Applied Semiotics

This introduction to semiotics has its focus on the history of semiotics from Greek antiquity until Charles Sanders Peirce's general theory of signs. Chapters from the history of semiotics include (a) History and definitions of semiotics, semiology, and semiosis (b) The Graeco-Roman period, (c) From the Middle Ages the Renaissance Period, (d) Semiotics in the 19th Century.
The book includes the following chapters of applied (Peircean) semiotics, (1) Iconicity in Language, (2) Alice's Adventures in the Land of Semiosis, and (3) Peircean Semiotic Foundations of Cognitive Science.

Cuando la marca de refrescos ¡H2OH! se apropió del sonido y de la escrita de la fórmula del agua, el legisigno simbólico H2O, adoptó una estrategia semiótica peculiar: desplazó un signo predominantemente de terceridad para la primeridad; y este signo creado genera interpretantes, sobretodo en la esfera cualitativa-sugerente. En este trabajo, presentamos el análisis semiótico de la referida marca, centrándonos en los interpretantes de la división de los signos y diez tricotomías.The soft drink “H2OH!” adopted a peculiar semiotic strategy to present its product. The brand assumes in phonetical and graphical terms the water formula, displacing it from thirdness to firstness, enabling it to generate, preferably, interpretants in a qualitative-suggestive scope. In this work, we present a semiotic analysis of the brand written on the beverage label, focusing on the interpretants of ten trichotomies.Ao apropriar-se, fonética e graficamente, da fórmula da água (o legissígno simbólico H2O), ...

The future we need to explore is more abstract than it is concrete. As designers, we are constantly conjuring ideas based on a concrete world to improve what we have already seen. Within these predetermined frameworks, we unintentionally bring our own biases to planning the future based on what we know and what we consider safe. However, methods of gathering evidence must reveal the essential dynamics and tensions of the individual in the context of society. The cultural system that represents this process of adaptation can be plotted as a system of language that reflects the dynamics between the concrete and abstract worlds. A craving for such emotional intelligence requires that we expand our binary world into an abstract space for which only the human brain has the capacity. We need such a systematic view in order to think intuitively on multiple levels at the same time.

O artigo que aqui apresentamos é resultado do curso "Agenda didática do design: reflexões a partir das práticas do ensino e suas ferramentas de projeto", edição 2012 da FADU-UNL. Destinado a professores da graduação das Carreiras de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, e à Licenciatura em Design e Comunicação Visual dessa Faculdade, seu objetivo principal foi revisar criticamente as práticas e teorias que estruturam o ensino das disciplinas projetivas. Apresentaremos suas linhas gerais, para expor os processos colocados em pauta pelos docentes do curso, que contribuíram para pensar o ensino das disciplinas que tem a ver com projeto no contexto específico da FADU. Dalí derivarão algumas conclusões provisionais. É importante reafirmar que o eixo central do curso consistiu em apontar que o ensino das disciplinas projetuais se organiza na interseção de projeto, linguagem gráfica e representações (Figura 1). A pertinência do recorte do tema possibilitou abarcar um importante leque de probl...

The future we need to explore is more abstract than it is concrete. As designers, we are constantly conjuring ideas based on a concrete world to improve what we have already seen. Within these predetermined frameworks, we unintentionally bring our own biases to planning the future based on what we know and what we consider safe. However, methods of gathering evidence must reveal the essential dynamics and tensions of the individual in the context of society. The cultural system that represents this process of adaptation can be plotted as a system of language that reflects the dynamics between the concrete and abstract worlds. A craving for such emotional intelligence requires that we expand our binary world into an abstract space for which only the human brain has the capacity. We need such a systematic view in order to think intuitively on multiple levels at the same time.

O artigo que aqui apresentamos é resultado do curso "Agenda didática do design: reflexões a partir das práticas do ensino e suas ferramentas de projeto", edição 2012 da FADU-UNL. Destinado a professores da graduação das Carreiras de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, e à Licenciatura em Design e Comunicação Visual dessa Faculdade, seu objetivo principal foi revisar criticamente as práticas e teorias que estruturam o ensino das disciplinas projetivas. Apresentaremos suas linhas gerais, para expor os processos colocados em pauta pelos docentes do curso, que contribuíram para pensar o ensino das disciplinas que tem a ver com projeto no contexto específico da FADU. Dalí derivarão algumas conclusões provisionais. É importante reafirmar que o eixo central do curso consistiu em apontar que o ensino das disciplinas projetuais se organiza na interseção de projeto, linguagem gráfica e representações (Figura 1). A pertinência do recorte do tema possibilitou abarcar um importante leque de probl...

La proposta indaga en I'especificitat dels Ilenguatges grafics i llur capacitat de simulacio pera la practica projectual. Des d'una perspectiva semiotica s'articulen categories d'analisi proposades per Ch. S. Peirce i J. A. Greimas amb la intencio de mostrar en cada llenguatge la seva capacitat diferent de produir semiosis, tant pel que fa a la cognicio com a I'accio en el treball de disenyar.

L’adaptation du théâtre au cinéma, tout comme celle qui opère entre n’importe quels media, a souvent été étudiée sous l’angle de la matérialité propre à chaque moyen d’expression, à la lumière des limitations qu’implique cette dernière. Or, cet article emprunte une voie différente et propose une conception figurale du medium inspirée du pragmatisme peircéen. Comment, aujourd’hui, poser la question « qu’est-ce que le cinéma ? ». Dans ce texte, nous aborderons d’abord les difficultés que soulève une telle interrogation, après quoi nous élaborerons une définition du medium. Puis, nous exemplifierons sa contribution à l’épistémologie des études cinématographiques en nous penchant sur la comédie romantique américaine, genre des plus significatifs pour l’histoire du cinéma, qui continue la tradition théâtrale tout en rompant avec elle. Nous conclurons par un examen de Nô, un film de Robert Lepage, adapté d’une pièce du même auteur.

L’adaptation du théâtre au cinéma, tout comme celle qui opère entre n’importe quels media, a souvent été étudiée sous l’angle de la matérialité propre à chaque moyen d’expression, à la lumière des limitations qu’implique cette dernière. Or, cet article emprunte une voie différente et propose une conception figurale du medium inspirée du pragmatisme peircéen. Comment, aujourd’hui, poser la question « qu’est-ce que le cinéma ? ». Dans ce texte, nous aborderons d’abord les difficultés que soulève une telle interrogation, après quoi nous élaborerons une définition du medium. Puis, nous exemplifierons sa contribution à l’épistémologie des études cinématographiques en nous penchant sur la comédie romantique américaine, genre des plus significatifs pour l’histoire du cinéma, qui continue la tradition théâtrale tout en rompant avec elle. Nous conclurons par un examen de Nô, un film de Robert Lepage, adapté d’une pièce du même auteur. Medium and figure in adaptation As for all translations f...

This article focuses on the creation of instructional materials that serve as a personal environment for learning a less-commonly-taught language. The study aims to raise awareness of ways in which digital personal learning environments can be used in tandem with more formal learning strategies. The study explores self-regulated language learning within personal environments created for intermediate and advanced Turkish. We reviewed the conceptual background for the approach as well as the project-based learning strategies scaffolded in the online thematic materials. Through a 3-year longitudinal inquiry and semi-structured interviews with eight instructors who implemented the approach in four universities, the authors analyze the impact of personalized learning in developing deeper levels of language apprenticeship. The instructors we interviewed report increased growth in proficiency and accuracy in linguistic and cultural learning, as experienced in their courses through their fo...

What should we teach to the designers of the future so they can embrace complexity by developing forms that are creative and human, and consider the different aspects of life in a changing world? What are the specific learning outcomes that should be formulated in the planning of a design curriculum? What are the most important design competencies that should be considered in this process? How would design competencies add value to design education? In this paper, we intend to study the value of design competencies within an Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) curriculum framework by understanding the interconnections between design competencies and their related learning outcomes. In this order, we first determine design competencies and subcompetencies as “the proven abilities to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/or methodological abilities, in work or study situations and in professional and personal development” (Savic & Kashef 2013, p. 990). Then we revisit the definiti...

The future we need to explore is more abstract than it is concrete. As designers, we are constantly conjuring ideas based on a concrete world to improve what we have already seen. Within these predetermined frameworks, we unintentionally bring our own biases to planning the future based on what we know and what we consider safe. However, methods of gathering evidence must reveal the essential dynamics and tensions of the individual in the context of society. The cultural system that represents this process of adaptation can be plotted as a system of language that reflects the dynamics between the concrete and abstract worlds. A craving for such emotional intelligence requires that we expand our binary world into an abstract space for which only the human brain has the capacity. We need such a systematic view in order to think intuitively on multiple levels at the same time.

This paper examines the relationship between verbal and visual semiotic cues by analyzing how semiotic cues position speakers interactionally and communicate implicit evaluative messages in one television news story. The paper summarizes an analysis of this news story that my collaborator and I have done based solely on verbal cues (Wortham & Locher, 1996). Then the paper analyzes the visual cues that accompany this television news report. The research question is: Do the visual cues contribute to the interactional positioning accomplished by the verbal cues? The analysis shows that visual cues in this case both reinforce the interactional positioning that gets done by verbal cues and create a pattern of interactional positioning that is independent of the verbal cues. Comments Reprinted from International Journal of Applied Semiotics, Volume 2, Issue 1-2, 2000, pages 131-141. Publisher URL: http://www.atwoodpublishing.com/journals/journal.htm This journal article is available at Sc...

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the adoption of the four criteria we outline will strengthen future design theories and encourage existing design theories to expand or reconfigure in useful directions. We propose four criteria for design theory creation and evaluation. These are (1) the theory should have substantial design applications, and be applicable to any topic; (2) the theory should use propositions—if-then language—as a way of describing, explaining, and predicting actual and existing aspects of designing; (3) where appropriate, a new theory should accept and adopt propositions and language contained in other design theories; and (4) the theory should accommodate, or at least acknowledge, generative activity. We are not proposing a new general design theory—this paper outlines a strong approach to studying and building theory. Please also note that this essay does not pretend to exhaust a topic that has been discussed for at least the last 50 years.

The future we need to explore is more abstract than it is concrete. As designers, we are constantly conjuring ideas based on a concrete world to improve what we have already seen. Within these predetermined frameworks, we unintentionally bring our own biases to planning the future based on what we know and what we consider safe. However, methods of gathering evidence must reveal the essential dynamics and tensions of the individual in the context of society. The cultural system that represents this process of adaptation can be plotted as a system of language that reflects the dynamics between the concrete and abstract worlds. A craving for such emotional intelligence requires that we expand our binary world into an abstract space for which only the human brain has the capacity. We need such a systematic view in order to think intuitively on multiple levels at the same time.

The future we need to explore is more abstract than it is concrete. As designers, we are constantly conjuring ideas based on a concrete world to improve what we have already seen. Within these predetermined frameworks, we unintentionally bring our own biases to planning the future based on what we know and what we consider safe. However, methods of gathering evidence must reveal the essential dynamics and tensions of the individual in the context of society. The cultural system that represents this process of adaptation can be plotted as a system of language that reflects the dynamics between the concrete and abstract worlds. A craving for such emotional intelligence requires that we expand our binary world into an abstract space for which only the human brain has the capacity. We need such a systematic view in order to think intuitively on multiple levels at the same time.

This paper examines the relationship between verbal and visual semiotic cues by analyzing how semiotic cues position speakers interactionally and communicate implicit evaluative messages in one television news story. The paper summarizes an analysis of ...

The success and effectiveness of teaching the LCTL classroom depend on the LCTL research. The study investigated the intonation contours of seven Indonesian pragmatic particles (kan, ya, kok, lho, dong, deh, and sih) to review the functions of the particles. Videotaped data of naturally occurring conversations by native speakers of Indonesian were collected. Results indicated the number of intonation contours for the Indonesian pragmatic particles used by the speakers to organize information (for example, to extend common ground and mark shared knowledge) and to convey the speaker’s expression (for example, surprise and emphasis). The particle contour analysis forms a natural link between grammatical and interactional competence and bears an important LCTL pedagogical consequence in terms of both improving teaching materials and bringing the culture closer to the learner. Based on the findings, four strategies in teaching the LCTL classroom are recommended.

This study examines the textual and visual resources of shopfront advertising signs in two different linguistic and cultural contexts, namely, American English and Iraqi Arabic from a semiotics perspective. A multi-analytic semiotics model has been used to examine forty Iraqi and American café and restaurant signs, divided equally into twenty signs for each language. The corpus analysis has revealed that the verbal and visual resources work in parallel in the shop advertising discourse of the two linguistic landscapes under investigation. That is, the discourse of shop advertising signs of the two linguistic landscapes generally tends to use the same textual and visual resources. Moreover, American and Iraqi advertising shop signs are laden with the socio-cultural practices and assumptions of the American and Iraqi societies. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented.

Abstract: As a signification theory, semiotic criticism attracts considerable interest from researchers in different disciplines. Literature is one of the fields where the theory is used for signifying practices. Literary semiotics has emerged as a sub-discipline as a result of the efficient interaction between semiotics and literature. The process of meaning creation in texts can be elucidated through literary semiotics. Semiotics has idiosyncratic rules and concepts in its system to accomplish its goal that bars new researchers from benefiting the theory's data in penetrating and unfolding different meaning stratums. This paper will argue the critical steps and tools of a systematized semiotic analysis within the process of signification to overcome such obstacles. The relationship between language and literature, literary semiotics and analysis tools will be addressed through the discussion of the historical development of sign studies within the scope of semiotics as a signification theory.

Globally, our media consumption is increasingly relentless, visual, mobile, and interactive. We live in an 'Electric Age' of simultaneous information and in a Global Village arguably 'as wide as the planet'. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan – who was a professor at the University of Toronto – introduced these notions way back in the 1960s. Author of the phrase, " The Medium is the Message " , McLuhan may not have been an " official " semiotician, but his discussion of the " meaning structures " produced by the media reflects an intrinsically semiotic view of the world. Semiofest 2017 will use McLuhan's " semiotic " approach as a jumping-off point to explore some of the most perplexing and salient issues in the field. We invite you to share your experiences working with semiotics and semiotic inspired approaches and methodologies to understand media touch points. We would particularly welcome contributions in the following areas: 1. Brand Touchpoints: Branding has become increasingly predominant as a way of packaging up content. How do you use semiotics to analyse brands across media and geography? How do different touch points convey different meanings? How in your work have you accounted for meanings within logos, brand narratives, sound design, social media? 2. New Media: modern communication technologies use semiotic sign systems to convey connota-tive meanings? Share with us your latest approaches to understanding the messages received through online, digital, GIFs and 'social media' media – in previous Semiofests, we have had presentations on wordless books, microtexts and emoticons? 3. Intermediation: Semiofest gives us a precious opportunity to talk about how to demonstrate the relevance of semiotic thinking to paying clients. Our medium is that of academia, commercial clients speak the idiom of financial results. So what medium should we use to best deliver the value of semiotics message? And what, exactly, is that message? But as in all Semiofests, we also welcome exceptional contributions on any aspect of commercial semiotics from the realms of design, advertising, and all aspects of brand communication. Abstract submission Please submit your proposal (via EasyChair) of no more than 400 words by January 20, 2017. The following items are required fields for each proposal in the EasyChair system: 1. The title of your presentation 2. A presentation abstract of no more than 400 words 3. Whether you would like to present a case study, a position paper, a methodological innovation, an original research paper, a critical review paper, or some combination 4. Any references cited in your abstract (optional) 5. Some keywords to assist with classification 6. Three takeaways that will benefit our audience (interested in the application of semiotics).

Call for papers for a Conference to be held on April 21-22, 2016 at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, Canada. Submission deadline: February 1st, 2016. Official language of the Conference is French, but proposals in English are accepted as well.

See online : http://resistancesemiotique.org/cfp-conference-2016
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Appel à communications pour un colloque qui doit avoir lieu les 21 et 22 avril 2016 à l'Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada. Échéance pour le dépôt des propositions : 1er février 2016.

Voir l'appel en ligne : http://resistancesemiotique.org/appel-colloque-2016

L’adaptation du théâtre au cinéma, tout comme celle qui opère entre n’importe quels media, a souvent été étudiée sous l’angle de la matérialité propre à chaque moyen d’expression, à la lumière des limitations qu’implique cette dernière. Or, cet article emprunte une voie différente et propose une conception figurale du medium inspirée du pragmatisme peircéen. Comment, aujourd’hui, poser la question « qu’est-ce que le cinéma ? ». Dans ce texte, nous aborderons d’abord les difficultés que soulève une telle interrogation, après quoi nous élaborerons une définition du medium. Puis, nous exemplifierons sa contribution à l’épistémologie des études cinématographiques en nous penchant sur la comédie romantique américaine, genre des plus significatifs pour l’histoire du cinéma, qui continue la tradition théâtrale tout en rompant avec elle. Nous conclurons par un examen de Nô, un film de Robert Lepage, adapté d’une pièce du même auteur.

Medium and figure in adaptation

As for all translations from a given medium to another, adapting a play for the silver screen is often studied from the inherently limited physical viewpoint peculiar to each medium. Yet, this essay adopts a different tack, drawing on Charles Sanders Peirce’s pragmatism to focus instead on the figures that characterise each medium. How is one to ask about the nature of cinema nowadays ? Beginning with this difficult question, this essay will then define the medium before illustrating its contribution to cinematic epistemology through, for example, the all-important American romantic comedy, a genre firmly rooted in, yet now freed from, the stage. This essay will end with a study of the Robert Lepage movie Nô, adapted from his namesake play.

Luca Marchetti, HEAD – Genève

workshop “Before insights: working on trends forecasting”.
chaired by Priyanka Sharma, University of Texas.
lecture: “Fashion Curating in the Fields of Design. Issues in theory and practice”
@
THE VALUE OF DESIGN RESEARCH
11th international European Academy of Design conference
Paris, 24th April 2015 10h-13h30

http://thevalueofdesignresearch.com
http://www.hesge.ch/head/

The contribution to the workshop will be focussed on cultural-semiotic approaches to trends-forecasting, from cross-cultural analysis, artistic and fashion-design creation to market research.
The lecture will discuss the practice of fashion exhibitions as a deeper understanding of contemporary design disciplines and aesthetics.

Now as eBook!  Educational Semiotics is a highly original work of scholarship. In four ingeniously designed studies, Tochon demonstrates how semiotic analysis can be used to deconstruct the professional learning experiences of preservice teachers. These studies offer startling insights into the creative application of semiotic methods and the understanding of long standing issues in teacher education. See here for a free sample:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/521243

Abstract
As a result of the rise of the consumer societies mainly in the group of so called Western countries new types of ritualization of the everyday activities could be observed. This article aims to analyze rituals of spending free time out of home from the semiotic perspective and to outline specific patters of behavior and/or motivation among young people who belong to different cultural and market areas. Since the history of social and anthropological research in consumer behavior is a quite short, any reasonable attempt for cross-cultural and/or interdisciplinary approach sheds light on the topic.   
The paper presents also results from an empirical study among young individuals from different European countries in order to compare and analyze their attitude, behavior and notion towards the act of going out. Main findings show that the act of socializing is rather habitual and usually follows well-established scheme of actions and elements that ensure the overall positive experience.
The acts of socializing are analyzed also through the structural semiotic paradigm of Algirdas Gremias, which as later adopted by authors like Jean-Marie Floch and Andrea Semprini. The results show a series of typologies, based on the young people’s preferences or behavioural patterns. 
Key words: secular rituals, consumption, habit(us), semiotic square, typology of consumers.

This article focuses on the creation of instructional materials that serve as a personal environment for learning a less-commonly-taught language. The study aims to raise awareness of ways in which digital personal learning environments can be used in tandem
with more formal learning strategies. The study explores self-regulated language learning within personal environments created for intermediate and advanced Turkish. We reviewed the conceptual background for the approach as well as the project-based learning strategies scaffolded in the online thematic materials. Through a 3-year longitudinal inquiry and semistructured interviews with eight instructors who implemented the approach in four universities, the authors analyze the impact of personalized learning in developing deeper levels of language apprenticeship. The instructors we interviewed report increased growth in proficiency and accuracy in linguistic and cultural learning, as experienced in their courses through their formative and summative assessments, as well as the realization of most pedagogical goals related to language acquisition in a rich format. In light of the needs for teacher education adapted to new technologies, the paper highlights the difficulties of pedagogy for autonomy.