Second day back at university, could barely keep my eyes open in my lecture this morning, due to getting home from work at 2am, but I guess I will have have to get used to early mornings for uni again. Lucky enough, studio classes don't start till next week so my day at uni got cut back by 5 hours! I would have been able to go to work if I knew this was the class, but I had already informed Hungry Jacks I can no longer do Thursdays. Due to being stuck in a routine of work all day and night on Thursdays, it has been unconsciously on my mind that I have work tonight. It got to approximately 1pm just as I was "motivating" myself to clean my room (I didn't end up cleaning for a fresh start for university, oops), it came to my realisation that I have work off tonight, I jumped to bed to celebrate my relief followed by a strong 5 hour nap. Safe to say, I definitely needed it, and now I am procrastinating further from cleaning my room.
Although, this goes to show, that I will have to get into a new routine of bed times due to compulsory 7am wake up calls. I know that 7am isn't typically known as an early morning, and although I do like waking up early, I also appreciate my sleep ins after coming home from work in the early hours of the morning.
Back on the topic of uni, after the lectures basically debriefing us on the subject for the semester, I am really excited to be focusing on graphic design, we never really got a chance to get into it last year. Already getting our assignments, but, hopefully I will evenly distribute my energy, time and commitment to all aspects of work and uni this semester.
This drawing of a tiger is one I did last summer before I went on holidays. I love drawing tigers and lions, I'm not really sure why, but I have quite a little collection of several drawings. As I was writing that first sentence
"This drawing of a tiger" it reminded me of my university subjects from last year, actually from my Contemporary Creative Practice and Philosophy subjects. We learnt about Semiotics, which I must say is my favourite topic to date, and knowing that it was taught from both degrees goes to show how Graphic Design and Advertising and Marketing intertwine and accentuate one another in the real world. Need a little insight on what Semiotics is all about? Let me help you.
Semiotics can be defined as a way of analysing meanings by looking at the sign which communicates meaning. In other words, it is the science of signs, originating in linguistics and the study of meaning. This refers to the sue of signs and images to present an idea; as seen in the diagram, the sign equals the signifier of the signified. The signifier is the denotation; the thing that gives and provokes the meaning, for example, a word or an image. The signified is the connotation; what is evoked in the mind. An example of semiotics would be a picture of a cat; instantaneously we know it is a cat. But, how do we know it is a at? We have to take into consideration of the variables of semiotics; signifiers provoke different ideas and interpretations for different people. People all around the world would recognise a cat, but have different signifiers to evoke this; different words due to different languages. The relationship between the images and signs are representations; it is an arbitrary relationship; the signified remains constant yet the way one interprets it varies completely.
Ferdinand de Saussure founded the concept of structuralism with the components of the sign, the signifier and the signified. Saussure was a Swiss linguist whose views revolutionised the study of language. The theory successfully influence other disciplines such an anthropology, sociology and literary criticism. The main principle of structuralism is that the phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their network relationships, formulating the sign and the system, in which the sign embedded the prime concept. For example, a sign gets its meaning only in comparison or contrast to other signs in a system of signs.
Signs can only exist in opposition to other signs; for example, we know a dog is a dog for it is not a cat, therefore a sign is created through its valued relationship with other signs. In Saussure's theory of linguistics, the signifier is the sound and the signifier is the thought. The linguistic sign is the entire relationship between all components as Saussure stated, "A sign is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept and a sound pattern." (Hoenisch, 2005)
Safe to say that this little recap of semiotics has refreshed my memory for university, which is a plus. It relates to social networking and communication through technology as well; have you ever send a text message to someone with one initial intention of the message, and they have interpreted it completely wrong? That is semiotics, how everyone sees and interprets things different. I guess this is why direct communication is definitely more efficient. But, for me for now, my blog is what lets me get my thoughts and interests out there to the rest of the world, and I thank you for reading. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday evening.
Ex Oh.
