Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Signs are important, as they can mean something other than themselves, therefore we can design something to have a certain effect on our audience.

By understanding the meaning of symbols, a designer can avoid the need to explain/teach the audience what something does. For example finding health packs in games;

The cross symbol has been used in hospitals, ambulances etc and is therefore associated with health. The colour green is also used on health kits sometimes, as we associate it with health. Red and white health kits also feature the red cross which is a protected symbol, and may only be used by the Red Cross or military. The fact that it can only be used by the military is why i think that a lot of games have red and white health kits, as the games that have these are based around military's & war. (Half Life, Halo, ect)

(The typical green first aid kit we see in real life. GTA)

Denotation & Conotation 

Denotation is the literal meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition’. Connotation refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. Depending on our expierinces, certain words have a positive, negative or neautral connotation.

For example a snake.

Denotation: Green, legless, reptile, scaly

Connotation: Danger, evil, untrustworthy, treachery

Shapes

We can use connotation on shapes, as shapes can have different emotional associations. For example circles have no beginning or end, they represent the eternal whole in every culture and they can be used to represent the sun, the moon, the earth ect. Squares and rectangles are stable and safe. They are familiar and trusted shapes and suggest honesty. They have right angles and represent order, mathematics, rationality and formality. Triangles can be stable when sitting on their base and unstable when not. They represent dynamic tension, action and aggression.

Colour

Different colours have different emotional associations which can be positive or negative. Here are some words/feelings that i assicociate with different colours:

• Blue: waves, calm / sad, depressed, grief, loneliness, cold

• Black: Strong, bold, / death, evil, bad, scary, the end, eternal, necromancy

• White: free, power, clean, sterile / empty, nothingness, void

• Green: neutral, calm, healthy, freedom, nature / illness, envy

• Pink: romance, love, girly, /

• Orange: autumn, fruitful, bright, hot / fire, anger,

• Purple: royalty, magic, / witch, dark magic, snobbery,

• Red: love, romance, hot / anger, blood, guts, horror, eyeballs

• Brown: ancient, old,

• Yellow: bright, sun,

Source: Lectures from earlier in the year.

This Means This, That Means That, A user's guide to semiotics: Sean Hall

To broaden my knowledge of semiotics, I've been reading Sean Hall's This Means This, That Means That.

This book an introduction to Semiotics which presents 75 semiotic concepts, using practical examples, of how meaning is made in contemporary culture.

Whilst I found this book to be an interesting read, I couldn't really see how much this would help me with designing characters. I will discuss the few things I thought I could relate to character designing.

Some things I found useful/interesting:

In the first chapter of this book "Signs and Signing", we are introduced to Signifier and Signified. We are shown a painting by Lucas Cranach (1472 - 1553) which depicts Adan and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (Pictured below) and asked what the apple signifies.

The apple represents the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and satan (who takes the from of a serpent) uses the apple to tempt eve. Eve picks the apple and gives it to Adam, and with this Adam and Eve fall from grace in the eyes of god.

However, in the bible there is no mention of an apple, just fruit.

The apple (The signifier) is being used to signify, represent temptation (signified). Whilst the apple means temptation, some other fruit could of been used instead but it's only because there is an already well-established connection between the appearance of an apple and the idea of temptation that this fruit is used in the picture. (Page 24)

This really got me thinking about how we have a certain connection between things in our minds. Apples can mean temptation, healthy, and it's literal meaning, fruit. A rose can mean passion, romance, love in our minds. Things, objects, colours can mean something other than their literal meaning and can evoke emotions, and this is very important relating to character design. For example, if I used a skull on an outfit or weapon what would people connect that with? Death? Evil? If I were to be creating a villan or evil character, skulls are the way to go. Or a heart. If I put a heart pattern on a piece of clothing what do people connect with hearts? Health? Love? Femininity? I think with character design I will have to work a bit backwards. I will have to think, what could signify evil? Or what could signify a sweet, happy person? Perhaps flowers and hearts and sparkles.

What kind of person Has written this sentence?

The style in which something is done can influence how a message is received. The elegant font in which "I am not a criminal" is written seems to make it more believable. When it comes to message making, we should not forget that the form of the message matters as much as the actual message.

The book then goes on to display several sentences of the word "Please trust me", and reading through, I understand the point. Some fonts look silly, and unbelievable, but there are more "serious" fonts, which you are more likely to believe.

This got me thinking about styles of fonts, and that I should use an appropriate one in my character profile, not only to match the style of my concept, but to also make it seem believable and to fit in right. (Page 156.)

Those are the pages that stuck out to me and that made me think about how I could relate it to character design. I wish I could find a book specifically on semiotics in character design, or character design books in general, but there doesn't seem to be many about and the few that exist seem to be expensive or impossible to get a hold of.

Overall, this book has given me a clear insight into semiotics with plenty of examples. The vast amount of pictures made it easy to read, and enjoyable, therefore I think the information from this book will stay with me.

Conslusion

Semiotics is something I need to think about constantly when designing my characters. Everything from the shapes I use, to the colour I use and if i want to get a certain meaning across. I want my warrior fighter to look fierce and strong, and the same with the other characters. I want my rogue to look dangerous, and I want my sorceress to look intelligent and powerful. I've already done some research into this by analysing characters that already exist, so using that and my knowledge of Semiotics I think I can really get across who my characters are through how they look.