Week 03

This week we talked about semiotics and learned the differences between an icon, symbol, and index. In class we were tasked with coming up with examples for each of the three. According to “Visible Signs - Ch. 2” an icon resembles the sign; a photograph for example. With an index there is a direct link between the sign and the object; smoke is an index of fire. With a symbol, there is no logical connection between the sign and what it means.

In class work 

Task: Write a short, (200 – 400 word), illustrated account of your workshop experience. Use semiotic analysis to explain and justify the design thinking and process you have used to transform your chosen identity.

The logo I chose is from the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, CO. Their current logo is very clearly an icon. I say “very clearly” because as David Crow, 2007 explains, a photograph is an icon and the illustration of the facade of the bookstore is so detailed it is practically a photo. I chose to turn the iconic logo into a symbol because I believe that would be the biggest challenge for myself. In the past, professors have always asked me “why” when looking at my work and expect me to justify every decision I have made in the design process. It is difficult to justify a symbolic logo, maybe even impossible for if you can justify it then is it really a symbolic symbol? I made a floral illustration for the new proposed logo for Boulder Bookstore. I was loosely inspired by the wildflowers found in Colorado and decided to mirror the illustration to represent that there can be two sides to every story. Now. Does my justification of my design make it an index? I believe it could be argued. However, the average consumer would never know my justification so therefore I believe this is a symbolic logo.

I then went a step further and made a color pallet for the store.