Portfolio Task 4 - Communication theory

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.

The Shannon-Weaver mathematical model was based on telephone and radio communication. It does not work perfectly for Graphic design as it focuses on message to audience, but does not have a feedback loop to the client to ensure the message is recieved correctly. This linear communication means that the message will only be successful if the reciever at the destination responds in the way that the 'information souce' intends them to.

Lasswell Maxim ''Who says what in what channel to whom with what effect'' relates to analysing the communication theory behind this McDonald billboard advertisement. The information source would be the designers and the message they want to send, which is then transmitted through their choice of type, image and composition. The advertisement in the form of a billboard is the channel of which it works in to get the message to the reciever. In this case the reciever would be the audience and the way in which the message is viewed, and the destination would be the audience being able to understand the message.

There are possibilities for noise at any stage of this model, which could reduce the effectiveness of this billboard. The designer needs to consider the simplicity of the design, to clearly portray the message. Only half of the burger has been used so it can fit the full height of the billboard without taking up too much room. Also, the white background and space used around the type and image, gives clarity to the design. The billboard could be in an environment with many surrounding advertisements, so it must stand out and make an impression on the viewer. Since the main type only says 'Gherkin or gherout?', it is short and readable in a short amount of time. The target audience for this particular billboard is people who already like McDonald's food, they would have to have the knowledge that the burger have gherkin's on them, and they would have to recognise the McDonald's logo, and know what it stands for. The destiantion means the audience would then answer the question on wether they have a gherkin preference, and possibly make them want to go and buy a burger.