Brown Eyes & Zodiac Signs ( ͡👁️ ͜ʖ ͡👁️)

 

   Unit 1, we went over Visual Communication theories. For starters, visual communication relies on our vision and is mainly expressed with 2D signs. We use our eyes to physically see an object or sign, but it's our brain that does the majority of the interpretation. There are "sensual" theories and "perceptual" theories. Sensual theories refer to the "raw" data from nerves transmitted to the brain. Perceptual theories are the meanings, opinions, or conclusions from the image. These conclusions are drawn from prior experiences or stored images in our brains. Sensual theories deal with Gestalt, Constructivism, and Ecological, while the Perceptual theories comprise Semiotics and our Subconscious

     I want to talk about Semiotic's though -- it caught my interest. Semiotic like I said above is a perceptual theory. When you look at the image of the zodiac signs what do you think of? do you associate certain characteristics to the signs, or are the signs and their meanings/images foreign to you? When we talk about Semiotics we have to understand that it is the field of research that studies signs as an essential part of cultural life and communication. In other words, it is the study of anything that stands for something else. Semiotic has 3 categories of signs, Iconic, Indexical, and Symbolic. Let's get back to the zodiac signs. Each sign has a symbol and is associated with a constellation. According to Wikipedia Astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects. With that, being said Zodiac signs can be categorized as Symbolic signs because the understanding of the signs must be taught.

  Now when we look at the traffic signs, we can conduct a much clearer and specific meaning to the sign. The "Stop" sign means to stop, The "P" stands for parking, the "One-way" sign, and the "Speed Limit" signs are direct messages. These types of signs are examples of Iconic signs. Iconic signs most closely resemble the thing they represent. In Unit 2 we learned the words Denotation and Connotation. Denotation means "Explicit dictionary definition" and Connotation means "Implied meaning, emotions, and associations/ Expands and repositions denotative meaning/ Culturally dependent". We now have a greater understanding of our Perceptual theories and the messages they can convey. The Zodiac signs represent a Connotative message while the Highway signs represent a Denotative message.