Language

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Figure 14.13 Public-Service Advertisement Showing Wordplay. Source: Design for Communication: Conceptual Graphic Design Basics

Just as you examine figures, colors, and shapes in an image, so you need to examine its words, phrases, and sentences to interpret what it suggests. Does its language provide information, generate an emotional response, or do both? Do its words repeat a sound or concept, signal a comparison (such as a “new, improved” product), carry sexual overtones, issue a challenge, or offer a philosophy of life? The words in the center of the Chevolet ad in Figure 14.7 associate the car with a sporty, fun-filled lifestyle. On the other hand, VW’s “Think small” ad in Figure 14.6 turns compactness into a goal, a desirable quality in a car and, by extension, in life.

Frequently advertisements employ wordplay — lighthearted or serious — to get their messages across. Consider the public-service advertisement in Figure 14.13, created by a graphic-design student. This ad features a play on the word tolerance, which is scrambled on the chalkboard so that the letters in the center read learn. The chalkboard, a typical classroom feature, suggests that tolerance is a basic lesson to be learned. Also, the definition of tolerance at the bottom of the ad is much like other definitions students might look up in a dictionary. (It reads, “The capacity for, or practice of, recognizing or respecting the behavior, beliefs, opinions, practices, or rights of others, whether agreeing with them or not.”)

Wordplay can also challenge viewers’ preconceptions about an image. The billboard in Figure 14.14 shows a romantic — indeed, a seductive — scene. The sophisticated couple gaze deeply into each other’s eyes as the man kisses the woman’s hand. However, the verbal exchange undermines that intimate scene and viewers’ expectations about what happens next. Instead of a similar compliment in response to “Your scent is intoxicating,” the billboard makes plain its antismoking position with the reply: “Yours is carcinogenic.” In just seven words, the billboard counters the suave, romantic image of smoking with the reality of smelly, cancer-causing tobacco smoke.

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Figure 14.14 Billboard Showing Wordplay. Source: Photograph by Bill Aron, PhotoEdit