Applied Semiotics

SEMIOTICALLY SPEAKING

Things are not always as they seem. Semiotics, the science underpinning visual communication, invites us to look beneath what we see. The study of signs and symbols unveils the difference between what is seen and what is understood. We see a red rose, but we read love. We wear a uniform, but we say I belong. From colour, to typography, to logo-marque, to paper stock. Each visual element and combination speak two tongues at once. Aesthetic immediacy—awareness, attraction or aversion and cultural communication—subconscious association and meaning. Graphic design is the application of semiotics to communicate visually (hence, it’s pseudonym visual communication). As designers our message is often subconsciously read, even though it is written with deft intent.

Red is the opening chapter of Applied Semiotics. A research project that examines the etymology of semiotic codes across culture and design. Debuted at NGV Melbourne Design Week, an interactive exhibit comprising a keynote with colour theorist Jane Boddy (WGSN / Pantone Institute) and exhibition of red materiality curated by curated by Oigåll Projects. Through Applied Semiotics, the project examined how visual symbols operate, mutate, and embed themselves within collective consciousness, as well as how these ideas inform both design logic and language is examined. What seem like universal truths—red means love, serif typography suggests academia—are revealed as localised associations when zoomed out through time or geography. Semiotic meaning is material, but malleable. With it we can co-opt, subvert and covertly harness meaning. If we know where, or how, to look.