Task Four

Use Shannon & Weaver's model of the communication process to write a 300-400 word analysis of a work of Graphic Design. Comment on the ways in which the piece of Graphic Design attempts to communicate to a specific audience, using techniques of redundancy, entropy or noise.



This piece of Graphic Design is a Topshop advertisement, and works with the Shannon and Weaver model of communication theory, in terms of the poster communicating a message. The information source in this case is the client, who may have come up with the idea/concept for the piece, the next step in communication is the transmitter, a designer or design studio is responsible for this step, as is it their job to transmit the information from the source. This transmission is transferred to the receiver which in the case of Graphics means to transfer on to a medium, there is a large variety of ways this can be done, print, screen, and signage. Finally is destination, this message is received by the audience, who could be a potential or existing customer or a traveller.

There are problems with communication in Graphics that can occur sometimes. Noise can alter the effectiveness of the message; noise is anything added between the transmitter and receiver. Redundancy is the repetition of the message, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it can help to clarify the message. Finally, there is entropy, which is uncertainty in the message. Redundancy can make the message more long winded but it can help to reduce entropy.

In this case, the message is quite straight forward, ‘these clothes are from Topshop’, and without the type it would just be a photo. However, without the photo, it is still an advert, for the shop, and not those exact clothes. So, it could be argued that the photo is redundancy, but it is acting as clarification.
Noise could really affect the way the destination receives the message, as this image is not in context, it is not certain whether this is a bus stop advert, or a magazine advert, and the two places receive different audiences, a bus stop will receive males and females of all ages, gender, ethnicity and background, but if it is a Vogue advert, then only a certain demographic will be receiving that message.
Relating to this is the external noise, what surrounds the advert, if it is next to a Benetton campaign about sweatshops, the advert might not be so warmly welcomed due to the many accusations of Topshop using child labour.
Visual noise will have an effect too, the colours surrounding the advert, and lighting, if it is in a dimly lit corridor, it may not be so noticeable, however if it is on a lightboard, it would stand out much more.