Signs and Signifiers

In this lesson we were talking about signs and signifiers that all media texts might use which subconsciously send messages to the audience. 

Definitions:

• Signifiers- shows something or means something, e.g. the colour red signifies love and romance. 
• Encoding- putting the meaning into something
• Decoding- working out the meaning of something
• Denotation- the meaning of something 
• Connotation- meanings associated with something

Key point: 

• All meanings vary depending on the reader/audience. 

Signs and signifiers:

• facial expressions and body language shows emotions/moods of people
• colours have a range of connotations
• lighting can create an atmosphere or highlight certain features
• objects can tell us more about people/places - they can be used instead of words

Here are 3 sheets that I filled out to show different types of signs and signifiers:

This picture shows different colours and what the colours may signify. 

This picture shows different diagrams and what they may signify.

This picture shows different fonts and what they may signify.