiar themes. These cultural
myths teach us something about the world in which we live and ourselves.
What results is a reflexive communication between the maker and the
work, inviting the audience to partake in the conversation. Moreover, they
learned how an individual’s visual interpretations of their spaces and
senses of identity could be similar and different.
The findings attempt to raise awareness about the needs and
possibilities for more collaboration with schools from other cultures all
over the world, and the development of an interactive learning
environment between programmes. Digital technology has opened up the
possibilities of collaborative learning on a global level. This promotes

their voice and vision and allows them to take risks and experiment with
typography and images.
Students become more sensitive to content and more aware of different
cultures all over the globe. On a deeper level, their understanding of
graphic design was amplified as they realised the potential for generating
and answering questions on a global level concerning language, identity
and perception. As they experienced how graphic design allows them to
frame themselves and their milieu, their capacity for discovery and
interpretation expanded. Their roles as designers shifted to that of editors,
supplementing content rather than generating it. Their works became a
compilation of ideas.
A designer's involvement with content is defined by his/her ability to
assemble visual and verbal materials from diverse sources in an organised
and expressive manner, thus creating a coherent narrative or point of view.
By encouraging students to develop their own content and messages in
their posters, they learned to take a proactive stance, augmenting the
standard client-driven model. Thus, they were able to draw upon personal
interests to create an original graphic project. In other words, they became
self-authoring designers.
The collaborative project has allowed for communication and interaction
between students from different continents who are uniquely joined
through visual communication. Their ideas, thoughts and processes have
allowed a greater understanding of each other's lives and abilities, with the
results provoking thoughtful contemplation and critical reflection on how
they use typography and imagery to communicate meaning. The results
and experiences gained from this project will inform the future design
strategies and methods by which all involved approach their creative
futures.
Bibliography
Hall, Sean, This Means This, This Means That: A User's Guide to
Semiotics. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2007.
Isiorho, Soloman, Kuwait. London: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002.
“Kuwait,” Countries and Their Cultures. Access date November 21, 2011.
http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Kuwait.html.
Wingfield, Marvin and Karaman, Bushra, “Arab Stereotypes and
American Educators,” American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee,
March 1995. Access date November 20, 2011. http://www.adc.org/
index.php?id=283&no_cache=1&sword_list%5B%5D=stereotype.

Further Reading
Di Piazza, Francesca Davis, Kuwait in Pictures. Minneapolis, USA:
Lerner Publishing Company, 2007.
Moxey, Keith. “Visual Studies And The Iconic Turn,” Journal of Visual
Culture no. 7.2 (2008): 131-146.
White, Alex W., The Elements of Graphic Design. New York: Allworth
Press Publishing, 2002.

THE RECEIVER IS THE MESSAGE?
PETER C. JONES
An investigation into substituting established forms

of Market and Target Audience Segmentation
with Pedagogic Segmentation
This essay outlines the early stages of a practice-based PhD into the effect
on communication design methodologies and outputs by substituting
established types of market segmentation e.g. A, B, C, D, & E’s, (socio-
economic grading) with theories and categories used by teachers to
identify the styles or models by which people learn. One example of these
styles is Honey & Mumford’s (1982) “Learning Styles”, which includes
sub-types or segments, such as Activist, Reflector, Pragmatist and Theorist.
The motivation for this project stems from my own experience as a
practicing designer where the prescriptive use of existing research
methodologies within advertising, graphic design and marketing can often
lead to clichéd and mediocre solutions.
Marketing, advertising and design professionals use a range of
methodologies to analyse and identify communication problems in order
to develop a strategy or project brief. However, core to, or used in tandem
with, almost all of these methodologies, is the use of some form of market
segmentation or target audience analysis in order to define the intended
addressee.
Therefore, my approach of radically changing a core component within
these established methodologies: i.e. substituting established forms of
market segmentation with a range of learning styles or pedagogic
segmentation, has not only the potential to act as a catalyst to the
formulation and addressing of new communication design criteria, but also
to provoke new approaches, possibilities not only within established
advertising, graphic design and marketing research processes and outputs
but also within pedagogy.
270 The Receiver is the Message?
Proposition and aims

This technique of radically changing a core design criteria, in order to
evaluate and address a problem from a different perspective, is also an
established methodology, for example Altshuller’s “Triz” 1961, Jones’s
“Design Methods” 1970 and De Bono’s “Lateral Thinking” 1971.
Consequently, I propose to deliver the same core message in several
different ways through a variety of media and formats, using extant and
emerging communications technologies. Each delivery or prototype will
be tailored to a different style of learning or pedagogic segment. In today’s
multi-media, multi-platform, multi-channel environment, I would maintain
this approach as eminently achievable and practical.
My ambition is to create a range of prototype communications using
the same core message, each message format will be designed to address
and engage a particular learning style or pedagogic segment. Depending
upon the physical context of the message (most likely an exhibition), users
may then browse and select their preferred message format, indeed they
may select more than one and view the same core message through a
variety of formats. This approach enables my ambition not to use learning
styles or pedagogic segmentation as a diagnostic tool or to categorise the
audience directly, but to allow the audience to browse and select their
preferred message format. This will not only enable me to evaluate the
audience engagement with the prototype messages, but also to critically
analyse the impact of the media on the message.
Core message and minimal demographic segmentation

The core message is a history of the Western alphabet. This has a broad
ranging educational and cultural significance and consequently could, or
indeed should be, of interest to anyone that uses an alphabet.
However, the latter still requires a form of target audience or
demographic segmentation. I have chosen to define this as a Lay Reader.
This is to create workable design parameter but still be as inclusive as
possible. Within the UK, a Lay Reader is generally described as an
individual that has achieved the basic educational attainment expected for
a 16-year-old, although their attainment and/or life experience may place
them well above this threshold.
Peter C. Jones 271
Problems with Learning Styles & Learner Segmentation

A key finding is that the vast majority of learning style models do not
appear to be verified by any substantial empirical evidence and/or
effectively underpinned by credible theoretical frameworks, as a paper in
the American Journal “Psychological Science in the Public Interest” goes
on to outline.
Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies

have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the
validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did
use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the
popular meshing hypothesis. 1
Whilst the Coffield (2004), an earlier more authoritative and

comprehensive 200-page report on learning styles, was equally critical.
The sheer number of dichotomies in the literature conveys something of

the current conceptual confusion. We have, in this review, for instance,
referred to: convergers versus divergers • verbalisers versus imagers •
holists versus serialists ... The sheer number of dichotomies betokens a
serious failure of accumulated theoretical coherence and an absence of
well-grounded findings, tested through replication. 2
Pedagogic Segmentation: an alternative to Learning Styles

& Learner Segmentation?
There is an emerging consensus in pedagogic theory and practice around
approaches to learning and teaching based on a conflation and alignment
of a variety of more established theories, ostensibly from psychology but
also from pedagogy. These emerging approaches or conflations of more
established theories take a more pragmatic top down approach and place
an emphasis on the teacher evaluating, selecting and implementing an
appropriate approach/model or combination of approaches/models depending
upon a variety of factors such as: context, curriculum content, the size and
nature of the cohort, the mode of delivery and the mode of learner
engagement. These changes in pedagogic theory and practice appear to
1
Harold Pashler and others, “Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence.”
Psychological Science in the Public Interest 9, no. 3 (2008): 105.
2
Frank Coffield and others, Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A
systematic and critical review. (London: Learning and Skills Research Centre,
(2004), 136.
have been largely initiated by, and emanated from, e-learning research
projects that are based on more robust interpretations of established
pedagogic and psychological theories.
The following three have been identified:
- “Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models”, Terry

Mayes & Sara de Freitas, JISC e-Learning Models Desk Study
(2004).
- “JISC Innovative e-Learning with Mobile and Wireless technology”,
JISC & The Higher Education Academy (2006) based loosely on
Mayes & de Freitas (2004).
- “The Missing Link in Promoting Quality Education: Exploring the
role of pedagogical design in promoting quality in teaching and
learning”, S. Naidu (2006).
Whist these focus on approaches to teaching and learning as opposed

to learner segmentation, all of the above still use forms of what I have
called Pedagogic Segmentation, for example JISC (2004) report uses:
Associative, Constructive (individual), Constructive (social) and Situative
Learning models, whilst the Naidu (2006) uses models such as Behaviorism,
Cognitivism and Constructivism.
As can be seen, they are also broadly similar in terms of their segmentation
and are based on similar or related theoretical frameworks such as:
“Constructive Alignment”, Biggs, J. (1999). “Activity Theory”, Cole, M.
& Engestrom, Y. (1993). “Instructivism and Instructional Design”, Gagne,
R. M. (1974/1985). “Experiential Learning Cycle”, Kolb, D. (1984).
“Conversational Framework/Model”, Laurillard, D. (1993). “Communities
of Practice & Situated Learning”, Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). “Stages of
Cognitive Development”, Piaget, J. (1936/70). “Operant Conditioning”,
Skinner B.F. (1953). “Zone of Proximal Development”, Vygotsky, L. S.
(1934/1962).
I maintain the pedagogic segmentations as proposed by Mayes & de
Freitas, etc. or an adaptation of these could form the basis for credible
communication design criteria. As these approaches are based on established
theories and frameworks, not only can the latter frameworks be used in the
formulation of the design criteria, but they can also be employed in
conjunction with other theories and methodologies described later, to
critically analyse and evaluate communication design outputs/prototypes
and user/ audience experience.
To reiterate; the premise of the research is not to diagnose the audience
but to observe, document and understand how audiences experience,
Peter C. Jones 273
engage with and assimilate messages. The intention is to present all

messages at the same time in the same location (each version of the core
message designed to align with a particular pedagogic segment), and the
user, then, browses and selects their own preference. Apart from ensuring
that any users taking part in the research fit within the broad definition of a
Lay Reader, this negates any complex pre- or post-analysis or
classification of those involved.
Additional theoretical contexts & frameworks

Transdisciplinary research: An appropriate mesh
of theoretical contexts
The transdisciplinary nature of this research project has made it challenging

to identify a ‘mesh’ of appropriate theoretical contexts with which to
formulate and address the research question. The core areas are Pedagogy
and Communication Design. Pedagogy has its own theoretical canon, it
also overlaps significantly with psychology and indeed appears, as
outlined previously, to be increasingly using established theories and
practices from psychology to form the basis for new and more
authoritative pedagogic research.
As a comparatively new academic discipline, Communication Design
or Graphic Design could be said to be still in the process of establishing its
own theoretical frameworks. Current communication or graphic design
theory tends to be a mix of art and design history analysed and contexualised
with a variety of other theoretical frameworks taken from such diverse
areas as Semiotics, Design, Media, Art, Photography, Branding, Advertising
and Marketing.
This research also requires the addressing of an eclectic range of
meanings, discourses and theoretical contexts in order to formulate,
contexualise and critically analyse: the design and production process; the
delivery of the same core message across a range of media, plus audience
experience, engagement with and assimilation of the messages. This
eclectic methodology and approach can be said to be typical or indeed core
to the theory and practice of communication design that by its nature
addresses indeterminate, eclectic and cross-disciplinary problems.
Design
Eclecticism & Indeterminacy
The diagram below outlines the areas of research, the principle
overlapping between them, with the research question that is a typical
example of “Design Eclecticism and Indeterminacy” at the hub.
Fig 4-15, the research proposition as an example of the eclectic and indeterminate
nature of the Design process.
This approach is also particularly indicative of the communication/

graphic design discipline. Graphic/communication designers are often
required to understand and engage with a wide range of other disciplines,
organisations and professions to make their client’s ideas, ambitions,
services and products distinctive, engaging, coherent and tangible. In order
to achieve the latter successfully, it requires an engagement, understanding
and development of creative alignments across a varied combination of
disciplines, processes, methodologies, media, ideas and cultural contexts,
to address problems that may often contain contradictions that are
incomplete, difficult to define or indeed are “fuzzy” or “wicked”. A
designer’s strengths lie in the ability to identify, formulate and address
problems that can be described as “wicked” (Buchanan 1992). Buchanan
elaborates on the indeterminate nature of Design problems.
Peter C. Jones 275
Why are design problems indeterminate and, therefore, wicked? Neither

Rittel nor any of those studying wicked problems has attempted to answer
this question, so the wicked problems approach as remained only a
description of the social reality of designing rather than the beginnings of a
well-grounded theory of design.
However, the answer to the question lies in something rarely considered:
the peculiar nature of the subject matter of design. Design problems are
"indeterminate" and "wicked" because design has no special subject matter
of its own apart from what a designer conceives it to be. The subject matter
of design is potentially universal in scope, because design thinking may be
applied to any area of human experience. But in the process of application,
the designer must discover or invent a particular subject out of the
problems and issues of specific circumstances. 3
The substitution of pedagogic segmentation to create alternative design

criteria is an example of the process described above; i.e. the designer
discovering or inventing “a particular subject out of the problems and
issues of specific circumstances”. Whilst the segmentations proposed by
Mayes & De Freitas, (2004) etc. are also examples of “wicked problems”,
in that although the definitions or descriptions of these models/segments
appear to be as a result of an emerging consensus, these models only offer
broad principles and how they may be interpreted and implemented is far
from determined or clear-cut.
Design & Graphic Design

User Experience & Persuasion
Theories and practices relating to user/audience experience and persuasion

will also inform this research. Within an academic and professional
context there is an established theoretical and practice-based framework of
“Design Thinking” and “Design Sensibilities”, particularly in relation to
product design, development, user context, experience and interaction, that
has been applied, and continues to be applied and developed, to products
and interactive communications (Brown, 2008), (Christensen, 2005).
Graphic design also addresses a wide range of audience ‘points of
action’ (or user experience, interaction and persuasion), whether they are
instructional or promotional communications, both are aimed at affecting
perceptions and/or behaviour. These techniques have been employed
within conventional graphic design for decades, however, as with e-
3
Richard Buchanan, “Wicked problems in design thinking.” Design Issues 8,
no. 2 (1992): 16.
learning and its influence in generating new pedagogic theory, the

developments in communication technology have led to new academic
research in communication, which, although focused on digital
communications, still have wide ranging relevance to extant or emerging
communication technologies and messages.
Persuasive rhetoric is as simple as the boldface type highlighting a name

when we scan a newsmagazine paragraph. But screen-based electronic
media create both the opportunity and imperative for a far deeper
application of persuasive rhetoric through interactivity, sound, and motion.
These new design dimensions can generate smart persuasive character,
attitude, and behaviors to persuade users/readers to make the right moves
for effective operation. Persuasion and seductive rhetoric can be developed
as theories to explain and evaluate existing communications phenomena,
expose and clarify current design strategies, and codify new design
strategies for generalized application in communications design. 4
Design
Prototyping: Exploratory, Experimental and Operational
The design of a poster, a physical product or an interactive digital
communication, all tend to be developed through a heuristic methodology
of making and reflection. This “Design Sensibility” or “Design Thinking”
centres on “Exploratory Prototyping” or through the process of making
and reflection, trial and error, developing an understanding not only of the
solution but also of the problem. Initially, this may involve creating a
range of alternative designs in the form of sketches or “Low Fidelity
Prototypes” to explore and clarify the problem and view it from different
perspectives, then develop one or more alternatives or “Experimental
Prototypes” to a “Higher Fidelity” and develop to a point that strongly
suggests the efficacy of the design; only then iteratively refine one of the
alternatives to become a finished final proposal or “High Fidelity”,
“Operational Prototype” (Manner 1997). Whilst the above describes a
range of prototypes and how they may be used, it also suggests that the
design process is not simply a sequential mechanistic iterative process.
Berente and Lyytinen (2005) describe design as a heuristic approach of not
only “mapping the solution space” but also the “problem space”.
4
Katherine McCoy, “Information and Persuasion: Rivals or Partners?” Design
Issues 16, no. 3 (2000): 83.
Peter C. Jones 277
The reasoning process of a designer is described as abductive (retroductive)

inference (a chain of operations), in contrast to it being inductive or
deductive inference, which are well known modes of inference in scientific
studies (Peirce 1992). Abduction generates a design hypothesis (a mapping
between a problem space and a solutions space), often a good guess by the
designer in the face of an uncertain situation, to a given problem and then
works with this hypothesis until it is no longer deemed practical – at which
time another hypothesis is generated. Simon (1996) describes this form of
cognitive activity as nested “generate-test cycles” and argues that they are
fundamental to design. He conceives design as problem solving, where
designers engage in a “heuristic search” of design alternatives, and then
choose (decide) a satisficing design to go forward. When the alternative is
shown not to be the proper course, a new cycle of heuristic search begins.
During the design process, designers engage in iterative learning about
both the problem space and the solution space (Simon 1996, Cross 1989). 5
The design process and outputs can often be said to be based on a heuristic,
if not intuitive then, subjective approach that requires an individual and/or
group ‘best guess’, based on prior experience, knowledge and expertise.
This approach does not always readily align or sit comfortably within
established academic research methodologies and practices.
Rationalisation of nomenclature
A consequence of the transdisciplinary nature of this research is the range,
variety and crossover of the nuanced, similar or contradictory
nomenclature, ideas and meanings employed by the various discourses,
theories and disciplines. For example, within this paper depending upon
the context, meaning and emphasis required: communication, message,
artefact, sign, curriculum and user experience can be interchangeable,
whilst the same could be said for audience, addressee, user, receiver,
learner, student and cohort.
Semiotics
An overarching taxonomy
Semiotics provides us with a potentially unifying conceptual framework
and a set of methods and terms for use across the full range of signifying
5
Nicholas Berente and Kalle Lyytinen. “Iteration in Systems Analysis and Design:
Cognitive Processes and Representational Artifacts.” Sprouts: Working Papers on
Information Systems 5, issue 4 (2005): 181.
practices, which include gesture, posture, dress, writing, speech,

photography, film, television and radio. 6
As Chandler notes above, semiotics has “terms for use across the full
range of signifying practices”, therefore I propose to develop a taxonomy
or glossary to define the meaning and use of key words or phrases for this
research project. I intend to investigate semiotic theory to either: utilise its
existing nomenclature or to inform the synthesis of an overarching
transdisciplinary nomenclature. Semiotics also provides useful overlaps
with other theoretical contexts and frameworks relevant to this research
such as narratology as well as the pedagogic/psychological discourses of
Vygotsky, Piaget, Lave & Wenger. Equally importantly, semiotics has
frameworks for critically analysing and contextualising the relationship
between the media and the message from Barthes, to the Technological or
Media Determinism of McLuhan to the Linguistic Relativity of Sapir-
Whorf.
Narrative
Structure, context and meanings: perception and behaviour
Whilst narrative inquiry in terms of observational ethnographic research is
not intended as a form of data collection, I do intend to address how users
engage and interpret the messages and narratives by using a range of
ethnographic and phenomenological data collection methods in relation to
user experience i.e. audience engagement with, and assimilation of, a
series communication design prototypes. These ‘qualitative’ and ‘exploratory’
data collection methods may range from focus groups, interviews, to real
time and/or recorded audio visual observation, to document and analyse
the engagement and assimilation that occurs (Dourish, 2001), (Suchman
2007) or use Opportunistic or Judgement sampling (Murphy 1998).
The content of the prototype messages will invariably be some sort of
narrative that presents the evolution of Western letterforms. Consequently,
the structure and presentation of the story can also be formulated, critically
analysed and contextualised through narrative theory (Propp, 1928),
(Arendt, 1958), (Chapman, 1978), (Stern, 1998). However, there is also a
significant overlap between semiotics and narrative theory, for example
Narratology (Barthes and Greimas etc.). The above could be said to deal
6
Daniel Chandler. “Strengths of Semiotic Analysis.” Aberystwyth University,
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem10.html (accessed September 2,
2011).
Peter C. Jones 279
with the structure, context and meanings. Bruner (1986) approaches

narrative from a psychological perspective as a way of people understanding
experience from “a subjective perspective” Murray (2005).
Bruner published Essays for the Left Hand (1962), where he proposed the
existence of a ‘library of scripts’ which are available to members of a
culture as repertoires of under-standing. In his later contribution to
narrative psychology (Bruner, 1986), these two strands of thought are
brought together in the opposition between paradigmatic reasoning and
narrative thought, Paradigmatic reasoning shares with scientific
explanation the mode of inductivism. Through it one sees a world of
objects which interact in regular patterns. Narrative thought, by contrast,
attempts to maintain a subjective perspective on the world it represents,
incorporating aims and fears into the picture. It incorporates both a
knowledge of the world and the point of view which beholds it. 7
This cognitive approach to narrative can be said to be the flip side to

semiotic theory in that the latter tends to analyse meanings and contexts,
whilst narrative psychology tends to focus on how people may use
narrative to interpret and understand their experiences. Allied to the latter,
there is also an emerging consensus and area of research relating to the
power of narrative particularly within the medical/clinical communications
targeted at patients and the general public to inform and influence
behaviour (Green 2006).
Narratives can be an effective means of communicating cancer-related

information. Transportation into narrative worlds, or immersion into a
story, is a primary mechanism of narrative persuasion (Green & Brock,
2000, 2002). Transportation theory extends the domain of traditional
message effects theories, as well as providing mechanisms for behavior
change. Trans-porting narratives can both change beliefs and motivate
action, and may be particularly useful for conveying cancer information
because they reduce counterarguments (and thus help individuals
overcome barriers to treatment seeking); facilitate the mental simulation of
unknown, difficult, or frightening procedures (e.g., screening); provide role
models for behavior change; and create strong attitudes that are based on
both cognition and emotion. 8
7
Kevin Murray. “Narrative Partitioning: The ins and outs of identity construction.”
http://home.mira.net/~kmurray/psych/in&out.html (accessed September 8, 2011).
8
Melanie Green. “Narratives and Cancer Communication.” Journal of Communication
56, (2006): S163–S183.
The use of narrative to influence consumer awareness, perception and

behaviour has also recently become a recognised practice within graphic
design, branding and advertising. How a brand is effectively positioned
and differentiated in relation to its competitors then communicated across
a diverse range of communications with different objectives and audiences,
requires sophisticated levels of co-ordination.
Whilst brands may maintain co-ordination and recognition through
rigorous control of their visual/audio assets, the developing complexity,
audience engagement with and indeed audience authorship of brand
related messages, has made the co-ordination of a brand more problematic,
and one means of addressing this is by employing a narrative (Garment
2006).
The current, highly fragmented media environment calls for an adaptable

positioning which is more responsive to a much broader range of
audiences, media platforms, media channels and competitive exposures – a
cohesive positioning ‘narrative’ which can be extended to communicate the
brand to many different audiences that each view the brand from its own
perspective. 9
Therefore, a brand narrative or the story of the company/service/product

can be employed across a diverse range of communications, enhancing
brand co-ordination and recognition.
Technology
Determinism & potential media alignments
with Pedagogic Segments
Whilst technology as such is not a theoretical context or framework, the

impact of the media on the message and subsequent user engagement and
assimilation of the message are key to this research. Therefore, the choice
and application of technology is inextricably linked to the theoretical
contexts or frameworks; indeed from a technological determinist
perspective, it is technology that imposes meaning whilst driving and
shaping these theoretical contexts or frameworks.
In conclusion, further research is planned to investigate potential
technological alignments with the Pedagogic Segmentation of Mayes & de
9
Garment, John. “Brand Narratives: Positioning in the time of media
fragmentation.” Yellow Papers Series, (2008). (no volume, issue or page number
stated)
Peter C. Jones 281
Freitas etc., whilst initial investigations suggest that Haptic technology,

360 Degree and Immersive Cinema, Interactive Digital tablets, Augmented
Reality and ‘hands-on’ traditional analogue technologies may be aligned
and harnessed to create communications that address these various
pedagogic segments.
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A COURSE IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION
TONY PRITCHARD
Design for Visual Communication

The Postgraduate Design for Visual Communication course at the London
College of Communication sets out to demystify the theories and practices
of visual communication. The course is for people converting career or
preparing for Master’s study. Tim Molloy, Head of Creative Direction at
the Science Museum, has described the initiative as a foundation course
for postgraduate study (Molloy, 2009). In fulfilling its remit, the course
introduces design principles, related theories and visual research methods
to its students. The course attracts non-design students who have studied
subjects as diverse as molecular genetics, microbiology, architecture,
English and geography. “Eye” magazine said of the course participants:
…their strength instead lies in their research capabilities and their capacity
to think beyond pure aesthetics. They learn basic compositional and
typographic skills within a short period [and] use design as a
communicative tool – not as an end in itself (Hobson, 2007).
The Threshold Principles of Design

The course introduces design principles such as visual language,
typographic hierarchy, colour, structure and information design through
practical ‘hands-on’ workshops. We do not use computer technology for
these classes as the screen interface can lead to stilted and linear thinking.
Instead, we find that by slowing the process down, the experience of
learning is intensified. Students learn the significance inherent in the
making of signs and symbols through the analysis of design components
such as shape and colour, and principles such as scale, contrast and
density. By analysing the component parts of visual communication in the
abstract and considering them as compositional elements, students become
aware of the many layers of potential meaning and interpretation. Colour
alone has physiological properties as well as socio-economic, political,
Tony Pritchard 285
cultural and psychological dimensions. It may be used functionally or

decoratively, but also conveys subliminal messages through personal
association.
Theory with Practice

Concepts such as semiotics, denotation, connotation, Gestalt theory,
semantic and syntactic typography are introduced whilst exploring practical
compositions. These concerns become most apparent when dealing with
complexity as found in many information design projects. This is where
there is potential for misunderstanding, and miscommunication can occur.
The use of colour or shape is commonly used to denote meaning. These
elements have their limitations. The use of five colours to differentiate
meaning between groups of information is discernable by most people,
however the distinctions in meaning become more difficult to decipher
once 10 colours are employed for the same purpose. Shapes that have the
same colour and characteristics appear to be visually grouped in terms of
assumed meaning, however this may not have been the original intention.
Fig. 4-16: Grouping, 30.01.12, created by the author. Based on an exercise by

Moritz Zwimpfer. The illustration demonstrates the principle that components that
share the same characteristics appear to belong together despite being separated.
286 A Course in Visual Communication
The Workshops
There are five key workshops exploring visual communication. Through
the “Type Classification” workshop we discuss connotations relating to
typeface selection. This can be the association we make to the political
leanings of certain newspapers and their choice of typeface for their
masthead. Blackletter is commonly employed to denote a sense of
tradition and authority in this context. Blackletter might equally be used
for the logos of heavy rock bands to denote more sinister and darker
overtones. Blackletter can also be seen in the branding of Tequila from
Mexico. The type classification may be the same but the semiotic reading
is different. The “Colour” workshop engages students with the physiological
effects of the interaction of particular colour combinations. Many students
use colour and meaning as the focus of major projects, such as mapping
colour and symbols around the world. Through the “Visual Language”
workshop we consider how abstract shapes can convey concrete ideas and
how this is translated into our visual environment. Through a series of set
tasks during the “Typographic Hierarchy” session students explore the
effects of restrictions on their creativity. They look at micro-typography
from the letter to the word, the sentence and paragraph. They consider
form and counterform as well as the space in and around the letterform.
Subtle manipulations can enhance meaning and the effective transfer of
information. The same exercise is explored over a range of formats and the
means of gaining emphasis (position, weight and size) to test how the
format and type specification alters perception of the information. The
“Information Design” project brings together colour, structure, type,
charts, tables and images. Having considered the components of design
separately, the challenge is to bring each layer into a meaningful
relationship to the information and through testing, minimise the potential
for misunderstanding. In the following text I shall elaborate on the content
and considerations given to the emerging themes within the design
principle workshops.
Colour
Colour can be described in terms of its physiological, psychological,
political and socio-cultural significance. It is associated with various
emotional states: green with envy, yellow with cowardice and blue with
melancholy. Colour is a means of gaining attention and adding visual
dynamism. It can be used to aid navigation through media. It can organise
Tony Pritchard 287
and categorise elements through use of a colour coding system. Colour can
help unite nations as in the Olympic symbol and what it represents.
Colour and Culture

In Western cultures white is a symbol of purity and associated with
weddings. Black is linked to funerals and mourning but is also the colour
many of us choose to be formal or stylish. Red represents good fortune in
China and is the colour used at weddings. In Western cultures red is
associated with danger but also with passion. In India red is a colour of
purity. Orange is the colour for Halloween in the US and also the colour
associated with the Irish Protestant faith. Yellow is a sacred and imperial
colour in many Asian cultures. Green is the colour of Islam but it means a
lack of fidelity in China. Blue is a holy colour in the Jewish faith, a sacred
colour to Hindus for whom it represents Krishna, a colour of protection in
the Middle East and a colour of immortality in China. Purple is a symbol
of royalty in European cultures. The course attracts an international cohort.
These ideas relating to colour are explored by students from a diverse
cultural background, each culture providing a window to their customs and
practices. By discussing these issues in an open forum, students become
sensitive and informed practitioners.
Colour and Political Significance

Political parties adopt colour as part of their identity. In many countries
red is associated with left-wing politics and blue with right-wing politics.
In 2004, orange took on a more chilling significance. Terrorists in Iraq
dressed their victims in orange as a political statement against the Iraqis
being held in Guantanamo Bay, who are also dressed in orange. A red
cross on a white background is the English flag and the reverse of this,
white on red, is the Swiss flag. It is the symbol of the International Red
Cross. In Islamic countries the Crusader red cross will provoke other
associations. Semiotic analysis enables students to understand how colour
and its associated meaning is used in historic context and contemporary
media communication and how this can be manipulated to form new
meaning.
Shape
Shapes have gained social, cultural and political significance. The
dynamic primary shapes of circle, square and triangle give form to much
of the physical world we see. They are the basis of the Roman alphabet.
Shape can be a way of grouping and classifying information. Shape and
colour are combined in a myriad of permutations to create the world’s
flags. They are used to embody visual identities. Often, shapes act as a
container for another element. Shapes relate to our human experience of
orientation: vertical, horizontal, slanted, rotated and central. Certain shapes
have become connected with deeper psychological associations we have as
humans. Our planet, the sun and moon are spherical and this shape has a
particular resonance with us. Squares are solid and stable. We use these
associations when making compositions in the abstract to represent our
concrete (real) world. The visual language workshop investigates shape as
pure form. These workshops build more personal and conceptual work,
such as the “Structure and the City” project. Students in this project
establish a focused theme to explore such areas as the significance of
colour or shape, in understanding the urban environment.
Line
A line has been described as the shortest distance between two points. As
simple as a line may seem, it can take many forms: straight, horizontal,
vertical, diagonal, curved, continuous, broken, loops and spirals. Lines
form shapes when linked to one another and make connections between
other items. They can signify a direction, a boundary or a separation.
Underlining a word gains emphasis for that word. Lines are used in the
construction of diagrams and form the X and Y axes. Lines can be used to
separate categories either vertically or horizontally. They are the
fundamental components of a timeline; the lines of longitude and latitude
on a map; and the construction lines of grids. Lines have various thickness
and lengths. They can be dots, dashes and solid lines. Students explore
each of these forms and design a book to document and demonstrate their
intense investigation of the line as a graphic device and how it may be
applied broadly across differing environments.
Squares and Rectangles

The square is a fundamental structure implying stability and permanence.
Much of our lives are contained within a rectilinear experience, for
example buildings, roads and computer screens. The square can be a
container of information and can describe a relationship with other
elements. Information that is boxed out has been highlighted as having
special significance. Rectangles are intrinsic units of construction, they
Tony Pritchard 289
can be placed side by side or one on top of each other forming rudimentary
grids. A design begins on a rectangular piece of paper, which is further
subdivided into smaller proportionate units of the rectangle. Aerial
photographs of cultivated landscapes reveal a patchwork of rectangles.
This mapping approach was utilised by Smart Money for their online Map
of the Market. The size of the rectangles denotes market share. Colour
additionally denotes rises and falls.
Circle
The circle is constructed by establishing a centre-point around which
another point rotates at a fixed radius. It starts and finishes at the same
point. The circle implies movement in either direction. It suggests rotation
around a centre. The circle defines the area that it contains and the area
that surrounds it by its circumference. It is a symbol of completeness, of
wholeness. Transcribed into three dimensions, the circle becomes a globe.
Our earth, the moon and the sun are spherical. They all support our life
and have significant meaning to us. Wheels rotate around a central axis.
The circle is implied in, and transferred to, the many words ending in
“centric”, such as egocentric and eccentric. Stone circles have cosmic or
religious significance. Domes in religious buildings often represent the
heavens. The circle in its smallest form is a dot, which is the basic unit of
lithographic printing reproduction; it describes tone and colour. The circle
can be a container; it encloses an area, sets a boundary and locates
elements as internal or external. Circles can be applied as elements in a
diagram, such as pie charts and Venn diagrams.
Triangle
A triangle is formed from three sides meeting at three angles; as such the
triangle can represent three aspects of something. The triangle is a stable
shape and is used as a strengthening device in other constructions, such as
girders. Triangular grids can be used for axonometric and isometric
projection. Four triangles on a square base is a pyramid. The pyramids of
Egypt are a powerful signifier of that country’s ancient history. The
triangle is often used as an analogy for a hierarchical organisation.
Shape, Colour and Road signs

The triangle, the square and the circle have been used in conjunction with
colour to signify specific meanings for the categorisation of road signs. In
1949, the UN World Conference on Road and Motor Transport in Geneva

instigated a protocol to govern the actions of road users. Circular signs
give orders. Those with a red outline are mostly prohibitive. Signs with
solid blue circles mainly give positive instructions. Triangular signs with a
red outline give warnings of potential hazards. Direction and information
signs are mainly rectangular. In Britain, blue rectangular signs indicate
information on a motorway and green indicates directions on a primary
route.
Visual Language and Grammar

Visual language is comprised of simple fundamental components such as
dots, lines, circles, squares and triangles. Colour, texture and space are
also basic elements of visual language. Visual language can be
manipulated to express, represent and communicate concepts such as
rhythm, speed, distance, movement, density, space, weight, force, impact,
proximity and structure. Acquiring knowledge of visual language and
grammar will not only be fundamental to a student’s practice, but also
enable them to articulate through the spoken and written word the
concepts behind their ideas.
Fig. 4-17: Density, 30.01.12, created by the author. This illustration is based on the
map by Dr John Snow documenting the deaths from Cholera in Victorian London.
Tony Pritchard 291
Type Classification
Typefaces are classified by their form and historical context. Over time,
type styles have developed particular associations through usage and are
adopted for the atmosphere they can create. Serif typefaces, for example,
evoke associations with classicism and tradition. These ideas are discussed
with students and they are asked to investigate and express visually the
‘personalities’ of six contrasting typefaces.
Fig. 4-18: The T-ness of T, 30.01.12, created by the author. Students are
encouraged to express the quality of the typeface and letterform.
Type Hierarchy
The Oxford English Dictionary defines hierarchy as a ranking system,
ordered according to status or authority. Hierarchy is a value system and is
dependent on who is making the judgment and what the criteria is. The
creation of a hierarchy within information is a fundamental method of
organising and imparting data. It is the “H” within Richard Saul Wurman’s
“LATCH” theory. Typography has a dual purpose, on the one hand it
attracts attention through the impact of its dynamic form, on the other it
must impart critical information with clarity. Student designers analyse the
text and investigate the means of articulating the information, assigning
relative importance through typographic techniques. The intention of
performing such a task is to encourage people to read information in a
preconceived order. Emphasis is given, through contrast, on: size, weight,
position and colour of type. The use of capitals, small capitals and italics
are often used to denote specific meaning. The use of typographic devices
such as rules or reversing type white out of a solid colour can also aid the
notion of hierarchy. The ability to change the size, weight, colour and
percentage tint of a typeface allows designers to create implied depth. The
overlapping of type implies that one thing is in front of another and
denotes relative importance, i.e. the top layer exerts dominance over the
bottom layer. The important concept to be grasped is that a hierarchy is
gained through contrast. Slight shifts in contrast are less dramatic than
greater shifts in emphasis, for example the difference between 9-point and
10-point type will be less detectable to the human eye than 9-point and 18-
point. Changes in weight should also be distinct.
Fig. 4-19: Typographic hierarchy exercise, 30.01.12, created by the author.

Students are encouraged to make visual and semantic alignments.
Grid Structures
The notion of structure implies the ordering of elements into a co-
ordinated whole. Graphic design has adopted “the grid” as a method by
which components of a design are brought into a formal relationship to
one another. The grid is particularly associated with the work of pioneering
modernist designers such as Jan Tschichold, Josef Müller-Brockmann and
Wim Crouwel. Grids are apparent in both man-made and natural
structures. Georgian architecture exploited a modular approach to the
relationship between, and proportion of, windows and doors. The classic
Tony Pritchard 293
Georgian window has a unit structure of three horizontal panes of glass by

four vertical panes. A pinecone or sunflower head is comprised of units
making up its overall structure. How things are arranged, grouped and
ordered can influence the way they are perceived and read, and as a
consequence is often an aid to understanding. The student designer needs
to evaluate which layout best supports the information to be
communicated. The grid is seldom visible; however, the way in which
structure is employed can have a dramatic effect on the appearance of the
overall design composition. Design academic Ray Roberts has suggested
that grids act as “metaphors for the human need to make sense of the
world and to position ourselves in control of it” (Roberts, 2000).
Information Design
Information design is concerned with explaining complexity through
visual means to enable understanding. Information is comprised of
components known as data; these components are things like words,
numbers, statistics and facts. Data becomes information when it is placed
in a context that has meaning to an audience or user. Students investigate
the ways in which information is presented, such as maps and timelines.
They use the design principles learnt through the workshops to manipulate
form and colour to mediate messages.
Semiotics and Visual Communication

This conference brought together speakers from across the globe. Despite
the subtle nuances inflected from our various backgrounds, the exchange
of views seemed more to unite the potential for our broader understanding
of a shared visual language in the 21st century.
Bibliography
Books
Crow, David. Visible Signs. (UK: AVA Academia, 2007).
Evamy, Michael. World Without Words. (UK: Laurence King, 2003).
Hofmann, Armin. Graphic Design Manual. (Switzerland: Arthur Niggli,
1965).
Jacobson, Robert. Information Design. (US: The MIT Press, 1999).
Leborg, Christian. Visual Grammar. (Princeton Architectural Press, 2006).
Noble, Ian and Bestley, Russell. Visual Research. (UK: AVA

Academia, 2011).
Wurman, Richard. Information Anxiety 2. (QUE, 2000).
Journals
Hobson, Jamie. Another way to draw the line. (Eye Magazine.
Issue 65, 2007).
Lecture
Roberts, Raymond and Roberts, Lucie. Two Generations’ Perspectives.
(UK: ISTD/LCP, 2000).
Meeting
Molloy, Tim. LCC Academic Consultation Meeting with External
Participants. (UK: LCC, 2009).
CHILDREN ARE PAINTING INSCRIPTIONS:
PEDAGOGY OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
IN LOCAL HISTORY
EVANGELIA SVIROU, IFIGENEIA VAMVAKIDOU

AND PARASKEVI GOLIA
This paper is the outcome of a didactic proposal for children (6-10 years
old) in order to learn about local history. The historical information
concerns life history and the products of the painter Elias Byzantis (1910-
1980), who designed many nameplates in the city of Florina. The
researching issue refers a) to the local, financial history as it appears in the
specific nameplates and b) to the didactic proposal for teaching local
history through visual documents. It concerns a workshop in which we
took the role of a curriculum designer1 as we developed a blueprint for
revising our existing curriculum along interdisciplinary lines. For the
collection of these inscriptions we used the historical methodology, which
is the local research in public and private archives. Once the decision is
made to conduct historical research, there are steps that should be followed
to achieve a reliable result. Charles Busha and Stephen Harter2 detail six
steps for conducting historical research: the recognition of a historical
problem or the identification of a need for certain historical knowledge,
the gathering of as much relevant information about the problem or topic
as possible, the forming of hypotheses that tentatively explain
relationships between historical factors, the rigorous collection and
organisation of evidence, the verification of the authenticity and veracity
of information and its sources, the selection, organisation and analysis of
the most pertinent collected evidence, and the recording of conclusions in
1
Evaggelia Svirou, Elias Byzantis (1910-1980). Shop signs in Florina, a
contribution to the local history (University of Western Macedonia, Faculty of
Pedagogic: Florina, 2010), unpublished thesis.
2
Charles H. Busha and Stephen P. Harter, Research Methods in Librarianship:
techniques and Interpretations (Academic Press: New York, 1980), 91.
296 Children Are Painting Inscriptions
a meaningful narrative. The lessons took place in February-March of 2011

in Florina at the 5th primary school. The total number of children was 108,
from six to 12 years old. All the children that participated came from the
1st class (8 boys, 10 girls), the 2nd class (7 boys, 6 girls), the 3rd class (12
boys, 11 girls), the 4th class (7 boys, 15 girls), the 5th class (8 boys, 5 girls)
and from the 6th class (10 boys, 9 girls). We focused on the skills and
thinking processes, asking the students to see and analyse the painter’s
productions according to the specific genre of the inscription. The students
designed their own inscriptions in order to advertise a store. Thus, we were
interested in the assessments and products that demonstrate skills and
thinking processes, such as essays, productions, recitals, projects, note-
taking and in-class participation. Particularly, students were asked to
participate in the historical research for the life story of Elias Byzantis
using their own ‘gaze’ at the documents we had already collected (family
history, maps of the region, newspapers, interviews, the art crafts). They
were also asked to “see and read” the sign posts by answering specific
questions about the material, the shape, the signs, the typography, the
colour, the advertising product. The aim of this presentation was to ‘read’
students’ products using social semiotics in the field of visual
communication.
Introduction
Before children are able to read and write, they do not know the difference
between a line drawing and a letter. When an adult writes an “A”, it is
simply another drawing. It is a picture, different than a face or a house, but
it is still just another image drawn with a coloured pencil on white paper.
Soon, children learn that combinations of these letter-pictures mean more
complicated things. When the drawings “A-P-P-L-E” are combined, they
form another picture, which we learn stands for the name of the fruit. Now
the letter-pictures become word-pictures that can spark other images in our
minds of the things they stand for. We further learn that these word-
pictures can be combined with other word-pictures to form sentence-
pictures. To a child, there is no difference between words and pictures –
they are one and the same.
Thus, visual messages with their own rules of syntax are being read,
but this language means nothing to those who can only read words. The
wall space and signs in many cities are often coated with multicoloured
spray painted messages. Termed vandalism, graffiti or tagging depending
on the speaker; these visual messages are actually a complex written form
of communication. Graffiti messages may mean the mark of a territorial
Evangelia Svirou, Ifigeneia Vamvakidou and Paraskevi Golia 297
border by a gang, a plea for understanding and hope for the future, grief
for a killed loved one, anger towards an enemy, a show of playfulness and
humour as part of a national fad, an act of criminal vandalism or simply an
individual expression that signals the writer's existence. As with any
symbolic communicative system, if you do not know the language, you
will have trouble deciphering the message. Educational psychologist
Jerome Bruner3 claimed that persons only remember 10% of what they
hear, 30% of what they read, but about 80% of what they see and do.
Words and pictures can become one, powerful and memorable mode of
communication.
Interest in local history has boomed since the Second World War.
Local history societies have sprung up everywhere like dragon's teeth,
Women's Institutes and Mothers’ Union branches contribute to the subject,
schoolchildren do projects on it, evening classes and public libraries seethe
and bubble with seekers after local truth. In his classic book on local
history in England, which came out originally in 1959, W.G. Hoskins
attributed the flowering of interest in the subject to the complexity, pace
and fundamental incomprehensibility of modern life4. In a world growing
daily more impossible to understand and control, people find comfort and
a sense of identity in the study of something close at hand, small in scale
and of direct personal relevance. The same need, which drives some to
strange religions and new cults, sends others to the nearest archivist.
Christopher Charlton, who teaches local history among other things in the
adult education department of Nottingham University, finds that the factor
which brings more people to the classes than any other is today's social
mobility. “People move to a new area”, he says, “feel rootless there and
want to find out about its history as a way of establishing a place for
them”. The recent mushrooming of family history is part of the same
phenomenon and many people who start to trace their forebears find their
interest extending to the locality as well5.
Local history is the subject and the methodology of micro-history and
refers to social history, which finds its interest in groups ‘different’ from
3
Jerome Bruner, Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1986). Jerome Bruner, In Search of Mind (New York: Harper & Row,
1983). Jerome Bruner, ȉhe Process of Education (New York: Vintage Books,
1960).
4
Roger Richardson, The Study of History: A Bibliographical Guide (Manchester
University Press, 2000): 140.
5
Department of Adult Education and the ESRC Cambridge Group for the History
of Population and Social Structure, Local Population Studies (Nottingham:
Nottingham University, 1994).
the majority, focusing on the experiential aspects of the everyday life.

Main axes for the determination of LH are:
• the events and individuals

• the proximity in space and time (synchronous)
• the participation of the subjects (indigenous and others) in the
historic events
• the changes, either short-term or long-term, which are happening in
the specific host or origin place6.
The process of learning and understanding the background and growth

of a chosen field of study or profession can offer insight into
organisational culture, current trends and future possibilities.
The historical method of research applies to all fields of study because
it encompasses their: origins, growth, theories, personalities, crisis, etc.
Both quantitative and qualitative variables can be used in the collection of
historical information. There is a variety of places to obtain historical
information from. Primary sources are the most sought after in historical
research. Primary resources are firsthand accounts of information.
“Finding and assessing primary historical data is an exercise in detective
work. It involves logic, intuition, persistence, and common sense”7.
6
Spyros Asdrachas, Historical Research and historical education Realities and
Perspectives Athens: Mnimon, 1982) (in Greek). Spyros Asonitis, “Historical
documentation by narrative sources. A slippery route”, Tekmirion, 3, (2001): 11-
39. Maria Vaina, Theoretical framework of the teaching of local history in the
twentieth century (Athens: Gutenberg, 1997). Alain-Jean-Marie Bernard,
Geneviève Joutard and Jean-Pierre Rioux, A la recherche du temps présent:
Histoire orale et enseignement (Amiens: CRDP, 1987). Fernard Braudel,
Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world at the time of Philip II of Spain,
Volume A: The role of the surroundings (Athens: M.I.E.T., 1993) (in Greek).
Fanourios Voros, “Local History”, Journal Ekpedaiftika, 20, (1990): 33-41.
Giannis Giannopoulos, “The teaching of history”, Journal Nea Paideia, 42, (1987):
166-172. Elli Giotopoulou – Sisilianou, The teaching of history in secondary
education (Athens: Private Edition, 1965) (in Greek). Alain Croix and Guyvarc'h
Didier, Guide de l’histoire locale (Paris: Seuil, 1990). Francois Dosse, History in
crumbs. From the Annals to the New History (Heraklion, Crete: University
Editions, 1993). Robert Douche, Local History and the Teacher (London:
Redwood Press, 1972). David Dymond, Writing Local History. A Practical Guide
(Sussex: Phillmore, 1988).
7
Gaye Tuchman, Historical social science: Methodologies, methods, and
meanings. Handbook of qualitative research. In Handbook of qualitative research
(Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc., 1994), 252.
Some examples of primary documents are: personal diaries, eyewitness

accounts of events and oral histories. Secondary sources of information are
records or accounts prepared by someone other than the person, or
persons, who participated in or observed an event. Secondary resources
can be very useful in giving a researcher a grasp on a subject and may
provide extensive bibliographic information for delving further into a
research topic. In any type of historical research, there are issues to
consider.
The local research

This paper is the outcome of a didactic proposal for children (6-12 years
old) in order to learn about local history. The historical information
concerns life history and the products of the painter Elias Byzantis (1910-
1980), who designed many nameplates in the city of Florina. The
researching issue refers:
a) To the local, financial history as it appears in the specific nameplates

b) To the didactic proposal for teaching local history through visual
documents.
It concerns a workshop in which we took the role of a curriculum

designer as we developed a blueprint for revising our existing curriculum
along interdisciplinary lines8. For the collection of these inscriptions we
used the historical methodology, which is the local research in public and
private archives. Once the decision is made to conduct historical research,
there are steps that should be followed to achieve a reliable result.
Charles Busha and Stephen Harter9 detail six steps for conducting
historical research:
• the recognition of a historical problem

• the gathering of as much relevant information
• the forming of hypothesis
• the rigorous collection and organisation of evidence
• the verification of the authenticity and veracity of information and
its sources
8
Evaggelia Svirou, Elias Byzantis (1910-1980) Shop signs in Florina, a
contribution to the local history (University of Western Macedonia, Faculty of
Pedagogic: Florina, 2010), unpublished thesis.
9
Charles H. Busha and Stephen P. Harter, Research Methods in Librarianship:
techniques and Interpretations (Academic Press: New York, 1980), 91.
• the analysis of the most pertinent collected evidence

• the recording of conclusions in a meaningful narrative.
The data
Elias Vyzantis, sign-inscription-maker and painter, as a representative
of a group of craftsmen and artists who had co-operated with the
merchants of the period 1950-1970. He was born in Istanbul in 1910. In
1922, after the events of Asia Minor, the Vyzantis family left Turkey and
was installed in Florina. He died in December 1980. His work consists of
two parts: sign-making and painting.
He used three types of writings, which are still modern in visual,
graphic communication:
• the upright and italic flat

• the upright and italic prismatic
• the unusual with the non-equal width.
Vyzantis’ nameplates were all destroyed during the 70s when the
plexiglas and the neon signs with the already-made letters entered the
sign-making market of Florina.
Fig. 4-20: A Vyzantis sign10
10
Archive of researchers.
Elias Vyzantis (1910-1980)

The aim of this study is to bring forth the ‘minor’ visual works-signs in the
field of the local history ‘from below’ and to emphasise, through Vyzantis’
signs on the everyday economic life, the stores in which they were used.
This material is an element of the material and local culture of the people
of Florina of the specific period.
The identification and the classification of the nameplates constitute
the on-site research in the city of Florina. The municipality of Florina is at
the northwest part of Greece and borders the municipalities of Prespes,
Kastoria, Amyntaio, Edessa and Almopia. It is located at an altitude of 680
metres and has a population of 22.000 (January 2011). Its name, according
to some versions, is associated with the rich vegetation of the area, the
Flora, the view of vegetation for the ancient Romans and the term which
today is translated as flora. Until now, our material consists of 40 signs,
which were gathered with research in stores, local archives, newspaper
archives and families. After the signs were detected, they were classified
and analysed based of Kress’ model. This paper is the result of an
educational-didactic proposal for children (6-10 years of age), in order to
learn the local history. The historical information concerns the life, the
history and the products-works of the painter Elias Vyzantis (1910-1980),
who painted many commercial signs in the city of Florina.
Fig. 4-21: A children's sign-The doctors11.
11
Methodology
The first tenet of the syntactic theory of visual communication is
“mediated words and pictures have equal importance in the
communication process”. Words and pictures are both collections of
symbolic images. Words are signs composed of lines, curves and open and
closed shapes. Words, as with pictures, can be presented in a variety of
colours, forms, depths and movements. Words have their historical roots
as images and are still thought to be works of art by typographical
designers and calligraphers. The second tenet of the syntactic theory of
visual communication is “as symbols with similar historical roots,
mediated words and pictures are both symbolic representations”. Before
Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, learned to connect words with the
objects she touched in her environment, her mind was filled with non-
visual, non-verbal emotions. The third tenet of the syntactic theory of
visual communication is “images are remembered by thinking about them
in words”.
Whether pictures are not a language because there is no easily
definable and reproducible alphabet or because the elements that make up
a picture do not follow a discursive, linear flow, most experts agree that
images are a collection of signs and as such, become a language when read
in the mind. When words and images have equal status within all media of
communication, the cultural cues that define a society will not only be
more efficiently passed from one generation to the next, but within this
generation, here and now, diverse cultures will be able to understand each
other a little better12.
The lesson-plan
The lesson plans took place during February and March 2011 in the 5th
elementary school of Florina. The total number of children was 108 and
aged six to 12 years old. All the children that participated were students of
the 1st class (8 boys, 10 girls), the 2nd (7 boys, 6 girls), the 3rd (12 boys, 11
girls), the 4th (7 boys, 15 girls), the 5th (8 boys, 5 girls) and the 6th class (10
boys, 9 girls). Didactic interventions were made in each class during
‘flexible zone’, since this was how we could connect in an interdisciplinary
way the different fields (history, art lessons, mathematics, environmental
lessons).
12
Martin Paul Lester, Visual Communication. Images with Messages. 4th Edition
(Belmont, CA: Wadsowrth Publishing Company, 2006).
We emphasise on:
• the skills
• the thought processes.
We asked students to see and analyse the works of the painter

according to the particular type of nameplates. Students designed their
own nameplates in order to advertise a shop. Thus, we were interested in
the assessments and the products that they demonstrated, the skills and
processes of thought, such as essays, productions, recital thinking, designs,
notes and class participation.
Semiotic analysis
For this purpose, following Gunther Kress’ and Theo van Leeuwen’s13
model for the semiotic reading of the children’s visual paintings, we apply
and locate the following categories: sequence number, gender, class,
thematic, capital and small letters, name, name of owner, type of writing,
real name or pseudonym, shapes, symbols, material, text, colour of the
painting, type of the sign, (portrait, multifacial, synthesis, landscape,
other), description of the sign, telephone number (mobile or landline). We
consider these nameplates as syntagmatic forms based on spatial
relationships.
Signs’ analysis-results
Kress and Van Leeuven14 argue that images are formed in textual synthesis
in different ways and thus structure the semiotic reality. According to the
grammar of visual design, we will describe the way in which the pictured
elements (symbols, shapes etc.) are combined into visual denotations.
Shape
All the signs made by the children (1st to 6th grade) are rectangular,
because that is exactly the shape that Elias Vyzantis gave to his signs.
Rectangular forms shape the elements of the construction, elements that
13
Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen, Reading Images: Grammar of Visual
Design (London: Rutledge, 1996).
14
Design (London: Rutledge, 1996), 13, 41.
we shape the world with. Moreover, on a rectangular sign more elements

can be portrayed15.
Visual Message
The thematic every sign has, varies. Hence, we have flower shops,
hairdressers, butcher shops, jewellery stores, bookstores, cafes, taverns,
pizzerias, shops-shine, confectionery shops, coffee shops, baking room,
café, creperies, police stations (boys whose dad is a policeman), grocery
stores, toy stores. We have a few cases of surgery offices and dental
clinics while only the children of the 6th grade constructed signs for
Internet cafes, since their activity with the computer is more frequent at
this age.
Finally, we found only one occurrence of a pet shop, a skate shop, a
wood shop, a stadium, a car engineer, a glove shop, a fencing club, a truck
spare parts store, a sanitary appliances store, a sports journalist office, a
pharmacy and a playground.
Typographic signifier
Children used capital and small letters, depending on what they wanted to
highlight: capital letters if they wanted to point out the name of the store or
its thematic or even their name.
Title giving
In terms of the name giving, children from the 1st grade did not use
original names as other grades (mainly the older children) did. Not all the
children gave names to their stores. In the 5th grade, from a total of 14
children, only three gave names to their stores, while in the 6th grade, from
a total of 20, only three did not give a name16.
Positioning
The position of the owner’s name on the signs varied. The names were
positioned: up middle-right-left, in the corner down right-left, down left,
15
Design (London: Rutledge, 1996), 113.
16
down middle, side right. Therefore, according to how important they

considered their name to be, they positioned it in the proper place on the
sign. In general, anything considered important is positioned at the top,
while what is considered to be less important goes at the bottom17. The
horizontal and vertical axes are not neutral dimensions of pictorial
representation. Since writing and reading in European cultures proceed
primarily along a horizontal axis from left to right (as in English but
unlike, for instance, Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese), the 'default' for reading
a picture within such reading/writing cultures (unless attention is diverted
by some salient features) is likely to be generally in the same direction.
Direction
In general, the way children write is horizontal with a few exceptions. A
girl from the 2nd grade wrote the name of the store in a semicircular way,
while another girl form the 4th grade wrote her name diagonally and in the
centre. A variety in directions appeared in the 6th grade, italic, vertical,
horizontal, semicircular18.
Human signifiers
Forms (men, players, policemen), woman or a woman’s head, a little girl,
were used by the children of the 1st, 3rd, 4th grades and one boy form the
6th, for signs made for a tavern, a butcher's shop, a liquor store, a police
station, a sports journalist office, a bar, a hairdresser’s salon and in which
only female forms are used since they are combined with the female sex.
Symbols
Many children from different grades used symbols always related with the
product or the services that their store offered, for example shoes and
dresses for shoe stores and clothing stores, plates for taverns, pizzas for
pizzeria, cakes for patisserie, flowers for a florist and jewels for jewellery
store. Nevertheless, there were symbols used only for decorative purposes,
as flowers, stars, the sun, a tree etc.
17
18
Design (London: Rutledge, 1996), 105- 109.
Materials used for Designing

The materials used generally by the children were mostly markers, then
crayons, one student from the 5th grade used pencil and three students from
the 6th grade used pens.
Colour
All the signs were multicoloured (very few monochromes). The children
used all the colours (red, yellow, green, purple, orange, blue, light blue,
pink, brown, black and grey). The colour is used in order to give and to
express meanings-situation. The children used the right colours, i.e. when
they painted a flower shop they used colours that we see on flowers, lively
and bright colours for clothing and shoe shops while red was used for
surgeries. The cross of the pharmacy was painted red instead of green by
one student, probably combining the medicines with the hospital.
Genre
We found landscapes, signs depicting many people at the same time, one
portrait by a student in the 4th grade, while most of the signs were
syntheses, associating the representational meanings-symbols with what
was written on the signs.
Advertising
Just one sign had a phone number while many students used a landline
number together with a mobile number, or nothing.
Linguistic Material
Of particular interest are some signs on which there was a text message.
This is something that does not exist on the signs of the artist. For
example: “I sell clothes, wood, 1+1 gift, flower shop Labraki 31 we have
roses if you buy 50% discount, everything you ask for we have it, flowers
are life, read about life”, while some of the signs mentioned the address of
the store. It is worth noticing the fact that in the 5th and 6th grades, children
used words in English while the younger students did not.
Fig. 4-22 - A children's sign–VOLT, a sport shop19.
Discussion
The semiotic classification and analysis helped us to locate the children’s
representations for the specific inscriptions of Vyzantis. Every child
represents the knowledge of the world, constructs conceptual representations
using signals and symbols.
These representations are developed and converted according to cognitive
development. According to Bruner20, the school-age child represents the world
in pictorial form and much later in symbolic representation.
In this research, children read and reproduce the material which
concerns the exterior/real representations, but also the conceptual
representations with an accent in symbolic. In the sample, the majority of
children drew at the level of mental and optical realism21.
Bibliography
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Asonitis, Spyros. “Historical documentation by narrative sources. A
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Bernard, Alain-Jean-Marie, Geneviève Joutard, and Jean-Pierre Rioux. A
la recherche du temps présent: Histoire orale et enseignement.
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Braudel, Fernard. Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world at the time
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M.I.E.T., 1993. (in Greek).
19
20
Jerome Bruner, On Knowing (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1962).
21
Paraskevi Golia, Ifigenia Vamvakidou and Evdoxia Traianou, “History and
Semiotics: Children Are Drawing “Homeland”, The International Journal of
Learning, 16, no 2 (2009): 321-332.
Bruner, Jerome. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge: Harvard

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—. ȉhe Process of Education. New York: Vintage Books, 1960.
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Giotopoulou – Sisilianou, Elli. The teaching of history in secondary
education. Athens: Private Edition, 1965 (in Greek).
Golia, Paraskevi, Ifigenia, Vamvakidou, and Evdoxia, Traianou. “History
and Semiotics: Children Are Drawing “Homeland”. The International
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Vaina, Maria. Theoretical framework of the teaching of local history in the
twentieth century. Athens: Gutenberg, 1997.
Voros, Fanourios. “Local History”, Journal Ekpedaiftika, 20, (1990): 33-41.

CHAPTER FIVE:
VISUAL ARTS

MARKS, SIGNS AND IMAGES:

THE SENSE OF BELONGING AND COMMITMENT
WHICH PRE-DATES HISTORY BUT HAS NOW
BECOME A POWERFUL GLOBAL LANGUAGE
PAUL MIDDLETON
Marks, signs and images that embrace a sense of belonging and commitment
predate recorded history. Primitive marks identified groups of people long
before a written language emerged, and these marks changed to signs that
could communicate with more speed and simplicity through pared-down
juxtaposed images. This provided a more efficient form of communication
than a complex series of words. In a world where literacy was the preserve
of the elite few, visual communication assumed great significance. Images
were capable of communicating various messages and concepts through
colour, shape and form, enabling access to a wide population regardless of
levels of literacy or language origin.
These early manifestations of visual language provided a form of
communication that was both democratic and accessible. Later, as our
preference for the written word became more developed, sophisticated and
available to all, such visual language evolved to take a different path. This
now forms a uniquely powerful component of modern communication in a
globalised society.
The emergence of the primitive mark

Primitive peoples used their cave paintings and drawings to communicate
and record 35-40,000 years ago. Around 1,000 years before the first
emergent writing system, primitive peoples communicated with signs and
marks drawn and painted on the walls of their cave dwellings and it is
thought this was the birth of a vital system of non-verbal communication.
About 1,000 or more years later, the Sumerians (in what is now
southern Iraq) began to use symbols constructed from triangular forms
stamped into clay as a means of recording transactions, and so began the
idea of using simple symbols for the pictorial stage of early written

Paul Middleton 311
communication. This was known as “Cuneiform”. It was another 1,000

years before the famous picture-writing of the ancient Egyptians emerged.
The decoding of the Rosetta stone in 1822 aided the understanding that this
was not only ‘pictographic’ (i.e. the symbols were literal representations) but
also ‘logographic’ – there were signs for sounds made by the words.
Importantly, there was also a set of signs for ‘phonetic’ values, in effect –
an early alphabet. This was the beginning of various writing systems
which are still used in much of the world.
In the East, however, things developed differently and the Chinese,
Japanese and Vietnamese for example, communicate with ‘ideograms’ or
‘ideographs’ – where each sign communicates a concept. A small proportion
is representations of ‘things’, in which case they can be termed
‘pictograms’. As there are many thousands of these, we, in the West, are
left wondering how people could possibly learn the meanings of so many
symbols.
However, the emergence of writing is not the subject of this paper but
to look at the other signs and symbols which communicated with such
simplicity and economy, and continue to do so today. We might surprise
ourselves just how sophisticated a visual language we have developed is,
without realising this was happening. We now communicate through signs
in ways we take for granted – and normal life would just be unthinkable
without them.
A powerful and emotive visual language

By showing an audience various symbol images, one can convey concepts,
aid recognition and even evoke emotional reactions, making it clear that
there now exists a visual language people respond to and comprehend. The
images carry a meaning that viewers process based on their previous
learning. Here are some examples:
x BBC2 number 2 logo – no longer merely a bold red numeral – but

instantly a mould-breaking British TV channel.
x Perhaps not everyone in the West will be familiar with the Hindu or
Buddhist symbol of good luck – a swastika – but we all know what
the Nazi swastika means.
x We also understand the meaning of the Star of David to Jewish
people, but then comprehend a very different meaning when
applied to a yellow armband to label a population.
x The Red Cross and Red Crescent are symbols of hope all over the
world, in conflict and famine.

312 Marks, Signs and Images
x All over the world, the red poppy has been recognised as a symbol
of remembrance of those killed in conflict and the more emotive,
white poppy, introduced in 1933, is a symbol of peace without
violence. Together, they are powerful symbols.
x A green rectangle will not be significant to most people – to Libyan
people it is a symbol of 42 years of a ruthless regime – and by
contrast, the new tricoloured flag is the symbol of victory and
freedom for most Libyans.
x From a branding expert/designer’s point of view, it is very
important to convey the right message with your visual language.
The traditional way in England, going back centuries, is the Coat of
Arms which incorporates a system of symbols and meaning.
However, Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge might be
‘one of us’ but this (graffiti tag) would be the wrong message.
Fig. 5-1: Tag created in The Graffiti Creator application

(www.graffiticreator.net)1
Fig. 5-2 & Fig. 5-3: Catherine Middleton’s (Duchess of Cambridge) coat of arms,
2011. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127145)2
1
Graffiti creator, http://www.graffiticreator.net
2
BBC NEWS UK. 2011. “Royal wedding: Kate Middleton coat of arms unveiled “
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127145.

Paul Middleton 313
The impact of marks, signs and logos within societies

and cultures
Various alphabets and writing systems evolved throughout the world to
give form to thoughts and ideologies, largely to spread political and
religious ideas and win support. However, literacy and therefore access to
the written word was not widespread until comparatively recently. Images
and symbols were used to communicate information to the people at large
and sometimes to control them. They had various functions, as can be seen
in the previous examples.
The concept of branding has been around for about 5,000 years. In the
same way that writing began to record financial transactions, the word
‘brand’ came from the practice of indicating ownership of livestock
through scorching their hides with a hot iron. Owners had their own design
of branding symbol and thus they could differentiate between similar-
looking animals. The function here was of Ownership.
In Europe, kings, nobles and powerful families were identified by their
heraldic marks, evident on their wax seals, embroidered onto pennants,
carved versions adorning their homes, an early form of ‘corporate identity’
aiding recognition of the monarch, ruler or perhaps, invading force. In fact,
these were often a form of monogram, with symbols to indicate clan,
status and achievement – perhaps with words added. Colours were also
vitally important. These marks had great impact on societies and cultures,
were feared or respected and won loyalty in the way that football insignia
do today. The keyword here is Allegiance.
However, superstition, religion, politics and magic were the main users
of symbols to represent faith, even giving them magical powers. Primitive
people believed that symbols could protect them from perceived dark
forces and many symbols were believed to have magical powers. Tribal
people would tattoo their women with symbols believed to protect them
from evil. Even in the 20th century, Berber women were adorned with
symbolic facial tattoos. Belief in the evil eye is found in Islamic doctrine,
based upon a verse of the Qur'an. The ‘evil eye’ symbol is worn all over
the Middle East to protect the wearer, usually incorporated into jewellery.
The function here is Protection.
Religious symbols such as the Christian cross, Muslim crescent, Jewish
Star of David represent the strongly-held beliefs of millions and have
developed powers accordingly. Many people wear jewellery and create
ornaments depicting their religious creed and attach great value to them.
The right to display such symbols has caused much controversy and
debate. The keyword here is Belief.

Symbols have also had more prosaic uses. In the ruins of the ancient
city of Ephesus, a graffiti sign in the shape of a handprint resembling a
heart survives with a footprint to direct the clients to a nearby brothel, an
early commercial use for symbols rather than words. The function here is
Information (or perhaps Promotion?).
Towards the end of the 18th century, the industrial age was beginning
and ‘branding’ in a commercial context really began. Mass-production was
made possible by the introduction of steam and oil power and the concept
of marketing and advertising goods to consumers was entering western
society. By the 19th century, printers were in demand for such ephemera as
posters, leaflets and advertisements.
Advertisers looked for eye-catching ways to communicate company
values to potential customers through visual representations, associating
emotional responses and ‘feelings’ with the product, a notion that has
remained to this day. The keyword here is Promotion.
Today, we are surrounded with powerful images and their hidden
messages – advertisers will constantly make efforts to find new ways to gain
attention aided by trained graphic designers rather than fine artists such as
Millais, whose ‘Bubbles’ painting was used (without his permission) for the
famous Pears Soap advertisement in the late 1880s. This could be said to be
early ‘commercial art’ and the idea was certainly emulated thereafter3.
Nowadays, all of these functions – ownership, allegiance, protection,
belief, information, promotion – have become modern ‘brand values’.
As the industrial age progressed and global markets opened up, it
became even more important to communicate such ‘brand values’ to a
wider market – who, though more likely to be literate by now, may not
share the same spoken or written language. Effective branding has to
encompass most or maybe all of these functions.
Branding began as a part of the promotion of products rather than the
companies themselves – packaging needed to communicate a clear (if
limited) message to attract customers and a logo was a key part of that.
Note: this premise is not confined to companies. Not-for-profit
organisations, such as charities, also need to follow the same model in
order to get their message across for a successful outcome.
It is important to get the terminology right, as many words are
misused:
3
National Museums Liverpool. “Artwork highlights - Bubbles, by Sir John
Everett Millais”. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-month/display
picture.asp?venue=7&id=299.

Paul Middleton 315
x Logo – short for ‘logotype’, which is a custom-lettered word used

for a trademark (‘logos’ is Greek for ‘word’ as many people here
will know). Examples: Halfords, Boots.
x A monogram is letters – perhaps initials – but not a word, for
example: IBM or BBC.
x A symbol – is a sign without letters, for example Nike’s ‘swoosh’.
x A trademark is any symbol, monogram, logo or mark which is
legally registered as a representation of a company or product.
Trademarks created recognition and confidence, enabling legal
protection from competitors’ imitation.
x So, all of these represent a brand, but it is important to remember
they are not the brand itself. A brand is a rather nebulous concept –
hard to pin down and tricky to explain. It exists in the minds of
people who recognise the values represented by the devices used in
the identity. A form of non-word communication, which will
therefore avoid the use of language and can transcend the problems
of translation. This is the (usually) commercial application of coded
messages.
The value of logos became apparent in the early 20th century and some
of those proved iconic and are still recognisable to this day. As many
packaged goods had imitators, manufacturers added a ‘signature’ to instill
confidence and ensure consumers bought the right pack. Kellogs and
Boots are familiar examples. Oxo is an example of a ‘created’ brand name
– like several others ending in “o”, for example: Rinso, Glaxo and Brasso.
The Oxo logo, as with the previous ‘signature’ logos, has barely changed
over decades and now relies on the values of nostalgia, rekindling
memories of the past, like a good friend we instantly recognise. These
brands with their familiar logos dare not tamper too much with the
essential forms of the letters without losing the brand itself. Coca-Cola is
another obvious example that has changed little in well over a century.
Toblerone is another example of an iconic 100-year-old logo, although
the lettering has been modified – possibly to its detriment. However, an
old symbol has been incorporated in the newer symbol and the image of a
bear is hidden in the Matterhorn mountain image.
What does this mean for the 21st century?

Gradually, as these organisations became larger, often wielding great
power, logos began to represent a vitally important and instantly recognisable
face to customers internationally. In today’s global market, brand marks

are required that convey a message and enable product placement without
the need for words.
Colours also became key elements in corporate identity and it is even
possible to patent a colour (within a context of a brand). For example,
although the Kodak logo has been updated over the decades, the Company
has largely kept the yellow and red colours as consistent and essential
brand elements. (Incidentally, the Kodak trade name came into being
entirely on a whim – George Eastman merely liked the letter “K” so
invented a name with two!).
In this respect, all elements of identities – letterforms, logos, symbols,
shapes, colours – are valuable assets and companies will go to great
lengths and expense to create their corporate identity, strictly regulate its
consistency in use and guard it well from imitators. Many large
organisations find it necessary to commission their own corporate fonts to
add to the uniqueness in their communications.
We have perfected a system to seduce the public who will buy into the
consumer utopia and it has become the role of the branding consultant to
help companies and organisations to re-imagine their organisations, find a
new mission and reposition it through the brand mark. But now, they must
contend with a public that takes a more active interest.
The public takes an interest

‘Designer labels’ became a huge influence on the shopping public during
the 1990s and a logo-festooned garment, shoe or accessory was essential
for ‘street cred’, particularly amongst the young who were targeted by the
marketing people, who were purveyors of a desirable lifestyle. Brand
logos took on almost magical powers for the young purchasers – Nike was
almost a religion.
However, when youths were being mugged for their trainers, for some
it had gone too far. The phrase “Culture Jamming” was coined as early as
1984 and the movement sparked the formation of groups who abhorred the
practices behind the global brands. The term “cultural jamming” was first
used by the college band “Negtivland: to describe billboard alteration and
other forms of media sabotage.
The Canadian founder of “Adbusters”, Kalle Lasn, published “Culture
Jam” in the year 2000. Talking about the USA’s corporate giants, he said:
“we will jam its image factory until it comes to a sudden shuddering
halt”.4
4
Lasn, Kalle. 2000. Culture jam: how to reverse America's suicidal consumer

Paul Middleton 317
Fig. 5-4: This Nike advertisement is a clear reference to the nativity star
(http://www.graphicdesigninspiration.net/2012/10/29/creative-graphic-design-
artworks-by-nike/).5
This new way of thinking had become widespread during the late
1990s, gaining momentum at the start of the new millennium. Naomi
Klein’s book “No Logo” was also published in 2000 – and its focus on the
negative aspects of branding and the singling out of some large companies,
revealed the darker side and misdeeds of their company activities. Nike,
The Gap, Microsoft and Shell were targeted. Four years later, Morgan
Spurlock’s 2004 film “Supersize me” targeted McDonalds who were
forced to address the negative publicity and change their public image – as
well as improve their menu. Thus, the logos began to represent other, less
positive, values and messages as their unethical practices of exploitation,
sweatshop labour and environmentally-damaging methods were revealing
their corporate greed.
In an attempt to change the way the world does business, Adbusters,
the activist organisation, launched ethically-produced ‘Blackspot sneakers’
in 2003 as an alternative to Nike’s Converse trainers with the slogan
“Corporate capitalism gets the boot, one pair at a time”. They used a
simple ‘spot’ in place of a logo and encouraged its use as a graffiti sign on
the premises of the corporate giants.6 These shoes, then, gained a ‘cool’ of
binge – and why we must.

5
Graphic Design Inspiration. 2012.“Nike City Motion”. “Great Ad Campaigns:
Nike”. http://www.graphicdesigninspiration.net/2012/10/29/creative-graphic-
design-artworks-by-nike/.
6
Harold, Christine. 2004. Pranking Retoric: “Culture Jamming” as media
Activism. Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 21, No. 3, September

their own.
BP went to a great deal of effort and expense to launch a new ‘green’
identity in 2000, designed by Landor. Their symbol was called the
“Helios”, after the sun, god of ancient Greece, and was portrayed as a
blossoming flower. It was lauded as an identity that reflected environmental
responsibility.
However, 10 years later it became a symbol of the worst environmental
disaster in decades, following the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico in 2010 – a disaster for BP’s carefully-crafted brand
image. Greenpeace held a ‘crowdsource’ competition for the redesign of
BP’s symbol, which attracted much attention – and announced this winner
in August 2010. The damage done to the brand was immense and BP lost
half its market value – now being seen as an irresponsible organisation.
Fig. 5-5: Greenpeace’s ‘rebranded’ BP symbol, 2010.

(http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/bp/rebranded/index.html)7
In a clever move, Innocent Drinks moved away from the practices that
were being exposed and made social responsibility one of their core brand
values when they formed in 1999.
Innocent Drinks gives 10% of its profits away to charity via the
Innocent Foundation. Excellent Development received a 3-year grant,
which enabled them to support the Meka Community Self Help Group to
create secure water and food supplies8.
2004, pp. 189–211.

7
Hunziker, Laurent. 2010. Green Peace UK.
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/bp/rebranded/index.html.
8
Innocent. 2009. “excellent development scoops another award”.
http://www.excellentdevelopment.com/innocent.php

Paul Middleton 319
Currently, they donate generously to Age (Concern) UK.9 Their quirky

way of addressing customers as ‘friends we haven’t met yet’ paid off –
their business flourishes and they have won many business and marketing
awards – and their style of communication has been emulated widely.
A new relationship with consumers

A culture of informality has spread to the very language used in modern
retail – they want to be our friends and gain our loyalty. Supermarkets
have a Facebook page and treating customers as ‘friends’ became a new
way of conducting business. A more informal approach has been a
successful gambit for many large companies or organisations. Even a
person can be a symbol – The Halifax Building Society introduced
Howard Brown, one of their employees, in 2000 and he was the face of the
Company until 2008, when a harsher economic climate made him ‘too
jolly’10.
The public is now taking an interest in the designs. On June 4 2007, the
London 2012 Olympics logo was revealed by Wolff Olins following a
commission the previous year. It was met with a huge outcry of
disappointment from the UK public – so much so, that the head of the
design team, Patrick Cox, was so hounded by the press at home that he and
his family sought refuge in a hotel.
The brand mark or logo may become less of a focus, as Wolff Olins’
award-winning 2009 identity for AOL demonstrates. This time the user-
generated backgrounds become the main element of the identity, rather
than the logo – a clever idea and an important message about democracy.
Brand personality
Successful brands need personality. They also need to build trust – for
example, when I buy a mobile phone I probably do not spend time
comparing their features – I just know the brand I will buy because I trust
the maker’s reputation, reflected in their image.
One symbol – the Apple – has entered the public consciousness like
few others. It now stands for a ‘lifestyle’ – becoming iconic to the many
lovers of Apple products. The original logo from 1976 termed “The
9
innocent. 2013. “so what is the big knit”.
http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit
10
Green, Chris. 2008. “Howard's end: he's too happy for a recession”.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/howards-end-hes-too-
happy-for-a-recession-887114.html.

Newton Crest” would probably not have worked so well, as Steve Jobs
soon realised – it was replaced the same year by the rainbow Apple symbol.
Steve Jobs’ death in October obviously received much publicity
worldwide, but no image conveyed the message more elegantly – no
words needed – than the Apple logo (with Jobs’ profile replacing the
‘bite’) adapted by design student Jonathan Mak, in Hong Kong11.
Communication and responsibility

Research has shown that even pre-school children can recognise hundreds
of logos and trademarks, before they can recognise their own name. It is
now thought that ‘brand loyalty’ has even been established by the age of
two – prompting some concern about materialism amongst children. In older
consumers, the logo has become the essential tool of contemporary
communication, which a new and more ‘savvy’ generation of consumers or
viewers is able to quickly and efficiently decode. Successful brands must
connect the ‘offer’ to the image as (due to instantaneous communications
systems i.e. the Internet etc.) a brand can no longer be used as a ‘cover’ for
unsavoury practices.
Without realising it was happening, the populations of the civilised
world have evolved another language, with just as many symbols and
signs as the Chinese writing system we might consider so challenging to
memorise. But this visual language begins to transcend the written word
and we learn it with surprising speed. So today, logos and brand marks are
changing into something even more powerful than in the past, with the
ability to impact on societies and economies in ways that go beyond
promoting products or services. The increasing trend of corporations to
diversify into new areas rests on the logo to articulate brand values
alongside ethical commitments and other complex concerns. As we look to
the future, the global corporate interests have to embrace the ethical and
moral issues which concern their customers, something which can only be
a good thing and now gives even more power and significance to logos
and symbols – and to the designers who created them.
11
Note: It is not commonly known that Apple’s ‘bite’ was intended as a play on
words with ‘byte’. 2009. http://www.edibleapple.com/2009/04/20/the-evolution-
and-history-of-the-apple-logo/.

Paul Middleton 321
Bibliography
Graffiti creator, http://www.graffiticreator.net
BBC NEWS UK. “Royal wedding: Kate Middleton coat of arms unveiled “ (2011).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127145.
National Museums Liverpool. “Artwork highlights - Bubbles, by Sir John
Everett Millais”. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-
month/displaypicture.asp?venue=7&id=299.
Graphic Design Inspiration. “Nike City Motion”. “Great Ad Campaigns:
Nike”. (2012).
http://www.graphicdesigninspiration.net/2012/10/29/creative-graphic-
design-artworks-by-nike/.
Lasn, Kalle. Culture jam: how to reverse America's suicidal consumer
binge – and why we must. 2000.
Harold, Christine. Pranking Retoric: “Culture Jamming” as media
Activism. Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 21, No. 3,
September 2004, 2004. pp. 189–211.
Hunziker, Laurent. Green Peace UK. (2010).
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/bp/rebranded/index.html.
Innocent. “excellent development scoops another award” (2009).
http://www.excellentdevelopment.com/innocent.php
—. “so what is the big knit”. (2013).
http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit.
Green, Chris. “Howard's end: he's too happy for a recession”. (2008).
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/howards-
end-hes-too-happy-for-a-recession-887114.html.
Note: It is not commonly known that Apple’s ‘bite’ was intended as a play
on words with ‘byte’. (2009).
http://www.edibleapple.com/2009/04/20/the-evolution-and-history-of-
the-apple-logo/.

SHOWING SAYING:
ON SPEECH BALLOONS
LIZZIE RIDOUT
Foreword
This paper brings together theoretical, historical and practice-based
research gathered through the course of 2011. In part, it is a collection of
ruminations, preoccupations, truths and tales examining the speech
balloon, and its dear, yet distinct relative, the thought balloon. It also
forms a brief commentary of the work produced during an artist’s
residency, completed by Lizzie Ridout at the Women’s Studio Workshop
in Rosendale, NY, USA in 2011/12.
Principles & certitudes

The speech balloon, a universally recognised graphic device, is employed
as a means to represent both spoken and thought words, most commonly
in comics. This is achieved through the use of a form, frequently bubble-
like, typically within which is placed typography. On occasion, image may
also be used. Traditionally a thought balloon is distinguishable from a
speech balloon by a cord of bubbles attaching the principal bubble to the
thinker’s head.
Speech and thought balloons are simultaneously both a pictorial and a
textual device. Initially, we read the words (or images) cradled within the
balloon and comprehend their meaning. But our understanding of this
meaning is also reinforced by both the choice of typography employed and
the structure that the words are contained within. The visual properties of
the type, images and balloon may all illuminate further what the character
is speaking, thinking or doing.
Lizzie Ridout 323
On physicality
Freud was not wrong when he wrote in “The Joke and Its Relation to the
Unconscious” that “words are a plastic material with which one can do all
kinds of things”.
Speech and thought bubbles come in many guises. Some are formal,
orthodox in attitude, the suit-wearers of the species. Others are rotund,
doltish even, bloated – but confidently so. And still others are susurrate –
breathy, ethereal, poised to disintegrate and, in form, rather similar to an
exhalation on a cold winter’s day. The visual conventions are manifold.
Most commonly, a speech or thought balloon is devised from an
outline to define the form, and the surface itself. The boundary line
differentiates between what is happening within the bubble form, and what
is happening beyond it, in the comic frame. Those boundaries may be
angular, beveled, indistinct or blousy as required and desired by their
creator.
Two things have held my interest in terms of the creative possibilities
of these devices:
i) The fact that uttered and imagined words and images take up no literal
physical space in our reality, and yet in a comic reality they do. If we push
this line of enquiry harder, we may question further this physicality. Are
both speech and thought balloons essentially flat? May they not also be
considered a container? This term suggests volume, mass and solidity. So,
if speech/thought balloons are receptacles of information, do they have
dimensions? Are they solid or filled with air? Are they transparent or are
they white? And what of the contents? Are these also three-dimensional?
Do the words float, or are they hung?
ii) Although spoken words are on some level understood by all who can
make sense of the language, thought is different. It is perceived
exclusively by the thinker, and in the case of a comic, also by the
audience. The thought balloon makes manifest what would otherwise
never be witnessed.
David Carrier (2000) describes the interplay of the speech balloon and
the comic frame as a:
theater with a soundproof glass wall between actors and audience, and with
the spectators reading the dialogue from supertitles. Seeing a play in such a
theater would be like reading comics.
324 Showing Saying: On Speech Balloons
An intermittent & mercilessly edited account of the

history of visualising words
Of course there is an extensive and complex history of visualising spoken
or thought word in a variety of ways, and the form that we now recognise
instantly has experienced various permutations over the centuries. Here, I
have extracted some key examples of early speech balloons that have
perhaps best examined the nature of the physicality of speech and thought.
Within European history, text has been used in painting as a vehicle for
adding meaning to the image, often where the gesture, stance and expression
of the subject, and object-symbolism may not communicate all. In
Renaissance art scrolls billow and unfurl across the canvas. Some quite
literally snake out of the subjects’ mouths, clearly representing speech.
Others are visual devices that act as an outside narrator to the story, adding
important information that cannot be communicated through image alone.
They are all as imagined as the speech bubbles in contemporary comics.
But words, either religious texts or meaningful maxims, were included
in paintings via actual, palpable objects. These items might be engraved
(grand carved columns festooned with flowers and ivy or ornate stone urns
for example), printed (a book casually left open on a desk or idly poised in
the lap of the sitter) or handwritten (a folded note clutched by the subject
or a sheath of papers stacked casually in the foreground).
Completely independently and far preceding the Europeans, in South
America there is compelling evidence to suggest that the Mesoamericans
also developed sophisticated written systems to visualise spoken words,
songs and music. Images and objects discovered at many archeological
ruins depict humans and animals with questionmark-like forms leaping
from their mouths. Similar to the ribbon-esque scrolls previously
mentioned, the ‘banderole’ or ‘speech scroll’ employed by the
Mesoamericans is potentially more abstract in its nature than its European
relative. The tongue-like shape darts from the direction of the speaker’s
mouth and may link the speaker to a series of other images. If our latter-
day translations of these devices are correct, these images are glyphs,
figures used as symbols to represent words, sounds and ideas. It is
suggested that the manner in which these speech scrolls are decorated,
may give information about the tone of the words or the identity of the
person speaking them.
Thomas Rowlandson’s “The Loves of the Fox and the Badger, or the
Coalition Wedding” is an adroit example of a strip demonstrating the full
gamut of techniques available to the artist in the late 1700s for exploring
the interplay between text and image. The piece, a satirical illustration
Lizzie Ridout 325
poking fun at the troubled coalition between Charles James Fox and Lord
North after Fox’s Commons victory in 1782, uses a frame format,
captions, scrolls, text-inscribed objects and speech and thought bubbles
containing both typography and image. In this instance, the contained
image, surrounded by radiating lines, suggests a dream.
Continuing the practice of using objects to display narrative, in the late
1800s Richard F. Outcault famously created “The Kid”, a yellow
nightshirt-cladded street urchin, who speaks to the newspaper-reading
audience via his clothing. The speech balloon in this case, is humanoid and
certainly in terms of the comic strip, a living and breathing speech/thought
balloon.
Winsor McCay remains, I suspect, unprecedented as the most
sophisticated boundary-pusher of the pliable side to speech and thought
balloons. Not only this, several of his works test the concrete possibilities
of the comic strip as a whole. “Little Nemo in Slumberland”, published
between 1905 and 1914 in, first, the “New York Herald” and then, later,
the “New York American”, presents Little Nemo in a series of dream
states, in which alternative universes are depicted. An appropriately
nightmarish scene shows a series of ever-expanding speech bubbles taking
over the entire frame and the characters within it.
Most recently Peter Brookes, a political cartoonist, brilliantly
transformed words into a physical weapon. His cartoon, published in “The
Times” on 29th April during the 2010 UK election campaign, documented
what must probably be one of the biggest political gaffes of recent times.
Gordon Brown, after discussing Labour’s immigration policies with
longstanding Labour voter Gillian Duffy in Rochdale, UK, returns to his
car and, whilst still connected to his microphone, is clearly overheard
telling an aide that Duffy is a “bigoted woman”. Brookes’ comic strip
depicts, in the first frame, the words “bigoted woman” in a traditional
speech balloon, poised over the form of Gordon Brown. In frame two,
Brown is clasping the speech balloon and pulling it towards himself. In
frame three, Brown is forcibly stabbing the speech balloon’s mouth-piece
into his own stomach, ultimately impaling himself with the very words
“bigoted woman”. It takes just three images for Brookes to mutate a
passive, visual convention that we identify with the cartoon and comic
world, into a physical form that is capable of inflicting bodily harm – akin
to the damage that those two words caused Brown’s political career.
The cartoon exposes our own vulnerability in the face of words and
their capacity to turn on us when least expected. Whilst most spoken
words are uttered then slip away unnoticed, there are always some that
will return to plague us.
A residency for creating words, without using words

Late in the summer of 2011, I packed my bags and temporarily left my
home and my lecturing position at Plymouth University on a brief quasi-
sabbatical. The intention was to spend two months working with the
Women’s Studio Workshop on a funded artist’s book residency. I wanted
focused time to produce a book – or rather 50 of them – making tangible
my varied musings on the speech balloon. Those theories, I had decided,
required placement into a practical context. I was curious to see how paper
and ink, as image, might alter, validate and enhance what was at that time
merely indistinct thoughts and a set of large-scale graphite drawings, cut-
paper pieces and sculptures. Furthermore I wanted to see how my one-off
pieces might be translated into multiples.
Fig. 5-6: Lizzie Ridout, Soliloquy [After Bakhtin] 2011, Cut paper, 120 x 100cm
Image © Lizzie Ridout
“Ways to talk and yet say nothing, or ways to not talk and yet say
everything” is the publication that emerged from this collaboration with
the Women’s Studio Workshop. I say collaboration: I went armed with
theory and proposals; WSW helped me shape this diaphanous pair into
something palpable and coherent. Without their commitment to my project
and their determination to help me solve the inevitable range of problems
that one comes up against in such print-based undertakings, it would not
have been resolved into the form it exists in now.
The Women’s Studio Workshop was established in 1974 and has since
gone on to be the largest publisher of artists’ books in the States. WSW
offers artists paid and unpaid studio and book-art residencies, internships
Lizzie Ridout 327
and education programmes. Its publications are held in repositories across

America, Canada and the UK including the following, who have committed
to acquiring every past and future WSW edition (amongst upward of 200
other libraries and institutions): The Library of Congress, Yale University,
Rochester Institute of Technology, Vassar College, Indiana University
Bloomington, University of Delaware and Virginia Commonwealth
University. It has had the continued support of the National Endowment
for the Arts since 2002 and is also a recipient of funding from the New
York State Council on the Arts – a State Agency and The Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The publication “Ways to talk and yet say nothing, or ways to not talk
and yet say everything” started out as a series of studies examining a
collapse in communication between two people through the use of the
speech balloon. Later, however, the project became more focused on
linguistic theory and semantics.
Jackendoff (2001) in his essay “Language in the Ecology of the Mind”
reports that language is a pairing of “expressions” and “messages”.
“Expressions” being the ‘outer’ or ‘public’ element to language – the
utterance or gesture that is tangible to or can be perceived by the person
being spoken to. The “message” is the ‘inner’ or ‘private’ aspect of
language, therefore the thoughts or concepts that the speaker transmits to
the addressee, via the aforementioned expression. In order to convey a
message, one needs to do more than just mentally represent it, one needs
to be able to express it to the listener, too. Accordingly, a speaker will
make a mental representation of what they wish to say, and then this in
turn is converted into a series of expressions or movements of the tongue,
teeth and lips. From this, a series of noises occur which are then converted
by the addressee from expressions back into mental representations, and so
finally back to a concept.
Many of my early drawings explored this connection between brain
and mouth: the interrelation between the message and the expression of
the message. And also the intrinsic potential for disparity between the two.
After all, there is a difference between knowing what you want to say and
then also being able to say it. Further inconsistencies may lie between
what is uttered by the speaker versus what is understood by the listener.
Philosophers such as Mikhail Bakhtin with theories on spoken and
thought words and Jacques Derrida’s deconstructionist principles also
particularly informed this early body of drawn, printed and sculptural
works.
Fig. 5-7: Lizzie Ridout, Soliloquy [After Bakhtin] 2011, Cut paper, 120 x 100cm
Image © Lizzie Ridout
Mikhail Bakhtin (1952) wrote extensively about the “utterance”: its

boundaries, its length, its intonation and the speaker’s “speech plan”. His
work also concerned the connection between the speaker and the listener,
and beyond this, the speaker and the community. Bakhtin proposed that
whilst our words belong to us, they also belong to everyone else, including
all who came before us. As a result, whilst we may feel that our words are
our own, they have been heavily influenced by all with whom we have
made contact and those who surround us, and therefore do not truly belong
to us, or, indeed to anyone.
Jacques Derrida’s methods of critiquing established language theory by
turning words, theories and frameworks inside-out and over on their heads
have also played some part in how this work and the resulting publication
has unfolded. The work attempts to draw attention to linguistic conventions
whilst simultaneously deconstructing those same conventions. The speech
balloon is one of these conventions. As a visual code that we readily use to
represent speech, there is always potential to further explore its usage,
meaning and associated past.
“Ways to talk and yet say nothing, or ways to not talk and yet say
everything” takes a selection of my early drawings and concepts and by
utilising a variety of print media (amongst them etching, silkscreen and
letterpress) language’s idiosyncrasies are further explored, often via titling
that adds a clue to the interpretation of an individual piece’s meaning or
justifies the employment of a particular media.
Lizzie Ridout 329
Fig. 5-8: Lizzie Ridout, Compilation of pages from Ways to talk and yet say
nothing, or ways to not talk and yet say everything, published by Women’s Studio
Workshop, 2012 (Top line from left to right: Surrender / Shadow of a Whisper
from Beneath 1000 Pages / Flee / Dialogue of the Deaf / Our Speech is Filled with
Others’ Words.
Bottom line from left to right: Soliloquy [After Bakhtin] / Excoriate / Deleted
Exclamation / Imbroglio)
All images © Lizzie Ridout
Thus, whispers are printed with dry, white carbon paper, suggesting a
fleeting, chalky shadow of words on a page. Words that are somehow
almost hanging in a half-life, or tucked away, best forgotten and slowly
dimming over time.
A soliloquy is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “an act of
speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any
hearers, especially by a character in a play”. My silkscreened version of
the soliloquy meanders across a large sheet, initially slowly, as if in doubt,
then finally squeezing itself into every available space. The viewer is also
a participant in this private address through their own act of handling the
paper and the necessary unfolding of it, in order to reveal this ever-
proliferating piece of diction.
The multiple nuances of single words are explored through visual
means and paper is treated accordingly. Excoriate means both to censure
or criticise severely and also to damage or remove part of the surface of
something. Thus, the surface of the page is shot-through with tiny holes,
obliterating the flat, calm, white with a flurry of miniature assaults.
The final resulting portfolio of prints takes various combinations of
paper, ink and press and uses these to add tenor to the monologues,
dialogues and colloquies from both emotional and theoretical perspectives

– without ever revealing what has actually been uttered.
On where this leaves me

As much of my early investigations into the use of speech balloons attest,
these forms continue to hold scope for enquiry into how we speak (and
think) and how diverse the solutions are for articulating this in the visual
world. There is a multitude of recognised visual conventions that come
with established codes of interpretation attached, e.g. the use of uppercase
letterforms to suggest shouting, or trembling lines to infer whispers. As
previously mentioned, these rules have also been played with, and teased
out, by numerous illustrators and artists. And yet, there will always be
potential for further consideration into how speech balloons may be used
as communicative devices, as a means to infer tone, cadence and the subtle
significations inherent in speech itself. Yes, comics are potent forms in
which to do this. But equally so is the removal of the speech balloon from
this context that we are accustomed to viewing it within. Once isolated, it
can be dissected and deconstructed to examine not just the expressive
qualities of the utterance itself, but on a more poetic level to be rumination
on the philosophical and internal workings of language itself.

Versions of this article were originally published in Varoom, Issue 16
Autumn 2011, (ISSN 1750-483X) and as part of “Ways to talk and yet say
nothing or ways to not talk and yet say everything” (ISBN 1-893125-79-
3), published by the Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale NY, USA in
2012.
Bibliography
Bakhtin, Mikhail. “The Problem of Speech Genres.” In Speech Genres and
Other Late Essays by Mikhail Bakhtin, 60-102. Texas: University of
Texas Press, 1987.
Carrier, David. The Aesthetics of Comics. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania
State University, 2000.
Freud, Sigmund. The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious. London:
Penguin Classics: 2002.
Jackendoff, Ray. “Language in the Ecology of the Mind.” In The
Routledge Companion to Semiotics & Linguistics edited by Paul
Cobley, 52-65. London: Routledge, 2001.
Lizzie Ridout 331
Perry, George & Aldridge, Alan. The Penguin Book of Comics. London:
Penguin, 1967.
Varnedow, Kirk & Gopnik, Adam. High & Low: Popular Culture &
Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1990.
Varnum, Robin. & Gibbons, Christina. T. (Eds.) The Language of
Comics–Word & Image. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of
Mississippi, 2001.
Walker, Brian. The Comics Before 1945. New York: Harry N. Abrams
Inc., 2004.
Walkup, Kathy. (Ed.). Hand, Voice & Vision: Artists’ Books from
Women’s Studio Workshop. Rosendale, NY: Women’s Studio
Workshop, 2010.
Women’s Studio Workshop. “History of Women’s Studio Workshop”,
www.wsworkshop.org_about/history.htm Retrieved January 27, 2012
CONTRIBUTORS LIST
A. Editor
Evripides Zantides, Assistant Professor of Graphic
Communication, Cyprus University of Technology.
evripides.zantides@cut.ac.cy
B. Contributors (as appeared in the table of contents)

1. Ralph Ball, Professor, Central Saint Martins, University of the
Arts, London, UK. ralph@studioball.co.uk
2. Jeff Leak, Senior Lecturer, University of Wolverhampton, UK.
j.leak@wlv.ac.uk
3. Theodora Papidou, Ph.D. Candidate, Barcelona School of
Architecture (ETSAB - UPC). dp_arch@hotmail.com
4. Artemis Alexiou, Associate Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan
University, UK. a.alexiou@mmu.ac.uk
5. Dora Ivonne Alvarez Tamayo, Dr., UPAEP, Mexico.
doraivonne.alvarez@upaep.mx
6. Camelia Cmeciu, Associate Professor, Danubius University of
Galati, Romania. cmeciu75@yahoo.com
7. Doina Cmeciu, Professor, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau,
Romania. dcmeciu@yahoo.com
8. Evangelos Kourdis, Assistant Professor of Translation Semiotics,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
ekourdis@frl.auth.gr
9. Aspasia Papadima, Assistant Professor of Graphic
Communication, Cyprus University of Technology.
aspasia.papadima@cut.ac.cy
10. Ioli Ayiomamitou, Research Assistant, Cyprus University of
Technology. ioli.ayiomamitou@cut.ac.cy
11. Stelios Kyriakou, Research Assistant, Cyprus University of
Technology. stelios.kyriacou@cut.ac.cy
12. Nikos Bubaris, Assistant Professor, University of the Aegean,
Greece. nbubaris@ct.aegean.gr
13. Patrick John Coppock, Adjunct Professor, University of Modena
and Reggio Emilia, Italy. patrick.coppock@unimore.it
Semiotics and Visual Communication: Concepts and Practices 333
14. Jack Post, Senior Lecturer, Maastricht University, the

Netherlands. j.post@maastrichtuniversity.nl
15. Irini Stathi, Associate Professor, University of the Aegean,
Greece. i.stathi@ct.aegean.gr
16. Theo van Leeuwen, Professor of Multimodal Communication,
Institute for Language and Communication, University of
Southern Denmark. leeuwen@sdu.dk
17. Emilia Djonov, Lecturer, Macquarie University, Sydney,
Australia. emilia.djonov@mq.edu.au
18. Law Alsobrook, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth
University in Qatar. lcalsobrooki@vcu.edu
19. Holger Briel, Associate Professor, Communication, Xi'an
Jiaotong Liverpool University. holger.briel@xjtlu.edu.cn
20. Anastasia Christodoulou, Associate Professor, Department of
Italian Language and Literature, School of Philosophy, Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, Greece. nata@itl.auth.gr
21. George Damaskinidis, Dr, The Open University, UK.
damaskinidis@hotmail.com
22. Symeon Degermentzides, Lecturer under contract, Greece.
simon_deg@yahoo.com
23. Catherine Dimitriadou, Assistant Professor of Teaching
Methodology, University of Western Macedonia, Greece.
adimitriadou@uowm.gr
24. Androniki Gakoudi, EAP/ESP instructor and teacher trainer,
University of Western Macedonia, Greece.
agakoudi@eled.auth.gr
25. Miltos Frangopoulos, Deputy Director of Studies, Vakalo Art and
Design College, Athens, Greece/ Visiting Research Fellow
University of Derby, UK. M.Frangopoulos@vakalo.gr
26. Maryam Hosseinnia, Associate Professor, American University
of Kuwait. Mhosseinnia@auk.edu.kw
27. Peter C. Jones, Joint Programme Leader MA Publishing,
Plymouth University UK. peter.jones@plymouth.ac.uk
28. Tony Pritchard, Course Leader, Postgraduate Certificate and
Postgraduate Diploma Design for Visual Communication,
London College of Communication, UK.
t.pritchard@lcc.arts.ac.uk
29. Evangelia Svirou, Educator specialized in Primary Education,
University of Western Macedonia, Florina, Greece.
euaggelias@windowslive.com
334 Contributors List
30. Ifigeneia Vamvakidou, Associate professor of Modern Greek

History and Culture, University of Western Macedonia, Florina,
Greece. ibambak@uowm.gr
31. Paraskevi Golia, teacher in primary education and researcher
lecturer, University of Western Macedonia, Florina, Greece.
golia@yahoo.gr
32. Paul Middleton, Executive Dean, University of Northampton,
UK. Paul.Middleton@northampton.ac.uk
33. Lizzie Ridout MA(RCA), Lecturer, Plymouth University, UK.
info@lizzieridout.com

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Semiotics and Visual Communication:

Concepts and Practices

This book first published 2014

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Copyright © 2014 by Evripides Zantides and contributors

Book Cover design and copyrights by Theseas Mouzouropoulos

ISBN (10): 1-4438-5468-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5468-9

List of Tables ............................................................................................. xii

Preface ...................................................................................................... xiii

Acknowledgements ................................................................................. xvii

Chapter One: Architectural and Spatial Design-Design for Three

Embedded, Introspective and Poetic Narratives in 3-Dimensional Design .... 2

How Type Can Move Us—Type in the Environment: France .................. 11

Double Writing in Architectural Design: A Phenomenological-

Chapter Two: Design for Print Applications

The Renaissance of Academic Publishing: The Deconstruction

Marketing Semiotics Applied to the Design of Integrated Graphic

(De)coding the Fabric of the European Years’ Visual Representations .... 56

Intersemiotic Translation in Advertising Discourse: Plastic Visual

The Greek-Cypriot Dialect in Writing: Orthographic Conventions

Chapter Three: Design for Screen Based Media

Signs at the Interface: An Exploration of Semiotics and Interaction

Ludic and Social Media Interaction Design Principles in Smart City

Typography and Language: A Semiotic Perspective ............................... 126

Kinetic Typography: A Semiotic Exploration ......................................... 150

Chapter Four: Pedagogy of Visual Communication

Visual Diasporas: Comics as Transcultural Phenomena ......................... 177

The Development of a Visual Literacy Course in Higher Education ...... 193

“My First Experiment” “My First Ex”: A Multimodal Tool Proposed

Developing Students’ Visual Design Competence through Situated

Project My City My Place: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Graphic

The Receiver is the Message? ................................................................. 269

A Course in Visual Communication ........................................................ 284

Children Are Painting Inscriptions: Pedagogy of Visual Communication

Chapter Five: Visual Arts

Marks, Signs and Images: The Sense of Belonging and Commitment

Showing Saying: On Speech Balloons .................................................... 322

Contributors List ...................................................................................... 332

Figure 3-4: Connotative system

screen-based arts’ signification. Theo van Leeuwen and Emilia Djonov

Paul Middleton explores the emergence of primitive marks as signs

This book, as a result of the first International Conference on Semiotics

ARCHITECTURAL AND SPATIAL DESIGN—

My research is concerned with the generation of artefacts, which

This ‘archaeological’ method is used to reinvest appreciation of that

Light and Shade

Fig. 1- 2 ‘light and shade collection’

Task Light (Wall-washer)

The modernist preoccupation under examination here is ‘adjustability’.

Fig. 1-3 ‘the complete history of shelf supports’

“The Book of Sand” is a short story by the Argentinean writer Georges

to get between the pages and the covers.

The study illustrated above is called “Power Tower”. “Power Tower”

Fig. 1-6 ‘Transparent’ glass, glass cleaning bottles with fluid.

This is called “transparent” and is clearly a play on one of

heads. Here, multifunctionality gets in its own way. Integrating a secondary

Signs used as a means of communication within the environment today are

Although the United States is still perceived as the mecca of advertising

Particular features and modes of communication should be seen in the

However, it is this sense of a time past, of a culture past that intrigues.

Life became faster

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