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Graphic Design Theory (Meredith Davis) > Chapter 4 > Flashcards

Chapter 4 Flashcards

1
Q

Semiotics is the study of the life of ______

A

Signs (particularly in their production and interpretation)

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2
Q

The study of language holds significance for graphic designers as their work involves both _____ and _____ elements.

A

Visual and verbal elements

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3
Q

__________ is the study of signs

A

Semiotics

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4
Q

Who are the founders of semiology?

A

Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Pierce

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5
Q

_________ were interested in the patterns and functions of language in everyday use (rather than their predecessors who were interested in the origins of language).

A

Semioticians

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6
Q

Pierce’s notion of the __________ - is described as the context, condition, or function of signs. It provides a translation of the sign, allowing us a more complex understanding of the sign’s object.

A

Interpretant

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7
Q

Saussure’s study of _________ focused on the meaning between individuals and on the commonalities across languages (rather than their eccentricities arising from their specific cultural origins).

A

language

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8
Q

_________ is the methodology that elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure. It works to uncover the structures that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel.

A

structuralism

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9
Q

Structuralism is the methodology that elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their …..

It works to uncover the structures that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel.

A

relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure

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10
Q

According to Saussure’s research, the _______ is the element that is called forth by the stimulation of the signifier.

For example: the mental concept of a farm animal that gives milk is a _________ that is prompted by a signifier such as the word cow or a photograph of the animal.

A

Signified, signified

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11
Q

Signifier is the ….

A

sound or image that represents the concept (or signified). The physical representation.

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12
Q

Our mental concept or idea for “cow” is a

A

Signified

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13
Q

Our mental concept for “cow” is a

A

Signified

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14
Q

Designers today determine the appropriate _______ for another’s message with the goal of producing the corresponding _______ in the minds of audiences.

A

Designers determine the appropriate SIGNIFIER

with the goal of producing the corresponding SIGNIFIED in the minds of the audience

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15
Q

A system in which each word is reduced to a single sign that is unrelated to the sound of the word itself

A

Ideographic writing

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16
Q

A system in which there is a direct correspondence between symbols and sounds

A

Phonetic writing

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17
Q

_______ and ______ are what Saussure used to describe the structural dimensions of language.

A

Langue and parole

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18
Q

A sign is a basic unit of what language structure?

A

Langue

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19
Q

Grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation are all elements of _____ (the rules governing a linguistic system)

A

Langue

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20
Q

The concrete use of language, the actual utterances, is…. (The individual use of language in specific contexts)

A

Parole

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21
Q

T or F: Parole = speaking, Langue = language

A

True

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22
Q

The specific arrangement or ordering of words

A

Syntax

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23
Q

Syntagmatic, diachronic structure is best used in _____ design. How the sequence of pages play out over time is significant and may be attributed to the structural relationship among parts of the story or the larger visual concept.

A

Book design

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24
Q

Saussure’s notion of syntax also holds relevance for the organization of _______ in visual or pictorial space

A

Images

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25
Q

In visual terms, syntax or the ordering of elements can be described as

A

Composition

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26
Q

Early modernist movements in art and design believed the transformation of symbolic systems could be a _____ and social act.

A

Political

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27
Q

Transforming symbolic systems for political and social reasons was a belief of early _________ movements. They believed the conventional orders between meaning and form were arbitrary and thus subject to renegotiation.

A

Modernist

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28
Q

The intentionally disruptive sequencing of images within film

A

Collision montage

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29
Q

Italian futurist ________ blew apart the traditional linear structures of typographic layout to demonstrate his interest in speed, simultaneity, and sensation.

A

Filippo Tommasso Marinetti

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30
Q

Italian futurist Marinetti and his contemporaries used mathematical marks and diacritics in an effort to attack the ideas of _______ while also expressing their fascination with the machine/ mechanical. They sought to break the socially determined structure and rules of verbal language.

A

Syntax

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31
Q

Swiss Design, of the mid-twentieth century, is also referred to as

A

The International Typographic Style

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32
Q

Sausurre believed that meaning arises from the order of signifiers and there are two ways of ordering information or elements: 1) ______ (concerning positioning, which is diachronic and one word follows the other horizontally) and 2) ______ (concerning substitution, which is synchronic and all of the possible choices are available at the same time in a vertical fashion)

A

1) syntagmatic

2) paradigmatic

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33
Q

In an effort to open up meaning to a wider range of expressive options and to acknowledge audiences’ complex histories, post- modern designers appropriated ________ typefaces and layout strategies.

A

Vernacular

34
Q

Vernacular is

A

The everyday language of ordinary people that is characteristic of a region or culture

35
Q

The everyday language of ordinary people that is characteristic of a region or culture is_______

A

Vernacular

36
Q

In contrast to their 20th century predecessors, _______ designers wanted to create a collision of cultural signifiers in order to bring forward additional meanings

A

Post modern designers

37
Q

In true post-modern spirit, the meanings of typographic compositions were free floating and _______.

A

Pluralistic

38
Q

_____ believed that signification, or the consumption of signs, is essentially a mental process, and that meaning resides in the mind, not in the objects themselves.

A

Charles Sanders Pierce

39
Q

According to Pierce, ______ is the consumption of signs

A

Signification

40
Q

The process of meaning-making through the interpretation of signs

A

Semiosis

41
Q

Semiosis is the process of

A

Meaning making through the interpretation of signs

42
Q 
Pierce's doctrine of signs determined that four conditions must be present for something to constitute a sign:
1)
2)
3)
4)
A

1) representative condition - must represent an object (person, thing, or idea)
2) preventative condition - must represent something in some sense or capacity (it’s ground)
3) interpretive condition - must determine an interpretant (a translation of the original person, thing, or idea into some equivalent in the mind of the interpreter)
4) there must be a fundamental relationship amongst all of the things

43
Q

Pierce’s model considered the broader notion of ______ as influencing interpretation. He also believed the material nature of the sign as having ________ for our behavior. The duality of the sign is fundamental to Pierce’s work.

A

context

consequences

44
Q

Signs are based on the context and background of the interpreter. This is according to which major semiologist? Pierce or Sausurre?

A

Pierce

45
Q

Signs that have physical features that resemble the objects they stand for

A

Iconic

46
Q

Signs that point to the objects they stand for

A

Indexical

47
Q

Signs that are based on an arbitrary rule or habitual association between the sign and an object

A

Symbolic

48
Q

Most graphic design design - logos, glyphs on signage, info graphics, etc. - relies on _______ form.

A

Iconic form

49
Q

Typeface design can be ______. For example, script typefaces reference handwriting; or serifs are ________ references to a time when ancient stone typographers ended a stroke of s letterforms with a tap of the chisel.

A

Indexical

50
Q

The term used by Roland Barthes to describe how bourgeois society imposes its values on others

A

Myth

51
Q

In selling consumers the _____ of higher social status, commerce speeds up the consumption of goods. It also continues to make it impossible for consumers to complete the set and achieve the appropriate personal identity or status.

A

Myth

52
Q

The French semiotician ______ hold particular significance for designers because much of his writing addresses the visual world.

A

Roland Barthes

53
Q

The linguist Roland Barthes began as a Structuralist, then later in his career, converted to

A

Post structuralism

54
Q

The structural relationship of langue is

A

Diachronic (concerned with the way language has evolved over time)

55
Q

Name the type of sign that matches the following definition: Points to or has a casual
relationship with the thing it stands for

A

index

56
Q

What is a method used in the discipline of Semiotics?

A

Structuralism

57
Q

Physically resembles the thing it stands for:

A

Icon

58
Q

Abstract and must be learned through a repeated association with what it stands for:

A

Symbol

59
Q

According to Charles Sanders Peirce, signification is a mental process where meaning resides in the mind, not the sign. T of F?

A

True

60
Q

“Smoke” is an _____ for “fire”.

A

index

61
Q

The meaning of a “symbol” is understood by the reader over time — it requires repeated
exposure in order for people to comprehend what it means. T or F?

A

True

62
Q

Members of the Futurist movement in the early 20th century wanted to “wake people up” by disrupting and experimenting with

A

Syntax

63
Q

Images have parole. T or F?

A

True

64
Q

Ferdinand de Saussure identified two structural relationships in language. What are they?

A

Langue and parole

65
Q

The structural relationship of parole is:

A

synchronic

66
Q

Roland Barthes’ analysis of the cover of Paris Match magazine (with the young African soldier saluting) was a study of

A

myth

67
Q

Charles Sanders Peirce was interested in language as a reflection of how we think. T or F?

A

True

68
Q

Ferdinand de Saussure was interested in the origins of words and the history of language. T or F?

A

False

69
Q

The Chinese writing system is an example of a language that is:

A

ideographic

70
Q

In the English language, the meaning that a signifier has to what it signifies is arbitrary. T or F?

A

True

71
Q

A _____ stands for something to someone in some respect

A

Sign

72
Q

The meaning of “langue” in linguistics is the same as “syntax‘ in grammar. T or F?

A

True

73
Q

The title of the book that contains the entire documentation of Ferdinand de Saussure’s ideas is called:

A

Course in General Linguistics

74
Q

______ is a method used in the discipline of Semiotics.

A

?

75
Q

The Chinese writing system is an example of a language that is:

A

Ideographic

76
Q

Name the type of sign that matches the following definition:

Physically resembles the thing it stands for

A

Index

77
Q

Ferdinand de Saussure identified two structural relationships in language. What are they?

A

Lange and parole

78
Q

The title of the book that contains the entire documentation of Ferdinand de Saussure’s ideas is called:

A

Course in General Linguistics

79
Q

Ferdinand de Saussure identified two components of the sign. What are they?

A

Signified and signifier

80
Q

_____ stands for something to someone in some respect.

A

Sign

Graphic Design Theory (Meredith Davis) (4 decks)

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