ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT-I

Introduction to Visual Communication: Defining and Understanding Communication -

Communication as a Process, Symbols and Meaning, Importance of Visual Communication -
Communication as an expression - Skill and process -Types of communication - Verbal, Non
verbal, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Group and Team, Mass, Intercultural Communication -
Barriers to Communication.

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION
Communication is considered to be a human skill, we start communication from the
moment we arise until we go to bed, our days are filled with communication Challenges
and opportunities. Unlike some subjects you study, communication is relevant to every
aspect of your life.

We communicate with ourselves when we psych ourselves up for big moments and talk
ourselves into or out of various courses of action. We communicate with others to build
and sustain personal relationships, perform our jobs, advance in our careers, and
participate in social and civic activities. Even when we’re not around other people, we are
involved in communication as we interact with mass media and personal and social media.

All facets of our lives involve communication. Although we communicate continually, we

aren’t always effective. On one hand, people who do not have strong communication
knowledge and skills are limited in their efforts to achieve personal, professional, civic,
and social goals. On the other hand, people who communicate well have a strong
advantage in personal, social, civic, and professional life. Therefore, learning about
communication and developing your skills as a communicator are keys to a successful and
fulfilling life.

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UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION

Communication is a process where one sets out to convey a message to another person
through the medium of words, gestures and / or pictures. The process of conveying the
message is fulfilled only when the person receiving it has understood the message entirely. The
cycle gives the process of communication. It would be observed that the entire event takes
place within a common frame of reference, also called as communication environment. The
source refers to the point of origin of a message which is encoded by the sender and
transmitted through the channel to the receiver. The receipt of the message exercises an
impact in communication environment leading to some result. The observance of the result by
the sender is called ‘feedback’.

The term 'communication' originates from the Latin word communicare, which means to share
or impart. When used as per its function, it means a common ground of understanding.
Communication is the process of exchanging of facts, ideas and opinions and a means that
individuals or organizations use for sharing meaning and understanding with one another. In
other words, it is the transmission and interaction of facts, ideas, opinions, feelings or
attitudes. Communication is an interdisciplinary concept as theoretically it is approached from
various disciplines such as mathematics, accounting, psychology, ecology, linguistics, systems
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analysis, etymology, cybernetics, auditing etc. Communication enables us to do important
things: to grow, to learn, to be aware of ourselves and to adjust to our environment.

The definition of communication is "sending, giving, or exchanging information and ideas,"

which is often expressed non-verbally and verbally. Though it seems to mean speaking or
writing or sending a message to another person, Communication is really much more than
that. It involves a number of choices and decisions but being natural and unnoticed in informal
situations. In formal situations, our communication needs to be more effective and carefully
chosen, that is, we need to plan our communication.

Communication may be broadly defined as the process of meaningful interaction among

human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which meanings are perceived and
understandings are reached among human beings.

Communication involves the initiation of meaning in the listener, the transmission of

information and thousands of probable stimuli. Human beings have a compulsive urge to
communicate with each other. Mutual understanding is not only based on communication but
also is the core of human relations. There can be no mutual understanding without
communication; mutual understanding is the core of human relations. Communication is like
birth, death, breath and wanting to be loved- a part of life itself. Man is a communicating
animal; he alone has the power to express in words. Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste are
the modes of exchange of messages. The story of man's progress is the story of his progress in
communication skills.

Early man Two people exchanging

pleasure

When we think of exchanging our ideas with others or giving some information to others, we
do it in two ways. We either speak or we just do it without words. When we look back in the
history of mankind we find that early man could not speak as we do today.Words and
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languages, as we use today, developed much later in human history. However, early human
beings expressed their feelings and experiences without using any words. Their face,
expressions and use of head and other organs (body parts) like the hands, could tell others
many things. Later language developed and people used words to speak to others or convey
feelings. With alphabets, writing gave yet another powerful tool to convey thoughts, ideas and
feelings.

COMMUNICATION AS A PROCESS

Communication is a two-way process wherein the message in the form of ideas, thoughts,
feelings, opinions is transmitted between two or more persons with the intent of creating a
shared understanding. The communication is a dynamic process that begins with the
conceptualizing of ideas by the sender who then transmits the message through a channel to
the receiver, who in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message or signal within the
given time frame. Thus, there are Seven major elements of communication process.

THE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

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Communication is a two-way process that results in a shared meaning or common
understanding between the sender and the receiver. An understanding of how communication
works can help us to understand and improve our communication. It involves an exchange and
progression of thoughts, ideas, knowledge and information towards a mutually accepted goal
or direction called as message. The other factors are Channel, Feedback and Noise and
Context.

SENDER

The sender plays the specific role of initiating communication. To communicate effectively, the
sender must use effective verbal as well as nonverbal techniques. Speaking or writing clearly,
organizing your points to make them easy to follow and understand, maintaining eye contact,
using proper grammar and giving accurate information are all essential in the effectiveness of
your message. You will lose your audience if it becomes aware of obvious oversights on your
part. The sender should have some understanding of who the receiver is in order to modify the
message to make it more relevant.

MESSAGE

The message may be the most crucial element of effective communication. A message can
come in many different forms, such as an oral presentation, a written document, an
advertisement or just a comment. In the basic communication model, the way from one point
to another represents the sender's message traveling to the receiver. The message isn't
necessarily what the sender intends it to be. Rather, the message is what the receiver
perceives the message to be. As a result, the sender must not only compose the message
carefully, but also evaluate the ways in which the message can be interpreted.

CHANNEL

The message travels from one point to another via a channel of communication. The channel
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its between the sender and receiver. Many channels, or types, of communication exist, from
the spoken word to radio, television, an Internet site or something written, like a book, letter
or magazine. Every channel of communication has its advantages and disadvantages. For
example, one disadvantage of the written word, on a computer screen or in a book, is that the
receiver cannot evaluate the tone of the message. For this reason, effective communicators
word written communications clearly so they don't rely on a specific tone of voice to convey
the message accurately. The advantages of television as a channel for communication include
its expansive reach to a wide audience and the sender's ability to further manipulate the
message using editing and special effects.

RECEIVER

The receiver means the party to whom the sender transmits the message. A receiver can be
one person or an entire audience of people. In the basic communication model, the receiver, is
directly across from the speaker. The receiver can also communicate verbally and non verbally.
The best way to receive a message is to listen carefully, sitting up straight and making eye
contact. Don’t get distracted or try to do something else while you're listening. Nodding and
smiling as you listen to the sender speak demonstrate that you understand the message.

NOISE

This can be any sort of interference that affects the message being sent, received, or
understood. It can be as literal as static over a phone line or esoteric as misinterpreting a local
custom or unwanted sounds in a public speaking.

FEEDBACK

The last element of effective communication, feedback, describes the receiver's response or
reaction to the sender's message. The receiver can transmit feedback through asking
questions, making comments or just supporting the message that was delivered. Feedback
helps the sender to determine how the receiver interpreted the message and how it can be
improved.

COMMUNICATION AS SYMBOLS

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A symbol is a mark, sign or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an
idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by
creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences. All
communication (and data processing) is achieved through the use of symbols. Symbols take
the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas or visual images and are used to convey other ideas
and beliefs. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a blue line
might represent a river. Numerals are symbols for numbers. Alphabetic letters may be symbols
for sounds. Personal names are symbols representing individuals. A red rose may symbolize
love and compassion. The variable 'x', in a mathematical equation, may symbolize the position
of a particle in space.

Communication takes place by exchanging symbols to describe our ideas and experience.
Language is a common symbol system which is used for sharing our experiences with others.
We can also use other symbols like pictures, colours, signs and sounds to communicate. We do
communicate a number of things by our facial expressions, movements, clothing and so on,
though we do not speak. Thus communications through words are called Verbal
Communication; communications through symbols are called non-verbal communication.

COMMUNICATION AS A MEANING

Content-level meaning: the literal level of meaning conveyed; “well,” an issue of water from
the earth; “well,” to rise to the surface; “well,” satisfactorily; “well,” a prelude to a remark;
“well,” an expression of surprise (32 different possible content meanings in Webster’s
Dictionary). The content level of meaning contains the literal message.

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Relationship-level meaning: Tells us how to interpret the content level, usually by conveying
information about how we see ourselves, the other person, and most importantly, the
relationship between the parties who are interacting. Relationship-Level meanings are broken
down further into three categories: responsiveness, liking, and power. Responsiveness: This
includes nonverbal cues like eye-contact and body posture. Liking: This includes cues like
standing close to another or warmth in a tone.

For example, If a person knocks on your door and asks, “May I come in?” the content-level
meaning is that the person is asking your permission to enter. The relationship level of
meaning expresses the relationship between communicators. In our example, if the
person who asks, “May I come in?” is your friend and is smiling, you would probably
conclude that the person is seeking friendly interaction. But if the person is your
supervisor and speaks in an angry tone, you might interpret the relationship-level
meaning as a signal that your supervisor is not satisfied with your work and is going to call
you on the carpet. The content-level meaning is the same in both cases, but the
relationship level meaning differs. In many cases, the relationship level of meaning is more
important than the content level.

COMMUNICATION AS AN EXPRESSION

Communication involves both verbal, or spoken, and nonverbal, or unspoken, ways of making
sure our message is heard. When communicating non-verbally with others, we often use facial
expressions, which are subtle signals of the larger communication process. A simple smile can
indicate our approval of a message, while a scowl might signal displeasure or disagreement.
Understanding facial expressions and their meaning is an important part of communication.

In today's business world, much of our communication takes place via electronic methods, like
email and text messages. Oftentimes,it's hard to understand the context or meaning behind a
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message that's received electronically. But in person, facial expressions and other nonverbal
cues boost our understanding.Self-expression and communication are essential, and often go
hand in hand. We access and express our raw emotions to extract what to say to
another.Tempered emotions can be effective in making a point.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Verbal communication is communication that uses words, either written or spoken. This is in
contrast to non-verbal communication, such as body language. "Verbal" is sometimes used
colloquially in the sense of "spoken", but it is better to use "oral" in that context, to avoid
ambiguity.

ORAL COMMUNICATION
After man developed speech we started communicating orally. It is like a child who learns to
utter words first, and then speak. Oral communication is a skill that is developed or evolved. It
uses language. This would mean words and sentences. Oral Communication is more natural
and immediately available for responding to a comment / statement. In natural and informal
situations, we speak readily without hesitation in order to communicate with others; but in a
formal and official situation, many persons feel nervous and cannot speak easily. It needs
training, practice and skill to speak effectively in a formal situation.

Oral communication requires the presence and simultaneous attention of both the persons.
Need for personal presence makes certain demands on the skills of both; each must be able to
respond to the body language of the other, and must be able to make immediate response to
what the other says. Oral communication occurs in situations like conversations, telephone
talk, interviews, presentations, group discussions, and meetings.

The advantages of oral communication are: -

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i. It is spontaneous and natural.

ii. It is, therefore, easy for others to understand.

iii. Choice of words generally suits the listeners.

iv. It is supported by nonverbal communication.

v. The communicator or the person who communicates, is always physically available.

vi. It can develop close relations between the speaker and the listener.

Disadvantages of oral communication: -

i. Words spoken disappear into thin air. The words are temporary.

ii. Words are not permanent unlike say written communication.

iii. What is heard is often forgotten.

iv. Nonverbal communication that supports oral communication may not be understood by
people from other cultures.

Modes of communication like telephone invented by Graham Bell in1876 and radio invented
by Marconi in 1901 use oral messages. These inventions have helped in communicating
instantly over long distances.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Language and writing developed much later in man’s early history. The earliest script is
supposed to be found in China. Until paper was invented by the Chinese and later in Egypt,
there was no written communication except on leather scrolls and palm leaves. Today when
we talk about written communication it is limited to people who can write and read. For this
one should know the alphabet, script and grammar of the language. For someone to write, say
the language English, one should know various parts of speech besides a good knowledge of
words or vocabulary. Writing, invention of paper and later invention of printing by John
Gutenberg in the 15th century, made knowledge available to many more people. Books were
the first to appear. Newspapers, magazines and journals slowly became popular. Such written
matter helped people in communicating ideas to a larger number of people. Newspapers
helped people to be informed about what is happening around the country and the world.
Newspapers also inform about the activities of the government. Writing unlike speech,
involves thoughts, correction, editing or rewriting and occurs in isolation. That means for a
writer it is an individual activity involving lot of preparation and hard work, unlike speech,
which is a shared activity.

Written communication is used for many purposes. Many types of documents are required for
official work. Letters, circulars, memos, notices, reports and minutes are constantly prepared
and exchanged in and between organizations. All has a format and layout which is fixed by
custom.

Advantages of written communication: -

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i. Written communication gives words and thoughts permanence.

ii. Knowledge and information became available to people who could read.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Non-verbal communication is the act of saying what's on your mind without speaking words.
Examples of this include facial gestures (smiling, frowning), body language (arms crossed,
giving someone the "finger", legs shaking resembling nervousness, sitting upright giving
someone their full attention), and the impression you give to others with your appearance
(dress, body image, body odor).

Non-verbal methods of communication can be consciously created and used with both written
and oral communication. Graphics of all kinds can enrich the message presented in a
document or in a speech. Pictures, maps, charts, diagrams, sketches, cutouts, models, etc.,
communicate more effectively quality vice and clarity vice than verbal communication. Apart
from these symbols we consciously may convey the meaning by facial expressions, gestures,
eye contact, clothing, posture, etc. These are called body language. They do communicate
more than verbal communication.

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Look at the figure. This indicates a facial expression which we call a ‘smiley’, conveying
happiness. What can you make out from the rest? They are different facial expressions
conveying happiness, anger, grief, fear etc.

Look at a policeman at the traffic point. He doesn’t speak a word but uses his hands to signal
‘stop’ or ‘go’.

Someone asks you, “Are you going to the market” ? You nod your head and say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The way you nod would make the other person understand. what you mean. In all the above
cases, we express our feelings or experiences without using any words.
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Non-verbal communication occurs even when there is no verbal communication. Going by the
road side, on seeing the no parking board, we are not parking our vehicles near it. Henceforth,
a good understanding of non-verbal communication will entitle a person or persons to
communicate more effectively than what is conveyed through verbal communication.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Communication is described depending upon the situation in which communication takes

place. We communicate with ourselves, with others face to face, using a public address system
with a large number of people or use radio or television. In this section, you will learn about
the different types of communication.

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Intrapersonal communication is communication with oneself using internal vocalization or

reflective thinking. Like other forms of communication, Intrapersonal communication is
triggered by some internal or external stimulus. We may, for example, communicate with our
self about what we want to eat due to the internal stimulus of hunger, or we may react
intrapersonally to an event we witness. Unlike other forms of communication, intrapersonal
communication takes place only inside our heads. For example, a person may use self-talk to
calm himself down in a stressful situation, or a shy person may remind herself to smile during a
social event. Intrapersonal communication also helps build and maintain our self-concept.

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We also use intrapersonal communication or “self-talk” to let off steam, process emotions,
think through something, or rehearse what we plan to say or do in the future. As with the
other forms of communication, competent intrapersonal communication helps facilitate social
interaction and can enhance our well-being. Conversely, the breakdown in the ability of a
person to intrapersonally communicate is associated with mental illness.

Of the forms of communication, intrapersonal communication has received the least amount
of formal study. It is rare to find courses devoted to the topic, and it is generally separated
from the remaining four types of communication. The main distinction is that intrapersonal
communication is not created with the intention that another person will perceive it. In all the
other levels, the fact that the communicator anticipates consumption of their message is very
important.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Interpersonal communication is communication between people whose lives mutually

influence one another. Interpersonal communication builds, maintains, and ends our
relationships, and we spend more time engaged in interpersonal communication than the
other forms of communication. Interpersonal communication occurs in various contexts and is
addressed in sub fields of study within communication studies such as intercultural
communication, organizational communication, health communication, and computer-
mediated communication. After all, interpersonal relationships exist in all those contexts.

Interpersonal communication can be planned or unplanned, but since it is interactive, it is

usually more structured and influenced by social expectations than intrapersonal
communication. Interpersonal communication is also more goal oriented than intrapersonal
communication and fulfills instrumental and relational needs.

Mediated Interpersonal Communication

Mediated interpersonal communication involves technology that assists or links the sender
and receiver of messages. This may involve immediacy (live, or so-called real time). It does not
involve a primary context but instead uses technology to link the various parties in
communication.

Dyadic communication includes two people, with some of the elements of interpersonal, but
the context is not face-to-face. Example: Two business colleagues using the telephone or e-
mail. Mediated communication offers the advantage that it allows people to communicate
over a distance or throughout a time span that would not be possible in direct communication.
E-mail offers instantaneous global communication, and cell phones are highly mobile.
Computer technology makes it possible for people to do their job without being physically
present, allowing them to work from their home or from across the world.

GROUP AND TEAM COMMUNICATION

Group communication is communication among three or more people interacting to achieve a

shared goal. You have likely worked in groups in high school and college, and if you’re like most
students, you didn’t enjoy it. Even though it can be frustrating, group work in an academic
setting provides useful experience and preparation for group work in professional settings.
Organizations have been moving toward more team-based work models, and whether we like
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it or not, groups are an integral part of people’s lives. Therefore the study of group
communication is valuable in many contexts. Since many businesses and organizations are
embracing team models, learning about group communication can help these groups be more
effective.

Group communication is more intentional and formal than interpersonal communication.

Unlike interpersonal relationships, which are voluntary, individuals in a group are often
assigned to their position within a group. Additionally, group communication is often task
focused, meaning that members of the group work together for an explicit purpose or goal
that affects each member of the group. Goal-oriented communication in interpersonal
interactions usually relates to one person; for example, I may ask my friend to help me move
this weekend. Goal-oriented communication at the group level usually focuses on a task
assigned to the whole group; for example, a group of people may be tasked to figure out a plan
for moving a business from one office to another.

The smaller the number in the group, the more closely this mode resembles interpersonal
communication. Often group communication is done for the purpose of problem solving or
decision making. Example: University study group.

PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
Public communication is a sender-focused form of communication in which one person is
typically responsible for conveying information to an audience. Public speaking is something
that many people fear, or at least don’t enjoy. But, just like group communication, public
speaking is an important part of our academic, professional, and civic lives. When compared to
interpersonal and group communication, public communication is the most consistently
intentional, formal, and goal-oriented form of communication we have discussed so far.

Public communication, at least in Western societies, is also more sender focused than
interpersonal or group communication. It is precisely this formality and focus on the sender
that makes many new and experienced public speakers anxious at the thought of facing an
audience. One way to begin to manage anxiety toward public speaking is to begin to see
connections between public speaking and other forms of communication with which we are
more familiar and comfortable. Despite being formal, public speaking is very similar to the
conversations that we have in our daily interactions. For example, although public speakers
don’t necessarily develop individual relationships with audience members, they still have the
benefit of being face-to-face with them so they can receive verbal and nonverbal feedback.

MASS COMMUNICATION

Public communication becomes mass communication when it is transmitted to many people

through print or electronic media. Print media such as newspapers and magazines continue to
be an important channel for mass communication, although they have suffered much in the
past decade due in part to the rise of electronic media. Television, websites, blogs, and social
media are mass communication channels that you probably engage with regularly. Radio, pod
casts, and books are other examples of mass media. The technology required to send mass
communication messages distinguishes it from the other forms of communication. A certain
amount of intentionality goes into transmitting a mass communication message since it usually
requires one or more extra steps to convey the message. This may involve pressing “Enter” to
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send a Facebook message or involve an entire crew of camera people, sound engineers, and
production assistants to produce a television show. Even though the messages must be
intentionally transmitted through technology, the intentionality and goals of the person
actually creating the message, such as the writer, television host, or talk show guest, vary
greatly. The president’s State of the Union address is a mass communication message that is
very formal, goal oriented, and intentional, but a president’s verbal gaffe during a news
interview is not.

Technological advances such as the printing press, television, and the more recent digital
revolution have made mass communication a prominent feature of our daily lives.

Mass communication differs from other forms of communication in terms of the personal
connection between participants. Even though creating the illusion of a personal connection is
often a goal of those who create mass communication messages, the relational aspect of
interpersonal and group communication isn’t inherent within this form of communication.
Unlike interpersonal, group, and public communication, there is no immediate verbal and
nonverbal feedback loop in mass communication. Of course you could write a letter to the
editor of a newspaper or send an e-mail to a television or radio broadcaster in response to a
story, but the immediate feedback available in face-to-face interactions is not present. With
new media technologies like Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, feedback is becoming more
immediate. Individuals can now tweet directly “at” (@) someone and use hashtags (#) to direct
feedback to mass communication sources. Many radio and television hosts and news
organizations specifically invite feedback from viewers/listeners via social media and may even
share the feedback on the air.

The technology to mass-produce and distribute communication messages brings with it the
power for one voice or a series of voices to reach and affect many people. While there is
potential for unethical communication at all the other levels, the potential consequences of
unethical mass communication are important to consider. Communication scholars who focus
on mass communication and media often take a critical approach in order to examine how
media shapes our culture and who is included and excluded in various mediated messages.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Intercultural communication is an important factor in today’s globalized world. People travel

and they need to communicate, in most cases, it’s out of one’s culture. Culture is combining
with each other gradually. Sharing information with people belonging to different cultures is
known as intercultural communication or cross-cultural communication.

People who have to deal with other cultures, face a problem of intercultural communication.
Even though they take language classes and learn to speak local languages fluently,
intercultural communication isn’t just that. Its one’s understanding of the culture, the social
interactions, and cultural accommodation.

What is Intercultural communication? According to – Karlfried Knapp, intercultural

communication can…be defined as the interpersonal interaction between members of
different groups, which differ from each other in respect of the knowledge shared by their
members and in respect of their linguistic forms of symbolic behaviour.”

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Intercultural communication is the study and application of knowledge on “cultural
perceptions and symbol systems” of people belonging to different cultures. The intended
meaning of any message differs when encoded by a person of a certain culture and decoded
by someone of the other. The different meanings of symbols in different culture also vary
making the interpretation difficult. While applying inter-cultural communication, it refers to
making people aware and able to adopt others’ cultures when they communicate with them
and thus have a meaningful communication.

Intercultural differences also cause lack of trust between people as the meaning of trust itself
can be different. Non-verbal communication difference can also increase trust issues between
people. Material culture and its use are also different between cultures like the use of spoons
and chopsticks for eating. Other things like architecture, clothing, cosmetics, etc. differ culture-
wise and if you do not have knowledge of it, your communication fails or is not effective.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

The process of communication has multiple barriers. The intended communique will often be
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disturbed and distorted leading to a condition of misunderstanding and failure of
communication. The Barriers to effective communication could be of many types like Physical
barriers, Psychological barriers, Linguistic & Cultural barriers and Mechanical barriers etc. All
these barriers clubbed under common label-‘noise’. We will see all of these types in detail
below.

PHYSICAL BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION

They are the most obvious barriers to effective communication. These barriers are mostly
easily removable in principle at least. They include the barriers like noise, closed doors, faulty
equipment used for communication, closed cabins, etc. Sometimes, in a large office, the
physical separation between various employees combined with faulty equipment may result in
severe barriers to effective communication.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS

There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective
communication. Some people have stage fear, speech disorders, phobia, depression etc. All of
these conditions are very difficult to manage sometimes and will most certainly limit the ease
of communication.

LINGUISTIC BARRIERS

The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication. Language
is the most commonly employed tool of communication. The fact that each major region has
its own language is one of the Barriers to effective communication. Sometimes even a thick
dialect may render the communication ineffective. As per some estimates, the dialects of every
two regions changes within a few kilometers. Even in the same workplace, different employees
will have different linguistic skills. As a result, the communication channels that span across
the organization would be affected by this. Thus keeping this barrier in mind, different
considerations have to be made for different employees. Some of them are very proficient in a
certain language and others will be okay with these languages.

CULTURAL BARRIERS

As the world is getting more and more globalized, any large office may have people from
several parts of the world. Different cultures have a different meaning for several basic values
of society. Dressing, Religions or lack of them, food, drinks, pets, and the general behavior will
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change drastically from one culture to another. Hence it is a must that we must take these
different cultures into account while communication. This is what we call being culturally
appropriate. In many multinational companies, special courses are offered at the orientation
stages that let people know about other cultures and how to be courteous and tolerant of
others.

MECHANICAL BARRIERS

Mechanical barriers raised by the channels. Message is interfered by disturbance such as

follows;

i. Increased the difficulty in reception

ii. Prevented some elements of the message

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UNIT-II
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Understanding Visual Communication: SMCR Model Theoretical concepts and constructs in
Communication models – Lasswell‟s Model - Two-step flow theory – Schramm‟s Circular
Model - Whites Gatekeeper theory – Dance‟s Helical model - Levels of Communication:
Technical, Semantic, and Pragmatic.

UNDERSTANDING VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communication is a way of the communication that people get through the reading or
seeing. As mentioned earlier, it can be anything that shows a message. It expresses an idea and
gives a piece of information with the use of the different signs, gestures, postures, and
anything that can be expressible. It comes with an impressive power to inform and educate a
person or groups. Just imagine while driving on an unknown road, we keep asking the people
about the destination. But if you have a medium of visual communication like a map, you can
simply find out the way without any help. You can say that visual communication can be
anything that expresses the things in a beautiful and understandable manner. People rely more
on the different forms of visual communication than the verbal communication as they get all
the details with the signs and symbols.

IMPORTANCE OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communication attracts and maintains the audience’s attention, It is the transmission of
information by the use of a non-verbal medium such as the gestures, the visual aids, the facial
expression, the posters etc, This type of communication targets the recipients eyes only, That is
why it is called the visual communication.

Visual communication involves the use of visual elements such as drawings, the illustrations
and the electronic images to convey the ideas and the information to the audience, The visual
presentation of information and data is having an increasing impact on our practical life. There
are two main types of audio-visual communication, the live communication at the event and
the communication through the published content, The use of audio-visual aids can help you
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communicate and you will be more likely to remember the information.

The communication that is done through the sight is called the visual communication, It also
includes the graphic design, the illustration and the animation, the books, the print, the
magazines, the screen-based media, the interactive web design, short film, design for
advertising, promotion, corporate identity and packaging design etc. Forms of Visual
Communication are the expressions, the hand gestures, the props, the models, the text , the
posters, the images, the graphs, the charts, the drawings and the sketches, the projections, the
signs and the symbols and the logos. Functions of communication: information,education and
entertainment.

ADVANTAGES OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

The visual communication helps in re-enforcing the oral communication & supporting it, if you
are reading about something, You need to add the visual aids such as the graphs, the diagrams
and the charts to the content that you are reading to understand what you are reading and
you can explain the meaning of it very easily.

The pictures and the illustrations have stronger impact than the words, The pictures can be
used to tell the things that the words do not have the strength to tell, The visual
communication makes the person more involved and connected, as the visuals can pull down
most barriers of communication and open up the people.

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The visual communications can be understood by the literate and the illiterate people, So, You
will be able to see the things with the eyes unlike the written communication that requires
that you are educated and able to read and write before you can understand it. You do not
need to speak a particular language, The visual communication is the communication where
the ideas and the information can be read or viewed through the means of visual aid, Most of
business organizations are using it to present the information.

The visual communication helps to take a quick decision, So, the management prefers the
visual techniques to communicate with the others, It will be more effective to exchange the
information and you can easily understand the information that is presented visually. The
complex information, the data and the figures can be easily presented very simply on the
graphs, the pictures and the diagrams, The picture is retained in our memory longer than the
words or the quotes and the people will remember the visuals very well.

The visual communication prevents the wastage of time, Written and oral communication
takes much time to exchange the information, But number of receivers can be communicated
at a time through the visual methods. The visual communication is very popular because the
people do not like much speech and long explanation rather than the chart & the diagram, It is
very fast, The graphic of any kind can elicit a stronger reaction from the reader, It is more
efficient way of communicating with less effort & time.

DISADVANTAGES OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

The visual communication involves the use of poorly designed visual aids that are difficult to
understand or see, If the irrelevant information is presented, the images can be distracting and
impede the main concepts.

The visual communication can be very expensive to produce it, Unlike some other channels of
communication such as the oral communication, Storing the visual communication can be very
expensive, Only large company or organization can use this technique as drawing the maps,
charts & diagram is very costly.
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The visual communication takes more time and effort to produce it, Just imagine the amount
of the time and the effort that goes into the creation of the visual aids such as the graphs, the
maps, the diagrams etc and it is not alone sufficient for exchanging the information. When the
visual presentation of information becomes complex, The receivers cannot understand the
meaning of the presentation, It will be an incomplete method, It will not sufficient to
communicate effectively and clearly but it can be successfully used with the oral
communication.

The visual communication takes much time to communicate, whereas the oral communication
takes no time to exchange the information, It is difficult to understand, it requires a lot of
repetitions in visual communication, Since it uses the gestures, the facial expressions, the eye
contact, touch etc, for communicating with the others, they may not be understandable for the
simple people.

It is difficult to present all the topics or the subject matters, all the information cannot be
displayed through the visual communication, So, the whole concept or idea will not be
understandable, It requires more time and effort to select, compile, and present the
information. You need special knowledge and efficiency to deal with visual communication,
The graphs, charts or table may be in wrong order, The decision taken based on the wrong
information may lead to ineffective output or fruitless result and small amount of information
can be conveyed via the graphics only

MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Models of communication refer to the conceptual model used to explain the human
communication process. Communication models are systematic representations of the process
which helps in understanding how communication works can be done. Models show the
process metaphorically and in symbols. They form general perspectives on communication by
breaking communication from complex to simple and keeps the components in order.
Communication models can sometimes encourage traditional thinking and stereotyping but
can also omit some major aspects of human communication. Methods and channels of
communication to be used and the purpose of communication, must be considered before
choosing a specific communication model. Models are used by business companies and other
firms to foster their communication, explore their options and to evaluate their own situations.
It is also used to understand how the receivers will interpret the message.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION MODELS

There are many models of communication developed by noted theorists of different

disciplines. Among the theorists are: Aristotle, Lasswell, Shannon, Weaver, McLuhan, MacLean,
Rileys, Westley, Gerbner, Rothstein, Schramn, Berlo, Osgood, Johnson, Cherry are the
renowned ones. Some important and well known contributions are highlighted below. These
communication models are mostly categorized into three general types of communication
models. Three general types of communication models are: Linear Model,Transnational Model,
Interactional Model.

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ARISTOTLE’S MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
Aristotle, a great philosopher initiative the earliest mass communication model called
“Aristotle’s Model of Communication”. He proposed model before 300 B.C who found the
importance of audience role in communication chain in his communication model. This model
is more focused on public speaking with speaker, speech and the audience. It can be broadly
divided into 5 primary elements:

Today, the Aristotelian model of communication is still widely used and accepted. In this model

of communication, the sender sends the message to the receiver in an attempt to influence
them to respond accordingly. The message has to be very impressive and convincing.
Therefore, the sender must know and understand their audience well. This concept is used in
public speaking, seminars, and lectures.

LASSWELL’S MODEL

Harold Dwight Lasswell (1948), a political scientist and communication theorist, was a member
of the Chicago school of sociology. In his work 'The Structure and Function of Communication
in Society' (1948) he defined communication process as Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience
and Effect. The Aristotle’s communication model is a speaker centered model as the speaker
has the most important role in it and is the only one active. It is the speaker’s role to deliver a
speech to the audience. The role of the audience is passive, influenced by the speech. This
makes the communication process one way, from speaker to receiver. The speaker must
organize the speech beforehand, according to the target audience and situation (occasion).
The speech must be prepared so that the audience be persuaded or influenced from the
speech.

Who (says) What (in) What Channel (to) Whom (with) What Effect

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Harold Dwight Lasswell, the American political scientist states that a convenient way to
describe an act of communication is to answer few questions as mentioned above.
Though Lasswell’s model was developed to analyze mass communication, this model is
used for interpersonal communication or group communication to be disseminated
message to various groups in various situations. Lasswell’s model was developed to study
the media propaganda of countries and businesses at that time. Only rich people used to
have communication mediums such as televisions and radios back then. It was made to
show the mass media culture. Lasswell also brought the concept of Effective
Communication Process. He talked about the relation between presentation of facts and
how it generates different effects. The use of the concept of effect makes Lasswell model
non-linear unlike it’s name. It’s because effect can also be taken as feedback.Though,
generally, the component of effect was made to be more about outcome of the message,
the model is applied in different medias and fields despite being developed specifically for
mass communication.
This model is about process of communication and its function to society, According to
Lasswell there are three functions for communication:
1. Surveillance of the environment,
2. Correlation of components of society and
3. Cultural transmission between generation.

Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with multiple
audiences. The flow of message is through various channels, And also this communication
model is similar to Aristotle’s communication model. In this model, the communication
component, Who refers the research area called “Control Analysis”, Says what is refers to
“Content Analysis”, In which channel is refers to “Media Analysis”, To Whom is refers to
“Audience Analysis” With What Effect is refers to “Effect Analysis”

This model is similar to the communication model proposed by Claude Shannon and Warren
Weaver. Their model is more graphical than Lasswell’s. George Gerbner who is the founder of
the cultivation theory, expanded Lasswell’s model and included the concept of reaction of the
receiver.

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For Example: In CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear power
station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing into
the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.
Who – TEPC Operator
What – Radioactive material flowing
into sea Channel – CNN NEWS
(Television medium) Whom – Public
Effect – Alert the people of japan from the radiation.

Advantage of lasswell model:

It is a simple and easy to understand model, since it does not recharge the communication
process and focuses on its most basic elements. It is valid for practically any type of
communication, regardless of the type of medium by which it occurs, who the sender and
receiver are, or what type of message is transmitted. It was the first model to focus on the
effect produced by a certain type of communication and to study its effects.

Disadvantage of lasswell model:

The major criticism of Lasswell’s Model is that it does not include feedback and it ignores the
possibility of noise. Without feedback, a communication process can not be fruitful. Lasswell’s
model is very linear and does not consider barriers in the communication process. The model
is also criticized for being very general and only including very traditional topics. The model is
very simplistic. The model is said to be propaganda based as it is more focused on the resulting
outcome and generally used for media persuasion.

TWO STEP FLOW THEORY

In 1944 Paul Lazarsfeld, (1901-1976) an American Social Researcher, Bernard Berelson

(1912 – 1979) and Hazel Gaudet, introduced The Two-Step Flow of Communication in the
book called “The people’s choice: How the voter make up his their mind in a presidential
campaign. New York: Columbia University Press”. The purpose of the study was focused on
Presidential election Campaign and the people decision-making process towards the
campaign. All three researchers wanted to find out practically whether the mass media

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messages affect direct influence in voting decision among the people. Unexpectedly they
found the media messages (like radio and newspapers) are very less influence then an
informal, personal communication on voting behavior. Based on this researched data, The
Two Step Flow Communication Theory of Mass Communication was developed by Katz and
Paul Lazarsfeld.

The concept of the ‘two-step flow of communication’ suggests that the flow of information
and influence from the mass media to their audiences involves two steps: from the media to
certain individuals (i.e., the opinion leaders) and from them to the public.

Opinion Leader:
Opinion Leader is a leader for a certain group who gives details and information to lesser
active persons in the group. In office, the managing director is an opinion leader and in
public, a political leader is an opinion leader. They interpret the information to their own
group. But one thing the Opinion leader is a leader only for their own group not for all.
In Public, Political leader is an opinion leader. Here few people are not influenced by the
leader and their political views and thought. These people won’t support opinion leaders
and isolated from the population.

Katz and Paul seems “the flow of media messages from radio and print to opinion leaders
and then the leaders leads the messages to lesser active users in the population”. Through
this transformation of message, the leaders may add their opinion on the actual content
which may affects the low active users. In some cases the Opinion leaders are filtering the
actual content ensures the information is needed by the people. Mostly the opinion
leaders are selective and they pass the messages to the group. (Low-end media users:
Poor, Worker and People who are not affordable for getting information directly). The
Opinion leaders have enough voice only in structured social groups not in an isolated
individual in the population.
Example : Mom watching News in ANB Channel they flash the headlines with “Research
reveals some toys leads the children’s aggressive and Violent”. That day Mom calls her
little son and went for shopping and Mom warn her son some toys are not good and make
skin allergy which leads her son to avoid those toys.
• Opinion leader: Mom
• Audience: Her Son
• Added information in actual content: Skin Allergy

Criticism:
- Researchers found substantial evidence that initial mass media information flows directly to
people on the whole and is not relayed by opinion leaders.
- The two-step hypothesis does not adequately describe the flow of learning. Lazarsfeld
and his associates in the 1940 election study were unable to determine the specific flow
of influence.
– Today most of the advertising researches are based on this theory. Especially opinion
leaders role in the society as well as in home to which helps to improve the market
with less efforts.

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SHANNON & WEAVER MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

The first major model for communication came in 1949 by Claude Shannon and Warren
Weaver of Bell Laboratories which laid the foundation for the different communication models.

The features of this model are:

 A linear process.
 A Simple model (Technical)

 Content/message is easy to identify but hard to solve ( Semantic)

 Source is dominant factor/decision maker ( Impact/Effectiveness)

 Noise, a disturbing factor ( Impact/Effectiveness)

Some suggest that Shannon's model isn't really a model of communication. It is incomplete
and biased, as it models the flow of information through a medium, and is applicable to the
system it maps, a telephone or telegraph, than to most other media. It suggests, for instance, a
"push" model in which sources of information can inflict it on destinations. In the real world of
media, destinations are more typically self -selecting "consumers" of information who have the
ability to select the messages they are interested in, turn off messages that don't interest
them, focus on one message in preference to others, and can choose to simply not pay
attention. Shannon's model depicts transmission from a transmitter to a receiver as the
primary activity of a medium. In the real world of media, messages are frequently stored for
long periods of time and/or modified in some way before they are accessed by the
"destination". The model suggests that communication within a medium is frequently direct
and unidirectional, but in the real world of media, communication is almost never
unidirectional and is often indirect.

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BERLO’S SMCR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication represents the process of communication in its
simplest form. The model consists of four component that are each influenced by different
factors.The acronym SMCR stands for Source, Message, Channel, and Receiver. Berlo’s SMCR
Model of Communication describes the different components that form the basic process of
communication. Because this communication tool also emphasises the coding and decoding of
the message, it can be used for more efficient communication.

To ensure the message is conveyed as effectively as possible, the sender and the receiver must
share some common ground. Communication skills play a crucial role in this. Other factors,
such as culture, knowledge and attitude are also vital. What may be considered rude in some
cultures, may be perfectly fine in others. Communication does not always go as smoothly as
one would hope. Various problems, such as disruptions, noise and an asynchronous process,
may obstruct proper communication.

SOURCE

The sender of the message is the source who creates and sends the message to the receiver.
The source is the start of the communication process and is the person who encodes the
message. Factors that may influence the sender are also applicable to the receiver. Consider
how the message is interpreted, for example. Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication identifies
the following factors that affect the source.

Communication skills – It is the individual’s skill to communicate (ability to read, write,

speak, listen etc…)

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Attitudes – One’s attitude in relationship to the audience, receiver and subject changes the
meaning and consequence of the message. e.g. for the student the attitude is to learn more
and for teachers wants to help teach.

Knowledge – Familiarity with the subject of the message makes communication more
effective. The knowledge about the subject one is going to communicate for e.g. whatever the
teacher communicates in the class about the subject so having knowledge in what you are
communicating.

Social system – The Social system includes the various aspects in society like Values, beliefs,
religion, culture, rules and general understanding of society that influence the way in which
the sender communicates the message, alongside location and circumstances. It is were the
communication takes place. For e.g. class room differs from country to country like behaviors,
how we communicate etc. We can communicate only to the extent that the social system
allows, when we communicate take social system into account.

Culture - Culture of the particular society also comes under social system.Cultural
differences may result in the message being interpreted differently.

Only if you have the above in the proper or adequate proportion we can communicate
properly.

ENCODER: The sender of the message (message originates) is referred as encoder, so the
source is encoding the message here.

MESSAGE

The message is the package of information or meaning that is sent from sender to receiver.
The message can be sent in various forms, such as audio, speech, text, video or other media.
The sender of the messages always wants the receiver to interpret the message in a certain
way. The source’s intention is therefore translated into a coded message. The receiver should
understand the message with reasonable accuracy. The message is influenced by:

Content - The beginning to the end of a message comprises its content, for e.g. From
beginning to end whatever the class teacher speaks in the class is the content of the message.

Elements - It includes various things like gestures, body language etc, so these are all the
elements of the particular message. Content is always accompanied by some
elements.Elements are (non)verbal aspects, such as gestures and signs, that may influence the
message. Albert Mehrabian’s communication model goes into this in more detail.

Treatment - It refers to the packing of the message. The way in which the message is
conveyed or the way in which the message is passed on or deliver it. Need to be careful of the
treatment, when there is too much treatment also the communication will not happen
properly.

Structure - As the word suggests, the structure of the message refers to the way in which it is
structured, how it is arranged, the way you structure the message into various parts. Message
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is the same but if the structure is not properly arranged then the message will not get to the
receiver.

Code - The code of the message means how it is sent in what form it could be . This may
include text, language, body language, video, gestures, music, and even culture is a code.
Through this you get/give the message or through which the communication takes place or
being reached.

CHANNEL

The channel is the medium used to send the message. The medium must be able to be picked
up by the sensory system of the receiver and may therefore involve vision, sound, smell, taste
or touch. Humans have the following senses:

 Hearing
 Seeing

 Touching

 Smelling

 Tasting

Whatever communication we do using any channels we use either of these senses. Mass
communication always involves technical tools, such as phones, the Internet and television. In
these cases, the transmitted information is assimilated via vision and sound.

Hearing - The use of ears to get the message for e.g. oral messages, interpersonal etc.
Seeing - Visual channels for e.g. TV can be seen and the message is delivered.
Touching - The sense of touch can be used as a channel to communicate for e.g. we touch
and buy food, hugging etc.
Smelling - Smell also can be a channel to communicate for e.g. perfumes, eatables, charred
smell communicates something is burning, we can find out about which food is being cooked
etc.
Tasting - The tongue also can be used to decipher e.g. Food can be tasted and
communication can happen.

DECODER : Who receives the message and decodes it, is referred to as decoder.

RECEIVER

The receiver is the person who receives and subsequently decodes the coded message. In a
linear communication process, the receiver is always located at the end. In order to make
communication as effective and smooth as possible, Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication
assumes the receiver’s thinking pattern must be in accordance with that of the sender. The
same factors therefore influence this component in Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication.
After all, the receiver decodes the message him/herself and gives it their own meaning.

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This model believes that for an effective communication to take place the source and the
receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source and receiver are on the same level
communication will happen or take place properly. So source and receiver should be similar
For e.g. Communication skills on source side is good then the receiver should equally have
good listening skills. We cannot say the entire message passed reaches the receiver has it is,
because the receiver may not be good in listening, so only for the effective communication the
source and the receiver to be in the same level.

Self image differs from person to person, for communicating the person should consider the
receiver. Keep the receiver in mind, speak accordingly and give them what they need.

Criticism of Berlo’s SMCR model of communication:

Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but true in real life. Main
drawback of the model is that the model omits the usage of sixth sense as a channel which is
actually a gift to the human beings ( thinking, understanding, analyzing etc). There is no
concept of feedback, so the effect is not considered. There is no concept of noise or any kind
of barriers in communication process. It is a linear model of communication, there is no two
way communication. Both of the people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned
above.

A DISRUPTED COMMUNICATION PROCESS

In practice, communication is not nearly as smooth as described in Berlo’s linear model. There
are a number of factors that may lead to a disrupted communication process. Examples of
disruptions include:

Loss or distortion

The person sending the message must encode the message in such a way that the full
intention of the message is clear. He/she may choose to do this with words, but it is very rare
that the full intention is encoded in a message. In some cases, a message may even barely
contain the information the sender wants to convey.

Even if an additional channel is added to the communication process, the message may
become distorted. For example, consider the familiar team-building game where a message is
constantly passed on in a circle of people. The last person will often hear a completely
distorted or unrecognizable message. Every time the message is conveyed by a different
person, part of its initial intention is lost.

Noise

After the message is sent, noise may occur. This noise disrupts the source and message and
causes the receiver to only partially receive the message or not at all. Internal noise refers to a
state in which part of the communication process, the receiver for example, is not feeling well,
or not entirely focused. As a result, the receiver may miss out on certain parts of the message.
External noise, on the other hand, may be caused by background noise during a phone call, for
33
example. This also causes the receiver to potentially misunderstand certain parts of the
message.

There may also be situations in which noise is caused intentionally. Non-intentional noise is
caused unintentionally and can, for example occur if sender uses difficult words, which then
makes it more difficult for the receiver to understand the message.

Synchronization

The communication process may be either synchronous or asynchronous. If the receiver is in

direct contact with the sender, this is referred to as a synchronous channel or process. If, on
the other hand, the sender and receiver are not in direct contact with each other, this is
referred to as an asynchronous communication process.

The danger of asynchronous communication is that both the sender and receiver will not
receive direct feedback on how the message is conveyed. It also prevents the message from
being adjusted, making it impossible to clarify certain matters further.

WILBUR SCHRAMM & OSGOOD MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication (1954) was an attempt to rectify the
earlier linear models of communication; it can happen within our self (Intra personal) or
between two (Inter personal) each person acts as both sender and receiver and hence use
interpretation. It occurs simultaneously, e.g., encoding, interpreting and decoding. Wilbur
Schramm stated that communication process does not start and end somewhere, but is
endless. The Circular model depicts two actors who reciprocate in identical functions
throughout: encoding, decoding, and interpreting. The model presented by Osgood and
Schramm shows not only the transmission and hearing of a message, but offers explanations in
how it can be perceived and understood. The process of understanding what has been said can
vary widely from person to person as there will always be a degree of semantic noise to be
taken into account, such as cultural differences, background, socio economics, education and
values.

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Advantage of Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication:
The merits of the model are that it is dynamic, includes redundancy, sender and receiver are
the same persons, feedback is integral part of the process and so suggests communication to
be circular in nature.

Disadvantage of Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication:

The chief demerit is that it does not talk about semantic noise and it assumes the moment of
encoding and decoding.

WHITES GATEKEEPER THEORY

Kurt Zadek Lewin (1890-1947), was born in German. He was a great Psychologist and pioneer
in Social Psychology. He developed the concept in the field of psychology called psychological
“field” and “life space” in order to understand the human behavior and its important
consideration of total life space. His studies are more based on to understand a person’s own
world, physical, mental and social through frequent conversation between his Pre-memories,
desire and his goals. And also his works help to understand the relationship between attitudes
and behavior in the group or individuals.

Kurt Lewin coins the word called “Gate keeping”. It’s nothing but to block unwanted or useless
things by using a gate. Here the person who make a decision is called “Gatekeeper”. At first it is
widely used in the field of psychology and later it occupies the field of communication. Now
it’s one of the essential theories in communication studies.

The Gatekeeper decides what information should move to group or individual and what
information should not. Here, the gatekeeper are the decision makers who letting the whole
social system. The gatekeeper is having its own influence like social, cultural, ethical and
political. Based on personal or social influences they let the information to the group. Through
this process the unwanted, sensible and controversial information’s are removed by the gate
keeper which helps to control the society or a group and letting them in a right path. In home
mother plays the vital role and she has to decide what their kid’s needs and what should avoid.
In news medium editor play vital role. He has to decide what kind of news items should publish
and what should not. Every day the news channel receives various news items from all over
the world. The channel have its own ethics and policies through this the editor decide the

35
news items for publish or aired. In some cases few news items are rejected by the editor due
the organizations policy or the news items which are not suitable to publish.

Example : An international news channel receives numbers of news items within day like
international terror issues, UN discussions, Texas bull fighting and religious abuse on
international community.

A news channel can’t show all those news items to audience because it may affect the channel
reputation in public and organizations policy. Here, editor decides the news items especially he
can’t show the Texas bull fighting because it is not internationally popular story. But the same
time the news channel can’t show the religious abuses also because it may hurt audience
directly and it may affect organizations policy also. But international terror issues and UN
discussions are universal common news that won’t affect the channel reputation in public and
organizations policy.

News items: N1: Texas bull fighting, N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, N4:
religious abuse on international community

Gatekeeper: Chief Editor

Selected News Items: N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, Discarded News
Items: (on popularity) N1: Texas bull fighting

Discarded News Items: (on policy) N4: Religious abuse on International community.

DANCE‟S HELICAL MODEL

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In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the communication model called Dance’s Helix Model for a
better communication process. The name helical comes from “Helix” which means an object
having a three-dimensional shape like that of a wire wound uniformly around a cylinder or
cone. He shows communication as a dynamic and non-linear process.

Dance’s model emphasized the difficulties of communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a
Helix to describe communication process. He developed this theory based on a simple helix
which gets bigger and bigger as it moves or grows. The main characteristic of helical model of
communication is that it is evolutionary.

Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix structure and compares
it with communication. In the Helix structure, the bottom or starting is very small then it’s
gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular motion which form the bigger circle in the
top and its still moves further. The whole process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the
communication process starts very slowly and defined small circle.

Communicators share information only with small portion of themselves to their relationships.
Its gradually develops into next level but which will take some time to reach and expanding its
boundaries to the next level. Later the communicators commit more and share more portions
themselves.

Example : When a child is born the only means of communication is crying, he/she cries for
everything like hunger, pain, cold etc.. As the child grows the means of communication
become wider and broader. He learns to makes noises then he learns language to obtain
attention and to fulfill his needs. As a Helix the process of communication in this case started
from crying and later it developed into a complex and compound means.

The Helical model of communication is largely dependent on its past. A child learns to
pronounce a word in his elementary classes and throughout his life he uses that word in the
same way he learnt. Just like that we used to react to certain things in a certain way in our
childhood and such reactions and habits lasts with us forever. The communication evolves in
the beginning in some simple forms then the same process of communication develops based
on the past activities. It develops further with modifications.

Frank Dance included the concept of time in his theory. Something happens over the other will
always be based on the first event according to him. This theory of communication was a
subject to a number of experimental researches. Even though this model of communication
clarifies everything there is a problem of over simplification. According to this theory a
communication process is the product of what we learn.

LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL, SEMANTIC, AND PRAGMATIC.

Levels of Communication: Technical, Semantic, and Pragmatic The study of linguistics

incorporates a number of aspects which are very closely related, yet distinctive from one
another. Some of the aspects we explore most often include phonetics,

37
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics:

• Phonetics is the science concerned with the study of speech processes, including the
production, perception and the analysis of sounds. It is closely connected to phonology.

• Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language or languages.

• Morphology is a branch of biology which concerns the form and structure or organisms;this
definition includes the form and structure of words within a language, and their modification.

• Syntax is the branch of linguistics that covers the grammatical arrangements of words within
sentences, and how we use speech in communication.

• Semantics deals with the study of meaning; how we combine words to create meaningful
discourse. It studies the relationship between signs and symbols and what they represent. It is
also used in logic as the principles that determine truth-values of formulas within a logical
system.

• Pragmatics (as applied to linguistics) is about how we actually use speech in communication,
and how context aids the transmission of meaning in utterances. These aspects of linguistics
are listed in their hierarchical order, with phonetics and phonology being the most basic, and
rising to pragmatics at the top. It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between these
sub-fields as they are so closely related to one another.

Phonetics and Phonology – The Subtleties of Nuance

Phonetics deals with human production of speech sounds. Individual sounds are phonemes, of
which there are hundreds, although in English we manage with around forty. The distinctions
between the sounds indicate regional differences or subtle nuances of speech.Phonology is
about patterns of sounds, especially different patterns of sounds in different languages, or
within each language, and with different patterns of sounds in different positions in words etc.

Morphology – Let’s Make a Mockumentary!

Morphology is the study of how words are formed. We can understand words by focusing on
the smallest unit of functionality within language; the part that stands alone. For example, you
may be sitting at your desk right now. The word “desk” is a morpheme.If you speak of “desks”
then you have changed the word into a plural. Therefore, it comprises two morphemes, the
object itself and the plural “s.” So does the word “desktop.”“A blend combines two words to
create a new word. Smog is a blend of smoke plus fog. Mockumentary combines mock and
documentary. Jeggings are snug-fitting leggings that look like jeans.”We can also compound
two root words to make a new word. Some examples might be boathouse, yellowhammer,
blockhead, Greenpeace. We can also add prefixes and suffixes to root words. All of these
examples are aspect of morphology.

Syntax – Sentences with Clout!

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Syntax concerns the correct structure of sentences in agreement with certain principles,
processes and rules as laid down by grammarians.Good grammatical sentences have a subject
(who and what the sentence is about) and a predicate (information relating to the subject.) For
example, (in active voice): “Decoded sites help to disseminate useful information.” The subject
is “Decoded sites” and the predicate is that they “help to disseminate useful information.”
Generally, sentence structure is clearer if the subject comes first, but it’s not mandatory. We
could say, (in passive voice): “Useful information is disseminated by Decoded sites.”

Tower of Babel, Painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563.

Image courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Semantics – A Regular Tower of Babel!The

term “semantics” is essentially to do with meaning, although it is an extremely broad term. It
can be used to examine changes in meaning over time. It examines shifts in meaning due to
cultural or social changes. It covers the interpretation of texts, ambiguity in the way language
is used, connotations that may skew meaning and it examines the effects of metaphor, pun
and word-play.In his essay The Signs of Drama, Martin Esslin says, of the fictional character,
Hamlet, “He may… become in the eyes of some members of the audience a representative of a
class of individuals.” Esslin continues by explaining that Hamlet could be viewed as a prince, or
as an intellectual who thinks too much, or as a son in love with his mother. He could also
represent the “human predicament” and, as Esslin adds, “a multitude of others.”Politicians are
accused of using semantics in order to mislead the public. Examples of how advertisers exploit
the use of semantics to increase their profits appear on our televisions and in our newspapers
every day.

In his essay, The Babel of Interpretations, linguist E.D. Hirsch asks:

“How can a consensus be reached with regard to a text’s meaning when every known
interpretation of every text has always been different in some respect from every other
interpretation of the text? … Every interpretation is partial. No single interpretation can
possibly exhaust the meanings of a test. Different interpretations bring into relief different
aspects of textual meaning… the diversity of interpretations should be welcomed; they all
contribute to understanding. The more interpretations one knows, the fuller will be one’s
understanding.”

E.D. Hirsch separates the act of interpretation into two distinctive areas, the art of
understanding and the art of explaining.Interpretation can deepen and develop our
appreciation of texts or it may even alter our conception of the text’s meaning, perhaps
making us change our mind or viewpoint.

Nessie Replica in Scotland. Image by StaraBlazkova

Pragmatics – What Happened to Nessie?“Pragmatics:” philosopher C.W. Morris invented the

term in the 1930s, and everyday speech is rife with such ambiguous first sentences that often
result in causing upset or even offence unintentionally.There have been a few articles
published recently with the title,“Loch Ness Monster Feared Dead Due to Lack of Sightings.”
One might ask, “Is it the lack of sightings that killed poor Nessie?”There are elements of
philosophy here – do we actually create our world from our own consciousness? That’s a much
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more interesting take on the situation than the possibility that Nessie may have simply died
and so we didn’t see it anymore.Linguistics: Complex But Useful Linguistics can seem difficult,
and literary theory can seem intimidating, even scary – with so many different schools of
thought and criticism to get your head around. However, it’s worth delving into, just one step
at a time, if only because it is rife with such delightful examples of human interaction.

UNIT IIII

Introduction to semiotics – analysis - aspects of signs and symbols denotations and

connotations -paradigmatic and syntagmatic aspects of signs. The semiotic landscape:
Language and Visual communication - Narrative representation.Principles of Visual - Sensory
Perceptions - Color psychology and theory (some aspects) – Definition - Optical/Visual Illusions
etc., Design process – Research - A source of concept - The process of developing ideas, verbal,
visual, combination & thematic - Visual thinking -Associative techniques, materials, tools
(precision instruments etc.) - Design execution and presentation.
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Introduction to semiotics

Semiotics

At the centre of this concern is the sign. The study of signs and the way they work is called
semiotics or semiology. Semiotics, as we will call it, has three main areas of study: The sign
itself. This consists of the study of different varieties of signs, of the different ways they have of
conveying meaning, and of the way they relate to the people who use them. For signs are
human constructs and can only be understood in terms of the uses people put them to.

 The codes or systems into which signs are organized. This study covers the ways that a
variety of codes have developed in order to meet the needs of a society or culture, or to
exploit the channels of communication available for their transmission.

The culture within which these codes and signs operate. This in turn is dependent upon the
use of these codes and signs for its own existence and form.Semiotics, then, focuses its
attention primarily on the text. The linear, process models give the text no more attention than
any other stage in the process: indeed, some of them pass it over almost without comment.
This is one major difference between the two approaches. The other is the status of the
receiver.

In semiotics, the receiver, or reader, is seen as playing a more active role than in most of the
process models (Gerbner is an exception). Semiotics prefers the term ‘reader’ (even of a
photograph of a painting) to ‘receiver’ because it implies both a greater degree of activity and
also that reading is something we learn to do; it is thus determined by the cultural experience
of the reader. The reader helps to create the meaning of the text by bringing to it his or her
experience, attitudes, and emotions.

Signs and meaning

Basic concepts

All the models of meaning share a broadly similar form,each is concerned with three elements
which must be involved in some way or other in any study of meaning. These are:

(1)The sign,

(2)That to which it refers, and

(3)The users of the sign.

A sign is something physical, perceivable by our senses; it refers to something other than itself;
and it depends upon recognition by its users that it is a sign. Take our earlier example: pulling
my earlobe as a sign to an auctioneer. In this case the sign refers to my bid, and this is

41
recognized as such by both the auctioneer and myself. Meaning is conveyed from me to the
auctioneer: communication has taken place.

In this chapter we shall study the two most influential models of meaning.

The first is that of the philosopher and logician C.S.Peirce (we will also look at the variant of
Ogden and Richards), and The second is that of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Peirce (and
Ogden and Richards) see the sign, that to which it refers, and its users as the three points of a
triangle. Each is closely related to the other two, and can be understood only in terms of the
others. Saussure takes a slightly different line. He says that the sign consists of its physical form
plus an associated mental concept, and that this concept is in its turn an apprehension of
external reality.

The sign relates to reality only through the concepts of the people who use it. Thus the word
CAR (marks on paper or sounds in air) has a mental concept attached to it. Mine will be
broadly the same as yours, though there may be some individual differences. This shared
concept then relates to a class of objects in reality. This is so straightforward as to seem
obvious, but there can be problems. My wife and I, for example, frequently argue over
whether something is blue or green. We share the same language;we are looking at the same
piece of external reality: the difference lies in the concepts of blueness or greenness that link
our words to that reality.

Further implications - C.S.Peirce Peirce (1931–58) and Ogden and Richards (1923) arrived at
very similar models of how signs signify. Both identified a triangular relationship between the
sign, the user, and external reality as a necessary model for studying meaning.

Peirce, who is commonly regarded as the founder of the American tradition of semiotics,
explained his model simply: A sign is something which stands to somebody for something in
some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an
equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. The sign which it creates I call the
Interpretant of the first sign.

The sign stands for something, its object. (In Zeman, 1977)

Peirce’s three terms can be modeled as in figure 12. The double-ended arrows emphasize that
each term can be understood only in relation to the others. A sign refers to something other
than itself—the object, and is understood by somebody: that is, it has an effect in the mind of
the user—the Interpretant. We must realize that the Interpretant is not the user of the sign,
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but what Peirce calls elsewhere ‘the proper significant effect’:that is, it is a mental concept
produced both by the sign and by the user’s experience of the object. The Interpretant of the
word (sign) SCHOOL in any one context will be the result of the user’s experience of that
word(s/he would not apply it to a technical college), and of his or her experience of institutions
called ‘schools’, the object. Thus it is not fixed, defined by a dictionary, but may vary within
limits according to the experience of the user. The limits are set by social convention (in this
case the conventions of the English language); the variation within them allows for the social
and psychological differences between the users.

One additional difference between the semiotic and the process models is relevant here. This
is that the semiotic models make no distinction between encoder and decoder. The
Interpretant is the mental concept of the user of the sign, whether this user is speaker or
listener, writer or reader, painter or viewer. Decoding is as active and creative as encoding.

Ogden and Richards (1923)

Ogden and Richards were British workers in this area who corresponded regularly with Peirce.
They derived a very similar triangular model of meaning. Their referent corresponds closely to
Peirce’s object, the irreverence to his Interpretant, and their symbol to his sign. In their
model,referent and reference are directly connected; so too are symbol and reference. But the
connection between symbol and referent is indirect or imputed. This shift away from the
equilateral relationship of Peirce’s model brings Ogden and Richards closer to Saussure (see
below). He,too, relegated the relationship of the sign with external reality to one of minimal
importance. Like Saussure, Ogden and Richards put the symbol in the key position: our
symbols direct and organize our thoughts or references; and our references organize our
perception of reality. Symbol and reference in Ogden and Richards are similar to the signifier
and signified in Saussure.

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Ferdinand de Saussure

If the American logician and philosopher C.S.Peirce was one of the founders of semiotics, the
other was undoubtedly the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Peirce’s concern as a
philosopher was with our understanding of our experience and of the world around us. It was
only gradually that he came to realize the importance of semiotics, the act of signifying, in this.
His interest was in meaning, which he found in the structural relationship of signs, people, and
objects. Saussure, as a linguist, was primarily interested in language. He was more concerned
with the way signs (or, in his case, words) related to other signs than he was with the way they
related to Peirce’s ‘object’. So Saussure’s basic model differs in emphasis from Peirce’s. He
focuses his attention much more directly on the sign itself. The sign, for Saussure, was a
physical object with a meaning; or, to use his terms, a sign consisted of a signifier and a
signified. The signifier is the sign’s image as we perceive it—the marks on the paper or the
sounds in the air; the signified is the mental concept to which it refers. This mental concept is
broadly common to all members of the same culture who share the same language. We can
see immediately similarities between Saussure’s signifier and Peirce’s sign, and Saussure’s
signified and Peirce’s Interpretant. Saussure, however, is less concerned than Peirce with the
relationship of those two elements with Peirce’s ‘object’ or external meaning. When Saussure
does turn to this he calls it signification but spends comparatively little time on it.

44
For illustration, I might make two marks on the paper, thus: O X;These might be the first two
moves in a game of noughts and crosses (or tick-tack-toe), in which case they remain as mere
marks on the paper. Or they might be read as a word, in which case they become a sign
composed of the signifier (their appearance) and the mental concept (oxness) which we have
of this particular type of animal. The relationship between my concept of oxness and the
physical reality of oxen is ‘signification’: it is my way of giving meaning to the world, of
understanding it.I stress this, because it is important to remember that the signifieds are as
much a product of a particular culture as are the signifiers. It is obvious that words, the
signifiers, change from language to language.But it is easy to fall into the fallacy of believing
that the signifieds are universal and that translation is therefore a simple matter of substituting
a French word, say, for an English one—the ‘meaning’ is the same. This is not so. My mental
concept of oxness must be very different from that of an Indian farmer, and teaching me the
sound of the Hindu word(signifier) for ox does not get me any nearer to sharing his concept of
‘oxness’. The signification of an ox is as culture-specific as is the linguistic form of the signifier
in each language.

Language and Visual communication

In visual communication the design information is mainly communicated by visual language,

the correct use of which is the standard of evaluation of a graphic design composition.
Therefore it is necessary to understand and percept visual language properly. It will be helpful
for viewers to percept the desired information from the designer as well as the significance
within the work. Art, instead of being only regarded as fine art or art activity, has been
involved in our daily life or even been part of everyday life. All kinds of advertisements are
available everywhere. Principles and elements of design could be recognizable on commodities
packing, books and magazines etc. Visual communication, as a visual way of art design in social
life, is the presentation of information by visual recognition and it is also the most commonly
used way with the longest history for human beings.

1. Conception of visual language In nowadays communications of mankind can be divided into

two aspects: direct communication between people with languages, words, gestures and so
on; indirect communication between people via objects which are very popular and typical
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in logo, advertising, illustration, product design and packing etc. the latter forms a different
way to communicate each other. That is visual language. Visual language is a sound set of
principles and elements of design which carry meanings. Certain arrangements of words,
symbols, hues, values etc, the base of design, have certain significance, which forms visual
language and has impact to people. All kinds of information are carried with the movement
and change of the design order, direction, illusion, psychological implication. Visual language is
an effective tool to indicate one’s attitude, behavior, or even cultural preference.

2. Application of visual language In communication theories, communication occurs through

“verbal symbols” and “non-verbal symbols”. The former mainly refers to languages and words
while the latter includes music, dance, drawing, architecture and even body language such as
gestures. They both are for the presentation of emotion and perception. Samovar, an American
expert in semantics, indicates that words are symbols, of course. They are not the thing itself
for it is a non-acute system. People from different places and cultural background will have
different perception and imagery about one thing when it is described via words. However,
pictures are able to present things in a relatively clear way. In this case, visual language
becomes one of the most important ways to communicate between people.

Visual language is largely recognizable due to its popularity. People from all walks of life are
able to percept the significance of this kind of language in their own way. It is the designer’s
duty to look for the correct visual language adherence to some significance. Moreover, the
language should be of creation and cultural value.

3. Emotional presentation of visual language

Emotion is defined as response to things and people via gestures and expression due to
psychological instinct. The emotional presentation of visual language, with the fundament of
visual physics and mentality, is the combination and arrangement of elements of design such
as pattern, hue, words etc. Since visual language is impressively varied, it is possible to have
Different emotional experience.

3.1 emotional presentation of form

Forms can greatly be influenced by psychology. A rectangular form, for example, stays put in
relation to gravity, and are not likely to tip over. A triangle with upside down suggests
instability. Form itself means strong plenty. Lines communicate a feeling of delight. Rectilinear
lines suggest speed, while curved lines suggest comfort, safety, familiarity.All these elements
bring people different emotions. The combination of point, line and form suggest passion,
nervousness, comfort, relaxation etc, which are the fundament of visual communication.
Objects, as material for graphic design, keep images in our convention instead of a single
significance. They will have new meanings with different backgrounds. Forms and shapes can
be thought of as positive or negative. In a two dimensional composition, the objects constitute
the positive forms, while the background is the negative space. It is difficult to ignore the
background and treat it as merely empty space. The effective placement of objects in relation
to the surrounding negative space is essential for success in composition.

3.2 emotional presentation of hue

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Color is one of the most powerful of elements. It has tremendous expressive qualities as well
as forms and shapes. Understanding the uses of color is crucial to effective composition in
design and the fine arts. Hue has priority to other elements in visual design. Color illusion, as
an important element, can directly suggest information which is not available via non-verbal
and form symbols. Color arrangements are very powerful and have enormous impact on our
responses to color. It is unsuitable to have cool color as background when advertising a warm-
air device. It brings coldness to viewers who will have wrong impression for the new product.
In this case, the advertisement will have no effect.

Hue, as presentation of culture, carries certain meaning even takes place of verbal symbols in
certain circumstances. Non-verbal cues function via stimulating passion and emotion beyond
verbal symbols. Culture significance in hue has something to do with the tradition and
convention of a country and nationality. Certain colors are related to certain situations, which
grow from regional culture. “Korea fashion”, for example, is recognizable in traditional Korean
garments. Lightness and color are combined in their design, which form strong visual impact
and impression.

3.3 emotional presentations of format and written design

Although it must be visual when emphasizing visual communication due to our impressive
convention of languages and words, we have no reason to ignore the importance of written
design, especially the literalness format in printing. A writing format in printing within visual
communication is crucial to the success of a composition. Visual tendency in a writing format
has great deal to do with psychological physics and mental circumstances. Variations of
combination of point, line, form, pattern, hue and the way in which these elements are
combined have different functions respectively. Format design is the orderly and personally
combination and arrangements of elements to carry information. It will have quality of
aesthetics and economy as well as spiritual value.

Different format design, placement of patterns and selection of media avenue are used in
visual language and communication. Visual tendency in the center, horizontal and vertical line
on the page suggest plenty of attraction and impact with graceful symmetry, while visual
tendency with round edges means stability, inside power and weak aggressiveness.
Meanwhile, the impact of forms with smooth edges also has something to do with the
concrete shape.

Circle and triangle outline supply different inside power and specialties. Forms and shapes
with uneasy edges are of impact, random and personal. Shapes with open visual format have
less attention and control and more separate and aggressiveness, which occupy large space.
Relatively, shapes with close form are easy to recognize. The density of writing is visual with
change and variation. Font, as a tool of graphic design, is of importance in application.
Variation of font suggests different functions. Some font indicates humor, while some means
reverence. Also we can recognize weakness and power in font. Human impression can be
found in font. A post with a serious content, for example, is not able to carry the information of
reverence and power and becomes meaningless if round font is used. A composition has
strong visual effect and emotion with the arrangement of large and small font.

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4. Conclusion

To summarize, visual language, the tool to stimulate art design, is changeable and developing
instead of stationary. The communication of visual information lies not only to the accuracy
and scientific objectivity but also effectiveness and discrepancy of media. It is with this
emphasis that good result in visual communication is available.

Introduction to semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics is the academic field dedicated to the study of signs. A sign (example, the word
"ship") may be recognized by the presence of its constituent parts. Semiotics (or semiology) is
the field of study that is concerned with signs and/or signification (the process of creating
meaning). For several years now, the field of semiotics has been gaining momentum, due to
the growth of multimedia, among other things.
Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce are the founders of semiotics, though each
worked independently of the other. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) was a Swiss linguist,
who was also the father of modern linguistics. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) was an
American philosopher and the founder of pragmatism.

Signifier and Signified

The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s
just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been
lying!
— René Magritte

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The image above is René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, sometimes translated as The
Treason of Images and the quote says about the painting.
Magritte says “This is not a pipe” and Magritte is 100% correct. It’s a digital image of a
photograph of a painting of a pipe.

Saussure said that the sign is the basic unit of meaning and he said signs were made up of two
parts.
Signifier — The form of a sign. The form might be a sound, a word, a photograph, a facial
expression or Magritte’s painting of pipe that’s not a pipe.
Signified — The concept or object that’s represented. The concept or object might be an actual
pipe, the command to stop, or a warning of radioactivity.
The word “pipe” is a sign for an actual pipe as much as Magritte’s painting is a sign for an
actual pipe. The signified is the same in both cases, that of a real pipe than can be filled with
tobacco, which you can light and smoke.
What’s different in the two signs is the signifier. In Magritte’s case the signifier is a painting and
with the word “pipe” the signifier is the word itself. Both are representations of an actual pipe.

Semiotic analysis
Semiotics is a discipline, in which culture, society and natural phenomena are explored as
signs. The fundamental question in semiotics is how meanings are formed. Semiotic research
approaches signs as existing in various forms: pictures, words, letters, objects, gestures,
phenomena and actions. Semiotics explores the content of signs, their use and the formation
of meanings of signs at both the level of a single sign and the broader systems and structures
49
formed by signs. Semiotics as a discipline includes several distinguished traditions, each using
its own terminology and concepts.
Using semiotic analysis (involving semiotic concepts and models), your aims are to analyze,
understand and interpret signs, the meanings of signs, and the interaction of signs and sign
systems. Semiotic analysis views the sign and use of signs as a part of a sign system. A sign
system directs the use of the sign and thus, the system always has an effect on the contents of
individual signs. A sign is never independent of the meanings and use of other signs. Semiotic
analysis uses both qualitative and interpretative content analysis involving semiotic concepts
and terms.

Aspects of signs and symbols

Main Characteristics of a Sign
A sign is a language in its own right and its meaning universally shared by people belonging to
a specific geographical location. For instance, a sign is mainly used to give warning to people,
inform them or to regulate their conduct in certain instances. A sign is mandatory to follow
since it is communicating vital information with you. Example, when driving a red traffic light
tells you to stop or DO NOT ENTER sign or DO NOT PARK or HANDICAP parking etc.

Handicapped Accessible sign

A sign is descriptive in nature. In most cases, when a sign is erected somewhere, it is directly
communicating with the targeted audiences and they must follow what it means. Many signs
often have a universal meaning that is shared by people from various backgrounds.
Main Characteristics of a Symbol
A symbol is something that is accepted by a certain group of people or the general population.
It can be interpreted differently by people from different backgrounds. A cross is an example of
a symbol that has been universally accepted as representing Christianity. Other examples are
Power OFF buttons, Wi-Fi or thumbs up symbol.

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 Power ON/OFF button
Summary of the Differences Between a Sign and Symbol
Meaning
A sign is a form of language in its own right and it is specifically meant to communicate certain
information. Signs are usually informative, regulatory, warning or prohibitory. A sign is ought to
be followed as it is.
Symbol is a form of a sign that may have deep meaning. It can be interpreted in different ways
since its meaning may not be universally shared by different people.
Table Showing the Differences Between a Sign and Symbol
Sign Symbol
A sign is a form of language A symbol represents something that are accepted by certain
that is descriptive in nature. subjective areas. Example: a symbol could be a letter or letters
ex. Road signs (DO NOT standing for a chemical element or a character in musical
ENTER) notation. Symbol for a religious cults or groups.
A sign could stand for May only target a certain group of people. May be interpreted
something and it may be differently by different people.
mandatory to be followed.

Denotation and Connotation

Connotation and denotation are not two separate things/signs. They are two aspects/
elements of a sign, and connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative
meanings
Denotation and connotation both describe the relationship between a signifier (a sign’s form)
and what is signified (what a sign represents), though each describes a different meaning.
Denotation describes the literal meaning of the signifier
Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign. Denotation refers to the
literal meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition.’
Connotation describes a secondary meaning of the signifier
Connotation represents the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional
meanings associated with a sign
Example, the word “rose” or an image of a rose the denotation is a type of flower. A
connotation of the same sign could be love, romance, or passion. The first is a literal
representation, while the second is an implied representation.

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You can think of denotation and connotation as different levels of representation or meaning.
Denotation is the first level. It’s the dictionary definition. It’s what you literally see.
Connotation is the second level and beyond. It’s an idea or feeling that’s invoked by the literal
meaning. It’s the emotional associations you make with the signifier and not a literal
interpretation of what the signifier represents.
American politics likes to compare Wall Street to Main Street. The denotation of each would
be an actual street named either Wall or Main. The connotation of Wall Street is money,
wealth, and power, while the connotation of Main Street is regular people with small town
values.
The word home has a denotation of a physical structure where someone lives and a
connotation of comfort, security, and family.
Connotations are the main part to how we understand signs. We won’t, however, all have the
same connotations when we interpret the same signs. Connotations require context and
context is built from our unique experiences, ideologies, schemas, and mental models.

Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic aspects of signs

Syntagma and paradigm govern how signs relate to one another.

Syntagma
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate
together to create meaning.
The sequential nature of language means that linguistic signs have syntagmatic relationships.
Example, the letters in a word have syntagmatic relationship with one another, as do the words
in a sentence or the objects in a picture.
Syntagmatic relationships are often governed by strict rules, such as spelling and grammar.
They can also have fewer clear relationships, such as those of fashion and social meaning.
Paradigm
A paradigmatic relationship is one where an individual sign may be replaced by another.
Example, individual letters have a paradigmatic relationship with other letters, as where one
letter is used, another may replace it (albeit changing meaning). Letters and numbers do not
have a paradigmatic relationship.
Items on a menu have paradigmatic relationships when they are in the same group (starters,
main course, sweet) as a choice is made. Courses have a sequential (syntagmatic) relationship,
and thus an item from the starter menu does not have a paradigmatic relationship with the
sweet menu.
Paradigmatic relationships are typically associative, in that both items are in a single
membership set.
Discussion
An individual sign (a unit) has no separate meaning, and only delivers 'value' in relation to
other units in related sets. Thus, a poodle dog has meaning only in relation to other types of
dog.
The table below illustrates syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships. The horizontal items
have syntagmatic relationships as they follow on from one another. The vertical items have
paradigmatic relationships as in each column, items can be substituted for one another.

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The semiotic landscape: Language and Visual communication
Semiotic Landscapes is a great addition to the study of linguistic landscapes. It looks at how
landscape generates meaning and combines three major areas of scholarly interest each
concerned with central dimensions of contemporary life: language and visual discourse,
spatial practices, and also the changes brought about by global capitalism and ever increasing
mediatization. The people look at: the textual/discursive construction of place, the use of
space as a semiotic resource, the extent to which these processes are shaped by wider
economic and political re-orderings of post-industrial or advanced capitalism, changing
patterns of human mobility and transnational flows of ideas and images. The collection
demonstrates the way written discourse interacts with all other discursive moralities: visual
images, nonverbal communication, architecture and the built environment. From the red light
districts of Switzerland to the transgressive public art of graffiti, all landscape can be seen to
generate meaning. Semiotic Landscapes looks at how and why, and places this meaning
generation in an interdisciplinary and thoroughly modern cross-section of global trends.
In landscape architecture, visual representations are the primary means of communication
between stakeholders in design processes. Despite the reliance on visual representations, little
critical research has been undertaken by landscape architects on how visual communication
forms work or their socio-political implications. In this theoretical paper, we argue that such
research is of great importance. We explain how concepts of visual and critical social theory
such as visual semiotics, simulacra and simulation, and power/knowledge can be used to
critically reflect on landscape architectural representations. We further propose to study these
representations at different stages of meaning-making by using visual methodologies such as
visual discourse analysis, iconographical content analysis and social semiotic analysis. We
conclude that these research approaches have the potential to explain issues such as dominant
power structures, miscommunication between participants, and visual path-dependencies
during landscape design processes.

The place of visual communication in a given society can only be understood in the context of,
on the one hand, the range of forms or modes of public communication available in that
society and, on the other hand, their uses and valuations. This is known as "the semiotic
landscape." The metaphor is worth exploring a little, as is its etymology. The features of the
landscape (a field, a wood, a clump of trees, a house, a group of buildings) only make sense in
the context of their whole environment and of the history of its development ("wasteland" has
meaning only in that context, as has "field" or "track"; "village" has meaning only as a group of
building that is part of a history of ways of working the land). In the same way, particular
features and modes of communication should be seen in the history of their development, and
in the environment of all the other modes of communication which surround them. The use of
the visual mode is not the same now as it was even fifty years ago in Western societies; it is
not the same from one society to another; and it is not the same from one social group or
institution to another.
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Each feature of a landscape has its history, as does the landscape as a whole, and each is
subject to constant remaking. It is here that the etymology of the world landscape is revealing.
To the casual beholder a landscape simply is, and may even have a timeless appearance ('the
timeless beauty of the English, or Spanish countryside'). Yet, it is in fact a product of social
action and of a social history of human work on the land, on nature: -scape, with its relation to
shape in English and schaffen (both to "work" and "to create") in German, indicates this. And
this applies also to the "semiotic landscape." Metaphoric excursions of this kind can be
stretched too far; however, we will allow ourselves one other point of comparison. Landscapes
are the result, not just of human social work, but also of the characteristics of the land itself.
The flat land by the river is most suitable for the grazing of cattle or the growing of wheat; the
hillsides for vineyards or forestry. At the same time, the characteristic values of a culture may
determine which of the potential uses of the land are realize, whether the hillsides are used
for vineyards or forestry . Cultural values may even induce people to go against the grain of
the land, to use the steep hillside, for growing rice, for example, which opposes the "natural
potential of almost to the limit

Creating Narrative, Story, and Myth Through Signs

A narrative is usually defined as a sequence of causally related events. A happens, which leads
to happen B, which leads to happen C, and so on.
You’ve probably read somewhere that your design should tell a story, share a narrative, or
similar. One way to do that is through a sequence of signs; a sequence of visual elements.
Think about how you might create compositional flow through your design. Perhaps you
design a product page in a way so the first thing a visitor sees is the image of the product,
because the image has the most visual weight on the screen. The element with the second
most visual weight might be the name of the product, followed by a short description and then
a price with an “add to cart” button.
The order these elements are seen tells a story. It wouldn’t make sense to show the “Add to
Cart” button prior to seeing the product for example.
There’s more to the narrative than designing elements to be seen in a specific order. Most
cultures have narratives that are familiar to the members of the culture. Example, America has
the cowboy myth. The story of the rugged individual who is independent and free from the
constraints of civilization.
These narratives are so familiar that can evoke the full narrative in someone by showing them
a sign from an important moment in the story. People try to understand an image as one
moment in a sequence of images, or events. People see an image and they try to connect a
story to it.
Marlboro famously used imagery of cowboys to invoke the cowboy myth to sell cigarettes for
about 30 years. An ad would show an image of a cowboy doing something and smoking a
cigarette. The idea was the image would remind you of the cowboy myth and you would
connect independence and individualism with smoking. Part of the target market for the
campaign where older kids who were at the age of declaring independence from their parents.
Hardly the most ethical use of narrative in advertising, but hopefully people get the point
about delivering a narrative to a viewer with a single image.

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Principles of design
Design differs from art in that it has to have a purpose. Visually, this functionality is interpreted
by making sure an image has a center of attention, a point of focus. The principles of design
are the rules a designer must follow to create an effective composition that cleanly delivers a
message to her audience. The most important, fundamental principles of design include
emphasis, balance, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement and white space.

1. Emphasis
—

Every design needs an accent—a point of interest. Emphasis is the quality that draws your
attention to a certain part of a design first. Make a mental outline. The brain needs to organize
the information and then lay out your design in a way that communicates that order.

There are several ways to create emphasis:



Use a contrasting color.

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 


Use a different or unusual line.




Make a shape very large or very small.




Use a different shape.




Use plain background space.



2. Balance
—

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Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. Every
element you place on a page has a weight. The weight can come from color, size, or texture. If
the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable.
There are three types of balance. Symmetrical, or formal balance, is the simplest kind. An item
that is symmetrically balanced is the same on both sides. Our bodies are an example of formal
balance. If you draw an imaginary line from your head to your toes dividing your body in half,
you will be pretty much the same on both sides.
In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on
the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial
balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.
Symmetrical design creates balance through equally weighted elements aligned on either side
of a centerline. On the other hand, asymmetrical design uses opposite weights (like contrasting
one large element with several smaller elements) to create a composition that is not even, but
still has equilibrium.

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Symmetrical designs are always pleasing, if not occasionally boring
Designs that have a radial balance have a center point. A tire, pizza, and a daisy flower are all
examples of design with radial balance. Eg.: a kaleidoscope
Asymmetrical balance creates a feeling of equal weight on both sides, even though the sides
do not look the same. Asymmetrical designs also are called informal designs because they
suggest movement and spontaneity. Asymmetrical balance is the hardest type of balance to
achieve and often takes experimenting or moving elements around until balance is achieved.
Asymmetrical designs are bolder and can bring real visual interest and movement.
3. Contrast
—

Contrast refers to the arrangement of opposite elements and effects. Example, light and dark
colors, smooth and rough textures, large and small shapes. Contrast can be used to create
variety, visual interest, and drama in an artwork.
Contrast is what people mean when they say a design “pops.” It comes away from the page
and sticks in mind. Contrast creates space and difference between elements in the design. The
background needs to be significantly different from the color of your elements so they work
harmoniously together and are readable.
Most designs only feature one or two typefaces. That’s because contrast can be effectively
achieved with two strong fonts (or even one strong typeface in different weights). More the
fonts, the design stays diluted.

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4. Repetition
—

The principle of repetition simply means the reusing of the same or similar elements
throughout your design. Repetition of certain design elements in a design will bring a clear
sense of unity, consistency, and cohesiveness.
When things look right together, you have created unity or harmony. Lines and shapes that
repeat each other show unity (curved lines with curved shapes). Colors that have a common
hue are harmonious. Textures that have a similar feel add to unity. But too much uniformity
sometimes can be boring. At the same time, too much variety destroys unity.
It’s often said that repetition unifies and strengthens a design.
Repetition can be important beyond one printed product. Current packaging design is heavily
embracing beautiful illustrated patterns.
5. Proportion
—

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Proportion is the visual size and weight of elements in a composition and how they relate to
each other. It often helps to approach your design in sections, instead of as a whole.
Grouping related items can give them importance at a smaller size—think of a box at the
bottom of your poster for ticket information or a sidebar on a website for the search bar.
Proportion can be achieved only if all elements of your design are well-sized and thoughtfully
placed.
6. Movement
—

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Movement is controlling the elements in a composition so that the eye is led to move from
one to the next and the information is properly communicated to your audience. Movement
creates the story or the narrative of your work: a band is playing, it’s at this location, it’s at this
time, here’s how you get tickets. The elements above—especially balance, alignment, and
contrast—will work towards that goal, but without proper movement, the design will not be
serving the purpose.
7. White space
—

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Elements deal with what you add to your design. White space (or negative space) is the only
one that specifically deals with what you don’t add. White space is the empty page around the
elements in your composition. For beginning designers, it can be a perilous zone. Often simply
giving a composition more room to breathe can upgrade it from mediocre to successful.
White space isn’t sitting there doing nothing . It’s creating hierarchy and organization. Our
brains naturally associate ample white space around an element with importance and luxury.
It’s telling our eyes that objects in one region are grouped separately from objects elsewhere.
it can communicate an entirely different image or idea from your main design that will reward
your audience for engaging with it. The logo above uses active negative space to communicate
multiple ideas in one fun, creative design.

Sensory perception
An individual or organism must be capable of performing neurophysiological processing of the
stimuli in their environment for them to possess what is called a sensory perception.
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This processing happens to be done through the organ, usually called “the senses” like
hearing, vision, taste, smell, and touch. The sensory perception involves detecting stimuli and
subsequently recognizing and characterizing it.
There are five different stimulus types involved in sensory processing viz. chemical,
mechanical, electrical, light and temperature.
The process of sensory perception begins when something in the real world stimulates the
sense organs.
For instance, light reflects off a surface, stimulating our eyes or warmth, emanates from a hot
cup of beverage, thereby stimulating our touch senses or the receptors in our skin.
This then gets further transformed into neurogenic energy, which is sent to the human brain,
recreating this very stimulus into a mental construction, this construction is dependent on the
brain’s internal structures and strategies. In other words, we use what we already believe to be
true about the world to categorize what we perceive.
The commonly known senses are represented as processes underneath sensory perception.
Most are worded sensory perception, for example, sensory perception of sound, sensory
perception of touch, etc.
Although some have more common names, such as visual perception or electroception. A
combination of stimuli must be used by some of the senses; for instance, sensory perception
of pain would come from temperature, mechanical, electrical or chemical stimuli.
In the same way, stimuli of a certain type may be perceived by different senses both senses of
smell and taste use chemical stimuli. This sense tends to become weaker along with the age.

Color Psychology
Color is a meaningful constant for sighted people and it's a powerful psychological tool. By
using color psychology, you can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales, calm a
crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder.

Below is a quick overview of the meaning of basic colors in the Western Hemisphere. This
information will help you decide what colors to use in your marketing projects. The psychology
of color changes with lighter or darker shades of the colors below, which are often associated
with much different meanings.

Psychology of Color: Black

Black is the color of authority and power, stability and strength. It is

also the color associated with intelligence (doctorate in black robe;
black horn rimmed glasses, etc.) Black clothes make people appear
thinner. It's a somber color sometimes associated with evil (the
cowboy in the black hat was almost always the "bad guy"). In the
western hemisphere black is associated with grieving. Black is a
serious color that evokes strong emotions; it is easy to overwhelm
people with too much black.

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Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency,
substance.
Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.
Psychology of Color: White
For most of the world this is the color associated with purity (wedding
dresses); cleanliness (doctors in white coats) and the safety of bright
light (things go bump in the night ... not the bright sunshine!). It is
also used to project the absence of color, or neutrality. In some
eastern parts of the world, white is associated with mourning. White
is also associated with creativity (white boards, blank slates). It is a
compression of all the colors in the color spectrum.

Positive: Hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanliness, simplicity,

sophistication, efficiency.
Negative: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness, elitism.
Psychology of Color: Grey

Grey is most associated with the practical, timeless, middle-of-the-

road, solid things in life. Too much grey leads to feeling mostly
nothing; but a bit of grey will add that rock solid feeling to your
product. Some shades of grey are associated with old age, death,
taxes, depression or a lost sense of direction. Silver is an off-shoot of
grey and often associated with giving a helping hand, strong character.

Positive: Psychological neutrality.

Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack
of energy.
Psychology of Color: Red

If you want to draw attention, use red. It is often where the eye looks
first. Red is the color of energy. It's associated with movement and
excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little
faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath. It's the absolute
wrong color for a baby's room but perfect to get people excited.
Wearing red clothes will make you appear a bit heavier and certainly
more noticeable (some studies show red cars get more tickets but
that may be because the red car owners drive faster or the ticket giver
notices the movement of the red car more prominently). Red is not a
good color to overuse but using a spot of red in just the right place is
smart in some cases (one red accent in an otherwise neutral room
draws the eye; a red tie with a navy blue suit and a white shirt adds
just the right amount of energy to draw the eye (no wonder it's the
"uniform of the day" at the seats of government). Red is the symbol of
life (red blooded life!) and, for this reason, it's the color worn by
brides in China. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving
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(red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.) but the true color of
love is pink. Pink is the most calming of all colors -- often our most
dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells as studies show that the
color drains energy and calms aggression. Think of pink as the color of
romance, love, and gentle feelings, to be in the pink is to be soothed.

Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival,

'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, excitement.
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.
Psychology of Color: Blue

Ask people their favorite color and a clear majority will say blue. Much
of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the color blue actually causes
the body to produce chemicals that are calming; but that isn't true of
all shades of blue. Some shades (or too much blue) can send a cold
and uncaring message. Many bedrooms are blue because it's calm,
restful color. Over the ages blue has become associated with
steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty (note how many
uniforms are blue). People tend to be more productive in a blue room
because they are calm and focused on the task at hand. Some studies
are showing that weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym - in
fact, nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings.

Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty,

logic, coolness, reflection, calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.
Psychology of Color: Green

The color of growth, nature, and money. A calming color also that's
very pleasing to the senses. Dark forest green is associated with terms
like conservative, masculine and wealth. Hospitals use light green
rooms because they are found to be calming to patients. It is also the
color associated with envy, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the
traditional color of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support
and well paced energy.

Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest,

restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium,
peace.
Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.

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Psychology of Color: Yellow

Cheerful yellow is the color of the sun, associated with laughter,

happiness and good times. A person surrounded by yellow feels
optimistic because the brain actually releases more serotonin (the feel
good chemical in the brain) when around this color. It is the color
associated with optimism but be careful with yellow; when intense, it
is the color of flames and studies show babies cry more in (bright)
yellow rooms and tempers flare more around that color too. It has the
power to speed up our metabolism and bring out some creative
thoughts (legal tablets are yellow for good reason!). Yellow can be
quickly overpowering if overused, but used sparingly in just the right
place it can be an effective tool in marketing to greater sales. Some
shades of yellow are associated with cowardice; but the more golden
shades with the promise of better times.

Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional

strength, friendliness, creativity.
Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety,
suicide.
Psychology of Color: Orange

The most flamboyant color on the planet! It's the color tied most this
fun times, happy and energetic days, warmth and organic products. It
is also associated with ambition. There is nothing even remotely calm
associated with this color. Orange is associated with a new dawn in
attitude.

Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion,

abundance, fun.
Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.
Psychology of Color: Purple

What color were the robes of kings and queens? they were purple,
our most royal color that is associated with wealth, prosperity, rich
sophistication. This color stimulates the brain activity used in problem
solving. However, when overused in a common setting it is associated
with putting on airs and being artificial. Use purple most carefully to
lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect. Young adolescent girls
are most likely to select nearly all shades of purple as their favorite
color.

Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity,

truth, quality.
Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.
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 Psychology of Color: Brown

This color is most associated with reliability, stability, and friendship.

More are likely to select this as their favorite color. It's the color of the
earth itself "terra firma" and what could represent stability better. It
too is associated with things being natural or organic. Caution
however, for in India it is the color of mourning.

Positive: Seriousness, warmth, Nature, earthiness, reliability, support.

Negative: Lack of humour, heaviness, lack of sophistication.

Optical Illusions
Optical Illusions can use color, light and patterns to create images that can be
deceptive or misleading to our brains. The information gathered by the eye is
processed by the brain, creating a perception that in reality, does not match the true
image. Perception refers to the interpretation of what we take in through our eyes.
Optical illusions occur because the brain is trying to interpret what we see and make
sense of the world around us. Optical illusions simply trick the brain into seeing
things which may or may not be real.
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Collegiate Dictionary, an illusion is 1. something
that deceives or misleads intellectually; 2. perception of something objec-tively existing in
such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature.
It is extraordinarily hard to give a satisfactory definition of an ‘illusion’. It may be the departure
from reality, or from truth; but how are these to be defined? As science’s accounts of reality
get ever more different from appearances, to say that this separation is ‘illusion’ would have
the absurd consequence of implying that almost all perceptions are illusory. It seems better to
limit ‘illusion’ to systematic visual and other sensed discrepancies from simple measurements
with rulers, photometers. clocks and so on.

There are two clearly very different kinds of illusions: those with a physical cause and
cognitive illusions due to misapplication of knowledge. Although they have extremely different
kinds of causes, they can produce some surprisingly similar phenomena (such as distortions
of length or curvature), so there are difficulties of classification that require experimental
evidence. Illusions due to the disturbance of light, between objects and the eyes, are different
from illusions due to the disturbance of sensory signals of eye, though both might be
classified as ‘physical’. Extremely different from both of these are cognitive illusions, due to
misapplied knowledge employed by the brain to interpret or read sensory signals. For
cognitive illusions, it is useful to distinguish specific knowledge of objects, from general
knowledge embodied as rules. Either can be mislead in unusual conditions, and so can be
revealed by observation and experiment

Design Thinking
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‘You cannot hold a design in your hand. It is not a thing. It is a process. A system. A way of
thinking.’ Bob Gill, Graphic Design as a Second Language
Design is an iterative process and design thinking is present in each stage of the journey from
client brief to finished work. Different solutions can be produced for any given brief and these
can differ widely in levels of creativity, practicality and budget.

WHAT IS THE DESIGN PROCESS? WHY IS IT HELPFUL?

The Design Process is an approach for breaking down a large project into manageable chunks.
Architects, engineers, scientists, and other thinkers use the design process to solve a variety of
problems.
THE DESIGN PROCESS CONSISTS OF 6 STEPS:
1. Define the Problem
You can’t find a solution until you have a clear idea of what the problem is.
2. Collect Information
Collect sketches, take photographs and gather data to start giving you inspiration.
3. Brainstorm and Analyze Ideas
Begin to sketch, make, and study so you can start to understand how all the data and
information you’ve collected may impact your design.
4. Develop Solutions
Take your preliminary ideas and form multiple small-scale design solutions.
5. Gather Feedback
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Present your ideas to as many people as possible: friends, teachers, professionals, and any
others you trust to give insightful comments.
6. Improve
Reflect on all of your feedback and decide if or to what extent it should be incorporated. It is
often helpful to take solutions back through the Design Process to refine and clarify them.

Stages of thinking
An overview of the different stages of the design process and the key considerations of each
stage to produce a successful design, with a focus on the design brief and project definition
stage.
Research
This section looks at the stage at which information is collected to help generate design ideas.
This includes consumer profiles and target group definitions, quantitative and qualitative
information and feedback from past projects.
Idea generation
This section looks at how designers use different methods and sources of inspiration to
generate creative solutions to the brief. These include sketching, brainstorming and the
different paradigms used through design history.
Refinement
This section looks at how a general design concept can be refined. We will examine how
images, words, color and substrates can be used to enhance the idea and increase its
effectiveness.
Prototyping
Design ideas need to be presented and articulated to test target group acceptance and receive
client approval. Here we see how models, dummies and storyboards can be used to convey
ideas so that they can be understood in this context.
Implementation
This section looks at how ideas come to life through production. Implementation must ensure
that design details are put into effect and that the client is happy with the final product.

First, the design problem and the target audience needs to be defined. A precise
understanding of the problem and its constraints allows more exact solutions to be developed.
This stage determines what is necessary for the project to be successful. The research stage
reviews information such as the history of the design problem, end-user research and opinion-
led interviews, and identifies potential obstacles.
Ideation is the stage where end-user motivations and needs are identified and ideas are
generated to meet these, perhaps through brainstorming.
Prototyping sees the resolve or working-up of these ideas, which are presented for user-group
and stakeholder review, prior to being presented to the client.
Selection sees the proposed solutions reviewed against the design brief objective. Some
solutions might be practical but may not be the best ones.
Implementation sees design development and its final delivery to the client.
Learning helps designers improve their performance and, for this reason, designers should
seek client and target audience feedback and determine if the solution met the goals of the
brief. This may identify improvements that can be made in the future.

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Idea generation
Idea generation is the usage of different methods and sources of inspiration to generate
creative solutions to the brief. These include sketching, brainstorming and the different
paradigms used through design history.
Idea generation is basically the process of creating, developing and communicating abstract,
concrete or visual ideas, then implementing that idea in such a way that the idea becomes a
reality.

Process of idea generation-Ideation

Ideation is the stage where end-user motivations and needs are identified and ideas are
generated to meet these.
In the Design Thinking process, the Ideation stage often follows the first two stages, which are
the Empathize stage and Define stage. There is a significant overlap between the Define and
Ideation stages of a typical Design Thinking process. Interpreting information and defining the
problem(s) and ideation both drive the generation of problem solutions. This overlap is
represented in the types of methods design teams employ during these two stages. Example,
Body storm and “How Might We” questions are often used in both of these stages.
Ideation will help to:
Ask the right questions and innovate.
Step beyond the obvious solutions and therefore increase the innovation potential of your
solution.
Bring together perspectives and strengths of team members.
Uncover unexpected areas of innovation.
Create volume and variety in your innovation options.
Get obvious solutions out of your heads, and drive your team beyond them.
Ideation Methods to Spark Innovative Ideas
There are hundreds of ideation methods. Some methods are merely renamed or slightly
adapted versions of more foundational techniques. Here you’ll get a brief overview of some of
the best methods:
Brainstorm
Brain dump
Brain write
Brain walk
Challenge Assumptions
SCAMPER
Mind map
Sketch or Sketch storm
Storyboard
Analogies
Provocation
Movement
Body storm
Game storming
Cheat storm
Crowd storm
Co-Creation Workshops
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Prototype
Creative Pause
Active Facilitation
Ideation sessions can indeed be fun and exciting, but they demand a lot of preparation and
team member concentration in order to be fruitful. To sit the team down with a blank piece of
paper and ask them to come up with ideas will likely result in failure. Likewise, to have
everyone shout out their own ideas is likely to result in failure.
People need guidance, inspiration and activities, in a physical and cognitive manner, in order to
get the process started. Ideation is a creative and concentrated process; those involved should
be provided with an environment that facilitates free, open, and the non-judgemental sharing
of ideas.
In Ideation sessions, it’s important to create the right type of environment to help create a
creative work culture with a curious, courageous, and concentrated atmosphere. Instead of
using a boardroom with the CEO sitting at the head of the table, Design Thinking and Ideation
sessions require a space in which everyone is equal. The Ideation room must have sufficient
space for people to feel comfortable, but the atmosphere shouldn't be sterile, and team
members shouldn't have to shout in order to be heard. You should also designate someone to
take down contributors' ideas and draw/write them on the whiteboard/wall/poster. If the
process begins to slow down and people seem to be running into a dead-end, the facilitator
should impose constraints, such as: "what if there was no top-level navigation bar?" or "How-
might-we go about the task if we were 8 years old?" Alternatively, you might want to set
targets, such as filling a brainstorming sheet within ten minutes. To start understanding what it
takes to facilitate a successful Ideation session, we’ll take a closer look at the best
Brainstorming rules.
Brainstorming Rules

At its most basic level, a Brainstorm session involves sprouting related points from a central
idea. Brainstorming is one of the primary methods employed during the Ideation stage of a
typical Design Thinking process. Brainstorming is a great way to generate many ideas by
leveraging the collective thinking of the group, by engaging with each other, listening, and
building on other ideas. This method involves focusing on one problem or challenge at a time,
while team members build on each others responses and ideas with the aim of generating as
many potential solutions as possible. These can then be refined and narrowed down to the
best solution(s). Participants must then select the best, the most practical, or the most
innovative ideas from the options they’ve come up with.
Set a time limit
Start with a problem statement, point of view, possible questions, a plan, or a goal and stay
focused on the topic: Identify the core subject or the main aim of the exercise. For example,
what are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to improve a certain feature? Are you focusing
on ways to improve the overall experience? Condense the main issue into a problem
statement and condense it into a short “How Might We” sentence. You may even be able to
synthesize this into single word. Your ideas should always branch off from this central headline.
Stay on Topic: It is easy to veer off and take lots of different directions during brainstorming
sessions, especially when you are trying to be open-minded and unconstrained in your efforts
to come up with ideas. It is important that members stay on topic. Focus is essential;
otherwise, the process can become confusing, or ideas can become muddled and cross
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between solutions for other problems. Every effort should be made by the facilitator to keep
members on the central theme and goal.
Defer judgement or criticism, including non-verbal: The brainstorming environment is not the
time to argue or question other members’ ideas; each member has a responsibility to foster
relations that advance the session. For this reason, judgement comes later so rather than
blocking an idea, you and your other team members are encouraged to come up with your
own ideas that sprout off from those provided by the other members of your team.
Encourage weird, wacky and wild ideas: Once again, as brainstorming is a creative activity,
each member should try to encourage other members and create an environment in which
they feel comfortable verbalizing their ideas. Free thinking may produce some ideas that are
wide off the mark, but brainstorming is about drawing up as many ideas as possible which are
then whittled down until the best possible option remains.
Aim for quantity: Brainstorming is effectively a creative exercise, in which design thinkers are
encouraged to let their imaginations run wild. The emphasis is on quantity, rather than quality
at this stage.
Build on each others' ideas: One idea typically leads on from another; by considering the
thoughts, opinions, and ideas of other team members during the brainstorming session, new
insights and perspectives can be achieved, which then inform one's own ideas. Thus, the team
will continue to build ideas which hopefully become progressively more refined and targeted
towards the central issue.
Be visual: The physical act of writing something down or drawing an image in order to bring an
idea to life can help people think up new ideas or view the same ideas in different way. The
brainstorming session is more likely to evolve if team members visualize and bring ideas to life
rather than rely on discussion alone.
One conversation at a time: Design thinkers (or brain stormers) should focus on one point or
conversation at a time so as not to muddy their thinking and lose sight of the thread or current
objective.
Ideation Methods to Select Ideas
Once the Ideation session is complete, the ideas must be collected, categorized, refined and
narrowed down, so the team is able to select the best solutions, ideas, and strategies from a
shortlist. These methods can help you select the best idea at the end of an Ideation session:
Post-it Voting or Dot Voting.
Four Categories Method
Bingo Selection
Idea Affinity Maps
Now Wow How Matrix
Six Thinking Hats
Lean Startup Machine Idea Validation Board
Idea Selection Criteria
In the following section, we’ll provide you with a brief introduction to some of the best
methods.
Post-it Voting or Dot Voting
In post-it voting, all members are given a number of votes (three to four should do) in order to
choose their favorite ideas. Ideas that are generated in the Ideation sessions are written down
on individual post-its, and members can vote by using stickers or a marker to make a dot on

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the post-it note corresponding to the ideas they like. This process allows every member to
have an equal say in choosing from the shortlisted ideas.
Four Categories Method
The four categories method involves dividing ideas according to their relative abstractness,
ranging from the most rational choice to the 'long shot' choice. The four categories are: the
rational choice, the most likely to delight, the darling, and the long shot. Members then decide
upon one or two ideas for each of these categories. This method ensures that the team covers
all grounds, from the most practical to those ideas with the most potential to deliver
innovative solutions.
Bingo Selection
Similarly, the Bingo selection method inspires members to divide ideas. However, in this
method, contributors are encouraged to split ideas according to a variety of form factors, such
as their potential application in a physical prototype, a digital prototype, and an experience
prototype.
The Take Away
Ideation is often the most exciting stage in a Design Thinking project because almost
unrestrained free thinking can occur within the given field. In the Ideation stage, the aim is to
generate a large quantity of ideas — ideas that potentially inspire newer, better ideas — which
the team can then filter and narrow down into the best, most practical, or most innovative
ones. There are many great methods that can help the design team during the Ideation
sessions.

Visual ideas-Visual thinking

Visual thinking is a way to organize your thoughts and improve your ability to think and
communicate. It’s a great way to convey complex or potentially confusing information.
It’s also about using tools — like pen and paper, index cards and software tools — to
externalize your internal thinking processes, making them more clear, explicit and actionable.

Process of development of visual ideas

Collaging: The act of clipping images or words and pasting them to a piece of paper in a
pattern that inspires you.

Mind-Mapping: A visual diagram that establishes a central concept and branches it into
associated images that become main topics, which in turn also have related images.

Reversing Cliches: This exercise involves drawing every association you can come up with for
your visual concept and then combing through them for clichés.

Visualize Sensory Experiences: Drawing sensory experiences such as the sound of water, the
heat from a radiator, or the smell of fresh cookies, and then using these sketches to create a
unique visual for your concept.

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Collaborative Sketching: Creating a single sketch with multiple team members. Once you finish
drawing, pass it to the next person so they can add their own unique component, and so on
until everyone has had a turn

Why Visual ideas are important?



Help people understand concepts better.




Boost the power of memory.




Convince people.


Verbal ideas
The process of collecting information, generating ideas and then expressing it out verbally .The
ways through which a person can develop verbal ideas are as follows


Reading books, magazines and newspapers




Brainstorming



Mind mapping



Co-Creation workshop



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 Interacting with experts


Why Verbal ideas are important?

Encourages an active audience.
Allows for non-linear narratives.
Educates people and convinces them.
A study investigated how different product presentation formats (visual vs. verbal) influence
consumer attitudes toward product and purchase intentions in Internet shopping. The overall
results from two Web experiments simulating Internet apparel shopping showed that both
visual and verbal information had significant effects on affective and cognitive attitudes toward
apparel products, but only verbal information had a significant effect on purchase intention.
Though the superiority of visual information was predicted based on prior literature, the
results of the study supported verbal superiority. This finding provides an important
implication for Internet retailers who tend to pay more attention to visual product
presentation. Although visual product presentation is also found to be important, detailed
product descriptions are critical to positively influence consumer shopping experience in
Internet shopping.

Visual-Verbal connection
The 21st century is a visual time, in which words and images share a close connection. Add a
profusion of technology into this relationship and you will find new ways to think about the
term “literacy.” The bottom line is that traditional notions of reading and writing have changed,
and this has opened up new opportunities for artists and designers to think about reading,
writing, and publishing in our visual culture.
Example: Comic books
Development of Visual-Verbal ideas
A person can develop Visual-Verbal ideas by reading a lot of books, watching movies, watching
Ad-films, reading comic books, brainstorming, analyzing available Visual-Verbal resources, etc..

Thematic ideas
Thematic ideas are basically the subject of a text – the central idea . These are reoccurring
ideas that help develop a theme. Themes are usually universal so that it touches on human
experience regardless of language and race.
A Thematic idea is the writer’s compass to what the characters consider right or wrong, good
or bad, just or unjust. Once this is established, the characters act accordingly. It is also the
conceptual soul of the story.

Examples of thematic ideas:

1)To Kill a Mockingbird there is a thematic idea of innocence
2)In The Hunger Games there is a thematic idea of power
3)In The Lion King there is a thematic idea of pride
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A person can develop thematic ideas by reading a lot of books, watching movies,
brainstorming, group discussions, etc..

Visual thinking
Human mind process information as images. Visual thinking is a way to organize your thoughts
and improve ability to think and communicate. Visual thinking is not only about thinking as
images. It can be text, sometimes as dialogue. Visual thinking is a body of methodologies that
uses diagrams to represent ideas, concepts, process flows and relationships. Generally, ideas
and concepts are represented by images and text, and connected by lines to show association
and represent flow.It’s useful to many people in many different roles, from students to CEOs,
and doctors to landscapers. It is not a tool specifically designed for marketers as some may
think, instead visual thinking comes in many different forms, and chances are that you’re
already using a few of them already to help you organize your thoughts, either individually or
as a team. It will follow a flow to it. For example, There are two squares. One square is bigger
than the other square. The bigger square is blue and the smaller square is red.

First the overall stage is revealed with two shapes (square). Then the size difference. Finally the
colors.But an equally accurate description could be: red and blue colors. Next to each other.
The blue is bigger than the red. They are each shaped like squares.Regardless of which
description you prefer, the fact that they are written as linear text is enforcing a preferred
sequential order.This doesn’t mean that visual thinking doesn’t have any order. It must have.
Good visual thinking uses the spatial relationship between the objects on the page to hold
information. (In contrast, a page break in a flow of text holds no meaning) The relative size of
objects has meaning. And details can be integrated within a context where the holistic (big

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picture) and detail can be seen together and in the context of each other. Sometimes text
conveys less info than the image.

Associated techniques
The technique of visually mapping ideas was originally developed in the 1960s by Tony Buzan,
who was seeking a more visual and faster way of outlining ideas on paper. His pioneering
technique, called “mind mapping,” begins with a symbol or graphic of the problem to be
brainstormed in the center of the page. Key words are used to represent ideas, and are
connected to the central focus with lines. In addition, words can be placed within symbols
(ovals, squares and other shapes) to highlight certain ideas and to further stimulate the mind
to make other connections and associations. Mind mapping not only stimulates creativity by
drawing upon the visually-oriented right side of the brain, it’s also a very efficient way to do a
“mental core dump” of your thoughts and ideas onto paper in a matter of minutes.

Mind scapes: A visual “storyboard” of a problem-solving process. For example, a team could
use a drawing of a trek up a mountain to depict their development of a departmental mission
statement. A road could symbolize the path to the group’s objective, and rocks could represent
potential obstacles along the way to the goal, for example.

Mess Mapping: A mind mapping variant that outlines the current forces, trends and influences
surrounding a situation or opportunity Fish boning – A Total Quality technique that places the
problem statement on a horizontal line, with key words on lines drawn at a 45 degree angle to
the right, above and below it (so it resembles the backbone and ribs of a fish).

Doodling : Doodling is a great visual aid when learning about new concepts. It is used to recall
the already known things.
Materials and tools
Basically, the general tools are creative mind and some paper and pen, sticky notes, softwares,
etc.

Process of visual thinking

The processes of visual thinking are as follows

1. Images as Metaphors
2. Images as Stories
3. Schematic Diagrams
4. Data Visualization

Inspiration Board

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An inspiration board (or mood board, style board, idea board, theme board, or vision board) is
a way to visually collect and curate bits of visual “stuff” that evoke a desired concept or theme.

Napkin Sketch
A napkin sketch is any quick, simple, rough visual explanation of an idea. A handful of basic

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shapes, can translate complex concepts into simple, potent visuals.

Conceptual Framework
Conceptual frameworks are analytical tools that help us organize ideas by clearly distinguishing
the conceptual blocks that they’re built from. They can take on nearly unlimited forms. In the
early stages of developing or testing an idea, creating a visual expression of the major concepts
in play is an excellent way to expose areas of fuzzy thinking and to clarify the questions that
need to be answered.

Empathy Map

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An empathy map is a design research and user experience tool. Its purpose is to help you to
gain a deeper insight into the needs, behaviors, and attitudes of your users or customers.
Empathy maps bring together observed behavior with inferences based on what users said and
did. These maps can serve as insightful customer profiles to guide ideation, innovation, and
content creation.

Design execution
Execution is the stage where the designers begin to visualize the ideas and thoughts into the
form of graphic works. Execution requires visualization capabilities as well as good technical
from the designer. There are many factors that could affect the ability of execution. Such as:
experience, aesthetic considerations, taste, understanding the design principles, knowledge,
etc.. Thus, the execution does not only include the ability to use graphics software such as: AI,
PS but more than that, the executions require comprehensive capabilities of a graphic designer
either in principle or technical.

Stage 1 – Design Problem

Establishing what the problem is.
This is the first stage in any design process and almost always involves generating or
receiving a design brief.
The brief

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A design brief presents the client’s requirements for a job. These may be verbal or written,
simple or complex. A brief contains a specific goal that is to be met by the design but it may
also be couched in terms that have varying interpretations. A brief may be as basic as ‘we
need a brochure that makes us appeal to 20–30-year-olds’ or ‘we need a brochure that
makes us appear cool and stylish’.
As a working relationship develops between a designer and a client over several jobs, a
greater understanding of what key terms mean is obtained. A designer needs to interpret the
brief and define what words such as ‘stylish’ and ‘cool’ mean. This ensures that both parties
have shared expectations. This may involve questioning the validity of the brief’s elements.
For example, a brochure might not be the best way to reach out and appeal to 20–30-yearolds,
and perhaps an online campaign would be more effective? Writing and re-writing a brief
Clients have varying experiences of design services. For this reason, the quality of the briefs
that they provide will also vary. A brief needs to include anything that will allow the design
team to initiate the design process. However, if it is not robust enough, it may need to be
rewritten and reworked with the client.
Stage 2 – Research
Collecting background information.
Once the brief has been defined and agreed, a designer starts to search for information that
can be fed into the creative process at the ideate stage. This research can be either
quantitative, with hard statistical numbers about the size and composition of target user
groups, or qualitative, with information about what that user group buys or consumes and
what their lifestyle is like.
It may be pertinent to build a mental model of a typical user in order to enable the design
team to obtain a good feel for what would appeal to them. This includes factors such as
education, career, holiday destinations, musical tastes, aspirations and so on.
Primary research
A primary source of research is the feedback generated during the learning phase of projects
previously undertaken with the same or similar clients. Such feedback provides a starting
point with regard to what worked and what did not work with a specific target group.
Secondary research
Secondary research is the information obtained from general secondary sources such as
consumer market research reports. These provide the demographic breakdown and historic
performance of given markets and market segments, and provide a clear view of how a
market is structured
When conducting research, information can be classified into two categories:quantitative and
qualitative.
Quantitative
Quantitative information is numerical or statistical information that enables a design team to
put physical dimensions to a target market. Total market sales value, annual sales volume
and the number of consumers in the 25–30-year-old age group are all examples of
quantitative information.
Qualitative
Qualitative information allows the design team to understand why things are as they are; the
reasons that people respond to certain stimuli or not. Qualitative information is typically
obtained via face-to-face interviews where participants talk about their experience and
preferences for a given topic. This is usually undertaken via a group discussion or focus

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group, or an in-depth interview
with carefully selected individuals.
Types of survey
Qualitative and quantitative information can be obtained from reference libraries, but if the
information required is not available, different surveys can be commissioned to obtain it.
These might include:
Statistical surveys – these collect quantitative information from numerical data
Sampling – this collects information from a population sample in order to represent the whole
Opinion polls – these assess public opinion using sampling
Quantitative market research – this collects data for marketing purposes
Paid statistical surveys – these reward participants for providing information about
consumption habits
Questionnaires – these contain a set of questions
Omnibus surveys – these ask questions in a regular shared monthly survey
Stage 3 – Ideate
Creating potential solutions.
During the ideate stage, the design team draws on the research gathered and the constraints
established during the define stage. This information is used to create ideas with which to
tackle the design brief. Designers use different methods to ideate, which methods include
brainstorming, sketching ideas, adapting a tried-and-tested design that already exists, taking
a top-down analytical approach that focuses on the product, service or company or a bottom
up approach that focuses on the customer or user (both are further explained on page 56).
Each method involves a varying degree of creativity and choosing which method to use will
depend on factors such as how much money is available and how original the design needs
to be.
At this stage, a design team might also choose to harness one of the multitude of art and
design movements or paradigms. A design brief can be given a modernist, abstract,
constructivist or a deconstructivist interpretation, for example. As the ideate stage progresses,
it will become clear whether there are any misunderstandings or shortcomings in the
definition
stage and whether sufficient levels of research were carried out. Feedback can be sought
throughout the design process to clarify points of doubt with the client and to address aspects
that were ill-defined during the definition stage.
Basic design directions
Starting from a given point, designers can think in specific ‘directions’ in order to generate
new ideas from existing designs.
Divergence
Divergence is the expansion or spreading out of something from a central point or theme.
This can be clearly seen in fields as diverse as market segmentation and typography.
Divergence occurs as both an instigator and a response to divergence in society at large as
designers respond to changing demographics, and the increasingly diverse market
segmentations of their clients.
Convergence
Convergence is the contraction of something towards a central, more generalised point. In
design, although the overriding tendency is towards divergence, convergence can still be
found in areas such as generic branding. Brands nowadays often take products back to a

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more basic state or pre branding
time – when a tin of tomatoes was just a tin of tomatoes, for example.
Transformation
Transformation involves a substantial qualitative change, such as the redesign of a visual
identity, or a repackage in order to facilitate a new distribution method.
Inspiration and references
Inspiration is essential in any creative activity and design is no exception. Inspiration is key to
the generation of exciting design ideas and design professionals draw inspiration from
innumerable sources.
Creative people draw inspiration from both obvious and unexpected sources, such as
magazines, music, literature and the urban environment. The work of other people in the field,
past and contemporary, provides creative stimulation, which is one of the reasons why this
series of design books contains so many examples of work by contemporary designers.
Designers can cross-reference elements of contemporary life with those of bygone days, and
delve back into the rich tradition of art and design history for visual stimulation.
Many designers and design studios formalise the inspiration process to a certain extent
though the use of an ideas book. An ideas book is a collection of cuttings, photos, sketches,
colour swatches, typographic examples, scribbled ideas, words and found objects that are
accumulated to inspire. An ideas book may be a general collection that is continuously added
to or it may be made as part
of the preparation for a specific project. Designers often create characters that are a mental
image of the typical target audience for a design, exemplifying their characteristics, lifestyle,
aspirations and consumption habits.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a creative group approach to developing ideas and originating solutions
during the ideate stage.
Brainstorming seeks to generate many different ideas that are subsequently pared back to a
few possibilities for potential development. The brainstorming process starts by defining the
problem to be addressed, selecting group participants that will address it, and forming
questions with which to
stimulate the creative process.
During the brainstorming session, participants have free rein to make suggestions in a
noncritical
environment. This encourages the presentation of unusual and potentially useful ideas.
Resources such as flip charts or a whiteboard may be used to facilitate the process and to
record the ideas that
are generated. Following the session, ideas are grouped by type and their suitability assessed
in order for a shortlist of the best ideas to be formed.
Brainstorming rules
Do not criticise: this is the most important rule. Criticism prevents people from making
suggestions and voicing options. Any idea is valid in brainstorming. Keep the process
manager-free:the presence of line managers may inhibit the flow of ideas.
Avoid resolve: do not start working up or resolving an idea that looks like a possible leader
during the session. Instead, carry on generating ideas during the allotted time. Ideas can be
resolved following the evaluation stage.
Work to a target: a numerical target helps idea generation as participants move away from

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standard thinking on the subject in order to achieve it. Focus on quantity not quality.
Clock watch: set a time by which the session should end. This helps to keep the pressure on,
forcing more ideas to be generated.
Let go: participants must not be afraid of offering odd, wacky or wild ideas, although this does
not mean participants should not take the session seriously.
Be inclusive: the session chairperson should prevent any group members from
dominating the session and should encourage all members to contribute.
Stage 4 – Prototype
Resolving solutions.
The ideate stage generates a variety of potential solutions to the design brief. Prior to
selection, it may be necessary to further work up the most promising of these solutions. This
will allow particular aspects to be tested and will provide a better basis for comparison at the
selection stage. In such cases a prototype can be created.
A prototype can be used to test the technical feasibility of a design idea to see if it works as a
physical object. Novel packaging or presentation ideas normally require the development of a
prototype. A prototype can also test the visual aspects of the design by presenting them as
they would be produced. This also provides the opportunity to test, where pertinent, a design
in three dimensions.
A prototype gives the design team and client the ability to visualise and handle a design
concept, to get an idea of its physical presence and tactile qualities. As a prototype aims to
test particular aspects of a design solution, it must be made so that those aspects are present
and can be effectively evaluated. To convey the idea of what it will look like, a prototype does
not need to be made with the final materials. For example, architectural models are often
made from whiteboard and aim to give a three-dimensional visualisation of a building design.
However, if a particular print finish is stipulated, it may be pertinent to present this via a
prototype.
Stage 5 – Select
Making choices.
The select stage is the point at which one of the proposed design solutions is chosen for
development. The key decision criterion is fitness for purpose: does the design meet the
needs and goals of the brief, and will it effectively communicate to the target audience to
achieve those aims? The winning design is typically that which most closely meets the design
brief, or a significant part of it. It may not be possible or desirable to meet all the requirements
of a brief within a single design. For example, market segmentation increasingly calls for
different marketing and design solutions for different segments.
Other factors, such as cost and time, are relevant in the selection process, but these may
change as the process develops. The budget available may not provide for the preferred
solution and so a more humble option may be selected. However, budget and time constraints
should be identified during the definition stage and must be considered throughout the design
process. A studio may advance what it thinks are the best design solutions to the client, and
while its opinion and advice are important, the client knows its business, market and clients
best and will make the final choice. This could well be different to the designer’s preferred
choice. At the end of the selection process, the client will sign off the choice, thus initiating the
next stage in the design process.
Stage 6 – Implement
Delivering the solution to the design brief.

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During this stage, the designer passes the design artwork and format specifications to those
who will be supplying the final product. This might be a printer, web builder or fabricator. This
moment provides a good opportunity to confirm the production specifications such as print
quantity and what you expect to receive. For example, a printer is usually given some leeway
to account for set-up in the different steps of the print process. This means an order for
100 flyers may not result in the receipt of 100. It may be more or may be less. By double
checking,
everyone is clear about the level of expectation, and what the client expectations
are. The design team typically provides project management during this stage, in order to
ensure that the end results meet design expectations, and to keep the project on budget and
on time. Proofing may be necessary during implementation if a print job is involved. This will
ensure that what is printed is an accurate reflection of the artwork supplied. For websites and
other electronic media, proofing means testing functionality as well as the visual appearance.
This stage ends with the final delivery to the client of the finished job.
Stage 7 – Learn
Obtaining feedback.
The final stage in the process involves learning from what has happened throughout the
design process. This is a feedback stage during which the client and design agency might
seek to identify what worked well and where there is room for improvement.
Following the implementation, the client may begin to look for or receive feedback on how the
product has been received by the target audience and how beneficial its effects on the target
audience have been. Thus, a design firm can find out how the audience responded to the
design.
The feedback generated at the end of the process becomes a learning opportunity for future
projects. It forms one of the sources of information for the define and research stages. Any
problems with the design may have been because of inadequacies in the brief or lack of
understanding of key points. Through the feedback process, designers and clients build up a
shared understanding over time. This serves to facilitate the production of increasingly
optimal solutions in the future.
Although the learn stage appears to be the last of the seven that we’ve identified, it actually
occurs throughout the design process. At each stage you should take stock of where you are,
where you are heading, what’s working and what’s not. The ability to learn from each stage
will enhance the development of design thinking, and will help to generate radical and
successful designs.
Example project
Through the following, various different stages of the design process within the
context of an actual design job are described.

Stage 1 – Define
Sovereign is the parent organisation to a number of housing associations in England and as
such, over time, has acquired a number of identities and brands. Design studio The Team was
tasked with creating a new visual identity to bring all the different aspects of Sovereign’s
business under one overall umbrella design. The Team’s brief was to create a strong brand
identity using the Sovereign name. This would then need to be paired with a description to
clearly identify the sub-brand, and would require a unique idea at its core in order to help the
associations stand out from their competitors.
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Stage 2 – Research
The Team undertook research to find out what made Sovereign different from other housing
associations. This research included interviews and workshops with the client and
consultation with the regional associations it had acquired in order to get a feel for the values
and vision they had for the brand. An audit of competitors was undertaken to better
understand the visual world that housing associations work in. The research showed that
many felt that Sovereign’s ability to balance the needs of current customers, while planning
and developing for future customers, was its strongest asset. A web-based search for imagery
and icons to represent the concepts of continuity and growth was also carried out to help
generate ideas for the visual stimulus for the identity.

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Stage 3 – Ideate
The initial ideas of the design team had the central concept of planning for today as well as
tomorrow. The team wanted to create a shape or expression that could be used for the group
logo as well as all its sub-brands. Initial sketches looked to create an abstract shape to
represent the core idea of continuity and growth, which could be used to create larger
graphics or expressions across printed materials to support the logo and brand concept. The
initial ideas that went forward all carried a strong sense of this and appeared intricate and
made up of many parts or sides. This helped reflect the different elements and areas of the
client’s business.
Stage 4 – Select
Three different design ideas were advanced to the select stage. The first was a Möbius strip
idea, rendered in a 3D form to give a dynamic, sculptural and organic feel. There are many
possible permutations for this logo shape, but the more angular shape used adds a feeling of
energy and movement. The second route evolved from a two-sided yin-yang balance into a
constantly moving and intertwined form. The third unites two interdependent shapes with a
feeling of continuity and strength. These ideas were presented to the client on boards to
facilitate discussion of each option.

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Stage 5 – Prototype
The chosen design was refined using different treatments. The symbol is derived from a
Möbius strip (a surface with only one side and only one boundary component), a never ending
shape that flows back into itself as its contours are followed by the eye. This reflects
the relationship between addressing the changing needs of current customers while planning
and developing to satisfy those of tomorrow. The sculptural and contoured form gives a
feeling of strength and stability while the fluid triangular shape and dynamic, translucent
shading captures an energetic and forward-looking spirit that is reinforced by the orange
colour. The symbol is complemented by an uncomplicated yet powerful logotype that provides
a strong and balanced relationship between the two elements. Lowercase lettering creates a
professional, streamlined appearance.

Stage 6 – Implement
The final design was rolled out across Sovereign’s brands and sub-brands. This included all
printed materials, such as stationery, ID cards, report covers, brochures and newsletters, as
well as signage for vehicle livery and clothing. The logo also featured on signage around its
corporate and local offices, as well as on building sites where Sovereign works to develop
land and build new homes.

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Stage 7 – Learn
Learning occurred throughout the design process. The select process gave the design team a
clear idea of what solutions resonated with the client, while client feedback following
implementation would indicate which aspects were well received by its customers and which
were not.

Design presentation
A design presentation is the process of presenting a design (the output as the client required)
to an audience. It is mainly helpful for the audience to gain clarity on the output.
The presentation can also possess the story of the work done. Some designers even go as far
as to create a video presentation of their story, process and ideas in order to explain them to
the audience.

Why design presentations are essential?

Design presentations are important because


The audience would be able to see your final outcome




The audience would be able to get the story of your work




The audience gain clarity




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It helps you make your point



It helps increase your ability to influence




It helps you feel confident and reduce your anxiety




Professionalism
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UNIT IV

Communication and Public opinion: nature, meaning and process - Culture and
Communication: Relationships between Culture and Communication - Global Media – multi
cultural content - impact on Developing countries, Cross-cultural communication: problems
and challenges. Communication as a process: Introduction to semiotics – analysis - aspects of
signs and symbols denotations and connotations - paradigmatic and syntagmatic aspects of
signs. Message – Meaning – Connotation - Denotation Culture/Codes etc.,

Communication and Public opinion: nature, meaning and process

Culture and Public Opinion

Public opinion is an aggregate of the individual views, attitudes, and beliefs about a particular
topic, expressed by a significant proportion of a community. In 1918, the American sociologist
Charles Horton Cooley emphasized public opinion as a process of interaction and mutual
influence rather than a state of broad agreement. The American political scientist V.O. Key
defined public opinion in 1961 as “opinions held by private persons which governments find it
prudent to heed.” Although the term public opinion was not used until the 18th century,
phenomena that closely resemble public opinion seem to have occurred in many historical
epochs. The prophets of ancient Israel sometimes justified the policies of the government to
the people and sometimes appealed to the people to oppose the government. In both cases,
they were concerned with swaying the opinion of the crowd.By contrast Plato found little of
value in public opinion, since he believed that society should be governed by philosopher-kings
whose wisdom far exceeded the knowledge and intellectual capabilities of the general
population. And while Aristotle stated that “he who loses the support of the people is a king
no longer,” the public he had in mind was a very select group; in the Athens of his time, the
voting population was limited to about one-third of free adult male citizens.

The formation and Change of Public Opinion

No matter how collective views (those held by most members of a defined public) coalesce
into public opinion, the result can be self-perpetuating. In 1993 the German opinion
researcher Elizabeth Noelle - Neumann characterized this phenomenon as a “spiral of silence,”

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noting that people who perceive that they hold a minority view will be less inclined to express
it in public.

Components of public opinion: attitudes and values

How many people actually form opinions on a given issue, as well as what sorts of opinions
they form, depends partly on their immediate situations, partly on more-general social-
environmental factors, and partly on their preexisting knowledge, attitudes, and values.
Because attitudes and values play such a crucial role in the development of public opinion

 Values are “the deep tides of public mood slow to change, but powerful.” Opinions, in
contrast, are “the ripples on the surface of the public’s consciousness—shallow and easily
changed.”
 Attitudes are “the currents below the surface, deeper and stronger,” representing a mid
range between values and opinions. the art of understanding public opinion rests not only
on the measurement of people’s views but also on understanding the motivations behind
those views.

Formation of attitudes

Once an issue is generally recognized, some people will begin to form attitudes about it. If an
attitude is expressed to others by sufficient numbers of people, a public opinion on the topic
begins to emerge. Not all people will develop a particular attitude about a public issue; some
may not be interested, and others simply may not hear about it.The attitudes that are formed
may be held for various reasons. Thus, among people who oppose higher property taxes, one
group may be unable to afford them, another may wish to deny additional tax revenues to
welfare recipients, another may disagree with a certain government policy, and another may
wish to protest what it sees as wasteful government spending. A seemingly homogeneous
body of public opinion may therefore be composed of individual opinions that are rooted in
very different interests and values. If an attitude does not serve a function such as one of the
above, it is unlikely to be formed: an attitude must be useful in some way to the person who
holds it.

Culture and communication

What is communication, why do we communication, how do we communicate, and to what

end, are all questions we ask in the study of communication. At its most basic, communication
is the exchange of information and meaning. We are constantly communicating, in a wide
range of different contexts, such as with each other (interpersonal communication), with
different cultural groups or subgroups (intercultural communication), or to large audiences
(mass communication), just to name a few. However, to understand communication, we need
to understand the place of communication in culture.Culture as a term is widely used in
academic as well as in daily speech and discourse, referring to different concepts and
understandings. While the term originally stems from ancient Greek and Roman cultures
(Latin: Cultural) it has various dimensions today built from the different needs and uses of each
field, be it anthropology, sociology or communication studies. For communication studies, we
might start by defining culture as a set of learned behaviors shared by a group of people
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through interaction. Cultures are not fixed, monolithic entities, but are fluid, always changing
and responding to pressures and influences, such as the changing experiences of its members,
or interaction with other cultures.Culture and society, though similar, are different things.

Cultures are defined by these learned behaviors and schemas. Societies at their simplest can
be defined as groups of interacting individuals. However, it is through this interaction that
individuals develop and communicate the markers of culture, and so in human societies, it is
very difficult to separate out ‘culture’ and ‘society.’And thus we come back to the role of
communication within culture. The idea of culture as something that is shared means that it is
vital to understand culture and communication in relation to one another.

The relationship between culture and communication, in all its forms, is tightly interwoven and
interlinked. We can see that communication enables the spread and reiteration of culture.
Both communications and the media propagate the values and schemas of a culture through
the repeated interaction and exchange enabled by the communications process.

Notice the emphasis on repeated there: it is not in single instances of communication that
culture is made, but rather in the repeated exchange of information and the reinforcement of
the ideals and values it embodies, all conveyed within a particular moment. One way we can
think about this complex interplay is by looking at du Gay, et al (1997) notion of the circuit of
culture.The circuit of culture is a way of exploring a product of a culture as a complex object
that is affected by and has an impact on a number of different aspects of that culture.

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GLOBAL MEDIA-MULTICULTURAL CONTENT

Media and communication technologies are engines of globalization, and shape the rapidly
changing social, political, economic and cultural environments in which we live. Global media
and communication affect how we access, share and exchange information, how we work and
how we see the world and our places in it. They transform relations between states and blur
the boundaries (real and imagined) separating people and communities.

The deterritorialized nature of new communication technology generated early idealistic ideas
about the emergence of a “global village” (McLuhan, 1964), and in response to the rapidly
increasing complexity of global communication infrastructures, theories about the rise of a
“network society” (Castells, 1996) followed. Satellite technology has enabled the simultaneous
distribution of news across nation-state borders, and transnational1 media networks such as
CNN have “become emblematic of a world in which place and time mean less and less”
(Harvard, 2001: 18).Transnational news services are believed to offer new styles and formats
for journalistic practices, contributing to the loosening up of national identities, and arguments
about an emerging “global public sphere” have been pursued (e.g. Volkmer, 2003). Thus, the
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media are allegedly key elements of the compression of time and space, one of the salient
features of globalization (Harvey, 1989), and are viewed as both products of and significant
contributors to the fluidity of globalization (Chalaby, 2003).

Impact on Developing countries

Global broadcasting corporations not only provide people with a better understanding of
global politics (Chalaby, 2003), they also offer new journalistic styles and formats able to
transgress the nation-state outlook and, in a dialectic relationship with national news angles,
give rise to new horizons for political identity and citizenship (Volkmer, 2003).

Accordingly, transnational media have been attributed the potential to constitute a global, or
at least a transnational, public sphere (Chalaby, 2003; Volkmer, 2003). The idea that
transnational media networks are able to move beyond the nation-state paradigm has,
however, not escaped criticism. Hafez (2007) argues that there is not enough empirical
evidence of a media system that could accurately be described as “global” in the sense of
enhancing the possibilities of a global public sphere. On the contrary, the majority of empirical
evidence points in the direction of reinforced stability of the nation-state paradigm.
Information and news may be transnational in character, but the media in fact still are, to a
considerable extent, local and national phenomena. In times of war, Western propaganda is
also present in transnational media, as are polarizing perspectives of “us” and “them” and
stereotypical depictions of the “other” (Hafez, 2007; Thussu, 2003): “Today’s international
exchanges of images and information, it seems, are no guarantee for global intertextuality in
news, for growing awareness of ‘the others stories and perspectives, and for an increased
complexity of world views in the mass media and beyond.” (Hafez, 2009: 329) “Global crises
are principally constituted epistemologically as ‘global crises’ through the news media where
most of us get to know about them and where they are visualized, narrativized, publicly
defended and sometimes challenged and contested.” (Cottle, 2009: 165, emphasis in original)

Admittedly, local or national crises, such as 9/11, the 2010 flooding in Haiti, or the 2011
Egyptian revolution, need the connectivity that a cross-border communication infrastructure
provides in order to become known, more or less simultaneously, to people around the globe.
But, to achieve their global features – to become global crises, involving people and generating
action across the world – they are entirely dependent on discursive constructions of them as
such.

Cross Cultural Communication: Problems and Challenges

Cross cultural communication thus refers to the communication between people who have
differences in any one of the following: styles of working, age, nationality, ethnicity, race,
gender, sexual orientation, etc. Cross cultural communication can also refer to the attempts
that are made to exchange, negotiate and mediate cultural differences by means of language,
gestures and body language. It is how people belonging to different cultures communicate
with each other.Each individual can practice culture at varying levels. There is the culture of
the community he grows up in, there is work culture at his work place and other cultures to
which one becomes an active participant or slowly withdraws from. An individual is constantly
confronted with the clash between his original culture and the majority culture that he is
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exposed to daily. Cultural clashes occur as a result of individuals believing their culture is better
than others.

Cross cultural communication has been influenced by a variety of academic disciplines. It is

necessary in order to avoid misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts between individuals or
groups. Cross cultural communication creates a feeling of trust and enables cooperation. The
focus is on providing the right response rather than providing the right message.When two
people of different cultures encounter each other, they not only have different cultural
backgrounds but their systems of turn – talking are also different. Cross cultural
communication will be more effective and easier if both the speakers have knowledge of the
turn taking system being used in the conversation (For example: One person should not
monopolize the conversation or only one person should talk at a time).

Laray Barna’s Sources of problems and Challenges

1) Assumption of similarities: This refers to our tendency to think how we behave and act is
the universally accepted rule of behavior. When someone differs, we have a negative view of
them.

2) Language Differences: Problems occur when there is an inability to understand what the
other is saying because different languages are being spoken. Talking the same language itself
can sometimes lead to discrepancies as some words have different meanings in various
contexts, countries or cultures

3) Nonverbal Misinterpretation: The way we dress, the way we express ourselves through our
body language, eye contact and gestures also communicates something. A simple gesture like
nodding the head is considered to be YES in certain cultures and NO in others

4) Preconceptions and Stereotypes: Stereotypes involves putting people into pre - defined slots
based on our image of how we think they are or should be. It may consist of a set of
characteristics that we assume that all members of a group share. This may be true or may be
false. But stereotypes may lead to wrongful expectations and notions. A preconceived opinion
of another can lead to bias and discrimination

5) Tendency to evaluate: Humans tend to make sense of the behavior and communication of
others by analyzing them from one’s own cultural point of view without taking into
consideration why the other person is behaving or communicating a certain way

6) High anxiety : Sometimes being confronted with a different cultural perspective will create
an anxious state in an individual who does not know how to act or behave and what is
considered to be appropriate (For example: A Japanese man and an American having a
business meeting where both are unsure of the others cultural norms)To reduce the above
barriers to cross cultural communication, one can take the effort to develop one’s listening
skills. This will ensure that we start hearing the real meaning of what is being said instead of
understanding at face value. Becoming aware of our perceptions towards others will ensure
that we take steps to not prejudge a person or stereotype them. By accepting people and their

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differences and acknowledging that we don’t know everything will make us open up to people
and their differences resulting in us using contextual information for better understanding.

Introduction to semiotics

SEMIOTICS - Semiotics is the study of signs. Not road signs, but something more general. It’s
the study of meaning-making and meaningful communication. Semiotics is related to
linguistics, the study of language, but it limits itself to the signs and symbols part of
communication. That’s not to say it’s all visual. Words and numbers are signs along with
photographs, icons, and road signs. Anything that’s capable of representing something else is a
sign. Anything that creates meaning is a sign. The reason for studying semiotics is that is gives
us a useful set of tools for identifying and creating the patterns that lead to meaning in
communication. Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce are the founders of
semiotics, though each worked independently of the other. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–
1913) was a Swiss linguist, who was also the father of modern linguistics. Charles Sanders
Peirce (1839–1914) was an American philosopher and the founder of pragmatism. They’re
names will come up a few times throughout this series.

Signifier and Signified

Saussure said the sign is the basic unit of meaning and he thought signs were made up of two
parts.

 Signifier — The form of a sign. The form might be a sound, a word, a photograph, a facial
expression or Magritte’s painting of pipe that’s not a pipe.
 Signified — The concept or object that’s represented.

The concept or object might be an actual pipe, the command to stop, or a warning of
radioactivity. Remember that words, as well is pictures, are signs The word “pipe” is a sign for
an actual pipe as much as Magritte’s painting is a sign for an actual pipe. The signified is the
same in both cases, that of a real pipe than can be filled with tobacco, which you can light and
smoke. What’s different in the two signs is the signifier. In Magritte’s case the signifier is a
painting and with the word “pipe” the signifier is the word itself. Both are representations of
an actual pipe.

The Interpretant

Peirce added a third part to signs, the interpreter. He saw signs consisting of The represent
amen (signifier) — the sign’s form.

An Interpretant — what the audience makes of the sign.

An Object (signified) — what the sign refers to.One thing to make clear is the Interpretant is
not the same as an interpreter. It’s not the audience, but what the audience makes of the sign.
For example if someone looked at Magritte’s painting and saw it as a piece of wood rather than
a pipe, it’s that sense that it represents a piece of wood that’s the Interpretant and not the

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person making the interpretation. That’s probably not very intuitive so let me add another
example. Imagine a street light at an intersection turning red and several cars stopping.

According to Peirce’s model the red light of the traffic light is the representamen (signifier), the
act of cars stopping is the object (signified), and the idea that a red light is a command for
vehicles to stop is the Interpretant. If it’s still not clear, don’t worry. The basic concept should
become clearer as we continue through the series. Peirce said “We only think in signs” and
added that anything is a sign if someone interprets it as meaning something other than itself.
He also added that signs can be defined as belonging to one of three categories, icon, index, or
symbol, which is where I want to pick this up next week.

Formation of Meaning

Cultural and personal experience will curate how people first interpret the sign. It helps us to
understand that reality depends not only on the intentions we put into our work but also the
interpretation of the people who experience our work. These meanings are actively created,
according to a complex interplay of systems and rules of which we are normally unaware.

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Signified and Signifier

To further elaborate on what is signified and signifier, here’s an example below.

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Here, the McDonald’s iconic yellow M is the immediately when we see it and the slogan, “i’m
lovin’ it”, which is their tag line is the signifier where people link easily to the famous fast food
Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of Here, the McDonald’s iconic yellow
M is the signified whereby we can relate to McDonald’s immediately when we see it and the
slogan, “i’m lovin’ it”, which is their tag line is the signifier where people link easily to the
famous fast food chain. In certain cases, the signifier has more than one signified meaning like
the examples above.

In certain cases, the signifier has more than one signified meaning like the examples above.

Connotation and Denotation

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods describing the sign.

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101
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Syntagm and Paradigm:

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A signified can be explained or described using the syntagm and paradigm framework as
explained below.

Paradigmatic and syntagmatic aspects of signs

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Item of language has a paradigmatic relationship with every other item which can be
substituted for it (such as cat with dog), and a syntagmatic relationship with items which occur
within the same construction (for example, in The cat sat on the mat, cat with the and sat on
the mat). The relationships are like axes, as shown in the accompanying diagram.Paradigmatic
contrasts at the level of sounds allow one to identify the phonemes (minimal distinctive sound
units) of a language: for example, bat, fat, mat contrast with one another on the basis of a
single sound, as do bat, bet, bit, and bat, bap, ban. Stylistically, rhyme is due to the

paradigmatic substitution of sounds at the beginning of syllables or words, as in: ‘Tyger! Tyger!
burning bright / In the forests of the night.’On the lexical level, paradigmatic contrasts indicate
which words are likely to belong to the same word class (part of speech): cat, dog, parrot in
the diagram are all nouns, sat, slept, perched are all verbs. Syntagmatic relations between
words enable one to build up a picture of co-occurrence restrictions within SYNTAX, for
example, the verbs hit, kick have to be followed by a noun (Paul hit the wall, not *Paul hit), but
sleep, doze do not normally do so (Peter slept, not *Peter slept the bed). On the semantic
level, paradigmatic substitutions allow items from a semantic set to be grouped together, for
example Angela came on Tuesday (Wednesday, Thursday, etc.), while syntagmatic associations
indicate compatible combinations: rotten apple, the duck quacked, rather than *curdled apple,
*the duck squeaked.

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UNIT V

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Mass Media communication - What is Mass Media – Functions of mass communication -
ToPersuade, Inform, Educate, and Entertain; Other functions; Impact & Influence of Mass
Media Types of Mass Media: Traditional media, Print media, Electronic media, Digital media,
Public Relations, Publicity and Propaganda –Theories of mass media: Hypodermic needle
model, uses and gratification model.

Mass media communication

what is mass media - Mass media refers to communication devices, which can be used to
communicate and interact with a large number of audiences in different languages. Be it the
pictorial messages of the early ages, or the high-technology media that are available today,
one thing that we all agree upon, is that mass media are an inseparable part of our lives.
Entertainment and media always go hand in hand, but in addition to the entertainment, mass
media are an effective medium for communication, dissemination of information, advertising,
marketing, and in general, for expressing and sharing views, opinions, and ideas. Mass media is
a double-edged sword - there are positive as well as negative influences of media. Technically,
mass media is any transmission of information that reaches large numbers of people, usually
within a short time frame, in a one-to-many communication flow. It can also be referred to as
mass communication. The information transmitted could be news, entertainment, advertising
or public service announcements.

Types of mass media:

  Television
  Radio

  Newspapers

  Outdoor advertising such as billboards

  Magazines

  Movies, concerts, shows, and events that attract large crowds

  Internet websites

  Social media

  Mobile

  Email

Social media, mobile, and email mass communications present special cases which are
discussed separately later

Traditional media

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Print Media - Print media encompasses mass communication through printed material. It
includes newspapers, magazines, booklets and brochures, house magazines, periodicals or
newsletters, direct mailers, handbills or flyers, billboards, press releases, and books.
Newspapers enjoyed the position of the most preferred medium to reach a wider audience
until electronic communication emerged on the media scene. In the early days, newspapers
were the only medium that masses at large depended on, for daily news. A newspaper carries
all kinds of communication related to a variety of topics like politics, socialism, current affairs,
entertainment, finance, stocks, etc.Apart from this, it also includes topics, which are in lighter
vein like cartoons, crosswords, Sudoku, movie reviews, book reviews, puzzles, crosswords, etc.
This captivates the imagination and interests of readers from all age groups. Newspapers are
an important platform of mass communication, as they reach every nook and corner of the
world where electronic media fails to reach. It plays a pivotal role in providing authentic
firsthand information, building opinions, updating the knowledge of the reader, and serves as a
good platform for advertisers to promote their products. However, with the emergence of
Internet, which updates information every second, and is just a click away, the popularity of
newspapers has reduced.

Magazines

Magazines are another type of popular culture print media. They usually cater to a specific
type of audience who are looking for information based on a particular subject. Magazines
cover a plethora of topics, like current affairs, business, finance, consumers, gadgets, self-help,
luxury, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, entertainment, travel, etc. Magazines like TIME and Reader's
Digest include information, which is all-pervasive. The frequency of magazines can be weekly,
fortnightly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly. These magazines are the best forum for
advertisers, as they have a niche readership. The readers look for a specific type of
information; say for example, a camera ad in a Gadget magazine will definitely have a direct
brand impact on the reader who wants to buy a camera. Also, the shelf life and brand recall of
magazines is far better than newspapers, which have a short life span.

Booklets and Brochures

Booklets and brochures are a part of the promotional literature of a product, or an

organization. There are two types of booklets and brochures. Pre-buying promotion Usually in
malls and stores, promotional literature is distributed free to all (with discount offers, or other
schemes which seem profitable). For example, a free booklet about cosmetics will include
information about the products, latest trends, contents, the benefits of using them, the
available range, or colors, discount coupons, etc. This, will most likely, have a positive impact
on our decision-making.

Post-buying promotion

These booklets and brochures are usually given with a product for better customer experience
and easy usage, post purchasing. You must have observed when you buy any new item, it is
usually accompanied with a small booklet giving details about the benefits of using the
product, usage directions, cleaning and storage instructions. The guidelines are usually
followed by a series of 'how to' images which facilitate easy information about the product.
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Handbills or Flyers

Handbills or flyers is a form of communication, which is printed on a small paper. It is easy to

carry, colorful, attractive, and legible to read. They are handed out to all the passers-by. These
are useful mainly for restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, political campaigns, delis, concerts, rallies,
political campaigns, etc. People are more prompted to throw it away without reading. Hence,
many a time this fails to be an effective medium of mass communication.

Books

Last but not the least; books are a significant medium of mass communication as they have a
large reader base. The expressions and opinions of the writer are taken to the readers in the
form of a compiled book.The printed form of communication was popular earlier. However,
with the advent of electronic media, print media has taken a backseat. Although, it is said that
the electronic, or new age media have replaced the print media, there exists a majority of
audience who prefer the print media for various communication purposes.

Electronic Media

Electronic media is the kind of media which requires the user to utilize an electric connection
to access it. It is also known as 'Broadcast Media'. It includes television, radio, and new-age
media, like Internet, computers, telephones, etc.

Television

Television appeals both the auditory and visual senses, and hence is an important
communication device as it beholds the attention of the audience. For many people, it is
impossible to imagine a life without their television sets, be it the daily news, or even the soap
operas. Television has become an advertising hub where advertisers are ready to spend huge
amounts for an ad of few seconds, especially for programs with high viewership.

Radio

It has a significant reach. A considerable number of Americans tune into radio every week
while on their way to work. Advertising on the radio with catchy jingles and phrases is a tried
and tested means of communication. The radio lost its popularity with the boom of television.
But till day, it remains one of the favorite means of electronic communication. Moreover,it is
an interactive means of communication with all dial-in programs which give the listeners an
opportunity to feature on radio.

Digital Media

New Age Media - With the advent of Internet, we are now enjoying the benefits of high
technology mass media, which is not only faster than the old school mass media, but also has
a widespread range. Mobile phones, computers, and Internet are often referred to as the new-
age media. Internet has opened up several new opportunities for mass communication which
include email, websites, pod casts, e-forums, e-books, blogging, Internet TV, and many others,
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which are booming today. Internet has also started social networking sites, which have
redefined mass communication all together. Sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have
made communication to the masses all the more entertaining, interesting, and easier!

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones have become a boon to mankind. It has made communication possible at
anytime, and from anywhere. Nowadays, mobile phones are not only used for interaction, but
also for other technical utilities, like operating pumps from remote locations, etc. You can also
get alerts of your monetary transactions on a mobile phone. Today, we can stay in touch with
the whole world via Internet on our mobile phones.

Computers

With the invention of computers the impossible has become possible. We virtually get
information about everything from pin to piano with the help of computers. It has added
speed and multimedia to the information, which was earlier available only in the print format.
Also, anyone can voice their opinions through computers. Computers have added a new
breakthrough in the mass media by combining human intelligence with the cutting edge
technology.

Internet

It's the most important device of new age media. The discovery of Internet can be called the
biggest invention in mass media. In the earlier days, news used to reach people only with the
morning newspaper. But today, live updates reach us simultaneously as the events unfold. For
example, the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William was watched live on the
Internet by millions of people around the world. Its inspired interaction and connectivity
through its social networking medium.

Emails

Emails or electronic mails have drastically reduced the time for drafting and sending letters or
mails. Electronic mails have also facilitated lesser usage of paper.

Blogging

A blog is a space on the Internet where a single person or a group of people record their
information, opinions, photos, videos, etc. It is an interesting and free platform to talk about
any topic. Interaction happens in the form of comments or feedback.

Internet TV

It is also known as online TV. It usually has an archive of programs. You have to choose the
program; you wish to view from the list. You can either view the programs directly from the
host server, or download the content on your computer. It is an effective means of
communication.
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Social Networking

It is the most popular social networking website. Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and etc have
several applications which people utilize. It is the best platform to meet old friends, or make
new ones. Advertisers also like this forum for communicating about their products.Visual
media like photography is also a crucial medium, since it communicates via visual
representations. Public speaking and event organizing can also be considered as forms of mass
media. Though print media is still popular, it is not environmentally viable. More and more
people are shifting to e-newspapers, e-Books, e-brochures, etc. Internet has completely
transformed the traditional ideas of communication. Mass communication, over a period of
years, has depicted an evolving trend, and with the advancements in technology, it will
continue to do so in future too. All you have to do is keep yourself abreast with the latest
innovation in mass communication!

Public Relations

PR or public relations is nothing but the practice of protecting as well as enhancing the
reputation of any particular organization/firm or for that matter any individual. In today’s
world of fierce competition, where every organization strives hard to work toward its brand
image, public relations have become the need of the hour. It is essential for every organization
to communicate well with its public/target audience. The correct flow of information is
essential. Here comes the importance of public relations.

The practice of maintaining a healthy relationship between organization and its

public/employees/stakeholders/investors/partners is called public relations. Public relation
activities ensure the correct flow of information between the organization and its public also
called its target audience. Public relations goes a long way in maintaining the brand image of
an organization in the eyes of its audience, stake holders, investors and all others who are
associated with it.For schools, the target audience would be students and their
parents/guardians, for retailers the target audience would be customers and so on.In the
above examples, Public Relations ensures a smooth two way communication between the
school authorities and its target audiences (students and their parents).Retailers must address
their customers well for a positive word of mouth and a strong brand positioning. It is really
important to create a positive image of any particular brand in the minds of consumers for it
do well. Public relations experts not only help in the flow of information from the organization
to its public but also from the public to the organization.(Two way communication).The flow of
information from the public to the organization is generally in the form of reviews,
feedback(positive/negative),appreciation and so on. Public relations strengthen the
relationship between the organization and its target audience, employees, stakeholders,
investors etc.

PR is Not Advertising

Many people use the term PR and advertising are interchangeably, when the terms do not
mean the same thing. PR involves sharing information with the public using platforms that do
not require a payment, such as social media or through press releases shared with magazines
and newspapers. PR professionals package information and disseminate it in the hopes that it
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will be organically shared. Advertising, on the other hand, involves paying for space in the
media, or on websites, and controlling the message that is conveyed. The goal of public
relations is to shape public perception of a business, presenting a positive image through
various strategies to its various constituents. Public Relation Activities.

Here are some ways of enhancing an organization’s brand image:

1. Addressing the media

2. Speaking at various press conferences, seminars.

3. Advertisements to correctly position the brand, Pamphlets, Brochures, magazines notices,

newsletters and so on.

4. Corporate Social responsibility(CSR Activities)

5. Introducing various loyalty schemes for customers like membership cards, premium clubs so
as to retain the customers.

6. Various events, shows and activities.

Spin

Public relation experts sometimes turn a bad situation into the organization’s favor. Such a
situation is called as spin. Spin refers to a situation where public relation experts tactfully
utilize an unfavorable situation for company’s benefits and publicity.

Negative PR

In cases of negative PR, public relation experts instead of focusing on enhancing their
organization’s image, concentrate on tarnishing the reputation of business rivals. Negative PR
also called as dirty tricks involves extensive research and information gathering.

Effective Public Relations

Public Relations is said to be effective under all the below circumstances: Awareness: To create
a positive image of an organization, the message must reach the public. Information must
reach in its desired form for effective public relation. Acceptance: The audience must
understand what the message intends to communicate. They ought to agree with the
message. Action: The audience ought to give feedback to the organization accordingly.To
conclude public relations is nothing but an effort to present one’s organization in the best light.

Publicity and Propaganda

Publicity is also a way of mass communication. It is not a paid form of mass communication
that involves getting favorable response of buyers by placing commercially significant news in
mass media. Publicity is not paid for by the organization. Publicity comes from reporters,
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columnists,and journalists. It can be considered as a part of public relations.Publicity involves
giving public speeches, giving interviews, conducting seminars, offering charitable donations,
inaugurating mega events by film actors, cricketers, politicians, or popular personalities,
arranging stage show, etc., that attract mass media to publish the news about them.Publicity is
undertaken for a wide range of purposes like promoting new products, increasing sales of
existing product, etc. It also aimed at highlighting employees’ achievements, company’s civic
activities, pollution control steps, research and development successes, financial performance,
its progress, any other missionary activities, or social contribution.

Definitions:

According to William J. Stanton “Publicity is any promotional communication regarding an

organization and/or its products where the message is not paid for by the organization
benefiting from it.”

Characteristics of Publicity:

Key characteristics of publicity have been briefly described in following part:

1. Meaning:

Publicity is not a paid form of mass communication that involves getting favorable response of
buyers by placing commercially significant news in mass media. It involves obtaining favorable
presentation upon radio, newspapers, television, or stage that is not paid for by the sponsor.

2. Non-paid Form:

Publicity is not a paid form of communication. It is not directly paid by producer. However, it
involves various indirect costs. For example, a firm needs some amount for arranging function,
calling press conference, inviting outstanding personalities, decorating of stage, other related
costs, etc.

3. Various Media:

Mostly, publicity can be carried via newspapers, magazines, radio, or television. For example,
in case a product is launched by popular personality in a grand function, the mass media like
newspapers, television, radio, magazines, etc., will definitely publicize the event.

4. Objectives:

Sales promotion is undertaken for a wide variety of purposes. They may include promotion of
new product, pollution control, special achievements of employees, publicizing new policies,
or increase in sales. It is primarily concerns with publishing or highlighting company’s activities
and products. It is targeted to build company’s image. In a long run, it can contribute to
increase sales.

5. Control of Producer:
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Company has no control over publicity in terms of message, time, frequency, information, and
medium. It comes through mass media like radio, newspapers, television, etc. It is given
independently by the third party. It is presented as a news rather than propaganda.

6. Credibility/Social Significance:

Publicity has high degree of credibility or reliability as it comes from mass media
independently. It is given as news for social interest. It has more social significance compared
to other means of market promotion.

7. Part of Public Relations:

Publicity is a part of broad public relations efforts and activities. Public relations includes
improving, establishing, and maintaining direct relations with all public's. Publicity can help
improve public relations.

8. Costs:

Publicity can be done at much lower cost than advertising. Company needs to spend a little
amount to get the event or function publicized.

9. Effect:

Publicity message is more likely to be read, viewed, heard, and reacted by audience. It has a
high degree of reliability as it is given by the third party.

10. Repetition:

Frequency or repetition of publicity in mass media depends upon its social significance or the
values for news. Mostly, it appears only once.

Importance of Publicity:

Like advertising and sales promotion, sales can be increased by publicity, too. Publicity carries
more credibility compared to advertisement. Publicity is cost free; it doesn’t involve direct
cost. Publicity offers a lot of benefits to the producers and distributors. Importance of publicity
can be made clear from the below stated points:

1. Publicity is an effective medium to disseminate message to the mass with more credibility.
People have more trust on news given by publicity.

2. The credibility level of publicity is much higher than advertising and other means of market
promotion. People express more trust on what the third party independently says. It appears
directly through newspapers, magazines, television, or radio by the third party. It is free from
bias.

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3. It provides more information as the valuable information is free from space and time
constraints. Similarly, publicity takes place immediately. No need to wait for time or space in
mass media. It enjoys priority.

4. The firm is not required to pay for publicity. The indirect costs related to publicity are much
lower than other means of promotion.

5. It is a part of public relations. It is free from exaggeration; it carries more factual information
about company. It is more trust worthy. It helps establish public relations.

6. Generally, publicity covers the varied information. It normally involves name of company, its
goods and services, history, outstanding achievements, and other similar issues. The
knowledge is more complete compared to advertisement.

7. Publicity directly helps middlemen and sale persons. Their tasks become easy. Publicity
speaks a lot about products on behalf of middlemen and salesmen. Sellers are not required to
provide more information to convince the buyers.

8. It is suitable to those companies which cannot effort the expensive ways to promote the
product.

9. Publicity increases credit or fame of the company. Publicity on company’s assistance in relief
operations during flood, earthquake, draught, and other natural calamities highlights its name
and social contribution in mass media. People hold high esteem to this company.

10. Publicity can be used by non-commercial organizations/institutes like universities,

hospitals, associations of blinds or handicaps, and other social and missionary organizations.
They can publicize their noble works by the medium of publicity.

Objectives of Publicity:

Publicity is aimed at a number of objectives.The most common objectives of publicity have

been discussed in brief as under:

1. Building Corporate Image:Through publicity, a company can build or improve its corporate
image. People trust more on what press reporters, columnists, or newsreaders say via mass
media independently than what the company says. Publicity highlights the company’s name
and operations. It popularizes the name of the company.

2. Economy:It is a cost saving medium. Here, a company is not required to pay for message
preparation, buying space and time, etc. The cost involved is much lower than other means of
market promotion. Financially poor companies may opt for publicity.

3. Assisting Middlemen and Salesmen:Publicity can help middlemen and salesmen in

performing the sales-related activities successfully. Information conveyed through publicity
speaks a lot of things on behalf of sellers. Publicity makes selling tasks much easier.

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4. Information with High Creditability:Sometimes, publicity is targeted to disseminate
information more reliably. Customers do not express doubts on what publicity appeals.
Customers assign more value to information supplied by mass media via publicity than by the
advertisement.

5. Removing Misunderstanding or Bad Image:Company can defend the product that has
encountered public problems. In many cases, publicity is aimed at removing misunderstanding
or bad impression. Whatever a publicity conveys is more likely to be believed.

6. Building Interest on Product Categories:Publicity attracts attention of buyers. Due to more

trusted news, people build interest in various products and activities.

7. Newsworthiness Information:Publicity publicizes the fact in an interesting ways. Publicity is

eye-catching in nature. People do not skip the news presented by publicity that more likely
happens in case of advertising. For

example, when a new product is launched by the distinguished personalities like film star,
eminent artist, or cricketer in a grand function, the product becomes popular within no time

Propaganda

“Propaganda is the deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate

cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the
propagandist.” -Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion
Throughout the course of human history, we have witnessed a number of events that have
been a source of pain and shame for people across the world. The removal and relocation of
native people in North America, the Jewish Holocaust of the Second World War, and the ethnic
cleansing of Tuts is in Rwanda during the early 1990s are only a few examples. But, while each
of these represents the worst aspects of humanity, they're also an example of the successful
use of propaganda.

Propaganda is a mode of communication used to manipulate or influence the opinion of

groups to support a particular cause or belief. Over the centuries, propaganda has taken the
form of artwork, films, speeches, and music, though it's not limited to these forms of
communication. Though its use is not exclusively negative, propaganda very often involves a
heavy emphasis on the benefits and virtues of one idea or group, while simultaneously
distorting the truth or suppressing the counter-argument. For example, the Nazi party rose to
power by promoting the idea that it would lead Germany out of economic depression, which it
claimed was, among other things, the result of Jewish people stealing jobs from hard-working
Germans.

Types of Propaganda

Even propaganda is categorized based on the methods it uses to shape its argument. These
categories are traditionally labeled as white, black, and gray propaganda. While there are
discrepancies in the way these terms are defined, Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell
(Propaganda and Persuasion) use the following labels:
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“White propaganda comes from a source that is identified correctly, and the information in the
message tends to be accurate…Although what listeners hear is reasonably close to the truth, it
is presented in a manner that attempts to convince the audience that the sender is the ‘good
guy’ with the best ideas and political ideology.”“Black propaganda is credited to a false source,
and it spreads lies, fabrications, and deceptions.”“Gray propaganda is somewhere between
white and black propaganda. The source may or may not be correctly identified, and the
accuracy of information is uncertain.” While these definitions are in themselves fairly
ambiguous, one could argue that all forms of persuasion fall into the category of white
propaganda at the very least, extending the general definition of propaganda to anything that
argues an opinion.

Theories of Mass Media

The study of communication and mass media has led to the formulation of many theories:
structural and functional theories believe that social structures are real and function in ways
that can be observed objectively; cognitive and behavioral theories tend to focus on
psychology of individuals; interaction theories view social life as a process of interaction;
interpretive theories uncover the ways people actually understand their own experience; and
critical theories are concerned with the conflict of interests in society and the way
communication perpetuates domination of one group over another .The earliest theories were
those propounded by Western theorists Siebert, Paterson and Schramm in their book Four
Theories Of the Press (1956).These were termed "normative theories" by McQuail in the sense
that they "mainly express ideas of how the media ought to or can be expected to operate
under a prevailing set of conditions and values." Each of the four original or classical theories is
based on a particular political theory or economic scenario.

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY/ MAGIC BULLET THEORY

History and Orientation The "hypodermic needle theory" implied mass media had a
direct,immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and
1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behavior change.Several factors contributed
to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including: the fast rise and popularization of
radio and television the emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising and
propaganda the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s, which focused on the impact of motion
pictures on children, and Hitler's monopolization of the mass media during WWII to unify the
German public behind the Nazi party

Core Assumptions and Statements

The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly
and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger
a desired response.Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a
powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory
graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's
"head". With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media
messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the
message. They express the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an
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idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. There
is no escape from the effect of the message in these models. The population is seen as a sitting
duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media material "shot" at them.
People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

New assessments that the Magic Bullet Theory was not accurate came out of election studies
in "The People's Choice," (Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet, 1944/1968). The project was
conducted during the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 to determine voting patterns
and the relationship between the media and political behavior. The majority of people
remained untouched by the propaganda; interpersonal outlets brought more influence than
the media. The effects of the campaign were not all-powerful to where they persuaded
helpless audiences uniformly and directly, which is the very definition of what the magic bullet
theory does. As focus group testing, questionnaires, and other methods of marketing
effectiveness testing came into widespread use; and as more interactive forms of media (e.g.:
internet, radio call-in shows, etc.) became available, the magic bullet theory was replaced by a
variety of other, more instrumental models, like the two step of flow theory and diffusion of
innovations theory.

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

History and Orientation

Originated in the 1970s as a reaction to traditional mass communication research emphasizing

the sender and the message. Stressing the active audience and user instead. Psychological
orientation taking needs, motives and gratifications of media users as the main point of
departure. Core Assumptions and Statements Uses and gratifications theory attempts to
explain the uses and functions of the media for individuals, groups, and society in general.

There are three objectives in developing uses and gratifications theory:

1) to explain how individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs. “What do people
do with the media”.

2) to discover underlying motives for individuals’ media use.

3) to identify the positive and the negative consequences of individual media use. At the core
of uses and gratifications theory lies the assumption that audience members actively seek out
the mass media to satisfy individual needs.

Statement: A medium will be used more when the existing motives to use the medium leads to
more satisfaction.

CULTURAL STUDIES MODEL:

With the decline of hypodermic needle theories a new perspective began to emerge: the
stalagmite theories. Black used the metaphor of stalagmite theories to suggest that media
effects occur analogously to the slow buildup of formations on cave floors, which take their
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interesting forms after eons of the steady dripping of lime water from the cave ceilings above.
One of the most popular theories that fit this perspective is cultivation theory. Cultivation
theory (sometimes referred to as the cultivation hypothesis or cultivation analysis) was an
approach developed by Professor George Gerbner, dean of the Annen berg School of
Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He began the 'Cultural Indicators' research
project in the mid-1960s, to study whether and how watching television may influence
viewers' ideas of what the everyday world is like. Cultivation research is in the 'effects'
tradition. Cultivation theorists argue that television has long-term effects which are small,
gradual, indirect but cumulative and significant.

Core Assumptions and Statements:

Cultivation theory in its most basic form, suggests that television is responsible for shaping, or
‘cultivating’ viewers’ conceptions of social reality. The combined effect of massive television
exposure by viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for individuals
and, ultimately, for our culture as a whole. Gerbner argues that the mass media cultivate
attitudes and values which are already present in a culture: the media maintain and propagate
these values among members of a culture, thus binding it together. He has argued that
television tends to cultivate middle-of-the- road political perspectives. Gerbner called this
effect ‘mainstreaming’.

Cultivation theorists distinguish between ‘first order’ effects (general beliefs about the
everyday world, such as about the prevalence of violence) and ‘second order’ effects (specific
attitudes, such as to law and order or to personal safety). There is also a distinction between
two groups of television viewers: the heavy viewers and the light viewers. The focus is on
‘heavy viewers’. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the
ways in which the world is framed by television programs than are individuals who watch less,
especially regarding topics of which the viewer has little first-hand experience. Light viewers
may have more sources of information than heavy viewers. ‘Resonance’ describes the
intensified effect on the audience when what people see on television is what they have
experienced in life. This double dose of the televised message tends to amplify the cultivation
effect.

Favorite Methods

Cultivation analysis usually involves the correlation of data from content analysis (identifying
prevailing images on television) with survey data from audience research (to assess any
influence of such images on the attitudes of viewers). Audience research by cultivation
theorists involves asking large-scale public opinion poll organizations to include in their
national surveys questions regarding such issues as the amount of violence in everyday life.
Answers are interpreted as reflecting either the world of television or that of everyday life. The
answers are then related to the amount of television watched, other media habits and
demographic data such as sex, age, income and education.

Scope and Application

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Cultivation research looks at the mass media as a socializing agent and investigates whether
television viewers come to believe the television version of reality the more they watch it.

Example

In a survey of about 450 New Jersey schoolchildren, 73 percent of heavy viewers compared to
62 percent of light viewers gave the TV answer to a question asking them to estimate the
number of people involved in violence in a typical week. The same survey showed that
children who were heavy viewers were more fearful about walking alone in a city at night.
They also overestimated the number of people who commit serious crimes. This effect is called
‘mean world syndrome’. One controlled experiment addressed the issue of cause and effect,
manipulating the viewing of American college students to create heavy- and light-viewing
groups. After 6 weeks of controlled viewing, heavy viewers of action-adventure programs were
indeed found to be more fearful of life in the everyday world than were light viewers.

I) CLASSICAL THEORIES

Authoritarian Theory

According to this theory, mass media, though not under the direct control of the State, had to
follow its bidding. Under an Authoritarian approach in Western Europe, freedom of thought
was jealously guarded by a few people (ruling classes), who were concerned with the
emergence of a new middle class and were worried about the effects of printed matter on
their thought process. Steps were taken to control the freedom of expression. The result was
advocacy of complete dictatorship. The theory promoted zealous obedience to a hierarchical
superior and reliance on threat and punishment to those who did not follow the censorship
rules or did not respect authority. Censorship of the press was justified on the ground that the
State always took precedence over the individual's right to freedom of expression.This theory
stemmed from the authoritarian philosophy of Plato (407 - 327 B.C), who thought that the
State was safe only in the hands of a few wise men. Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679), a British
academician, argued that the power to maintain order was sovereign and individual objections
were to be ignored. Engel, a German thinker further reinforced the theory by stating that
freedom came into its supreme right only under Authoritarianism.The world has been witness
to authoritarian means of control over media by both dictatorial and democratic governments.

Libertarianism or Free Press Theory

This movement is based on the right of an individual, and advocates absence of restraint. The
basis of this theory dates back to 17th century England when the printing press made it
possible to print several copies of a book or pamphlet at cheap rates. The State was thought of
as a major source of interference on the rights of an individual and his property. Libertarians
regarded taxation as institutional theft. Popular will (vox populi) was granted precedence over
the power of State.

Advocates of this theory were Lao Tzu, an early 16th century philosopher, John Locke of Great
Britain in the17th century, John Milton, the epic poet ("Aeropagitica") and John Stuart Mill, an
essayist ("On Liberty"). Milton in Aeropagitica in 1644, referred to a self righting process if free
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expression is permitted "let truth and falsehood grapple." In 1789, the French, in their
Declaration Of The Rights Of Man, wrote "Every citizen may speak, write and publish freely."
Out of such doctrines came the idea of a "free marketplace of ideas." George Orwell defined
Libertarianism as "allowing people to say things you do not want to hear". Libertarians argued
that the press should be seen as the Fourth Estate reflecting public opinion. What the theory
offers, in sum, is power without social responsibility.

Social Responsibility Theory

Virulent critics of the Free Press Theory were Wilbur Schramm, Siebert and Theodore
Paterson. In their book Four Theories Of Press, they stated "pure Libertarianism is antiquated,
outdated and obsolete." They advocated the need for its replacement by the Social
Responsibility theory. This theory can be said to have been initiated in the United States by the
Commission of The Freedom Of Press, 1949. The commission found that the free market
approach to press freedom had only increased the power of a single class and has not served
the interests of the less well-off classes. The emergence of radio, TV and film suggested the
need for some means of accountability. Thus the theory advocated some obligation on the
part of the media to society. A judicial mix of self regulation and state regulation and high
professional standards were imperative. Social Responsibility theory thus became the modern
variation in which the duty to one"s conscience was the primary basis of the right of free
expression.

Soviet Media/Communist Theory

This theory is derived from the ideologies of Marx and Engels that "the ideas of the ruling
classes are the ruling ideas". It was thought that the entire mass media was saturated with
bourgeois ideology. Lenin thought of private ownership as being incompatible with freedom of
press and that modern technological means of information must be controlled for enjoying
effective freedom of press.

The theory advocated that the sole purpose of mass media was to educate the great masses of
workers and not to give out information. The public was encouraged to give feedback as it was
the only way the media would be able to cater to its interests.Two more theories were later
added as the "four theories of the press" were not fully applicable to the non-aligned countries
of Asia, Africa and Latin America, who were committed to social and economic development
on their own terms. The two theories were:

Development Communication Theory

The underlying fact behind the genesis of this theory was that there can be no development
without communication. Under the four classical theories, capitalism was legitimized, but
under the Development communication theory, or Development Support Communication as it
is otherwise called, the media undertook the role of carrying out positive developmental
programmes, accepting restrictions and instructions from the State. The media subordinated
themselves to political, economic, social and cultural needs. Hence the stress on "development
communication" and "development journalism". There was tacit support from the UNESCO for

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this theory. The weakness of this theory is that "development" is often equated with
government propaganda.

Democratization/Democratic Participant Media Theory

This theory vehemently opposes the commercialization of modern media and its top-down
nonparticipant character. The need for access and right to communicate is stressed.
Bureaucratic control of media is decried.Since the early 1900s, Theories of mass
communication have changed dramatically. largely as a result of quickly changing technology
and more sophisticated academic theories and research methods. A quick overview of the
state of the media in the early 1900s and in the early 2000s provides some context for how
views of the media changed. In the early 1900s, views of mass communication were formed
based on people’s observation of the popularity of media and assumptions that something
that grew that quickly and was adopted so readily must be good. Many people were optimistic
about the mass media’s potential to be a business opportunity, an educator, a watchdog, and
an entertainer. For example, businesses and advertisers saw media as a good way to make
money, and the educator class saw the media as a way to inform citizens who could then be
more active in a democratic society. As World War I and the Depression came around, many
saw the media as a way to unite the country in times of hardship. Early scholarship on mass
media focused on proving these views through observational and anecdotal evidence rather
than scientific inquiry.Fast forward one hundred years and newspapers are downsizing,
consolidating to survive, or closing all together; radio is struggling to stay alive in the digital
age; and magazine circulation is decreasing and becoming increasingly more focused on micro
audiences. The information function of the news has been criticized and called “infotainment,”
and rather than bringing people together, the media has been cited as causing polarization and
a decline in civility (Self,

Gaylord, & Gaylord, 2009). The extremes at each end of the twentieth century clearly show
that the optimistic view of the media changed dramatically. An overview of some of the key
theories can help us better understand this change.

Conceptual Model

Example

The classic example of the application of the Magic Bullet Theory was illustrated on October
30, 1938 when Orson Welles and the newly edition of H.G. Wells' "War of the
Worlds."interrupted with a "news bulletin" for the first time. What the audience heard was
that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in a place called Grover's Mill, New Jersey. It
became known as the "Panic Broadcast"civil defense and set a standard for provocative
entertainment. Approximately 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast and
about one million of those actually believed that a serious alien invasion was underway. A
wave of mass hysteria disrupted households, interrupted religious services, caused traffic jams
and clogged communication system homes to seek shelter in more rural areas, raided grocery
stores and began to ration food. The nation was in a state of chaos, and this broadcast was the
cause of it.Media theorists have classified the Magic Bullet Theory. This is exactly how the
theory worked, by injecting the message directly into the "bloodstream" of the public,
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attempting to create a uniform thinking. The effects of the broadcast suggested that the media
could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading theorists to believe this was one of the
primary ways media authors shaped audience perception.

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