Visual Communication Online

 Social semiotics is a field of study that deals with and looks at the ways in which people create meaning using signs and signals in social and cultural circumstances. In particular, how layout and visuals can impact the meanings that people interpret from visual communication. The origins of this methodology are primarily attributed to British linguist Michael Halliday - who first introduced the term in 1978. The theory was later built upon by Robert Hodge and Gunther Press, who originally framed their work on social semiotics around linguistics, though the study now expands past that realm (Adami et al, 2022). Social semiotics is important, as it provides a framework for interpreting meaning-making in social contexts.

There are a few rules to consider when it comes to the social semiotic approach. Photo/visual aid placement and composition is crucial, and highly specific. 

• Top vs. Bottom: Typically, the top of an image is thought to represent aspirations and imagination, while the bottom represents reality - what is factual and present in the image.

• Right vs. Left: Usually, the left side of the image depicts already known information, while the right shows new or unknown information.

• Other aspects of image composition also impact the way the visual is digested by the viewer. Salience - which is the prominence of particular elements of an image - brings attention to/draws attention away from certain parts of an image by resizing or recoloring them. Framing, or the way an image is centered/organized can also help to isolate the focal point of the image. 

Many photographs and artwork demonstrate the social semiotic method of visual analysis. For example:

Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” exemplifies the top vs bottom aspect of semiotic photo analysis. The top of the painting shows a brilliant night sky, giving the viewer a sense of wonder at the beauty and unknown of space, and allows the viewer to let their imagination wander. The bottom shows a small town, and grounds the viewer back to where they really are and how/where they really live. Salience also plays a role here, by showing the sky as bright and colorful and the town as dark and dreary - your attention is drawn to the sky, as this is the focus of the piece.

Here is another famous painting that can be analyzed using the social semiotic approach. This one from the period of westward expansion in the U.S. On the top of the image we see an open sky, which allows the viewer to be imaginative and, for many at the time, think of their aspirations for going West. The bottom of the image shows us reality - people on foot and horseback, packing up their whole lives and families and making the long trek. However, when we get to the right vs. left analysis of this image - the “rule” is swapped. On the left of the image, we are shown the unknown; the westward side of the country which had not yet been touched by colonialism, and was therefore unknown to colonists. The right side of the image shows the eastern side, which was at the time already familiar to these people. This switch up is intentional - because these people were moving West, so therefore the “unknown” needed to reside on the left, or western side, of the page. In terms of framing and salience - the woman, Columbia, is brightened compared to the rest of the image, and is also much larger, making her the focal point of this piece. She is shown to be leading the American people West, and at the time was a symbol of the movement of knowledge and progress.