Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Symbols
sages and feelings. In a similar way communication
through the use of avatars in a virtual social space
applies ready expressions, gestures, and actions
conventionally and comfortably collected at the
action panels to animate avatars in an expressive
way. Not only websites and e-mails but also game
spaces are designed in an iconic way, so the players
can identify optimal moves and links to additional
tools, helpful hints, or other spaces.
Another semiotically rich area of activity
relates to tattoos. A report by the Food and Drug
Administration estimated that as many as 45 mil-
lion Americans have tattoos, and they spend $
1.65 billion annually on tattoos (Tattoos, 2012);
However, applying tattoos may be sometimes
a controversial issue - people with tattoos are
excluded from some jobs. There may also be a
removable tattoo picked from a topic for body
decoration, or placed in concealed places. Tattoos
convey messages that are conventional (such as
hearts pierced with an arrow), artistic (modern
tattoo art displayed in flash art flash magazines)
or aesthetically pleasing (such as flowers and
angels popular in the 1960s), religions (Christian
tattooing in Bosnia and Hercegovina was wide-
spread, intended to prevent forced conversion
to Islam), representing social or cultural groups
(e.g., showing group membership), or otherwise
(such as in case of the Japanese crime syndicate
yakuza) restricted to specific circles. In other
cases the tattoo semantics becomes helpful, as a
non-verbal communication (in connecting to oth-
ers). Individual reasons to display signs, symbols,
and icons may include a need to commemorate
a cherished person (such as Elvis Presley), apply
a camouflage (to blend with the environment
and become invisible for the enemy), to offer
storytelling (like some Aboriginal hunters who
honor animal spirits), document a rite of passage
(e.g., among Freemasons), present oneself as a
member of a prestigious formation (sometimes
through choosing images of mermaids by marines
and people in military service). The message can
become dreadful (like tattoos showing numbers
A notion of a symbol represents an abstract con-
cept, not a thing, and is comparable to an abstract
word (for example, a symbol of the ying-yang -
an interplay of contrasting and complementary
forces which engender and sustain the universe).
As stated by Barbieri (2010, p. 212), “Symbols
allow us to make arbitrary associations and build
mental images of future events (projects), of ab-
stracts things (numbers), and even of non-existing
things (unicorns).”
A symbol does not relate to a specific object or
picture but only contains meaning by itself. Sym-
bols, for example letters, numbers, words, codes,
traffic lights, and national flags do not resemble
things they represent but refer to something by
convention, like the word “red” represents red.
We must learn the relationship between symbols
and what they represent, especially when we are
immersing in another culture. A symbol represents
an abstract concept and is comparable to an abstract
word. Highly abstracted drawings that show no
realistic graphic representation become symbols.
Symbols are omnipresent in our life, for example:
•
An electric diagram that uses abstract sym-
bols for a light bulb, wire, connector, resis-
tor, and switch.
•
An apple for a teacher or a bitten apple for
a Macintosh computer.
•
A map - typical abstract graphic device.
•
A 'slippery when wet' sign.
•
A plan for a house.
We encounter icons, symbols, and indexes on
the web. Most web pages contain symbolic im-
ages - conventional signs, usually at the top of a
page, that help users navigate by assigning their
moves through the website and across the network.
Many times these symbols on a website, as well
as in electronic mail communication take form of
the iconic, conventional signs; they develop into a
specific language, often conveying personal mes-
