Journal #3

Symbols All Around You

To complete this project, I took a walk around one of my favorite places: Target. While I found plenty of symbols and icons around the store, I noticed that most meaning was conveyed through written words. According to Saussure, words are a collection of signs organized in a linear sequence known as a syntagm. While words are symbolic signs, I chose to photograph illustrated signs for this project.  

Symbols. Saussure and Pierce agreed that the relationship between the signifier and the signified are arbitrary in a symbol. While Saussure categorized symbols as Arbitrary, Pierce defines a Symbol as a sign that has no logical connection between the sign and what it means. Symbols rely exclusively on the reader having learnt the connection between the sign and its meaning.  

The first symbol I chose to photograph is the Target logo. 

While the Target logo does have a logical connection to the store itself, its meaning and connection with the store are not known until the reader has learned of the connection. We might recognize that it is itself a target, but until we have learned about its connection with Target, we do not immediately associate it with the store.

Walking around the store I found many logos symbolizing a brand or product. While the following symbols have some logical connection to their brand, we do not associate them with the brand or product until we learn their meaning.

 Apple

 Major League Baseball

 Quaker Oats

Arm & Hammer

The following symbols, on the other hand, have no logical connection to their product. We as consumers have learned to associate them with their brands.

 Fruit Loops

 Trix

The next group of symbols may be very recognizable to those with children or who remember these symbols from their own childhood. As with other symbols, we do not understand the meaning of these symbols until we have learned the connection with the sign.

 Superman

 Spiderman

 Green Lantern

 Captain America

 Barbie

Icons. Saussure and Pierce also agreed that with Icons, or Iconic symbols, there is a direct link between the sign and the object. The following icons resemble the things they represent.

I chose to photograph this icon because it reminded me of Magritte’s ‘The Betrayal of Images.’ While this may not be a moped, it certainly resembles one.

This set of icons was found on the seat of my cart. The reader does not need to learn the connection between the sign and what it means, as the icons clearly resemble the actions that they represent.

I found this icon in the parking lot as I left the store. The icon resembles a shopping cart easily letting customers know where to leave their carts when they are done shopping.