Applying Semiotic Theories to Graphic Design Education : An Empirical Study on Poster Design Teaching

The rationales behind design are dissimilar to those behind art. Establishing an adequate theoretical foundation for conducting design education can facilitate scientising design methods. Thus, from the perspectives of the semiotic theories proposed by Saussure and Peirce, we investigated graphic design curricula by performing teaching experiments, verifying the adequacy of applying these theories to poster design. During the teaching experiment, a matched groups design method was used for assigning 30 students to either an experimental group or a control group. The results of the experiment revealed that compared with the control group students, the experimental group students, who applied the semiotic theories to their poster designs, performed more favourably in image creativity, picture aesthetic, typography, and total poster design score. The posters created by the students were submitted to International Triennial of Ecological Posters ‘the 4th Block’, and a total of 4 creations from the experimental group were accepted. The results of the teaching experiment verify that applying semiotic theories to graphic design curricula facilitates improving student ability to observe objects and cultivating their capability to design posters and reinforce the visual tension in the posters.


Introduction
Humans tend to perceive the world through signs, and their daily life frequently involves symbolising surroundings (Hoffmeyer & Emmeche, 1991).In the late nineteenth century, Ferdinand de Saussure (1857Saussure ( -1913) ) applied the concepts of associationistic psychology and sociology to establish linguistic and semiotic theories.From the perspective of behaviourism, Charles S. Peirce (1839Peirce ( -1914) ) proposed the concept of pragmatism, laying the foundation of semiotics.Subsequently, numerous scholars have contributed to the research of semiotics and applied related concepts to various media and cultures (Michael, 1999).After decades of development, design education often frequently involves applying semiotics to teaching or designing (Ashwin, 1984).Therefore, semiotics is integral to design education and is an aspect motivating the authors of the present study to conduct this research.
The prevalence of sign usages in the late nineteenth century motivated research on ideographic languages (Heim & Kratzer, 1998).This research trend exerted a marked influence on the domain of graphic design, particularly on design methodology (Bennett, 2006).Since the fifteenth century, design has been invariably perceived as a branch of the arts.Because artists are generally gifted with innate talent, the entire process in which they create art can be difficult to comprehend.Consequently, natural talent is considered necessary for learning graphic design (Bennett, 2006).However, the rationales behind creating graphic designs are actually distinct from those behind producing art.Moreover, adequate theoretical foundations can enable scientising design methods.Therefore, according to the theories of semiotics, the second research motivation of this study was employing a teaching experiment approach to verify the feasibility of applying semiotics to graphic design teaching.
Having been continually used for more than two centuries (Gallo & Quintavalle, 2001), posters are, despite being a type of conventional communication medium, essential for propagating information because they are generally exposed to viewers at close range (Eskilson, 2012).Regarding the current design education related to visual communication, poster design training is considered a crucial and professional subject (Findeli, 2001)

Course Design
The experimental and control group participants were subjected to 4 weeks of teaching activities.During the first 90 minutes of the weekly 3-hour course, the instructor taught the students, and the students then engaged in practical activities for the remainder of the time.Therefore, the students received a total of 720 hours of training during the 4-week period.Additionally, the instructor directed the students to each select a public welfare topic according to the course content.The students had to design three poster concepts on their selected topics and, subsequently, from amongst the three concepts, select one concept from which to design a final poster.
The course textbooks included The Essential Principles of Graphic Design (Millman, 2008), Graphic Design: The New Basics (Lupton & Phillips, 2014), 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design (Heller & Vienne, 2012), and Effective Poster Design (Van Dalen et al., 2002).Furthermore, the ADDIE (Analysis → Design → Development → Implementation → Evaluation) teaching model was applied to guide students towards completing their posters.In the first week, course schedules for both groups were identical.However, beginning the second week, the case teaching method was used to guide the students in the control group, but course materials related to semiotic theories were excluded.By contrast, the experimental group students received additional course materials on semiotic theories and were instructed in poster creation involving aspects of images and signs.The course content of the two groups are explained as follows (

Reliability of the Judges
After the 4-week course concluded, the two pretest judges participated in posttest evaluation.According to the four grading criteria in the pretest, the judges evaluated the posttest posters.The scores received for each criterion were summed, and the scores from each judges were averaged to obtain posttest scores.Subsequently, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis was applied to examine the posttest scores.The results revealed that the Spearman's ρ values of image creativity, picture aesthetic, colour application, and typography were 0.876 (p = .000),1.02 (p = .000),0.634 (p = .008),and 0.734 (p = .000),respectively, indicating that the reliability coefficients of the four grading criteria reached the p < .05significance level.Furthermore, the Spearman's ρ value of the total score was 0.987 (p = .000),indicating that the posttest scores given by the judges were consistent.In other words, the scores of the posters created by the students during the course were statistically reliable.Therefore, subsequent analyses were conducted to examine the difference between the two groups.

Result
The results revealed that the average image creativity, picture aesthetic, colour application, typography, and total scores of the experimental group were 22.80 ± 0.77, 21.93 ± 0.88, 20.40 ± 1.01, 21.33 ± 0.72, and 86.85 ± 2.99 points, respectively.The average image creativity, picture aesthetic, colour application, typography, and total scores of the control group were 21.13 ± 1.36, 20.93 ± 0.96, 20.80 ± 1.18, 20.53 ± 1.06, 83.05 ± 4.11 points, respectively.The standard deviation (SD) values of the scores received the two groups signified that the four criterion scores and the total scores received by the experimental group were more consistent than those received by the control group (Table 3).

Performance on Image and Sign Use for Designing Posters
The teaching experiment confirmed that applying semiotic theories to graphic design education enhanced student ability in poster design.Particularly, the improvement in image creativity was the most noticeable compared with other aspects of designing.In other words, integrating semiotic course materials into graphic design curricula can enrich student creativity in poster design.We assert that poster designers can apply images and signs and select adequate visual elements according to the design imagery.Methods including conversion, combination, deletion, and analogy can be used to associate, encode, and transform selected visual elements in specific sign systems for creating posters.Viewers can interpret the visual sematic messages of the posters according to personal and cultural experiences.Such a process can enhance not only the creativity of poster designers but also the sense of entertainment experienced by poster viewers; thus, the designers and viewers can communicate and interact through posters.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate posters on the theme of 'peace', created by the experimental and control group students, respectively.The creator of the poster in Figure 6 used the image of a dandelion to signify the act of spreading, creating an analogy by replacing images of the dandelion seeds with images of grenades.The dandelion seeds waft from the lower right corner to the top left corner, silhouetted against a crimson background that reflects a sense of alertness, and the poster heading is displayed by the word 'SPREAD'.Overall, this poster sarcastically addresses how fear induced by war has gradually spread worldwide.Furthermore, the completeness of the poster enables the viewer to be guided to deliberate the true implication of peace.By contrast, the creator of the poster depicted in Figure 7 predictably used the image of a dove, placing it at the centre of the poster against a background image of flames; the poster heading is displayed by the phrase 'The War-torn peace'.Because the creativity, aesthetics, and arrangement of this poster were less attractive than those of the poster in Figure 6, this poster inefficiently motivates viewers to reflect on the implication of peace.Overall, applying semiotic theories to poster design curricula enabled guiding the students in deliberating relationships amongst signs from the perspective of image implication, thereby enriching the creativity and aesthetics of the poster designs and improving the arrangement and use of poster headings.verify the applicability of semiotic theories to poster design education.The results revealed that through the process of comprehending the meanings of images and signs, students' creativity and observation capabilities improved, as did the richness of their imaginations.This type of training enables students to clearly understand the procedures and logic behind creating a design.Moreover, the process of image and sign integration facilitates creating a poster that can clearly convey an intended message; such poster creation also imperceptibly enhances the aesthetic attainment of students.
In terms of Eastern design education, the field of graphic design in Taiwan is considered a branch of the arts.Consequently, domestic graphic design education involves training methods similar to those used in art education.Such training methods have caused students to perceive graphic design as the expression of the self and overlook the true purpose of designing.However, graphic design actually involves applying images, signs, textual structures, and aesthetic cogitation to objectify the world as perceived by designers.Therefore, the methodology, rationales, and aims of graphic design are specific.A talented artist can rely on innate ability, but an excellent graphic designer must attentively observe various objects to formulate creative designs.
From the perspective of semiotics, a sign is an integration of concepts, sounds, and images, as well as a medium for carrying and conveying information.Furthermore, a sign can be used to simplify various objects.Visual design techniques can be applied to convert details observed in the world into various signs, the elements of which can be processed and integrated to manifest the thoughts of the designer.Saussure's system of signifier and signified is in actuality a single entity featuring two distinct facets.Moreover, the three types of signs (icon, symbol, and index) proposed by Peirce can be used to epitomise the living environment and cultural history of humans.Applying the theories of arbitrary and associative relation, graphic designers can recombine and convert the meanings of signs displayed in their creations, thereby attracting viewer attention and achieving the goals of conveying information and emotion.

Topic:
Introduction to public welfare poster design Content: From the perspectives of sociology, economics, and culture, explain the definition and themes of public welfare posters and guide students in proposing a theme.Week 2 Topic: Relationship between public welfare themes and semiotic theories Content: Introduce the semiotic theories proposed by Saussure and Peirce and explain the implications of images and signs in posters and the process of encoding and decoding signs.Topic: Styles and types of public welfare poster design Content: Compile and categorise the posters created by international competition winners and famous designers.Explain to students the various styles and types of poster design.Week 3 Topic: Functions of images and signs in public welfare posters Content: Through visual terminologies including images, texts, and colours, integrate design images and visualise the thoughts of poster designers.Topic: Colour and visual expression used in public welfare posters Content: Compile and categorise the posters created by international competition winners and famous designers.Explain to students the colour usages and visual expressions in the posters.Week 4 Topic: Techniques for creating public welfare poster images Content: Explain how signs convey metaphors and metonymies.Guide students in applying similarities between objects to create the visual images for the posters.Topic: Composition of texts and images in public welfare posters Content: Compile and categorise the posters created by international competition winners and famous designers.Explain to students the textual arrangements and image elements in the posters.
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Table 2 ) : Table 2 .
Curriculum content of the experimental and control groups Week 1 Topic: Introduction to public poster design Content: From the perspectives of sociology, economics, and culture, explain the definition and themes of public welfare posters and guide students in proposing a theme.

Table 3 .
Average scores and standard deviations of experimental and control groups A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was applied to further analyse the difference between the four criterion scores and the total scores (Table4).The results revealed that the image creativity score of the experimental group (22.80 points) was significantly higher (F(1, 28) = 17.90, p = .000)than that of the control group (21.13 points).Furthermore, the average picture aesthetic score (M experimental group = 21.93 > M control group = 20.93;F(1, 28) = 8.80; p = .006),typography score (M experimental group = 21.33 > M control group = 20.53;F(1, 28) = 5.82; p = .023),and total score (M experimental group = 86.85> M control group = 83.05;F(1, 28) = 8.36; p = .007) of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group.By contrast, the average colour application score of the experiment group differed nonsignificantly from that of the control group (F(1, 28) = 0.99; p = .326).