Qualifications of Meaning in Advertising Images - Case Study Example

TEACHER Qualifications of Meaning in Advertising Images Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gautier both strive to communicate ideals surrounding the nature of human sexuality and naturalism through advertising images that promote visual stimulation to a culture that is deeply influenced by the medium of visuality itself. From a critical perspective of uncovering images, various areas must be considered, which include looking at color, perspective, framing and composition. Through a detailed analysis based on the ideas of values portrayed within the advertisement, visual language employed, how text works, and the connotations and denotations implied by each, their manipulation within the images of Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gautier will be established to uncover the ways in which each image communicates their meaning. An investigation of the interactive process instigated by cultural activity can also be seen as a "reflection on the intellectual position of certain cultures." (The English Association, 1999, p.182) Western design and visual communication is regarded as having originated from concepts of global power held by mass media and communication industries. (The English Association, 1999, p.182) By referring to Michael Halliday's concept of representing patterns of experience, visually speaking, it is suggested that what images portray is deeply related to the medium of visuality itself, and therefore a culture that is "dominated by visual signs" will communicate a different reality to one in SURNAME, PAGE 2 which language is the predominate medium. (The English Association, 1999, p.182) There is a relationship between the visual and verbal texts and "the visual component of a text is an independently organized and structured message-connected to the verbal text, but in no way dependent on it and similar the other way around." (The English Association, 1999, p.182) Vivienne Westwood's image is an advertisement which focuses on selling a perfume called 'Boudoir'. (www.viviennewestwood.com) The image used in this advertisement portrays a female who is draped by purple covers and her body structure suggests her sleeping on a sunset sky. (www.viviennewestwood.com) The predominate colors are soft purple, yellow and blue. According to Michael D. Harris: "Images and symbols can convey meaning centrifugally by using concrete, physical information to evoke understandings within the viewer". (Harris, 2003, p.253) Through the images conveyed in Westwood's advertisement, it can be argued that the use of covers and soft colors symbolize calm, sensually stimulating atmosphere, in which the reader is able to understand its connection with her perfume called 'Boudoir', or bedroom in English. Similarly, the advertisement provides the audience with a visual stimulus that is linked to sexuality, which is in turn an emotional stimulus. (Web/Online) As Westwood's image is analyzed, it is easy to understand that the sexuality concept is largely emphasized with the woman figure floating on air, naked and wrapped in bed sheets. The sexual feelings sent out to the audience through a semi-naked female stresses the "nature" style of the product. (Web/Online) The colors yellow, blue and purple contrast the relatively smaller bottle of perfume situated on the far right corner of the advertisement. The basic principle of advertising "requires that an advertisement should SURNAME, 3 first draw attention and interest then desire and action". (Web/Online) Thus, the visual language being employed by Westwood's advertisement is one of a sexual nature. The significance of the image or what its connotation implies is one of a private and sensual feeling that can be attained through the use of the perfume. Moreover, the language used in the advertisement, which is seen in bold white upper-case font, is the title of the perfume, 'Boudoir'. The title itself works through its own means as well as within the picture. For example, 'Boudoir' is part of the French language for bedroom, which gives not only the perfume itself, but the image as a whole, the feeling of romance and tenderness. The colors of purple contrasted with blue and soft yellow feed on that romantic aura targeting the audience's emotional nature. It can be similarly noted that the location of the text 'Boudoir' is centered right underneath the female's head, which can be alternatively seen as her pillow in the sky, as her head seems to be slightly resting upon it. The values being drawn upon within this particular advertisement stem from the Western cultural ideas of naturalism and human sexuality. However, our ability to put a price tag on anything in the Western culture seems to be the value that the image is depicting because in essence we can even put a price on our deepest emotional desires found within our own bedrooms. The meaning employed by this image can be interpreted by suggesting that meaning "depends on the system of concepts and images formed in our thoughts which can stand for, or 'represent' the world, enabling us to refer to things inside and outside our heads. (Harris, 2003, p.5) Westwood's image allows the audience to emotionally feel the picture as well as see its meaning by the use of a bedroom design. Furthermore, SURNAME, 4 in order to move from the reality of the image, or the perfume, to its photograph of a semi-nude female, the division of the two contrasting symbols is not necessary. Gunther Kress regards the conflicting reality and non-reality of the image as he believes that "the image is not the reality but at least it is its perfect analogon and it is exactly this analogical perfection, which, to commonsense, defines the photograph". (Kress, 1996, p.23) In other words, the image of a sky as the bed that the female is laying on is not realistic, however it is in this that we can perfectly see the ways in which this works in regards to what is being sold. In addition, Jean-Paul Gautier's image targets his own brand of perfume towards particularly female audiences. The image depicts a very pale female with contrasting dark red hair whose breasts are being held up from the back by a smaller darker male whose hair covers his face. There is a definite contrast between their skin colors, which produces a more powerful effect upon the idea of nudity in its physicality and nudity as a color. The concept of paralinguistic meaning can be associated to this particular image, as it is a term which "embraces other meaningful behavior which accompanies language but does not carry it, such as gesturing, facial expression, body posture, eye contact, etc". (Cook, 1992, p.64) The images in advertisements are able to "attract our attention, engage our emotions, and shape our attitudes towards products, political figures, or social causesadvertising images reproduce real world visual cues that are associated with a variety of emotional responses, such as sexual interest, status envy, submissiveness, or nurturance." (Messaris, 1997, p.51) Through the eye contact of the female image, there is an unspoken visual language that seems to bounce off the SURNAME, 5 advertisement of her submissive nature. She appears submissive to the idea of a male wrapping his hands around her body and this image helps the significance of the perfume sale as a whole, as its paralinguistic meaning evokes a signal to allow the perfume to take over one's body. Moreover, the contrast of skin colors communicated through this advertisement creates a taboo feeling of values relating to interracial relationships. Perhaps the idea of the message in that sense is the relationship being built between the perfume and the individual who wears it, in that the perfume is exotic-but embraced, as we can see the female appears to be 'wearing' the male around her body. In addition, the use of text in this particular image works in correspondence to Anne Cronin's: Advertising and Consumer Citizenship: Gender, Images and Rights. Cronin suggests that the use of texts in images may "disrupt the terms of the 'boundary' (Cronin, 2000, p.69), which basically means that texts may draw the audiences attention away from an image that is portraying a spacial atmosphere that allures the eye. (Cronin, 2000, p.69) The textual use within Jean-Paul Gautier's advertisement works because it is not the focal point of the image. The text is located on the bottom portion of the page and its white color blends in to the image as a whole-not distracting the audience from the alluring erotic feeling shown by the visual. There is a shift from the visual representation to the textual, in that "text is generally a dominant field of representation". (Leiss and Kline, 1990, p.231) However, here, the image works independently as well as with the text. According to Leiss, "after the 1950s, the visual frequently stands on its own, undescribed and unexplained. The language of ads becomes condensed, allusive, SURNAME, 6 conversational, or poetic. It is the visual that conveys the story, use, or reason for consumption." (Leiss and Kline, 1990, p.231) For Gautier, the image does indeed stand on its own, as it can be seen that the female and male almost parallel the bottle of perfume that sits to their right: the nude colors, the shape of the bottle as a female figure, and the exotic feeling being sold. Furthermore, Gautier's use of elegant font, which reads: 'Le Parfum "classique" de Jean-Paul Gautier', demonstrates its own classic and use of the text, subsequently elevating the stylish message of his product. Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gautier's advertisements equally depict the use of modern Westernized values based on power, which is brought to life through images of the exotic and sexuality. Both images examined use a stimulus to evoke emotional feelings from their audiences, such as erotica, seductiveness and submissiveness. The taboos of interracial relationships are similarly expressed by Gautier, who grabs the attention of his audience by using parallels between his images and his product. The use of text within both images seems to work well in a setting that has been structured around the product at hand. The use of "Boudoir" as a pillow for the female sends the message of comfort and ease when wearing Westwood's perfume. Cronin suggests that: "The density of affect attached to the ideals of consumer sovereignty, rights and self-expressive choice in the West attests to the ways in which culture has become an explicit site for contesting identities and rights." (Cronin, 2000, p.156) The cultural expression explored by Western advertising communicates the ideals of power, control, independence and dominion. The expressive nature surrounding sexual identity proves to be a valuable tool when communicating these ideals. SURNAME, 7 WORKS CITED Books: Cook, Guy. (1992) The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge. Cronin, Anne. (2000) Advertising and Consumer Citizenship: Gender, Images and Rights. London: Routledge. Harris, Michael D. (2003) Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation. North Carolina: UNC Press. Kress, Gunther. (1996) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Leiss, William., and Kline, Stephen. (1990) Social Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products and Images of Well-Being. London: Routledge. Messaris, Paul. (1997) Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising. London: SAGE Publications Inc. The English Association. (1999) The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory v. 6. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Web/Online: http://newmedia.yeditepe.edu.tr/pdfs/isimd_05/03.pdf Visuals Online: Image 1: http://www.viviennewestwood.com/flash.php (available Online, accessed January 2006) Image 2: http://images.google.co.uk/imgresimgurl=http://perso.wanadoo.fr/imagesdeparfums/Gaultier/TN_classique.JPG&imgrefurl=http://perso.wanadoo.fr/imagesdeparfums/Gaultier/Classique01.htm&h=256&w=192&sz=14&tbnid=9Svvbdr1pBkJ:&tbnh=107&tbnw=80&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djean%2Bpaul%2Bgaultier%2Bclassique%2Bad%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D (available Online, accessed January 2006) Read More