Understanding Design Through Semiotic Analysis: On Rocking Horse


KURAK AÇICI F., Bal H. B.

ART-SANAT, vol.13, pp.293-312, 2020 (ESCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 13
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.26650/artsanat.2020.13.0012
  • Journal Name: ART-SANAT
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.293-312
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Communication is a part of social life and manifests itself in industrial products as well. Design products have meanings and messages. Products carry out communication through their own forms. The concepts taken into consideration while developing design forms are signs that make people feel them. It is, therefore, necessary to know about semiotics in order to convey the language of design Semiotics provides analysis and allows products to perform communication. Semiotic and semantic approaches play a role in the way senses perceive and interpret products. Semiotics differ according to what and to whom the design will be transferred. If the target audience is children, the form and language of expression should be determined according to them. Games are the most effective form of communication for children. The games and toys that have existed since early ages depend on factors such as technology, material, and consumption and usage habits. In this context, it is important to make sense of toys used as educational tools today. The aim of this study is to investigate the meaning of toys that are now universal products and to determine design language through semiotics. To that end, this study makes a semiotic analysis through the design of a rocking horse, a toy which almost everyone experiences in childhood. This study discusses and evaluates the icon, index and symbol of the rocking horse and compares the product language of different typologies in the same toy category.