An iconic sign – which has a direct connection to its’ object (ie it looks or sounds like the object): 1. Two people’s faces are on the front cover making it iconic 2. There are pictures of the cars which look similar to real life. 3.
An indexical sign – which has an indirect link to its’ object (think smells 1. F1 logo links to motor sport and racing 2. Title “Racing review” creates a link to motor sport and competition between people to reach a place/ person first 3. Their fire proof suits link to safety and fear of being hurt or injured.
A symbolic sign – which has a random or arbitary link based on a shared knowledge or an agreement, for example, a shared culture or language (think letters, words, writing, shapes, squiggles, colours, sound effects, facial expressions, hand gestures, clothing, hair styles, etc) 1. We can all agree that the letters all mean something and come together to make a word and a sentence. There is no evidence to prove that this is real but something we agree upon.
The reason why i chose to put this as a front cover of a magazine is to show that all professions should not be gender specific. Also i wanted the audience viewing this not to have pre conceived ideas about non stereotypical professions. Ballet especially can be seen as a female domain. I wanted to challenge the ideals of gender inequality.
Barthes – French social and literary critic Roland Barthes is the leading structuralist thinker of the 20th Century. He draws on Saussure’s conception of semiotics: the science of the way signs behave within society. In particular, Barthes examines the arbitrariness of signs within communication systems, such as texts.
Pierce – C.S.Peirce was a scientist and philosopher best known as the earliest proponent of pragmatism. An influential thinker and polymath, Pierce is among the greatest of American minds. His thought was a seminal influence upon William James, his life long friend, and upon John Dewey, his one time student.
Saussure – Saussure argues that the goal of linguistics should be to identify the elements of a language, to classify them and finally describe the their combination rules in a syn-chronic structure. This view was in contrast with the predominant dia-chronic perspectives of that time.
Semiotics – The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.
Sign – An object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else.
Signifier – A sign’s physical form (such as a sound, printed word, or image) as distinct from its meaning.
Iconic sign – signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture.
Signified – the meaning or idea expressed by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed.
Indexical sign – signs where the signifier is caused by the signified, e.g., smoke signifies fire
Symbolic sign – signs where the relation between signifier and signified is purely conventional and culturally specific, e.g., most words.
Code – a system of words, letters, figures, or symbols used to represent others, especially for the purposes of secrecy.
Ideology – a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.
Paradigm – a typical example or pattern of something; a pattern or model.
Syntagm – a widely held but false belief or idea. Make people believe a different idea.
Signification – the representation or conveying of meaning.
Denotation – What is actually there. What the image is.
Connotation – What something represents.
Myth – Myth in media analysis refers to how words and images are systematically used to communicate cultural and political meanings
