Examples of Advertising or Editorial Photographs
I now have a better understanding of visual communication being so important and influential to our values, personal identity, taste in style, ethics, etc. This happens to us because of visual phenomena being so connected each of this parts of us intellectually and emotionally, reflecting and affecting each aspect. Understanding this can and has been used to manipulate people into looking and being a certain way.
Arthur Berger’s Seeing is Believing, page 23, has a list of examples of the signifier and signified in advertisements. The signifier is a sign or characteristic in an image that leads the viewer to come to a meaning for that sign; the signified.
Calvin Klein
http://luxurylabs.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/more-male-models/
The first advertisement that I chose to display is by Calvin Klein (Found in many magazines), advertising jeans for both men and women. The models that are posed have a wet-and-messy look to them, great physique, and displaying sexual desire. Many advertisements use sex appeal to attract an audience. The photographer of this image used markers such as the wet and messy hair to be more appealing to the mature audience. The sender of the image is Calvin Klein Jeans, the message is to wear Calvin Klein Jeans to look sexy, the receiver is any person with the desire to be attractive, the code used is male and female models, and the contact is photographic advertising.
Signifier: Marker
Wet and messy hair
Shirtless
Signified: Meaning
Wild personalities
Sex-appeal
Sender: Sends Message
Calvin Klein Jeans
Message: Content
Wear Calvin Klein Jeans and you will look sexy
Receiver: Audience
People with the desire to be attractive, and feel that these jeans will help with that.
Code: Form (Language, Images, Sound)
Male and female models
Black and white
English
Contact: Medium
Photographic advertising
“Gay Valentine’s Day”- Armani Exchange
http://hinterlandgazette.com/2010/02/armani-exchange-gay-valentines-day-ad.html
The second advertisement that I chose is by Armani Exchange, which is a clothing company. For this advertisement, they chose to attract the gay audience; stirring up mixed emotions. The website that I located the advertisement on had an article of complaints to take this ad down due to is displaying “soft porn”, while I am sure many other’s were grateful for the display. If you look closely, you will see that the male and female in the center of the photo are the same two featured on the left and right with a model of the same sex. The two in the center are wearing sunglasses to make this harder to recognize.
Signifier: Marker
Affection
Gay and straight models
Signified: Meaning
Brings people close
Attracts “gay” audience
Sender: Sends Message
Armani Exchange
Message: Content
Wear Armani Exchange clothing
Receiver: Audience
Men and women, both gay and straight; for cloths that will bring you closer to the one you want.
Code: Form (Language, Images, Sound)
Male and female, gay and straight, models
Black and white
English
Contact: Medium
Photographic advertising
In terms of physical features of the models that are used in these advertisements, I saw no real difference; many advertisements use the same tricks, which are human desires more than any. The manner that men are shown, relating to women, is strong, healthy, etc. for the female audience, and woman are portrayed in ways that please the male audience. Details included in these picture such as the wet hair and the affection show that sexual desire and the need for human contact is an important thing for many people, and visual phenomena is used to draw these feelings out; leading people to believe that a product will change how you appear to other people, so you will buy their product. What these magazines are saying about the models portrayed and the audience reading their publications is that they are the idealistic image, and people should look like them.
Works Cited
Proctor, Lauren. "More Male Models «." Luxurylabs Wordpress. N.p., 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. http://luxurylabs.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/more-male-models/.
Shan, Janet. "Armani Exchange "Gay" Valentine’s Day Ad Sparks Controversy Among Some Mothers." The Hinterland Gazette. N.p., 08 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. http://hinterlandgazette.com/2010/02/armani-exchange-gay-valentines-day-ad.html.
Berger, Arthur Asa. "Chapter One: Seeing Is Believing." Seeing Is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication. 4th ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub., 1998. 23+. Print.
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