In this blog post, I am going to explain what denotation and connotation means and apply these ideas to a range of logos. I am going to analyse the denotation and connotation factors of the logos. I will be answering the following questions;
- what do they tell us about the company or product
- what do the colours used represent?
- what do the shapes represent?
- what do the fonts represent?
What is Denotation and Connotation?
Denotation means "In media-studies terminology, denotation is an example of the first level of analysis: what the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor. Here it is usually coupled with connotation which is the second level of analysis, being what the denotation represents." (1) Denotation explores the concepts on "what is it" (shape, colours, font).
Connotation means "A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries"(2) Connotation means what it represents (emotional, subliminal meaning)
An example of connotation and denotation is, a red heart (denotation) may symbolize love and affection (connotation) due to the shape and the colour.
Examples using logos
1st logo: Vodafone
what do the colours used represent? The colour red is a unisex colour, which means that the company appeals to both male and females. Red is also a strong colour, which symbolizes strength and reliability in the brand.
what do they tell us about the company or product? The denotation factors and connotation meanings show us that Vodafone is a company based on telecommunications and offer products/services to a wide range of customers.
what do the colours used represent? The colours used within this logo are deep red colours which represents a raw and meaty colour, as they offer predominantly chicken based products. It is also a colour used widely within the fast-food industry as it represents taste (tongue) and table sauces (e.g. ketchup, brown sauce, etc).
what do the shapes represent? The shapes and imagery used within the KFC logo is a animated picture of the founder of KFC - Colonel Saunders. The image is used to trace back to the company's establishing roots and it is a good way to represent professionalism (the bow-tie , representing food standards (the apron), representing good customer service (happy smiling face), representing experience and knowledge/wise (glasses and white beard).
what do the fonts represent? The font used in the logo represents the initials of the full name of the company (Kentucky Fried Chicken). The font used is bold, basic and slightly italic to show simplicity, but creativity of the brand.
what do they tell us about the company or product? The denotation factors and connotation meanings show us that this brand offers a happy and good service and it is based within the food industry.
3rd logo: Apple
what do the colours used represent? The colours used to represent the Apple logo is silver metallic colours. This is to help represent luxury as it is a expensive element, it represents technology because it looks futuristic and it is a simple monochromatic colour, which means it does not target a specific audience.
what do the shapes represent? The shape represents the name of the company. "Apple" may have been used to relate to the saying "an apple a day, keeps the doctor away". This is trying to show that if you use Apple products/services, it will help you maintain a "healthy technological lifestyle".
what do the fonts represent? There are no fonts, slogans or text used in this logo as the image explains it all. There is no need for any text and the simplicity of the logo shows luxury in terms of "less is more" or "a picture is worth 1000 words"
what do they tell us about the company or product? The logo in itself does not explain anything about the company products or services except it is brand and name based on an "apple".
4th logo: Nandos
what do the colours used represent? The colours used to represent the logo is based on the menu and types of foods they offer. The black is to help signify the chicken, the red represents their specialty "peri peri" marinade chickens and the green represents the "lemon and herb" flavours.
what do the shapes represent? The shapes used in the logo is based predominantly on the brand's products (chicken). The leaves and decoration relates back to the Portuguese theme and recipes.
what do the fonts represent? The font used for the logo is in a large bold type and the style of the font relates back to the theme of the Portuguese recipe/menu.
what do they tell us about the company or product? The logo shows that the company is based on food, predominantly chicken and it is based on "Portuguese/Mozambiquan" themes and recipes.
5th logo: Jaguar
what do the shapes represent? The shape used within this logo is a Jaguar animal. This shape is used to relate to the company name. The animal Jaguar represents speed, agility, performance and luxury niche because the animal is classed as the third largest feline and was revered as pets to royal ancestry in the Columbian/Andean/Aztec eras.
what do the fonts represent? The font is simple and bold to show power and simplicity of their products. The spacing of the letters is also spaced out wider than usual to help represent the relatedness of the elongation of the jaguar image.
what do they tell us about the company or product? The logo tells us that the company is a fast paced company and it is a high class/niche company as the animal is revered to be a priceless animal. The logo does not give any indication of what products or services they offer, but the logo represents the status of the company.
6th logo: Cbeebies
what do the colours used represent? The colours yellow represents happiness and joy as it is a "light" primary colour which represents young children's joy and innocence.
what do the shapes represent? The shapes used are soft and curved "blobs" which help represent the simple thoughts and creativity of the target audience (young children).
what do the fonts represent? The font used to represent the brand is again soft and curved blobs to help relate to the shapes and mascots used for the brand and to help represent the softness and innocence of younger children.
what do they tell us about the company or product? The logo shows it is a product/serviced based at a target audience of young children because of the use of the font, colours and shapes.
Bibliography
http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/BTEC%20Nationals%20from%202010/Unit_30_Advertisement_Production_for_Television.pdf (05/11/2012)
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotation (05/11/2012)
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connotation (05/11/2012)
http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Kentucky_Fried_Chicken (05/11/2012)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nando%27s (05/11/2012)
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