Making Meaning

Semiotics - Semiotics are a way of explaining how we make meaning by the study of sign systems and their function in society.

Sign - A sign is the smallest single unit of meaning e.g. a Nike tick.

Anything can be a sign if we agree that it has a meaning. The particular meaning of a sign or set of signs is something that is agreed and learned through experience. Signs have no particular meaning of themselves. So gestures or elements of pictures become signs because we agree that they have a meaning.

Denotation - Denotation is a literal meaning. e.g. the thing in itself/ what you see. it is simply identifying and making notes on the graphic signs that have been used.

Connotation - Connotation is something that suggests an extra meaning by using notes from the denotation to say what the various graphic signs mean to you and what they might intend to mean to the target audience.

Iconic Signs - These are signs that appear exactly like the thing itself. It is a symbolic element within a genre which is highly charged with meanings relevant to that genre. An icon is in effect a symbol for the genre - e.g. the trench coat and trilby hat for a detectives genre.

Indexical Signs - They act by indirectly pointing/suggesting what they mean. They get their function through a connection with what they simplify. e.g smoke as a sign for fire.

Symbolic Codes - These are signifiers of meaning that totally disconnect from what they denote.

Convention -  this refers to a certain way of doing something.