Reading 3- due Sunday, Oct 2
Critical Wayfinding-
Why does Ellen Lupton refer to “visual language” as a metaphor?
What does she mean by “perception at the expense of interpretation?”
Modern Hieroglyphs-
Give 3 examples of how signs are culturally specific.
Give 3 examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race and gender.
Language of Dreams-
What is the difference between a pictograph and an ideograph?
What signs would you use to create a rebus for the word “god”? Why did you choose those particular signs?
posted by Stephanie @ 6:17 PM
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Visual language is a metaphor because it is meant to take the place of written language.
“Perception at the expense of interpretation” means that what is perceived isn’t neccessarily the message intended to be interpreted (the highway sign warning drivers of immigrants crossing was interpreted by immigrants as ‘cross here’).
Signs for restaurants using the symbol of a fork and knife are culturally specific because not all cultures use those utensils for eating.
The lavatory signs for men and women create a distinction between gender, and the black power fist popular during the civil rights movements of t he 60s created a racial distinction.
A pictograph is a literal interpretation of a symbol. An ideograph represents an idea or concept visually.
A sign for the god of what? The idea of ‘god’ is different from one person to another based on culture and ideologies. I think it’s impossible to create a symbol that communicates a universal idea when there isn’t a universal understanding of that idea.
Reading 1-
Lupton refers to “visual language as a metaphor” because in many instances, signs and symbols can replace words and ideas. In order for them to reach a large audience, they have to be “generic” and recognizable. They can be interpreted more easily than written words, thus making them, for the most part, universal. People from different cultures can interpret the symbol of a car more easily than they could read the word “car” in a language that they may not know. This is why signs and symbols are used in subway, bus, and train systems, on road signs, in airports, and in many places of our every day life.
“Perception at the expense of interpretation” means that depending on what culture one may come from, different meanings and associations can be learned about signs and symbols. Lupton uses the example of the sun, and how the “tourist” sun of industrialized cultures is completely positive and happy, while non-industrialized cultures look at it as a source of destruction as well as growth. She also talks about the sign that is on San Diego freeways to alert drivers about Mexican immigrants that may be crossing the freeway. The Mexican immigrants saw the sign, and interpreted it as saying to “cross here”. Depending upon one’s background, things may be interpreted differently than intended.
Reading 2-
Three examples of how signs are culturally specific are:
1) The Men’s & Women’s Bathroom signs: In Middle Eastern areas, these could go either way, since the men of these cultures wear long dresses as well.
2) The “H” sign for Hospitals: People must have previously learned that this means “there is a hospital nearby”, and also know what the letter “H” is.
3) The signs for colleges with the little guy wearing a hat: People from other cultures may not wear the same cap and gown that we do when they graduate from school, so they may not know that this means there is a college nearby, unless they can read the name of the college underneath it.
Three examples of how signs create differences between class, race & gender are:
1) The girls’ bathroom sign creates a difference between gender, as well as race because of the little skirt that she is wearing.
2) Any kind of “animal crossing” sign – because in different areas different animals may be on there (cow, elephant, camel, etc.)
3) The symbols on ski slopes create distinctions because some people may not have ever been able to afford to go skiing, or may not have anywhere near them to go skiing, etc.
Reading 3-
A pictograph is a sign that is interpreted for its literal meaning, while an ideograph stands for an entire concept, or idea.
My rebus for the word “god” would probably just be a straight up and down line. This resembles a rod, which spelled like “god”. In many cultures, beings holding golden rods are associated with being “gods” or “god-like”. This also resembles the number 1, which could mean the best, the most powerful, etc. in association with the notion of a “god”.
Criitical Wayfinding:
Ellen Lupton refers to "visual language" as a metaphor because people use visuals to portray their ideas. "Perception at the expense of interpretation," means that something may be perceived by someone but then interpretated differently by someone else.
Modern Hieroglyphs:
3 examples of how signs are culturally specific are the men and women bathroom signs. Other countries may not beable to distinguish the difference b/c in some cultures men wear skirts as well. The fork and knife sign for eating may not be understood by other cutures because they eat with other utensils.
3 examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race and gender are the distinction between the girl and boy symbol by the skirt the girl wears. Signs that have the symbol no pets allowed, distinguish where you can and cannot bring your pet.
Language of dreams:
The difference between and pictograph and a ideograph is a pictograph is a literal meaning of a symbol, while an ideograph has an idea or concept meaning of the symbol. Ex. the picture of a fork and knife is a pictograph when it means fork and knife. But its an ideograph when it means restaurant.
For an interpretation of god, i would maybe use the face of a man in the clouds to portray someone looking over us, above us. I dont feel that this symbol could work though in the long run. Everyone has a different meaning of "God," so to try to make a symbol out of it is almost impossible.
Why does Ellen Lupton refer to “visual language” as a metaphor?
Because visual language represents something or some ideas by using their simplified/reduced form, icon or symbols that are generic enough to be understood by most people.
What does she mean by “perception at the expense of interpretation?”
Many times signs in contemporary media have organized reality into a reductive pattern of opposition. These signs often consisted of a conventionalized, exaggerated features.
They were given a cultural value or only serve to reinforce a dominant cultural value that is not necessarily the correct interpretation of what they represent. For example, the difference between male and female bathroom is signified by the addition of a cultural mark to the generic human form: the finlike extrusion representing the female’s dress. In this modern age, we now see that there are many women do not wear dress anymore and on the other hand, there are men who started to embrace skirt as well as those who wear skirt because of their culture.
3 examples of how signs are culturally specific:
1. The Male and Female sign on the lavatory door. The woman is marked by a stylized reference to a garment sometimes worn by Western women. In other culture such as in the Middle East and in the Scottish Highland, men also wear long dress or skirt.
2. The fork and knife sign that represent restaurants. In other culture such as the Chinese, Japanese and Korean, people normally eat using chopsticks, while in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia they use the symbol of fork and spoon to represent restaurants instead.
3. The man on the bed is used to represent hotel/motel/inn in the US. In Indonesia, the sign with bed in it usually represents hospital.
3 examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race and gender:
1. The man and woman sign on the lavatory door. The different genders were distinguished by the use of dress. Reinforcing the Western idea at that time that women wear skirts.
2. The ticket sales sign in which the only place a woman sign is shown other than the ‘lavatory for women’ sign. The woman is shown offering a service to the man. When the signs were created, ticket seller is a job that is common to women.
3. No cell phone sign normally placed in upscale restaurant indicate the class of the people who visit the restaurants (they can afford cell phones and prefer not to be disturbed while dining).
What is the difference between a pictograph and an ideograph?
Pictograph is a figurative sign interpreted for its literal meaning and refers to a physical object in the real world, while ideograph is a sign that stands for a concept or “idea” rather than a material object.
What signs would you use to create a rebus for the word “god”? Why did you choose those particular signs?
My rebus for the word “god” would be a circle. It not only sounds like the letter o from the word god, but it also represents wholeness and continuity—ideas that I often associate with the omnipotent and omniscient nature of a divine being.
Lupton refers to “visual language” as a metaphor because visual language is a way of speaking through visuals as opposed to actual words.
“Perception at the expense of interpretation” means that people who perceive things one way do not always perceive things the same way as others would the same situation, therefore making it open to interpretation.
3 examples of how signs are culturally specific are:
1) The men and women’s bathroom signs are recognized without the image of a toilet.
2) The eating utensil sign that include a fork and knife may not be recognized in cultures that do not use utensils for eating or use other utensils.
3) The American cocktail glass sign might not be recognized as a drinking alcohol in airports sign.
3 examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race, and gender are:
1) The woman’s bathroom sign is only distinguishable from the men’s sign because of the dress the woman is wearing.
2) The sign of the woman waiting on a man is the only other sign in which a woman is depicted besides the lavatory sign.
3) Smoking and non-smoking signs separate areas in which smokers can and cannot smoke.
The difference between a pictograph and an ideograph is that a pictograph does not refer to a word in a particular language, but to a physical object in the real world while an ideograph stands for a concept or “idea” rather than a material object.
The signs I would use to create a rebus for the word “god” would be the upper half of the man figure with perhaps a cloud splitting him in two. Actually, I am not really sure what I would use because the term “god” is different to everyone who believes in a god and even then if someone could come up with a symbol, it would not work for everyone because not everyone would understand it.
#1. Ellen Lupton refers "visual language" as a metaphor because visual language substitutes simplified pictures and graphics for written language.
"Perception at the expense of interpretation" means that everyone has thier own perception, thier own mind, thier own eyes. Through past experiences everyone has diverse perceptions on many things, with will conclude in a different interpretation.
#2. a) One example would be the men and women sign for bathrooms. The women is wearing a western cultured "party dress" when other cultures do not wear that type of clothing.
b) Another example is the dining graphic of a silouette of a knife and fork. Many cultures do not even use a knife and fork when dining (ex. chop sticks, sporks, hands, etc.)
c) The last example is the martini glass for a bar. All cultures do not drink martinis or even drink alcohol out of glasses, especially expensive crystal martini glasses.
a1) The first example is a sign such as the bathroom of a man and a woman seperates gender.
b2) Another example is the bar martini glass symbol. The martini glass represents an upper class.
c2) The dining sign is also another example with the knife and fork because some races and classes in society do not use those utensils.
#3. A pictograph is a graphic that symbolizes the meaning exactly. A ideograph is a graphic that symbolizes the idea or concept the graphic is explaining.
There would be many signs to create because there are many different gods because of all of the diverse cultures. I believe it is impossible to have a rebus symbol for the word god, because there are so many different perceptions and beliefs of what god is.
Ellen Lupton refers to “visual language” as a metaphor because it is used in place of written language to portray ideas that addresses a worldwide audience.
“Perception at the expense of interpretation” talks about the message intending to be seen one way, but is interpreted another way. An example is when artists create works with specific concepts in mind, and then critics as well as the general population takes that artwork and puts their own meaning to the work.
Three examples of culturally specific signs are:
1. the signs for restrooms distinguishing female and male space. Although Americans recognize the person with the dress as a representation of “female,” men in the Middle Eastern cultures also wear long articles of clothing similar to the dresses depicted in the American bathroom sign.
2. the fork and knife sign meaning restaurant or café. Some Asian cultures use chopsticks instead of the fork and knife. Some other cultures only eat with their hands.
3. the speed limit signs. The U.S. is one of the only places that use miles per hour. When we cross the border to Canada, they convert their speed limit to kilometers per hour.
Three examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race, gender, etc. are:
1. again the restroom signs. The male symbol represents “man.” The female symbol is in a skirt.
2. “no honking” signs. These are only displayed in cities where the culture is louder and cars travel through neighborhoods at all hours of the day and night.
3. the rainbow flag and signs. I have only seen these in the Village in New York City where the LGBT community is large. Here is a sign that distinguishes a part of a city’s sexuality from the rest of the area.
A pictograph is the exact representation of physical objects in the real world, where the sign is interpreted for its literal meaning. Ideographs represent the idea or message behind the images displayed, rather than representing the material object itself.
If I had to use an image, I would use an eye with light radiating outward from it as a rebus for the word “god.” This is almost what is represented on the dollar bill. Also god is known as seeing everything or as the all-knowing being. The heavenly light is to distinguish this image of god from just an eye. I do agree with a lot of other people in stating that god cannot be represented by an image. In fact, there are religions that do not use figural images in anything, simply because it is not allowed.
Critical Wayfinding:
Ellen Lupton refers to “visual language” as a metaphor, it is a replacement for the written language, which would have a more direct meaning than the interpreted messages from the visual.
What she means by “perception at the expense of interpretation" is that it depends on what you have learned from your culture to come to a conclusion about what it is you are trying to interpret. The same symbol can be used in different cultures and yet have different meanings. When you travel to another country and see that same symbol, you would act on it as you would in your own country, but be completely wrong for doing so in the current country.
Modern Hieroglyphs:
Signs are culturally specific because they are learned according to how the culture accepts the definition 1)the fork and spoon sign may not be recognized as not all cultures use forks and spoons. 2)the men and women symbols are recognized as bathroom logos because that is one of very few places westerners associate genders and the need for it, but it wouldnt work in say the middle east where men and women both wear dress like materials. 3)when driving, our culture taught us that red means stop and green means go, but red is also used in our culture as danger and things to pay attention to.
Language of Dreams:
A pictograph doesn't refer to any word in any language, but allows the viewer to identify it to a real object. An ideograph is the concept or idea of an object. To create a rebus for the word "god" depends on which religion you are refering to. If you are talking about the Catholic definition of God (a religion I am more familiar with) I would create an eye as He is defined as the all seeing, all knowing God.
Lupton refers to "visual language" as a metaphor because, one definition for "metaphor" is "One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol". Visual Language consists of symbols that represent words or ideas. "Perception at the expense of interpretation means that because of culture or other reasons for varied perception might cause for signs to be mis-interpreted.
3 examples of how signs are culturally specific:
1) ABCs : other countries use a different letter or interpretation system for thier alphabet
2) "Route" signs in America have a specific style to them to let drivers know that they are a major Highgway or route. Someone who didn't grow up seeing that might not be able to figure that out.
3) "@", the symbol which has been designated to represent "at". I don't have much experience with foriegn countries, but I'm guessing that this symbol is only understood by only a few of them.
3 Examples of how signs create distinctions between class, race and gender.
1) a cross or star of david have certain connotations about religion, so even if someone wanted to use those shapes for a design, they would have to keep in mind that those shapes now represent something very specific, and can not be used for simple aesthetic reasons
2)I'm not sure if this counts, but the way that boys are always represented with the color blue, and girls with the color pink.
3) The obvious example wiould be the male and female symbols for bathroom.
WHOOPS I FORGOT a couple questions in my post, heres the rest:
A pictograph refers to a physical object in the real world, and requires us to interpret a literal depiction of a scene. An ideograph stands for an idea or concept rather than a literal sense, we often combins individual meanings of various objects to create a new meaning for the symbols put together,
I think God would be the hardest word of all to make a symbol for, because it is probably the most debated idea that has ever exhisted in history and through out the world. If I was to make a personal symbol I would probably use a white circular shape (black outlining) with a lot of points extruding out, to represent "light" or divine light.
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