Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and what they mean, a sign being something that represents something other than itself. It is very important to understand Semiotics when creating  magazine, as they indicate various things about a given sign I might use such as who it is most appropriate for and how it would make them feel. There are three different types of signs, symbols, indexes and icons. A symbol is a sign representing something that it has no contextual link to such as numbers or letters. An index is a sign that while not directly signifying the signified, it does contextually, such as a skull signifying danger. Finally an icon directly represents what it is signifying, such as an image of a bird which directly represents a bird.