Semiotic Poster Analysis

Schlitz Beer Advert 

I have chosen to look at a advertisement from 1952 advertising Schlitz beer
The text used is a signifier, "Don't worry darling, you didn't burn the beer!" says the husband in the poster with a smile, with the Schlitz Beer logo underneath. The 1950s was a decade well-known for sexist remarks. In fact most vintage posters use similar marketing techniques to sell their products.  

The symbols used such as the common household items, for an example, the apron and the stove help the audience distinguish the women as a homemaker (stay-at-home-wife). Yet this idea classifies women idea of inferiority, as women have to stay dependant on their husbands. One thing that interestingly stood out to me was the fact the husband wears a suit, yet the woman is dressed in an apron, I feel the different dress style is to emphasis and portray men as a whole different 'superior' class. The wife looks like a happy servant. In addition to this, the frying pan is smoking, suggesting the young wife is having trouble cooking, seeming 'hopeless'. By analysing the connotational content of these advertisements we can access ideological meaning which can help us understand how women were portrayed over in the world. And look! There are also two beers on the table, how generous she is, he should feel so privileged. 

From the expression on the wife's face she appears to be distressed and crying into a handkerchief and 'comforted' by her husband. The connotation here being that woman are fragile and weak with their emotions. Unable to face the slightest dilemma without having a breakdown.

The target audience for this poster is primarily targeted at women (especially for young wives) However, I feel that the advertisement also appeals to husbands and men as a secondary audience, as it illustrates how happy the husband in the poster is by having a Schlitz Beer for dinner, as the connotation is that Schlitz beer is so tasty that it would suffice for an entire meal replacement. 

This advert links with semiotics as this advert portrays so many connotations with women being the home-maker etc, so much so the products (in this case beer) we buy in based on the connotations. I think the main implication in this poster is that men (all men) like beer, and that all beer makes men happy. 

COP Type: Production & Distribution

This morning, we had a lecture on the chronologies of type in particular production and distribution. 

Type is a modernist obsession. Type is what language looks like, it makes the spoken word visible. Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visible language.

One thing we learnt is that nobody can agree when language began, as it has no physical
existence, but we believe it began in Mesopotamia 3200 BCE (Persian Gulf to Mediterranean) which was the melting point of civilisation. All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing stands for another an example of this would be a hand gesture etc. 




The formation of civilisation allowed people to come together to make agreements of meaning that create language to form. Visual forms of this language were required by this society and alphabets began to form in a structure of vowels and consonants relating to phonetics. The first full alphabet was Greek (adapted from the phoenician) which finally went on to develop into what we know as the Latin alphabet now. The use and development of these alphabets is effected by where people settled and trade etc

• William Foster (1870) influenced the need for type, brought forward the elementary education act in 1870. All children aged 5-12 were taught to read and write. As such the audience and demand for written material shot up
• Walter Groupius (1919) a German Architect and founder of the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus (1919-1933) was the birth place of all modern arts.
• Max Miedinger - designed Helvetica one of the most influential typefaces of all time. A fact I learnt about this was 25 years after the original release of Helvetica, Arial was designed. 25 years is the maximum protection of design. Helvetica was ripped off by Microsoft in 1982, which is one of the points Fred stresses... Microsoft is the enemy of type.  

  

  Helvetica vs. Arial

• Steve Jobs (1990)  Created the first Mac classic, providing advanced technology to the masses at a much more affordable price. Type was seen as an effective method of communication. For example, the font Gotham was adopted by the Barack Obama campaign which became its identity, to portray someone as dependable and strong

• 

  Gotham Font

• Tim Berners- Lee (1994) invented the world wide web and gave it away for free
• Bill Gates (1995) invented Internet Explorer. In a way the internet has effected the way in which written language has developed. However, it created great limitations with design.

Quotes that came up in the lecture: 

• "By making itself evident, typography can illuminate the construction and identity of a page, screen, place or product" - Thinking with type
• "Typography fostered the modern idea of individuality but destroyed the medieval sense of community and integration"- Neil Postman
• "There is no single approach within typography that applies to everything" - Shelley Grundler

Semiotic Theory

Today we looked more into the semiotic theory, more specifically codes, text, myth and signs. 

Iconic: literal signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture of a person. 

Indexical: signs where the signifier is caused by the signified eg. smoke signifies fire

Symbol: Obvious sign- has an arbitrary connection with the thing, for example toilet symbol. An obvious sign

Myth: Somewhat  related to connotation, Roland Barthes refers to myth. We usually associate myths with classical fables about the exploits of gods and heroes, for example prometheus. However, for Barthes myths were the dominant ideologies of our time. Myths can be seen as extended metaphors. Like metaphors, myths can help us make sense of our experiences in culture/society. 

Codes: One of the fundamental concept in semiotics, codes provide us with a organisational system of meaning which gives us the basis for creating and understanding semiotic texts.Codes provide a framework within which signs make sense- culturally applicable. 

Text: Text is a group signifiers and codes. Text can be photographs, posters, books etc however its meaning will change depending on the context in which it is seen. 

Stonewall: Poster Research

For our poster brief we are only to use 2 colours plus paper stock. A good example of this ( suggested by Simon) was how effective the Stonewall poster, 'Some people are gay. Get over it!' which only uses two colours and just typography. The iconic Stonewall's poster campaign delivers a short, to-the-point, zero tolerance statement to tackle homophobia across the UK. It is a very loud and eye-catching poster which emphasises the message it is portraying. 
I want this kind of short blunt message in my posters as I don't want anything to long-winded as it wouldn't be legible from afar. However, I would have to be very clear, precise and specific for it to actually work. 

Studio Brief 5

To begin my research into the brief I got three books out (suggested to us) from the library by Ambrose/Harris on Format,  Image and Typography as a starting point. 

Format/Typography/Image by Ambrose/Harris

Interim Crit

Todays crit, I presented my research into autism and art therapy. It confirmed to me I was on track with my research and had a good news story. Overall it went very well, and I felt positive. It was really interesting listening to what everybody had to say about their news story. I've enjoyed looking into great depth about whats happening in the news. Things that I should think about: 

• How to make my research visual? 
• Look into info-graphics 

Notes

Understanding Autism

What is Autism? 

• Autism are lifelong disabilities that, at their core, affect a person's social and communication abilities. 
• People with autism may engage in repetitive actions, for example lining up objects or have specific interests or thoughts that can dominate their lives. Some people with autism find their sensory world unusual and occasionally anxiety provoking. 
• Autism can come with a range of challenges in making sense of the world but it can also give people advantages, such as memory or in concentrating on tasks. 
• The autism spectrum is very broad. Some people have no language, intellectual difficulties and not engage with others. Other people on the autism spectrum may have very good or even advanced language skills but find the rules governing social behaviour hard to fathom. 
• Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls- this related to my news story with Harry Reid 
• Autism affects people of all racial, ethnic backgrounds
• Many individuals on the autism spectrum have additional medical conditions such as epilepsy, sleep difficulties and other mental health problems.

I have a much more clearer understanding of what Autism is, so I went on to collect more facts about Autism.

• 90% of parents of children with Autism (and Asperger Syndrome) report their child has been a target of bullying in the past year 
• 1 in 5 children with Autism have been excluded from school - relates to Harry Reid in my news story
• Only 15% of adults with autism are in full time paid employment 
• Half of adults with Autism still live with their parents

Each year, Autism costs families and public services some £28 billion in the UK. Of this: 

• £15 billion provides services for adults
• £9.2 billion is the cost of lost employment
• £2.7 billion is the cost of supporting children of autism in their education

The remaining costs are the additional family expenses. Harry Reid in my news story is also a sufferer of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 

• Effects 5% of children
• HIgh levels of inattention/short attention spans
• Treatment behaviour management 
• Many parents also report excellent results from a modified diet 
• Suffer hyperactivity and impulsiveness, meaning they fidget, talk too much, and find it difficult to wait their turn.