“Representation”-Stuart Hall

"Representation connects meaning and language to culture." If a designer becomes a symbol, an impression, a representation of a design language, he/she will be widely regarded as part of the design culture. For example, people think of Yayoi Kusama when they see dense dots, and Andy Warhol when they see a colourful replica of Marilyn Monroe. When people see his/her works, they can't help thinking of some meaning, which may be what the designer wants to express. In other words, the designer needs to have a very clear mind and very clear expression. Instead of being vague, we must define the purpose, audience, and environment for each of our projects. At the same time, we need to constantly reflect on ourselves and think about where we are at each stage. We may change our position or interests at different stages. But we need to be clear about why we're designing, who we're designing for?
As this article said, "Representation is an essential part of the process by which fancy is produced and exchanged between members of a culture." As a designer, we should have a design language that can represent ourselves, so that we can better communicate with other designers and audiences in the design culture. That's how it becomes part of the design culture.
As we get familiar with design, we do unconsciously internalize some code. Some are linguistic, for example, some are terminology that only designers understand. In typography, for example, we say the bleeding line, French binding, saddle stitch, etc. When someone says these words, the images they represent come to our mind. We can straightly understand the meaning and don't even have to think about the image. Others are visual, like the toolbar logo on the software interface. We see them and we think about what they do, for example, we see paint buckets and we think about filling colours.
I think the most important is the visual language system, which includes the semiotics system and other small systems. The visual language system is an essential part of the design culture. It is like a net connecting all designers, even the audience. In a sense, it's also a representation system. It is not a single concept, but consists of different points, forming a complex relationship. Each designer is a point on the net, and they make up different areas that form the framework of the larger system. And it's all connected by visual language. In auditory, spoken, and written languages, people may come from different worlds, unable to understand each other's words. But the vision does not produce ambiguity and does not require any translation, so it is easier for human beings to communicate ideas in the visual language system. In this discipline, a system of representation is a visual language.

Unit-2 | Portfolio

Unit-2 | Portfolio

350. Reflection on Reading 11/02/2020

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