Key question
How do signs convey meaning, and why does not everyone read them the same way?
Anything that stands for something else is a sign: a pictogram, a word, a colour, a photograph. Semiotics, the study of signs, helps you understand how meaning is created. This allows you to choose signs deliberately rather than at random.
Learning objective: You can distinguish between icon, index, and symbol, describe the denotation and connotation of an image, and take cultural codes into account.
Signs never stand merely for themselves.
2.1 / Three Types of Signs
Resemblance, trace or agreement.
According to Charles S. Peirce, signs can be distinguished by how they are connected to what they signify:
01
Character
Something perceptible that stands for something else, such as a word for an object.
02
Icon
Resembles what is meant: a pictogram, a drawing, a map.
03
Index
Refers through a real connection: smoke indicates fire, a track indicates a path.
04
Symbol
Means by convention: letters, flags, the dove as a symbol of peace.
Many signs are hybrid forms. A photograph resembles the subject whilst also being a trace of the moment. In terms of design, this means: icons are quickly understood, symbols must be learnt, indices arouse curiosity.
Icons show, indices refer, symbols agree.
2.2 / Denotation and Connotation
A picture shows something and means even more.
Roland Barthes distinguishes between two levels: denotation is what can be seen objectively, such as a blanket on a meadow. Connotation is what resonates alongside it: summer, leisure, romance.
Connotations are not arbitrary, but they are not the same for everyone either. They depend on experience, age, and culture. Good design directs them consciously and avoids unintended secondary meanings.
01
Denotation
What is objectively presented, still without interpretation.
02
Connotation
What resonates: emotions, values, and associations.
03
Ambiguity
Subtle signs spark curiosity; signs that are too obvious cause confusion.
Plan what your image implies.
2.3 / Codes and Culture
Meaning is learned, not innate.
Symbols and many connotations are based on codes that are learned within a community. In our culture, white stands for purity and weddings, whereas in parts of East Asia it can also represent mourning. A thumbs-up is not considered friendly everywhere.
For multilingual or international target audiences, you should therefore check how symbols are interpreted. Testing with real people from the audience is more reliable than relying on your own assumptions.
Look at the characters through the audience's eyes.
Exercise
Three characters for a cinema
Task: Design three signs for the Lichtspiel open-air cinema: an icon, an index, and a symbol.
STEP 1
Collect words and phrases associated with open-air cinema.
STEP 2
Sketch an icon, an index, and a symbol.
STEP 3
Note down the denotation and connotation for each sign.
STEP 4
Test the signs without explanation with two people.
Evaluation: Which symbol was understood immediately, which one needed an explanation, and why?