Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Message and Meaning: We swim in the Media Ocean (and we control the waves)

Designed Messages always need to be understood the same way, by every time, by everyone, as well as have them react appropriately.

It'd be no use if an advertisement from Asda was cryptic and no one understood it, and the ones that did decided not to shop their.
That's a bad message they'd be sending.

Messages is the word for any communicated transmission from one source to any receiver, such as a poster or a spoken message.
Meaning is what we mean when we talk about the source of the sender's message, or their expression, and is what the receiver infers the message to be,

Often times, the ways in which a message is sent is just as, if not more, important than the message itself. It's crucial, as a poorly optimised transmission could lead to receivers have a hard time understanding your message, or not understanding it at all.


Senders is the term used to refer to designers when used in this context, or Encoders. We're the ones who translate meanings into symbols or forms to be sent as a message.
These messages need to be visualised from the point of view of the receiver, or the audience, so we can create the message more effectively, to be targeted more effectively. The more data we, as encoders, have, the easier it is to target and structure our messages.
     (-this is all important, as if decoders aren't effectively communicated to, then they won't buy into
        your message and ultimately, whatever it is you're trying to market-)


When deciding on the correct way to send a message is also important, as you need to pic the correct Channel, or the method that the message is sent (as stated two paragraphs ago). Essentially, there need to be some basic questions that you ask yourself as you're putting your message together, from the point of view of your audience (as stated last paragraph).

Some of these questions include;

  • Is it Urgent/Time sensitive?
  • Is immediate feedback needed?
  • Does a permanent record need to be kept
  • Is the content complicated? Private? Controversial?
  • Is the content be communicated inside or outside?
Ideally, you'd want your message to make use of as many appropriate channels as possible, with some being more appropriate than others. The radio may be an amazing place to advertise a new song, yet a poster could lack the content. And vice versa for more visual advertisements. You need to be constantly aware of the medium and message you're trying to present.



Design Authorship is a slight deviation from the established norm in the graphic design industry, in and that it's the Designer themself that's in control of their own messages and the pursuits they take to express them, like Anthony Burrill, pictured above.
These designers often take a much more self contained artifact and use it more in place of a directed message, rather than the broad and generic messages favoured by businesses.
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The receiver, or decoder in this instance, is what we would call our audience. The ones that we market towards, and we need to be mindful of how we approach how we word the messages we send them, in order to maximise the amount we can manipulate and influence their actions.

This topic was covered rather extensively by the psychologist of the hour, Marshall Mcluhan, who documented the effect the media had on the public.

He stated that media could only ever be an extension of knowledge, and extension of an ideal, of what we already know, and could not be a replacement for it.
That we shouldn't try and understand the media by thew words it uses, but why the words are used, which will in turn make it easier to construct future media, for the purpose of the audiences viewing it.



He postulated that the world and media isn't something that we don't understand, or at least the audience at large didn't. They didn't care about the people or the motives behind the media, and this made it easier for those people to get their messages across.

People like to have their preconceived ideas and beliefs confirmed, people seek out affirmation and validation in the things they buy, so it's probably best that we, as designers, try to stick to hegemony and certain expectations for people.
People also hate feeling like they're missing something, behind the curve or not experiencing something good. Creating a world of haves and have-nots greatly enhances the chances that more of your audience will want to buy what you are marketing.

People also want to find goals to fulfill, no matter how easy or trivial they might be, even in lieu of how fast the world moves around them, so it's nearly impossible to complete any of them; as though the you, the ball and the goal are all moving as you step up to score. 
Because of this, it's important to create advertisements that meet these certain needs, as well as last long enough for them to be 'completed'

About Me

I was told to make a blog, for university, and people took this very seriously. And I'm not saying that I haven't (or that there's anything wrong with serious) but I think the best work is made when you are having fun and enjoying what you do. So I'm going to make this enjoyable; both for me and those who end up reading it. And what's more fun than being corporate?! Wait. That doesn't sound correct at all. No matter! I've turned this blog (and myself!) into a brand! A company! An idea... and as batman always says, ideas can't be killed. (But I can please don't kill me) Wow. I am getting sidetracked. Fun! Excitement! Intrigue... These are some of the things you may or may not find here. Because it's mostly going to be graphics work. And writings, about graphics work. Probably both... But I've been known to do what I please. I'm a maverick, a loose cannon. You don't know what I'm going to do next. Probably some really good work. I ran out of things to say about 2 paragraphs ago, what are you still doing here? You should really be looking at all my academic work, it’s much more impressive and interesting than, whatever this is.