Origin of Signs
 Signs are not new. There are theories that signs, and
the ability to read signs, has had a large impact on the
evolution of life on earth.

Until the Cambrian Explosion organisms relied on
hearing, touch, smell and taste. (Andrew Parker, In the Blink of an Eye: How
Vision Sparked the Big Bang of Evolution.)

Plants and animals use colour and sound to give
meaning, And animals survival depends on their ability
to read signs.

Examples: Prey – predator, mating

Biosemiotics (bios=life & semion=sign) is an interdisciplinary
science that studies communication and signification in living
systems.

Communication is the essential characteristic of life. An
organism is a message to future generations that specifies
how to survive and reproduce.

Any autocatalytic system transfers information (i.e. initial
conditions) to its progeny so that daughter systems will
eventually reach the same state as their parent.
Biosemiotics

Self-reproducing systems have a semantic closure because
they define themselves in their progeny.

A sign (defined in a broadest sense) is an object that is a
part of some self-reproducing system. A sign is always
useful for the system and its value can be determined by
its contribution to the reproductive value of the entire
system. The major trend in the evolution of signs is the
increase of their complexity via development of new
hierarchical levels, i.e., metasystem transitions
biosemiotics
Rearranging signifiers and signifieds
•Signs can mean different things
•Before mass media, the meaning of signs changed more slowly
•Self-interested parties rearrange the relationships between signifier and
signified
•Advertising operates by splitting signifier and signified so that it can
recombine a signifier from one meaning system with a signified from another.
•This is how a distinctive -- and different -- new sign can be concocted for a
brand product.
•When signifiers can be made to take on many and various meanings, they are
known as floating signifiers.
ALREADYNESS
"Ads create an 'alreadyness' of 'facts' about ourselves as individuals: that we
are consumers, that we have certain values, that we will freely buy things,
consume, on the basis of those values..." (Williamson, 1978:42).
Advertisers mine the cultural lives of demographically segmented audiences for
meanings to associate with their products, and then rearrange those meanings
through the framework of the advertisement, thereby positioning viewers to
complete commodity signs as if there were a natural, intrinsic association
between the viewer's own meaning systems and the corporate products.
Ads invite us to recognize ourselves as already the kind of people who are
consonant with the particular commodity aesthetic being advertised.
Colour

The meanings of colours emerge from both
environmental and historical factors
•Human culture uses colour on self: clothes, jewels, feathers, paint, flowers,
beads, hair tattoos, body

Cultures differ from each other by the uses they
make of colours and chromatic patterns.


Colour, combined with pattern and style
function as distinctive markers, or
camouflage.
This changes through history, so these uses of colour can
be documented, as can the patterns and styles
Color Marketing Group
“Color sells, and the right color sells better”
•Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.
•Color improves readership as much as 40 percent.
•Color accelerates learning from 55 to 78 percent.
•Color increases comprehension by 73 percent.
•Color ads are read up to 42 percent more than similar ads in black and
white.
•Color can be up to 85 percent of the reason people decide to buy.
CADILLAC
"The 2004 Cadillac XLR Neiman Marcus Limited Edition XLR, produced
in the exclusive color 'Majestic Amethyst‘ retailed for $85,000
through the 2003Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. It sold out in
just 14 minutes."The ChromaFlair colors "Titanium"used on the
2006/2007 Cadillac DTS and"Sharkskin" used on the 2006/2007
Buick Lucerne were the first ever used by General Motors. These two
new premium colors merit a $995.00 premium charge. Both are
selling at higher percentages than the previously offered free old
gray Cadillac. Old gray penetration was at 4.9 percent. 'Titanium'
and'Sharkskin' penetration is at 6.6 percent.

Color definitely sells and at a premium
price!"
KLEENEX
"The Kleenex brand design team
has learned over
the years that color
is just as important
as pattern when
trying to win the
purchase interest of consumers.
"Landor conceived and designed two
projects for The Procter & Gamble
Company in which color has been particularly
successful; Febreze® Air Effects™
and Secret® Sparkle™. Both projects
leverage a principle
called senesthesia, w h i c h concerns
the multisensory
psychological messages color
can communicate, The colors for Febreze Air
Effects were selected to evoke
the sense of light, subtle and airy
fragrances.
The colors for Secret Sparkle were
selected to evoke the flavors that reinforce the tasty versioning
names.
We've found that the more globally the senses are evoked, the
more likely it is that the consumer will
become engaged and ultimately purchase
the product.