Imagery symbols and layout semantics

Abstract: Creation is a topic that everyone is happy to talk about. The development of technology has made our design tools constantly updated. However, when we indulge in the endless changes of graphics brought by computer technology, we may also be trapped in the danger of form games. From the perspective of semiotics, this article tries to analyze the design from the perspective of cultural symbols, especially the creative requirements of layout design.

Keywords: cultural kernel symbolic semantics

Creativity is a topic that everyone is happy to talk about. The development of technology has made our design tools constantly updated. However, when we indulge in the endless changes of graphics brought by computer technology, we may also be trapped in the danger of form games. Design is not a simple “art design” but an important part of human culture that cannot be separated. Modern design can be said to be a symbolic activity related to human and scientific and technological culture. The symbolic activity is a human-specific basic activity. It is ubiquitous in the interaction and coexistence between man and nature and is an effective means for humans to exchange their conscious experiences. The range of symbols is very wide, and texts, designs, logos, music, costumes, buildings, etc. can all fall into the scope of symbols.

The process of human consciousness is actually a process of compiling and converting external worlds into symbols. The essence of the symbolic activity is the understanding and summarization of the internal world experience of human thinking on the laws of the external world, that is, starting from understanding the appearance of things, then returning them to the brain to form the concept, and then associating these concepts with the external world to form symbols. Human thinking can be said to be the selection, combination, conversion and compilation of symbols, and is carried out in the form of symbolic activities. Human information exchange and literary and artistic creation are the conversion activities of experience symbols. In such a large family of human symbols, there are language symbols, cultural symbols, general symbols, etc. Design symbols are branches derived from cultural symbols and other symbols. They are the intersection of art and science, and their cores are the inheritance of culture. Beyond, its essence is creation.

The design symbol has a configuration function, that is to give intangible human emotions in the form, so that people's perceptual knowledge and reference. Like artistic symbols, it bears the intrinsic meaning of human spirit, values, and emotional reason. Design symbols have different colors, textures, shapes, sizes, and have different combinations, thus forming a rich code and being accepted by people through their visual experience. Through cognitive, memory and thinking activities for people to understand. Like any symbol, design symbols also have signifiers and referents, the former being represented as a graphic, a color, and other material forms, the latter being expressed as thoughts, ideas, and emotions.

The study of design symbols leads to design pragmatics, design semantics, and design morphology. The original meaning of semantics is the meaning of language. The layout can be said to be a symbolic system with vocabulary (points, lines, faces, patches, graphics), grammar (layout rules), and so on, and thus is also an integrated system with the functions of meaning, expression, and communication. . Layout-based pragmatics used to study the functional aspects of the layout, layout linguistic problems in the study of the structure of the layout, layout linguistic research on the relationship between layout and communication significance. According to Bart's formal rules and Eke's architectural symbol theory, symbols have corresponding extensions (explicit levels) and connotations (deep levels).

Layout semantics also has a corresponding extension meaning and connotation meaning. The former refers to the physical properties of the plane media, such as the format and material used for the purpose and function of the layout, such as color blocks and lines. , printing methods, specifications, etc. The latter refers to the layout as a medium of communication, in the expression of the properties represented by the isofunction. Meaning does not make the layout and its attributes form a fixed and invariable corresponding relationship, this is for different decoders layout will be given different connotations of meaning, its cultural differences are the important reasons leading to different meanings of communication. The connotation of the layout is intended to reflect the interactive relationship between the layout and the reader's feelings, emotions or cultural values. The intention of extension and connotation have different criteria in their design: the principle of effectiveness and the principle of conformity. Denotation implies that the hidden meaning behind it is the challenge that designers face when designing today. From the perspective of layout semantics, the layout design is by no means a combination of graphic texts. It is only by considering the extension meaning and connotation meaning of the layout semantics that the works can be better involved in the cultural context from the reality interface through the deduction of the symbol system.

The process of creating a graphic artwork by a designer can be described as a multi-level process of symbol conversion and coding. Designers compose codes and metaphors by means of analogy, metaphor, metaphor, implied meaning and other perceptual analogies, and they are arranged and organized so as to form images of the works. As a sender, the designer conveys information through the symbol system of the work (indicating the sign and accompanying the sign). As readers, they understand and understand these languages ​​as readers, that is, decode, read, and comprehend the images. Here, the surface meaning of a graphic work is a direct meaning based on the internal factors such as practicality, structure, and technology. The basis of its significance is based on factors such as the practical function of the plane media, such as the size of the layout and the legibility of the text. And so on, it is a technical functionalist attitude. On the contrary, the so-called deep meaning is the external factors (including culture, philosophy, religion, aesthetics, values, etc.) that are produced and produced in the graphic works. The resulting meaning is based on a wide range of cultures. It is a cultural symbolic attitude, through specific The symbols appear to form and convey meaning.

The symbolic attitude of culture always plays a leading role in design. It is not limited to the level of perception, but also can reach or exceed the depth of rationality and profoundly reveal people's state of mind and life, their concept of life and their complexity and regularity. Layout semantics conveys specific information through a series of formalized and condensed symbolic organizations, stimulating people's beautiful thoughts and emotions and guiding people to practice. The symbolic attitude of culture also guides the formalization of morphological symbols. Different design concepts promote integrated thinking to extract typical elements from direct, indirect, empirical, and memory, and integrate and conform to certain creative goals, thereby creating rich and clear forms. Modern layout design enhances the image of the works by the composition and relationship of serialized, scientific, and standardized visual symbols, and carries out cultural and emotional exchanges between designers and audiences. The layout semantics of symbolic performance can be used to achieve the purpose of isomorphism through a series of symbolic and symbolical arrangements and combinations.

In the creative process of the layout language, the designer's understanding of a thing and a phenomenon, the final completion of the work is constituted by the expression body. This expression body is a symbolic element and its combination of various morphological symbols. Constantly conveys a variety of information about the art, knowledge, experience and concepts. For example, the most typical squares, circles, and triangles of morphological elements each have corresponding semantic connotations. The square represents firmness and stability, the circle represents flexibility and fullness, and the triangle represents sharpness and conflict. In the expressions formed by these symbolic languages, squares, circles, triangles, etc. merely represent the basic attributes of the symbol form, and the meaning of the object referred to in the image is to achieve the communication of the symbolic meaning, clarifying the referenced concept of the symbolic meaning and The connotation of things needs to be constructed in a specific cultural and practical context.

Layout semantics communicates through the meaning of image symbols and their relational expression. The external form of the image symbol is represented by an image symbol, which is an image. It can be either a concrete image or an abstract element that corresponds to the point, line, surface, etc. needed to form a layout. These abstract formal elements act on human senses, giving people different feelings and ideographic qualities. However, if you do not enter the work and combine it with the unique spiritual meaning of the work, you will not be able to form image symbols that embody the layout semantics. Only by entering the work, reflecting the intrinsic cultural concept and attitude of the work and forming the image of the work can it surpass the attributes of the objective image and become the image symbol bearing the layout semantics.

According to the symbolist philosopher of the American philosopher and logician Peirce, from the relationship between the symbol and the object to which it refers, the image symbol has the characteristics of drawing, indicating, and symbolizing. Through these several ways, it expresses the meaning it bears. . The map is intended to mimic or illustrate the existence of reality through "image resemblance", and to express its meaning by using original meanings. This is the earliest expression of human expression. Such as abstract or figurative image patterns are all plans. The graphical approach is more intuitive and obvious. The instruction is the use of a "causal reality" causal logic between the form of the symbol and the meaning to be expressed. Based on the cognition of causality and effect, it constitutes the referential role and makes people understand its significance. Such as traffic-oriented symbology, books and guides page. Are examples of the use of indicative symbols. Symbolic symbols are customary symbolic symbols and comprehensive symbolic symbols. The symbolic symbol of idiomaticity is conventional, or it has an implicit symbolic meaning. If the roses symbolize love, Songhe symbolizes longevity. The comprehensive symbol is to achieve another new symbolic meaning through association through multiple connections. Such as the traditional pattern of lotus root, squid patterns merged together, is "more than a year" means. The imagery of the figures, instructions, and symbols together with the abstract points, lines, and faces together create a layout image that embodies the semantics of the layout.

Layout semantics are by no means arbitrary and contingent expressions of meaning. It is influenced by multiple factors such as philosophical trends, development of the times, and cultural concepts. The imagery symbols in different eras formed under different cultural backgrounds have different semantic expressions. The layout design has evolved into the contemporary, embodying the characteristics from heavy decoration to heavy function to heavy context. In agricultural society, the so-called design is handmade decoration. After the industrial society, the types of graphic design are becoming more and more abundant. People gradually put the design focus on the visual communication function that meets business needs. The internationalist style of graphic design and the layout of the multi-page publication have been characterized by modularity and intensification, and the communication function has been brought to the extreme. What really affects today’s design thinking is the post-modernist design trend. Postmodernism originated in dialogues and exchanges with the general public. Its characteristics are characterized by the emphasis on the main spirit, emphasis on the form of decoration, emphasis on the traditional context, and emphasis on the symbol "semantic meaning." Design semiology is in the same line with postmodernism. But symbolic meaning is not equal to postmodernism.

From an ideological point of view, post-modernism design is a decorative development of modernist design. It advocates the use of decorative techniques to achieve visual enrichment, reverses the relationship between form and meaning, and places the form in a dominant position. What is taking is a formalist road that deviates from function. The formulation of symbolic semantic theory does not dissociate form from function, put the form on top of function, but rationally absorbs the dialectical unity of the philosophy of existentialism and structuralism, and recognizes the philosophical spirit that contradictions exist on both sides. This design concept is reflected in both symbolic semantics and the concept of extended functionality. Graphic design works not only have the function of conveying information, but also have the function of conveying spiritual meaning. The "character symbol" is not only the description of things, it can also induce people's thoughts and emotions through their own meanings, thus forming the image of the works. Layout semantics are based on a rational way of thinking, rationally given symbolic meaning to imagery.

Layout semantics focuses on the use of imagery symbols, breaking the single design style of modernism and pursuing clear and definite semantic expressions to achieve emotional communication between designers and readers. However, post-modernist design is more inclined to use "irrational" and "unconscious" methods to achieve a polysemy and vague semantics. For example, a montage-style stitching technique is adopted, and pieces of seemingly irrelevant pieces form an associated unity through the combination of pieces, thereby reorganizing different time-space scenes or contents of different time style features to break the shape of a traditional design.