VCD 340 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of Visual Communication Design

Course Name

Design Semiotics

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
VCD 340	Spring	3	0	3	3

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Required
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	face to face
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	Discussion Q&A Critical feedback Lecture / Presentation
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Doç. Dr. Tuğcan Güler
Assistant(s)	-

Course Objectives	Understanding different schools/theories of communication to be able to construct intentional, to-the-point messages as designers. Creating a clear understanding of the semiotic reading, through the introduction of its basic terminology, concepts, methods of analysis and examples of its application. Exploring its role as a meaning-making activity and learning to read / create / manipulate messages through its use in art, graphic & industrial design, photography, journalism, advertising and cinema.
Learning Outcomes	The students who succeeded in this course; will be able to apply semiotic analytical techniques to various subjects and in various situations. will be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of semiotics as a tool to explain human communication. will be able to apply the knowledge of semiotics to new design development. will be able to observe the way in which codes function in works of art and design. will be able to articulate his/her critique of works of art and design by using semiotic terminology. will be able to observe visual culture through the lens of semiotics while relating these to design issues.
Course Description	This course is designed to show how the basic ideas of semiotic study can be used to understand aspects of communication and design. Common concepts and ideas in semiotics as they have been applied to the analysis and criticism of “the visual” will be discussed in a design context – as tools to meet analytical, critical and reflective design evaluations. With particular emphasis on visual culture, several important concepts will be examined and put into critical use in analyzing as well as designing new works. These concepts include the sign, paradigm, syntagm, redundancy, entropy, code, denotation, connotation, myth, metaphor, metonymy, ideology, representation, pastiche, parody, encoding / decoding, conspicuous consumption and taste.
Related Sustainable Development Goals

Course Category	Core Courses
	Major Area Courses	X
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation
1	Introduction to Semiotics
2	Communication Theories Process School & Semiotic School Content& Context Redundancy& Entropy Medium, Channel, Code, Feedback Phatic Communication	John Fiske, Introduction To Communication Studies Paul Cobley & Litza Jansz, Introducing Semiotics Marcel Danesi, Messages, Signs, And Meanings: A Basic Textbook In Semiotics And Communication Daniel Chandler, Semiotics The Basics Paul Cobley, The Routledge Companion To Semiotics And Linguistics THOMAS A. SEBEOK, Signs: An Introduction To Semiotics
3	Producing Meaning: Modes Of Sign Signification & Semiosis Structuralism: Langue, Parole Paradigm, Syntagm	John Fiske, Introduction To Communication Studies Marcel Danesi, Messages, Signs, And Meanings: A Basic Textbook In Semiotics And Communication Daniel Chandler, Semiotics The Basics
4	Indicators And Meaning: Denotation, Connotation, Myth	John Fiske, Introduction To Communication Studies. John Berger, Semiotic Analysis. Roland Barthes, Rhetoric Of The Image
5	Figures Of Speech, Focus On Metaphor, Intertextuality	James A. W. Heffernan, Resemblance, Signification, And Metaphor In The Visual Arts. ALAN F. BLACKWELL, Pictorial Representation And Metaphor In Visual Language Design
6	Review and Visual Semiotics Practice-Image analysis
7	Aesthetic Emotions, Typography And Semiotics	Paul J. Sylvia, Looking Past Pleasure : Anger, Confusion, Disgust, Pride, Surprise, And Other Unusual Aesthetic Emotions. Theo Van Leeuwen, Towards A Semiotics Of Typography
8	Codes and Structures	John Fiske, Introduction To Communication Studies
9	Ideology and Meaning	John Fiske, Ideology And Meanings
10	Functions Of Communication	John Fiske, Introduction To Communication Studies, Jakobson’s Model
11	Reading Images: Psychoanalytic Theory	Visual Research Methods Edited by Eric Margolis and Luc Pauwels, p.395 Gillian Rose, Visual Methodologies, p.147-185
12	Reading Images and Ads	Azra Ghandeharion, Leili Badrlou, Iranian Advertisements: A Postcolonial Semiotic Reading. Robert M. Seiller, Selling Patriotism / Selling Beer: ‘The Case Of The I Am Canadian Commercial’
13	Non-Verbal Communication	Thomas Sebeok, Nonverbal Communication
14	Review Of The Semester
15	-
16	-

Course Notes/Textbooks

Reader (article/book chapter.pdfs will be available on BLACKBOARD > Materials > Reading Material folder)

Suggested Readings/Materials

Ashwin, C. (1984): “Drawing, Design And Semiotics” Design Issues, 1 (2), 42-52.

Barthes, R. (1977): Image, Music, Text. London: Fontana Press.

Berger, J. (1972): Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books.

Blackwell, A. F. (2001): “Pictorial Representation And Metaphor In Visual Language Design,” Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 12, 223-252. doi:10.1006/jvlc.2001.0207.

Brejcha, J. (2015): Cross-cultural Human-Computer Interaction And User Experience Design: A Semiotic Perspective. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Burgin, V. (ed) (1982): Thinking Photography. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chandler, D. (2007): Semiotics: The Basics. New York: Routledge.

Cobley, P. (ed.) (2001): The Routledge Companion to Semiotics and Linguistics. London&New York: Routledge.

Fiske, J. (1990): Introduction to Communication Studies. New York: Routledge.

Hall, S. (2007): This Means This This Means That_A Users Guide to Semiotics. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Heffernan, J. A. W. (1985): “Resemblance, Signification, And Metaphor In The Visual Arts,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 44 (2), 167-180.

Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (1996): Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. Oxon: Routledge.

Krippendorff, K. (2005): The Semantic Turn: A New Foundation for Design. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.

Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003): Metaphors We Live By. London: The University of Chicago Press.

Metz, C. (1974): Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Meyerowitz, J. (2016): Seeing Things: A Kid’s Guide to Looking at Photographs. New York: Aperture.

Sylvia, P. J. (2009): “Looking Past Pleasure : Anger, Confusion, Disgust, Pride, Surprise, And Other Unusual Aesthetic Emotions” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3(1), 48-51. DOI:10.1037/a0014632.

Van Leeuwen, T. & Jewitt C. (2000): The Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage.

Zaltman, G. & Zaltman, L. (2008): Marketing Metaphoria: What Deep Metaphors Reveal About the Minds of Consumers. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Semester Activities	Number	Weigthing
Participation	16	10
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	50
Presentation / Jury
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm	1	40
Final Exam		-
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	2	50
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade	1	50
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	14	1.5	21
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	1	7	7
Presentation / Jury			0
Project	-		0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms	1	14	14
Final Exam			0
		Total	90

#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to apply the fundamental principles of design in creating visual narratives and messages, using physical and digital media,	-	-	X	-	-
2	To attain complex problem-solving skills, using various design methods,	-	-	X	-	-
3	To have a clear understanding of creative/art direction,	X	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to use the advanced theoretical and applied knowledge attained in the areas of Visual Communication Design,	-	-	-	-	X
5	To act with social and ethical awareness and to take responsibility, both individually and collectively, for developing aesthetic and effective design solutions,	-	-	-	X	-
6	To be able to investigate, interpret and evaluate the developments on Visual Communication Design in the world and in Turkey,	-	-	-	X	-
7	To have an advanced level of knowledge and experience in producing/editing still and moving images,	-	-	-	-	-
8	To attain proficiency in using related software, media, and communication technologies,	-	-	-	-	-
9	To gain reflexive and critical thinking abilities,	-	-	-	-	X
10	To undertake self-directed and continuous education in the discipline, to develop a lifelong learning attitude,	-	-	X	-	-
11	To be able to collect data in the areas of Visual Communication Design and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1),	-	X	-	-	-
12	To be able to speak a second foreign at a medium level of fluency efficiently,	-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout the human history to their field of expertise.	-	-	-	-	X