Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs, a sign being something that represents something other than itself. There are two theorists most commonly associated with semiotics; they are Ferdinand de Saussure 1857-1913, and Charles Sander Pierce 1839-1914.

Saussure’s dyadic semiotic system argues that signs don’t represent things for any particular reason and that when taken out of context objects, ideas and concepts are abstract and only has significance or meaning when they are give a sign to represent them.

Pierces theory on the other hand, argues that all signs fall within three categories, an index, icon or symbol. An index means that the sign does not have an arbitrary signifier (for example, smoke may suggest fire but does not mean that there is a fire). An icon is a fake representative of a real object, like a picture or a photograph. A symbol is completely conventional like a number or a letter.

Now, when creating my magazine, I can take signs and semiotics into account to better convey my message.