Communication theory....
The Shannon-weaver mathematical model, 1949
They were under the employment of the American industry and asked to maximise communication efficiency.
This was specifically designed for telecommunications but it has become a very popular and famous model. It is not flawless but it is simplistic though the simplicity can sometimes be difficult to produce results from.
Broadly - your communications have 5 distinct stages. It is really important to understand how they relate to each other.
A very general understanding if communication and it broken down into 5 stages.
The process of communication
Information source
Transmitter (encoder)
Channel
Receiver (decoder)
Destination
An example would be a telephone - speak into the phone, it is transferred to signal, it is received and encoded then it reaches it's destination.
We were asked to come up with a communication model for graphic design.
The process of graphic design in terms of communication:
Problem
Communication
Defining
Feedback
Solution
These are very broad terms and can be significantly broken down into smaller and more refined steps depending on what the design is.
When giving feedback Richard said that we had not properly answered the question of communication but the design process.
Client/idea
Graphic designer
Platform
Target audience
Message delivered
Richard gave us a list which was more suited to communication within design.
What problems could occur at each of the five stages which could stop the information being communicated at the end?
Being given the wrong information
Poor communication with client or target audience
Little attention paid to target audience
World events which effect the audiences perception (eg. Gangster squad)
Poor print quality
Lack of development
Costing problems
Information source-
wrong information through bad communication (badly briefed)
Being given little information (broken info)
Conceptual problems within the idea
Encoding-
Poor interpretation of information
Rushed design (not enough time)
Consideration of the audience within the design
To encode a message we need to emphasise with the decoders
Look into the target audience and ensure that they will understand the design
Channel-
Printing problems
Costing
Location of the design (context of the channel)
Format and platform
Reciever-
Could be offensive
Misinterpreting
Language (understanding the destination)
Tone of voice
Destination-
Lack of feedback
Preventing breakdown of communication:
More quality research
Experimenting and development
Feedback from target audience
Planning
Speaking to audience in their language - limit communication problems
Consider possible limitations of a channel:
Print was bad or an Advert put on at a silly time then make sure our design is strong enough to stand out with these limitations
The noise source:
Shannon and weaver use noise as anything that interferes with the communication.
Eg. Telephone noise- This is literal noise
Other noise that could interfere with the information source:
Pressure from money men
The client
Company graphics
The company itself (primark) ethical noise
Encoding
Personal style of the designer
Personal life distractions
Channel
Design being weathered - billboard/poster
Limitations of the media - technical faults
Decoding
Prejudice of opinion
People having different visual language (not understanding)
Colour blind/deaf
Where it is - too cluttered - distractions
Destination
Sub cultural opinion
Popular opinion
Prejudice opinion
3 levels with the communication model
Level A technical problems
How accurately can the message be transmitted ?
Level B Semantic Problems
How precisely is the message conveyed?
Level C
How effectively does the received meaning affect behaviour?
Put the problems we just came up with fall within each category
Technical problems:
Badly printed
Design being weathered
Broken laptop
Problems with software
Rubbish designer
Semantic problems:
Incorrect target audience research or relation
Location and placement
Mis-interpretation of message being sent and received aswell as the brief
Tone of voice
Colour schemes
Visual language
Effectiveness problems:
People's opinion
Prejudice opinion
Offensive language
Ethical
Location of the message
Noise:
Anything unintended added to the signal between transmission and reception
Zines : very noisy - text falls off page the quality is bad.
The noise of the zine has become an aesthetic feature
Designers can embrace and aim for noise with their design
We might want to be the noise which hijacks the channel.
Subversive noise -mcdonalds billboard and esso logo.
Esso logo with red tape through the s's to make it look like dollar signs
All graffiti aims to be noise.
Noise is not just a problem, sometimes it can be the outcome or the solution.
Redundancy vs entropy....
Concepts which are vital and essential for us to understand
They are both about what is communicated.
Something which is redundant is not going to prevent communication - smooth
Entropy is unpredictable. It is not smooth.
Redundant:
High predictability
Low information
Our entire society is based around it. We depend on it just to survive. It is something that is generally really successfully because it carries low information and the content is quite conventional and predictable.
Someone who is interested in communicating to a wide audience will ficus on redundant communication.
Redundant does not mean unimportant.
Examples...
Greetings are redundant
- tapping into an agreed consensual code.
Mcdonalds communication is so stripped down to make it simple and easy to go through.
Entropy
If someone were to offer their hand to shake it and have an electric buzzer in his hand it would be entropy.
It is unexpected. Maximum unpredictability.
Unconventional. High information.
We might need to something entropic simply to get attention.
Make people question it or think about it.
We loose communication for information.
Fine art - trades off the entropic. Very niche audience.
Task:
Apply Shannon and weavers model to an example of communication. How widely is this applicable? How useful do you find this sort of example?
What are the main communicative functions of redundancy? What do we mean by saying the English language is 50% redundant.
Discuss the ways in which convention can be said to facilitate understanding. Think of visual communication that breaks or extend specific conventions. How does this affect the desire to communicate or the audience they reach?
Example, daily mirror:
The photo by itself is very entropic. It could look like the police are going to hit the lady.
Paper loads the image with two meanings the confrontation and the demo.
The surrounding visual imagery and type makes the image look less shocking and gives it context.
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