Advances in Visual Semiotics


Book Description




Introduction to Peircean Visual Semiotics


Book Description

Contemporary culture is as much visual as literary. This book explores an approach to the communicative power of the pictorial and multimodal documents that make up this visual culture, using Peircean semiotics. It develops the enormous theoretical potential of Peirce's theory of signs of signs (semiotics) and the persuasive strategies in which they are employed (visual rhetoric) in a variety of documents. Unlike presentations of semiotics that take the written word as the reference value, this book examines this particular rhetoric using pictorial signs as its prime examples. The visual is not treated as the 'poor relation' to the (written) word. It is therefore possible to isolate more clearly the specific constituent properties of word and image, taking these as the basic material of a wide range of cultural artefacts. It looks at comic strips, conventional photographs, photographic allegory, pictorial metaphor, advertising campaigns and the huge semiotic range exhibited by the category of the 'poster'. This is essential reading for all students of semiotics, introductory and advanced.




Semiotics of Visual Language


Book Description

"... the details of Saint-Martin's argument contain a wealth of penetrating observations from which anyone with a serious interest in visual communication will profit." -- Journal of Communication Saint-Martin elucidates a syntax of visual language that sheds new light on nonverbal language as a form of representation and communication. She describes the evolution of this language in the visual arts as well as its multiple uses in contemporary media. The result is a completely new approach for scholars and practitioners of the visual arts eager to decode the many forms of visual communication.




Handbook of Semiotics


Book Description

History and Classics of Modern Semiotics -- Sign and Meaning -- Semiotics, Code, and the Semiotic Field -- Language and Language-Based Codes -- From Structuralism to Text Semiotics: Schools and Major Figures -- Text Semiotics: The Field -- Nonverbal Communication -- Aesthetics and Visual Communication.




Semiotics and Visual Communication


Book Description

This book is the result of selective research papers that were presented at the First International Conference on Semiotics and Visual Communication at the Cyprus University of Technology in November 2011. The conference was structured 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, Spatial Design-Design for Three-Dimensional Products; Design for Print Applications; Design for Screen-Based Media; Pedagogy of Visual Communication; and Visual Arts. This volume will be an asset for people who have an interest in semiotics, not only from a theoretical and historical perspective, but also from an applied point of view, looking at how semiotic theory can be implemented into educational research, design and visual communication practice. The book provides 25 essential contributions that demonstrate how the concepts and theories of semiotics can be creatively adapted within the interdisciplinary nature of visual communication.




The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods


Book Description

This book captures the state of the art in visual research. Margolis and Pauwels have brought together, in one volume, a unique survey of the field of visual research that will be essential reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, arts and humanities. The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods encompasses the breadth and depth of the field, and points the way to future research possibilities. It illustrates ′cutting edge′ as well as long-standing and recognized practices. This book is not only ′about′ research, it is also an example of the way that the visual can be incorporated into data collection and the presentation of research findings. Chapters describe a methodology or analytical framework, its strengths and limitations, possible fields of application and practical guidelines on how to apply the method or technique. The Handbook is organized into seven main sections: - Framing the Field of Visual Research - Producing Visual Data and Insight - Participatory and Subject-Centered Approaches - Analytical Frameworks and Approaches - Visualization Technologies and Practices - Moving Beyond the Visual - Options and Issues for Using and Presenting Visual Research. Eric Margolis is an Associate Professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. He is President of the International Visual Sociology Association. Luc Pauwels is Professor of Visual Culture at the University of Antwerp. He is Chair of the Visual Communication Studies Division of the ICA and Vice-President of the International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA).




The Handbook of Visual Analysis


Book Description

The Handbook of Visual Analysis is a rich methodological resource for students, academics, researchers and professionals interested in investigating the visual representation of socially significant issues. The Handbook: Offers a wide-range of methods for visual analysis: content analysis, historical analysis, structuralist analysis, iconography, psychoanalysis, social semiotic analysis, film analysis and ethnomethodology Shows how each method can be applied for the purposes of specific research projects Exemplifies each approach through detailed analyses of a variety of data, including, newspaper images, family photos, drawings, art works and cartoons Includes examples from the authors' own research and professional practice The Handbook of Visual Analysis, which demonstrates the importance of visual data within the social sciences offers an essential guide to those working in a range of disciplines including: media and communication studies, sociology, anthropology, education, psychoanalysis, and health studies.




Empirical Research on Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric


Book Description

The study of symbols has long been considered a necessary field to unravel concealed meanings in symbols and images. These methods have since established themselves as staples in various fields of psychology, anthropology, computer science, and cognitive science. Empirical Research on Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric is a critical academic publication that examines communication through images and symbols and the methods by which researchers and scientists analyze these images and symbols. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics, such as material culture, congruity theory, and social media, this publication is geared toward academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on images, symbols, and how to analyze them.




Visible Signs


Book Description

Basic semiotic theories are taught in most art schools as part of a contextual studies program, but many students find it difficult to understand how these ideas might impact on their own practice. Visible Signs tackles this problem by introducing key theories and concepts, such as signs and signifiers, and language and speech, within the framework of visual communication. Each chapter provides an overview of a particular facet of semiotic theory, with inspiring examples from graphic design, typography, illustration, advertising and art to illustrate the ideas discussed in the text. Creative exercises at the end of the book will help exemplify these ideas through practical application. The third edition of Visible Signs features new material from international designers and new creative exercises to accompany each chapter. This new edition also features a new design and layout.




Semiotics and Visual Communication III


Book Description

The chapters in this book consist of selected papers that were presented at the 3rd International Conference and Poster Exhibition on Semiotics and Visual Communication at the Cyprus University of Technology in November 2017. They investigate the theme of the third conference, “The Semiotics of Branding”, and look at branding and brand design as endorsing a reputation and inhabiting a status of almost mythical proportion that has triumphed over the past few decades. Emerging from its forerunner (corporate identity) to incorporate advertising, consumer lifestyles and attitudes, image-rights, market-research, customisation, global expansion, sound and semiotics, and “the consumer-as-the-brand”, the word “branding” currently appears to be bigger than its own umbrella definition. From tribal markers, such as totems, scarifications and tattoos, to emblems of power, language, fashion, architectural space, insignias of communal groups, heraldic devices, religious and political symbols, national flags and the like, a form of branding is at work that responds to the need to determine the presence and interaction of specific groups, persons or institutions through shared codes of meaning.