Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10. Informers: (a) a garlic container: a message embedded in an object, such as in a garlic-shaped
garlic container, helps to operate in a new place, e.g., when one is a guest in a house for the first time;
(b) this is a low-message garlic container because only a small garlic on the lid suggest the usage; (c
and d) glass and porcelain dishes for fish; (e) potato peeler (© 2012, photographed by A. Ursyn. Used
with permission)
something, because they contain a hidden mes-
sage. Designing informers and pretenders may be
somehow related to entertainment; objects one
can play with and laugh at may also be useful in
marketing.
See Figure 10 for examples of informers.
One may also find informers in contemporary
architecture. For example, The Longaberger Bas-
ket Company headquarters in the form of a seven-
story gift basket informs about the company's
profile, while the Big Duck building, Flanders,
New York, Long Island informs that it was built
(in 1931) to sell ducks and duck eggs.
Figure 11 shows another example of an in-
former in contemporary architecture.
Quite often, objects carry hidden messages
that are loosely connected to the product. For
example, many times car advertisers show a lion
or a tiger to associate a fast, fearsome animal with
a car. Driving it makes you feel powerful, and
make you transfer this feeling on a car. Thus, there
is a link from iconic, well known content to a
hidden content of a commercial, but designers
must know the audience they are talking to evoke
expected reaction. Also, CD covers communicate
hidden messages through images, sometimes
political, sometimes sexual in nature, and some-
times they address visually a selected group of
listeners. Many times color sends a message, when
designers use generally accepted associations,
such as green = calm and soothing, red = hot and
violent, etc. In this style of the product advertise-
ment, commercials are comprised of a presentation
of a product along with a hidden message that
draws the viewer into aesthetic sensations, emo-
tional associations, and the producer's promises
that supplement the product itself.
See Table 2 for Your Visual Response.
Many pretenders act as a shortcut, an acceler-
ated way of conveying something, when they
contain a hidden message. For example, we may
think about a specific message design when the
product characteristic tells the user what is the
purpose of it. Sometimes a unified, standardized
design, such as in case of electric switches and
sockets, helps the users to successfully operate in
