Computer Graphics and Understanding Semiotics in Design

Authors: Manoj Majhi, Debkumar Chakrabaty

Abstract:

The objective of the paper was to understand the use of an important element of design, namely color in a Semiotic system. Semiotics is the study of signs and sign processes, it is often divided into three branches namely (i) Semantics that deals with the relation between signs and the things to which they refer to mean, (ii) Syntactics which addresses the relations among signs in formal structures and (iii) Pragmatics that relates between signs and its effects on they have on the people who use them to create a plan for an object or a system referred to as design. Cubism with its versatility was the key design tool prevalent across the 20th century. In order to analyze the user's understanding of interaction and appreciation of color through the movement of Cubism, an exercise was undertaken in Dept. of Design, IIT Guwahati. This included tasks to design a composition using color and sign process to the theme 'Between the Lines' on a given tessellation where the users relate their work to the world they live in, which in this case was the college campus of IIT Guwahati. The findings demonstrate impact of the key design element color on the principles of visual perception based on image analysis of specific compositions.

Keywords: Color in Semiotics, Cubism and novice designer, visual perception, multimedia and communication.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1079002

References:

[1] Gert Rijlaarsdam, Huub Van Den Bergh, Michel Couzijn,"Traditional literacy ",Effective Learning And Teaching Of Writing: A Handbook Of Writing In Education p 445 2005.
[2] Ralph M. Stair, George Reynolds, George W. Reynolds .Principles of Information Systems p 258 2009
[3] Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Nick Montfort,"internet",New Media Reader p 17 2003
[4] Keith A. Roberts, David Yamane,"media content",Religion in Sociological Perspective p 34 2011
[5] Tom Bassarear,"between the lines",Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers p 579 2011
[6] http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/Images/tessellation1.gif CiCi Naifeh 28.09.12
[7] Eric S. Rabkin,"female sex ",Mars: A Tour Of The Human Imagination p 31 2005
[8] Johan Fornäs,"color white signifies knowledge",Signifying Europe Ch 6 2012
[9] Marcia Moses,"yellow signifies intellect or freshness",Understanding Color:Creative Techniques in Watercolor p38 2008
[10] Arnold Bittlinger,"red signifies energy and strength ",Archetypal Chakra: Meditations and Exercises of Opening Your Chakras p 98 2001
[11] John Kitto, Henry Burgess, Benjamin Harris Cowper,"white signifies purity ",The Journal of sacred literature p 409 1857
[12] Yogendra Singh ,"white signifies purity ",Social Sciences: Communication, Anthropology, and Sociology p 114 2010
[13] Syed V. Ahamed, Victor B. Lawrence,"knowledge is power",Intelligent Broadband Multimedia Networks p 475 1997
[14] Kavita Dass,"Department of Design , IIT-G ",Guide to Top Campuses in India p 213 2009