We were asked to read the essay Rhetoric of the image, by Roland Barthes for our design studies class. I found this a difficult read, why to academics not think about the poor unacademic types who may one day be reading their work? However I battled on with it and found it helped when I met to discuss it with the rest of my seminar group.
We deduced that Barthe's is talking about the way we perceive images, he uses an example of an advert for Italian food (pasta, tomatoes etc). He talks about the three main ways we see an image.
The linguistic message, which is the text or copy included on the advert, this affects the viewer’s interpretation of image. In the example he gives us the linguistic message not only gives us the name of the product but also helps convey an overall feel for the advert. It focuses our attention, helping us identify the main message being conveyed in the advert.
The coded iconic message is the assumptions the viewer makes from the appearance of the image, in the advert he used as an example the produce looks fresh and appealing, which makes the viewer assume the company sell quality fresh produce. This does not need to be stated in the text as we can see that from the photo's composition. The colours used in the image are representative of the Italian colours, red, green and white, this heightens our perception that the produce is from Italy.
The non-coded iconic image is literally what the viewer sees in the image.
As a graphic designer I need to be aware of the different levels which people perceive an image. I need to think about cultural differences, and what factors such as age and gender play within the viewer’s interpretation.
We then started talking about the current diet Irn Bru advert which is on lots of bill boards around Dundee at the moment. In them there are two images which are identical apart from one has the phrase "sugar free" incorporated in it somewhere. The 'sugar free' is huge and very obvious. The caption reads "Spot the difference.... Diet Irn Bru, same great taste but sugar free". To me the advert doesn't make sense, they are wanting us to see that there is no taste difference in the diet drink compared to the regular one but in fact the images have a huge difference in them. Which to me states the exact opposite, that there is a taste difference and it’s a big one. However another person in the group perceived the ad to work well, he explained that because the only difference in the photos is the statement that it is sugar free this conveys that the drink is exactly the same as the regular version with only one difference (no sugar).
I think this in an example where the viewer really relies on the copy to make sense of the advert. For me if the advert did not state, "Same great taste" I would come away thinking that Irn Bru's sugar free drink tastes completely different to the regular version, which I know from the copy is not what they want me think. So this is an example of how the linguistic message has affected my understanding of an image and advert.
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