Semiotics

In the world that we live in today, we are bombarded with hundreds of media advertisements, every day. At a glance all of these advertisements look inviting and professional but all, mostly have a deeper meaning if you study the piece closely. Semiotics is the study of signs; signs are organized into codes, or coding systems, such as words in a language, visual marks and even clothing. “The sign is a (two-faced) slice of sonority, visuality, etc. The signification can be conceived as a process; it is the act, which binds the signifier, and the signified, an act whose product is the sign.” (Roland Barthes, Elements of Semiology) The symbolic image consists of three messages, a linguistic message, the words in the advertisement, a coded iconic message, the visual connotations taken from an arrangement in a photograph and a non-coded iconic message, the literal denotation, recognising identifiable objects. (people.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/barthes.htm) All signs have multiple ways of being read and give us myths, ways of explaining the world. These are ways of giving us closure and are usually false. When analyzing these advertisements, identifying the order of the signs is important. The signifier is the image, the signified is the concept that the signifier is sending us and is a myth that the advertisement portrays. When it comes to magazine adverts the particular adverts are chosen specifically for the type of people who read that magazine. This is easy because magazines are very specific in what the content is about. They are 1 aimed at needs, hobbies and personal interests, which allows their readers to be targeted by products that would most likely interest them. Magazines are mostly aimed at men or women, which narrows down the list of consumers again. For example, ‘Vogue’ is aimed at glamorous, fashionable women who probably do well in life. Where as a men’s magazine such as ‘Nuts’ is aimed at young, mostly immature men. This first advert (Advert 1) is an advertisement for a woman’s perfume called ‘Glam Princess’ by Vera Wang. The advert features a young looking girl of around eighteen to twenty-five years old. The image was found in fashion magazine ‘Elle’ and I think it will speak out to its readers perfectly for the type of advert and product. She is looking slightly upwards and touching her neck. Looking at this image, there is no other as appropriate word than glamorous. She is wearing a crown with large colourful diamonds, a diamond bracelet, a large purple necklace and a soft pink-netted top that shows her shoulders. She has tanned skin and dark features. The background is flooded with happy, excited photographers. I think the signified meaning of this advert is that you can be as glamorous as you want to be. The line reads, “The new fragrance everyone’s been waiting for.” It is as if she is the one everyone’s been waiting for. The photographers in the background emphasize this, as they appear to have been waiting and finally got their moment. The viewer mow 2 gets their moment to buy this perfume. I think that this image captures a moment in time as though it will be looked back on from the signified point of view and remembered forever. From a mans point of view the girl is stunning and would be any mans ‘dream girl,’ but from a woman looking at this advert I think they would aspire to be more like the girl, becoming an inspiration. Adding to the glamorous idea, the girl is not just any model; she has been chosen for not only her looks. Her father is rock royalty and celebrity Lenny Kravitz. This shows she was chosen to represented as a princess even in her own personal life, speaking out to thousands of young women with different interests and personalities. This Next image (Advert 2) is an advertisement for the woman’s perfume ‘YSL’ or ‘YvesSaintLaurent’ and is titled ‘Parisienne.’ This advert features world-famous supermodel Kate Moss. She is gently walking down a flight of stairs at sunrise in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The photography is dark and she is wearing a tightly fitted black leather top and skin tight skirt with a small black jacket hanging on her shoulders. The main colour scheme in this photograph is black with soft tones of pink, from light to dark. She is holding a rose against her bare chest. The rose is the same colour as the glass bottle of perfume and the tones of pink are in the sky behind her. All of these things in this advertisement are the signifiers. She is holding the rose as though it has great meaning to her. I think it may represent a passionate moment and 3 also be a reference to the scent of the perfume. She has messy hair, which suggests she has had a full night of excitement and is on her way home. She looks like she likes her lifestyle and couldn’t care less that it’s early in the morning. She has dark eye make-up on and has a seductive misty look on her face. She is staring straight at the camera as if I am about to walk right past her. There is an interesting silhouette shape because of the shadows and dark tones contrasting with the beautiful pink-purple sky. The soft-pink glass bottle almost looks like a diamond and has a very rich look to it. The black label with the gold logo and gold lid add to this effect. The name ‘Parisienne’ is very relative because of her environment. It suggests that she is a citizen of Paris and not just a visitor. It is written in an embossed looking, sophisticated typeface in gold. ‘YvesSaintLaurent’ is written under in a more delicate typeface with large capital letters at the start of each word. The tagline reads “Living and loving in the moment” This suggests to me that she is doing just that. She is out having fun and enjoying every single moment without any worries. It is therefore suggesting to its viewers, all the young girls in the world influenced by fashion, to go out and have fun. To not take life so seriously and don’t feel bad about having a good night out. This is the signified concept. I think this advertisement is aimed at slightly older women, perhaps women in their thirties. It seems like a desirable life to lead for a woman of this age. The fact that it was found in ‘Vogue’ shows that it has been placed there to 4 be seen by millions of women of around this age. The third image (Advert 3) I have chosen to analyze is for the perfume ‘Pure’ by DKNY. I also found this image in ‘Vogue’ and again I think the type of advert is relevant to the type of readers ‘Vogue’ has. The advert features a white woman with lightly coloured eyes, maybe blue or green with blonde slightly wavy hair. She is wearing a large white dress or gown with her bare foot showing. She is in a lightly lit white room standing in front of a window making the lighting very natural, coming from outside. All of these factors are the signifiers. I think that the white dress could be or could mean to resemble a wedding dress. If so, then the rule no sex before marriage could be there also to back-up the ‘Pure’ claim. There is a white block border around the left and bottom of the photograph with a description of ingredients and their origin. The bottles of perfume are made of clear glass with a slight design to the bottle. The perfume itself is completely clear or ‘Pure’ as though it is as pure as water. The advertisement as a whole gives of such a ‘Pure’ feeling. The company is quite possibly aiming it at people who perhaps eat well, look after themselves and the environment. The girl is young looking and has an innocent look on her face. All of these factors portray that the girl is also ‘Pure’ and is a virgin. In this photograph the girl is smiling and staring at the camera. From the three images I have chosen this is the only 5 one where the girl is smiling. I think if she had a more serious pose or pout like the girls in the other two images have, the pureness would not be as convincing. The tag line reads, “Go pure” and after it the company website, where the viewer will be able to purchase the product. I think on some level, someone who was maybe a vegetarian or very environmentally conscious could be convinced to try it out. It is as though DKNY are telling you to do this. The typeface is a simple sans serif in a silvery-gold tone. This matches the soft smooth tones on the lid and the softly, out of focused background. All the text is in lowercase lettering except the DKNY logo itself. In this essay I have attempted to analyse three advertisements whose signifiers were designed to give an appropriate image of the product. By comparing all three of these adverts I have noticed and learned that they all have similarities and differences. I think perfume advertisements have more similarities than differences. One obvious similarity to me, in just about all perfume advertisements I have looked at is that they set moods and portray fantasies. It is as if they are selling the mood or fantasy and not a bottle of perfume. This obviously works for this type of product because people buying these perfumes want these types of situations and fantasies to happen to them. Although they don’t expect it to happen to them if they buy it, they still like the idea of it and are perhaps persuaded more to buy a perfume if the advert ‘situation’ is more to their taste. This 6 could be someone who dresses with lots of jewellery and fancy clothes could be more inclined to buy ‘Glam Princess’ and someone who dresses in a calmer more subtle way would be more persuaded by ‘Pure’ by DKNY. I think that perfume advertisements go down this route of advertising because there are so many different perfumes out there. By doing this and targeting a particular style, they would be able to get the attention of a group of people who would perhaps always stick to buying their products because of the image it portrays, and that’s even before they have smelled it. References and Bibliography ▪ ‘Glam Princess’ Advertisement. Elle Magazine. March 2010 ▪ ‘Parisienne’ Advertisement. Vogue Magazine. March 2010 ▪ ‘Pure’ Advertisement. Vogue Magazine. March 2010 ▪ Open Semiotics Resource Centre - www.semioticon.com ▪ (Roland Barthes, Elements of Semiology) www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/barthes.htm ▪ people.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/barthes.htm The Symbolic Image ▪ Signs and Myths, Jonathan Bignall – Media Semiotics ▪ 7