How has semiotics affected graphic design

王雅

In todays information age， semiotics is developing at an excited speed. In the wake of the long history， semiotics has changed from the language symbols to the non-language symbols. As one of the main way to disseminate information， of course graphic design has been influenced in a number of ways. This essay will first pay attention to the application of the semiotics in graphic design in the early society. After that， it will give three importance effects of semiotics to graphic design. Finally， it will introduce the Chinese designers have focused on the usage of the visual symbols to get more expressive on their works.

Semiotics is a kind of knowledge， which research the symbolic system. Approximately 170 million years ago， before the primitive society， people have engaged about the original design， and used the early semiotics to record and enrich their life. For example， our ancestors used the ropes to record their life， and made the symbol become the traditional social information. Another example is the symbols from the Neolithic artifacts are in order to share the secret messages. As these examples show， in the early society， the semiotics has been used in the basic design.

Graphic design is based on the visual media， such as newspapers， posters， packaging and so on. According to the creative dimension to transform the information into symbols through scientific and artistic processing. As a result， graphic design has been influenced by semiotics. This essay will give three importance effects of semiotics to graphic design. First of all， semiotics make the graphic design can transfer the information more scientific and accurate. For example， in the packaging design， proper use of semiotics can simplify the design content， and make people easily understand the meanings and characteristics of the products. The next important influence is that the semiotics makes the performance expression of graphic design more colorful. The different usage of visual symbols， such as， color， shape， space， montage and so on. As a result， vivid and powerful visual symbols can help people stimulate interest and get the deep impression， especially use the unique creative. Finally， the main influence is that the semiotics makes the graphic design through visual symbols reflect the hidden meaning of the language information. The rapid development of globalization really has created a huge market， and also made the business become the main mode of social development. The usage of the semiotics makes the graphic design communicate the product and company information more efficient. Because of a variety media， the hidden meaning of the language information can stimulate consumer buy more and more products. Due to semiotics， the development of the graphic design has got lots of important influences.

In addition， Chinese designers have paid more attention to the usage of the visual symbols to get more expressive on their works. Chinese designers are trying to fully understand the function and value of information dissemination activities， such as the symbol of “The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”. Exploring the performance potential of the different types of the symbols in order to improve design performance， and making the information more accurate， vivid and effective.

In conclusion， under the impact of semiotics， graphic design has been influenced in the early society. As we can see， it also gave plenty of important influences in many different aspects. Moreover， Chinese designers are trying to pay more attention to the usage of different types of the semiotics. Although， in my opinion， there are many things we can do in the future， we need to use more and more simple symbols， and change the composition order that can be more easily understand. So as a graphic design student， we need to work hard， do more research for the semiotics， and make it can fully use in the graphic design. All in all， semiotics affected the graphic design， and the correctly use of semiotics make graphic design better and better.

基金項目：石家莊新致遠文化傳播有限公司（項目編號：201610075034）。