Semiotics and the forms of postmodern life through the analysis of advertising

Sign can be define as ?anything can be made to stand for something else.? Thus words are signs. When we use the word ?tree? we are using it to stand for a large plant with leafy branches. Facial expressions are signs. Body movements (body language) are signs. So are our hair cuts, the style of our eyeglasses, moustaches or beards, jewelry, style of discourse-the list goes on and on. This discipline, which examines signs, is called ?Semiotics?.Consider also some of the signs that we are conscious of and which are part of our everyday lives: road side billboards, traffic signs, package design, signs in shops, sign language, ?message? tee shirts, labels on article clothing, our fingerprint, our signatures, uniforms.Everything we do and everything we wear can be seen as a message (generated by a sign) and we spend our lives sending messages about ourselves and interpreting messages that others send about themselves. We?re not always conscious that they are receiving or sending messages either. And also it?s not too much of an exaggeration to say, that human beings are sign-creating and sign-interpreting animals.We?re living in an eclectic, postmodern world. Despite every society has its own cultural codes created by their history, traditions, religion, geographical position, etc. mass communication devices and media can easily provide us a global vision of any subject. In the postmodern world, objects and commodities are signs; in using and consuming them we are using or consuming signs. Thus, in using or consuming fast-food restaurants and their products, we are making statements about ourselves. Of course, those statements are controlled and kept in a narrow range by the code. The precondition of good communication activity is first, to know the cultural codes of target audience than create an appropriate signification system.The goal of this thesis is to understand the role that signs play in communication, design, social life, and advertising. Semiotics is a crucial concept that all the communication students and professionals should remain in possession of the field.