The Study Of Visual Symbols Print Public Service Announcements Design

The purpose of print public service announcements(PSAs) is to transmit positive cultural and ethical concepts to the audience, helping them to establish a rational idea about life and cultural consumption. In the design of print PSAs, the primary concern of a designer is the effectiveness of the visual signs, as they are the most important carrier of information. The effectiveness of visual signs in the communication process is determinedby the fact whether the audience can correctly decode the intended meaning. Therefore, the effective communication of visual meaning requires not only creativity and skills from designers, but also their deep understanding of the audience. A designer should consider the receptivity of his/her audience and choose familiar visual materials which are easy to understand, so as to avoid inadequate and incorrect understandings. Based on theories from various disciplines, and in particular from semiotics, this paper analyzes the production of visual meaning and explores techniques of visual sign making in order to improve the communicative effects of PSAs.The thesis first proposes the necessity of investigating the effectiveness of visual signs through analyzing the signifier and signified of the visual signs in PSAs. Second, the paper analyzes the inadequate and incorrect understandings in the communication process, elucidates the factors affecting the communicative effect from the perspectives of designer production, audience reception, and context, and analyzes the use of visual rhetoric in visual sign making. Third, based on discussions of the factors affecting effective communication and systematic case analysis of the process of meaning construction in PSAs, the paper argues that, to optimize the communicative effect, visual sign making should appropriately reflect the themes of the PSAs on the one hand, and accurately understand the audience on the other.This project enhances our understanding of visual meaning construction in PSAs, which can potentially help designers use visual signs more effectively, and improve audiences’ understanding of visual meanings. In this way, the meaning potential of visual signs can be optimized and PSAs will be able to achieve intended communicative effects.