The Visual Code
Pennarola, chapter II
The Visual Code
The title of Roland Barthes’s essay, Rhetoric of
the Image, lays down the groundwork for the
main argument of his essay, as the word
“rhetoric” refers to language that is used to
persuade or influence people; and the word
“image” refers to a reproduction or imitation of
the form of a person or thing. As such, the
“rhetoric of the image” simply refers to images
used to persuade or influence people.
SEMIOTICS
• Semiotics is the science which studies the
relationship between meaning and signs.
• In so far that language is a system of signs,
it is studied by semiotics.
Semiotics – Barthes
Semiotics – Barthes
These two dimensions are often
presented as 'axes', where the horizontal
axis is the syntagmatic and the vertical
axis is the paradigmatic. The plane of the
syntagm is that of the combination of
'this-and-this-and-this' (as in the
sentence, 'the man cried') whilst the
plane of the paradigm is that of the
selection of 'this-or-this-or-this' (e.g. the
replacement of the last word in the same
sentence with 'died' or 'sang'). Whilst
syntagmatic relations are possibilities of
combination, paradigmatic relations are
functional contrasts - they involve
differentiation
Semiotics – Barthes – The Food System
An example of the syntagmatic relations and paradigmatic
contrasts involved in Western menus:
In the food system... one defines on the syntagmatic axis the combinations of
courses which can make up meals of various sorts; and each course or slot can
be filled by one of a number of dishes which are in paradigmatic contrast with
one another (one wouldn't combine roast beef and lamb chops in a single
meal; they would be alternatives on any menu). These dishes which are
alternative to one another often bear different meanings in that they connote
varying degrees of luxury, elegance, etc. (Culler 1985, 104).
Semiotics – Barthes
Roland Barthes (1967) outlined the paradigmatic and
syntagmatic elements of the 'garment system' in
similar terms. The paradigmatic elements are the
items which cannot be worn at the same time on the
same part of the body (such as hats, trousers, shoes).
The syntagmatic dimension is the juxtaposition of
different elements at the same time in a complete
ensemble from hat to shoes.
Semiotics – Barthes (2)
• Sign = Signifier + Signified
• SIGNIFIER = physical representation of a thing or of a
concept. It is the EXPRESSION.
• SIGNIFIED = meaning. It is the the CONTENT.
• CONTENT may be:
– denotative (the ‘brain’ definition)
– connotative (the ‘deeper’ meaning - see, for ex., the word ‘dog’).
• The arbitrary nature of the sign is used
deliberately in 57dow, where the word green is
presented against a red background, which
creates an advertisement that is quite
confusing to the reader.
• Upon investigation, we learn that the "green" is
the green which is culturally associated with
envy---your friends will envy you your Dow
carpet product.
Semiotics – Barthes (3)
• Objects have meanings.
• Such meanings may be:
– symbolic (= connotative meaning)
• they have a metaphorical meaning
– taxonomic (=denotative meaning)
• they are included in a system where things are named and
organized.
• They are classified.
Barthes and
the Rhetoric
of Images
Semiotics – Barthes (4)
• Objects, regarded as symbols, have connotative
meanings
• Connotative meaning of objects can be:
– Existential
• Related to life but with non-human elements – market
– Aesthetic
• Related to design – for instance, still nature
– Technological
• Related to technology – i.e., when the object is useful for
something else
SEMIOTICS – PEIRCE (5)
• There are three categories of denoting expressions or objects:
• (1) ICON = direct visual representation of the signifier.
• (2) SYMBOL = arbitrary relationship between the signified and
the signifier. No link to what they represent. ‘Words’ are
symbols. They have nothing to do with the thing they
represent.
• (3) INDEX = existential relation between two signifieds .
Stable collocation with the entity it denotes. A sign/indication
related to the object it represents.
– for example, if I say ‘smoke’ I indicate the existence of ‘fire’ and create
a relationship between the two signifieds.
– Facial expressions indicating emotions
– A knock on the door ‘indicates’ someone is arriving
– Metonymic relationship (Hollywood, Palazzo Chigi, The White House)
ICON
(direct visual representation)
SYMBOLS
• Symbols are conventional expressions for
the culture that has created them
• Arbitrary relation between signifier and
signified
Symbol, Index and Icon
Alcohol advertisements
tend to depict
wealthy living
and sex appeal by
characterizing the alcohol
consumers as such.
Symbol=O=Orange=
Bacardi Orange
Bottle= Icon
Index= Alcohol
INDEX
Existential relation between 2 signified
Stable collocation
with what it denotes
INDEX – PEIRCE (5)
An index in an
advertisement is generally
quite culturally-bound,
representing something by
association. A typical
example might be:
a head of a wealthy-looking
woman in a diamond
advertisement (an index for
a wealthy lifestyle)
We are unlikely to see three
laughing teenagers in a
diamond advertisement, or
the head of a glamorous
woman in a disposablecamera advertisement.
INDEX – PEIRCE (5)
These indexical
components of
advertisements have
connotations, which
typically connect the
advertisement to a larger
cultural context.
Symbols and Indexes
• In terms of cultural significance, a company is
well-served if its symbol becomes an index
– a signifier goes beyond what it directly signifies to
some larger association.
The McDonald's "Golden Arches"
The Golden Arches are
the symbol of
McDonald’s, the global
fast-food restaurant
chain.
Originally, real arches
were part of the
restaurant design. They
were incorporated into
the chain's logo in 1962,
which resembled a
stylized restaurant, and in
the current Golden
Arches logo, introduced
1968, resembling an "M"
for "McDonald's".
The symbol of McDonalds has come
to be indexical over time.
This represents a very strong cultural
establishment of the symbol.
Of course, it is a very powerful
marketing tool.
To summarize, within an advertisement,
the image component may have some
part that is iconic to the product, and
there may be some symbols such as a
company logo, and so on.
The overall image may have some
cultural associations, which are indexical
to some larger cultural context.
Symbol or Index?
In this example from a
men's magazine, the
image suggests that
Smirnoff enables you to
see that women (or
perhaps some women) are
nutcrackers …….
(the code of related
Smirnoff ads marks this as
humour).
??????
The Media Iceberg
Symbol
(Text/visual)
common (unsaid) knowledge
background assumptions:
stereotypes;
thought/ideas against social norms;
discrimination;
sexist and racial statements
Text
• In advertisements, a great component is the
text.
• What is the main purpose of the text?
• Advertising language has to be adapted to the
needs of the consumers
Language of advertising
• Informative language
– factual, realistic, objective
– Symbolic relation between the brand, the product
and its qualities
• Consumer language
– Catchy, creative, glamorous
– Metaphors, analogies, imagery, idiomatic,
colloquial and informal expressions
• What is language?
• Social behaviour to satisfy needs
– Once: food/safe shelter
– Now: security/money/comfort => necessity to
belong/to be identified to a social group
Jakobson’s linguistic factors
context
message
addressee
addresser
code
contact
Jakobson’s linguistic factors
Jakobson argues that every oral or written verbal
message or ‘speech act’ (parole) has the following
elements in common:
• the message itself,
• an addresser, an addressee,
• a context (the social and historical context in which the
utterance is made),
• a contact (the physical channel and psychological
connection that we find between addresser and
addressee),
• a code, common to both addresser and addressee,
which permits communication to occur.
Addresser & addressee in ad
• What in Jakobson’s theory is defined as the
ADDRESSER in ad language is the WRITER, SENDER,
PRODUCER
• What in Jakobson’s theory is defined as the
ADDRESSEE in ad language is the READER, RECEIVER,
CONSUMER
• THEREFORE we do not have a simple addresseraddressee relationship because ad language has
complicated purposes
• Ad language obeys to the marketing laws
• It MUST persuade the consumer to buy.
– => linguistic rhetorical devices
• ≠ styles and ≠ narrative viewpoints
• We therefore have the relation:
NARRATOR
NARRATEE
Narratee =YOU
• YOU in ad language exploits the psycholinguistic
potentiality:
• it awakes our sleeping ego, as YOU is our ego seen by
others
• It also suggests the idea that some of US is able to
say YOU though feeling to be similar to the US
• In English, the pronoun YOU has an ambiguity which
is unknown in other languages, as YOU is both
singular and plural.
Jakobson’s linguistic factors
context
message
addressee
addresser
code
contact
Jakobson’s linguistic functions
These six elements or ‘factors’ of communication are
aligned each with a different ‘function’ of language
as follows:
Emotive
Referential (context)
Poetic (message)
Conative
(addresser)
(addressee)
Metalingual
(Code)
Phatic (contact)
Jakobson’s linguistic functions
Briefly, these six functions can be described as follows:
(1) the referential function is oriented toward
the context (the dominant function in a message
like 'Water boils at 100 degrees‘. What the
message is about);
(2) the emotive function is oriented toward the
addresser (as in the interjections 'Bah!' and
'Oh!');
(3) the conative function is oriented toward the
addressee (imperatives and apostrophes);
Jakobson’s linguistic functions
(4) the phatic function serves to establish,
prolong or discontinue communication [or
confirm whether the contact is still there] (as in
'Hello?');
(5) the metalingual function is used to establish
mutual agreement on the code (for example, a
definition);
(6) the poetic function (e.g., 'Smurf'), puts 'the
focus on the message for its own sake‘. Not the
message but the form of the message.
(Jakobson, 1960, p. 356)
Referential
- when referential, the stress is on the message’s denotative
or cognitive purpose (what the message is about). The body
copy presents the product characteristics
Emotive
(these
are my emotions)
When a message is
emotive in function,
it is designed to
stress the
addresser’s
response to a given
situation arising in
the context;
Conative
(The stress is on
the message’s
impact upon the
addressee)
The ad prompts
Phatic
(Attracts reader’s attention, checks the
channel to go on with conversation.
The emphasis is on establishing that given channels
of communication are open and unimpeded)
Metalingual
(can you explain it
any better?)
- when
metalinguistic, the
stress is on the code
itself shared by
addresser and
addressee, that is,
the medium in which
communication
occurs,
Poetical (we play
with language).
when poetic / aesthetic,
the stress is on the form
of the message itself.
poetic
AD as a persuasive discourse
 A successful ad responds to the ARMS
characteristics (Leech, 1966):
 Attention seeking devices
 (images, paralanguage, linguistic violations)
 Readability
 (simple, personal, colloquial style, and familiar lexis)
 Memorability
 (slogan, key phrases, repetitions, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm)
 Selling Power
 (direct appeal to customers : try, taste, go, imperative forms)
 To achieve success, advert language must therefore
be PERSUASIVE
Attention Seeking
Devices
Startling images
Paralanguage
• It supports our verbal language.
• In face-to-face interaction:
– Linguistic Stress and intonation
– Body position
– Gestures
– Physical proximity
– Clothing
– Eye contact
– Touch
Paralanguage
• In written communication:
– Layout
– Typographical features
– Space
Graphological features
HANDWRITING
Typograhical setting as a form of
paralanguage (1)
Different fonts (Haettenschweiler)
Different fonts (Times New Roman)
Different fonts (Courier New)
Different fonts (Curlz)
Typograhical setting as a form of
paralanguage (2)
• Different sizes (32 point)
• Different sizes (48 point)
•Different sizes (60 pt)
Typograhical setting as a form of
paralanguage (3)
• Different styles (emboldened)
• Different styles (Italics)
• Different styles (underlined)
• Different styles (emboldened underlined italics)
• Normal vs. Different styles (Apex)
• Normal vs. Different styles (Pedix)
Typograhical setting as a form of
paralanguage (4)
• CAPITAL LETTERS (UPPERCASE)
• small letters (lowercase)
• and… features of punctuation?
• and – features of punctuation!
• and: ‘features’ of punctuation;
• and features of ‘punctuation’.
The letters in the ads may
assume different shapes and
even be replaced by the icons
of people or things, blurring
the iconic and the verbal
constituents of the ad
“Emina Uzicanin was just 5 years
old. Her family was living on the
outskirts of Sarajevo. On a sunny
afternoon in May, Emina was
playing in a field behind her Uncle’s
house. There, she spotted two little
rabbits. As soon as she started
toward them, the rabbits took off.
So she began running. Five feet. Ten
feet. That’s when it happened. An
ear-shattering explosion ripped
through Emina’s body, severing her
left leg and leaving the rest of her
badly scarred. Every 22 minutes
another innocent civilian is killed or
maimed by a land mine. Right now
there are over 60 million
unexploded land mines waiting just
beneath the earth in nearly 70
countries. We need your help to rid
the planet of land mines and to
help its victims like Emina.”
http://www.ncddr.org/products/researchexchange/v07n03/9_mines.html
COLOURS
• Yellow: Mental activity, intellect.
• Red: Joy, aggression, animal passion, fun.
• Blue: Spirituality, religion, art, culture, philosophy, attitude to life
itself.
• Green: harmony, nature, feeling of fullness.
• Orange: Drive, ambition.
• Purple: power, leadership, respect
• Pink Love
• Grey Meaning : Uncommitted, uncertain - ‘grey area’. Mental denial
of emotion, depression.
• Brown: Earthy, practical
• White: Hope, faith, purity, perfection, confidence, enlightenment
• Black: Negativity, i.e. fear, anxiety, hatred, resentment, guilt,
depression (no hope / faith).
Attention seeking devices :
spelling deviations
Brand names:
Kleenex (Kleen); Rice Krispies (Krispier), Kwick Save
supermarket (Kwick & cheap);
Zurich:
Because change happenz
Iconicity of letters:
B different (Bally)
Radiance you can C. (Lancome)
Attention seeking devices :
Punning
Attention seeking devices :
Punning
A pun is a wordplay based on the double meaning of
a word which results in a phonetic or lexical
misunderstanding…
“Anywear. Don’t put a foot wrong” (Knickers)
“At last, someone’s made scent of the world”
(Haze world scents)
“NEED A JOB?
LETS TACO BOUT IT!”
Activities
1. Can you explain? (wordplay)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
RU (Rimmel make up)
Pampers (nappies)
Huggies (nappies)
Oust (air freshner)
Coco Pops (cereals)
FCUK (clothing)
Sunsation (suntan cream)
VitalEyes (eye drops)
Weetabix (wholegrain biscuits) wheat
Bare necessities (underwear)
Activities
1. Can you explain? (phonetic /lexical puns)
a) Fuji Film: loaded with innovation
b) When shoes have a soul: Berlutti Bottier
depuis 1895
c) Horlickzzzz: www.sleepbetter.co.uk
d) Ariel colour: that’s another load off your mind
e) FIAT: Driven by passion
f) LEXUS: Moves you in more ways than one
g) Sunsation (suntan cream)
h) LabSeries Skincare for men: Face the day
Readability : oversimplified grammar
…phew*
You can now buy the emergency contraceptive pill
from the pharmacy. It’s called Levonelle and
works best within 24 hours but can be used
up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.