Culture, Language and Visual Communication

The world is made up of people of different cultural backgrounds, ethnicity and personality. For each respective culture, they grasp a different belief and thus, forming their own language to distinct themselves as well as to build a common communication tool among their fellow peers of the same belief. Language serves to express and connects people but the realities are that there are more beyond interpreting meanings with just language. One relates a certain form of text or image with their living culture and knowledge through what is known as social-semiotics (Halliday & Hasan 1985)

In 2005, Burger King (BK) was filed lawsuit by the Muslim Council of Britain and was forced to recall its ice-cream cones when a Muslim man was offended by the design on the lid of the dessert. As reported by Innes in Scotsman News (2005), the design on the lid of the cone which resembled the Arabic inscription for Allah was claimed to threaten a "jihad" (holy war) and the fast food chain was also forced to spend thousands of pounds redesigning the lid. Burger King was unaware during the designing of the wrapper as they perceive the design as a "chocolate spinning cone" where as in accordance to the culture and belief of the Muslims, the design depicts the word 'Allah' in Arabian characters when it is viewed side-ways.

Burger King's dessert lid logo which resembles th inscription of Allah in Arabian
(source: http://www.jasoncoleman.com/Media/Images/Junk/allah.jpg)

This significantly portrays that different cultural backgrounds and knowledge are deeply interrelated with the interpretation of meaning. Individuals use a range of representational modes and have available a range of means of meaning-making (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006). The design on the lid of Burger King's ice-cream cone is interpreted (by the company) as merely a 'chocolate swirl' but in the Muslim's culture, the logo is taken as an humiliation of their God.

Image and text compliments one another but both are definitely not dependent on one another in order for a message to get across as image alone provides space for imagination and flexibility in meaning-making process where as text works as a control and straight-forward transmission of meaning (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006). But by integrating both or more of the elements, a more accurate meaning will be proposed.

Higher possibility that Muslims find the design offensive is due to inadequate description of the logo design. As described by Barthes (1977) as anchorage, collaborating image (BK's logo) and text (description of the logo) can form a more definite and precise restatement of an image to direct the readers to the chosen meaning. With this, chances of readers going astray from the initial intended meaning would be lessen, thus reducing misunderstandings.

To eradicate this sort of offensive materials from occurring in the market again, a proper planning of proposal of the initial design should be done. A planning proposal offers solutions to a problem or suggestions for improvement (Lannon 2000) and through proposal, companies are able to identify the potential issues that might occur while giving ample time to alter the plans to accomodatenew thoughts or better organisation of material (Putnis & Peterlin 1996)

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References:

Barthes, R 1977, 'Rhetoric of the image', Image-music-text, Fontana, London.

Halliday, MAK & Hasan, R 1985, Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, Deakin University, Victoria.

Innes, J 2005, "Burger King recalls 'sacrilegious' desserts", Scotsman.com News, viewed 25 October 2007, <http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=195129200>

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, 'Chapter 1: The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication' in Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.

Lannon, JM 2000, Technical communication, Longman, New York.

Putnis, P & Peterlin, R 1996, 'Chapter 8: Writing in an academic context', Professional communication: principles and application, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp. 265-303.

Media Mix or Media Mess?

Different media genres cater for different target audience and to reach different goals. This is significant through the wide variety of media that corporations or organisations of today use to maximise publicity as well as providing their respective audience with suitable information. In order to capture the attention of the public, marketers are required to analyse the knowledge of the audience (regarding the product) and their indifference to figure out the best way to overcome the scepticism of the audience as well as using these responses for their own purposes (Myers 1999, p.204)

Media mix can be classified into two major categories - print and online. The common print medias that can be found in the market would be brochures, fact sheets, magazines, books and the local newspapers. On the contrary, online medias caters to both domestic and international audience through websites and blogs. Prints and online media are genres that associates meaning with a social purpose and a social occasion within a given culture but not every mode are equally likely (Schirato 1996). Marketers have to be well aware of the social structure of their targeted audience to ensure that the audience are able to understand and grasp the information provided with ease.

(image source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm)

Internet users are multiplying by millions every day and has wrought changes to the competitive landscape that are drawing away both readers and advertisers, leaving print media organisations such as newspapers in a struggle to survive by embracing customer relationship management (CRM) to gain back readership (Noyes 2007). It is obvious through the survey that most corporations sets up a website for their own to reach out to a wider a scope of audience as they are, too, aware that the public tend to spend more time in front of the computer rather than strolling the streets. Mainly, it was more convenient.

A simple example would be the local newspaper, The Star. Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd make use of both print and online media to keep the public updated with the latest happenings in the nation and across the globe. The printed newspapers publishes more on national news as their intended audience scope are the local readers and distribution of the printed media are confined to a certain area. Therefore, they had to alter their contents to adapt to the different cultural and ideological construction in their newspapers (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006) where as TheStar Online keeps a balance ratio of both local and international news.

Illustrated above are the different media mix that are used by Star Publications: official website, citizen's blog and printed newspapers.

An added advantage that are found in online media is that there are unlimited space and users have the choice to participate and interact with the corporation through the online website or blogs. However, texts posted on websites had to be in chunks as it is tiring to read on screen (Nielsen 2000). Thus, online media are often used as complimentary to printed materials as audience are more willing to spend more time to read on print materials than straining their eyes by looking on the computer screen.

Hence, one has to be knowledgeable on which media mix to use to make full use of its functions to achieve desired results or else it would eventually end up in a mess as media that are being used without proper consideration are equivalent to waste.

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References:

Internet World Stats 2007, 'Internet usage statistics: the internet big picture, world internet users and population stats', viewed 15 October 2007, <http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm>

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, 'Chapter 1: The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication' in Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.

Myers, G 1999, Ad worlds: brands, media, audiences, Arnold, London, pp. 203-214

Nielsen, J 2000, 'Chapter 3: Content design', Designing web usability, New Riders, Indianapolis.

Noyes, K 2007, 'CRM for newspapers: a matter of survival', ECT News Network, viewed 15 October 2007, <http://www.technewsworld.com/story/59778.html>

Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, Communication and cultural literacy: an introduction, Allen & Unwin, NSW.

TheStar 2007, TheStar online, viewed 15 October 2007, <http://thestar.com.my>

E-mail vs Snail Mail

Electronic mail, prominently known as e-mail had significantly taken over the role of conventional mailing methods which is by post. Postal mails take up to a minimum duration of three days to reach its recipient where as e-mails sends out the message within split seconds after a mouse click. But yet, why do people still depend on what they label as 'snail mail' (slow delivery, just like snails)?

E-mail are accounted for their immediacy, low costs, efficacy and interactivity features. There are thousands of websites offering e-mail accounts at no cost which offer wide storage and various messaging features. Companies are also making use of e-mail to keep clients updated by sending out e-newsletters.

One of the features that are well accepted by the public is chat services. For example, Google mail (Gmail) merged the chat feature last year (2006) and set out the launch of Gmail Chat, an instant messaging (IM) client which allows users to send instant messages with one click from their e-mail account. Users are also able to see when contacts are online as well as save the chat history in the form of an e-mail message (Mills, 2006).

Illustrated above is the Gmail Chat feature made available in Gmail accounts.

With the use of instant messaging, users are not only restricted to sending and receiving of e-mails but also keep in touch with their respective families and peers all in one go. All they need is an e-mail account and they are able to stay connected despite the long distance. No charges, no waiting just convenience at fingertips!

Apart from that, websites such as Incredimail and Freemoticon offer free downloads of emotion icons (emoticons) to add colour to dull e-mails as well as giving an opportunity to users to express themselves better. Initially founded by Scott Fahlman (1982), emoticons are now widely used to show expressions and slowly innovated into expressive animation icons. Emoticons are another form of semiotics - modes of meaning (Halliday & Hasan 1985), where smileys are used to represent "happy". In addition to emoticons, IM abbreviations and shorthand such as "LOL" (laugh out loud) and "l8r" (later) are nevertheless, an often sight in casual e-mails and online conversations.

Some of the text-emoticons commonly found in e-mail.
(source: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/28/fashion/29emoticon.graphic.ready.html)

Though with the eruption of e-mail services, snail mail still plays a vital role in effective transmission of message and of course, parcels. Postal mail are often used as a communication tool among users that cannot afford computers and internet services as well as residents of rural areas. As postal mail users are more comfortable with the conventional method of communication, it would be difficult for them to adapt to the language as well as tech-savvy features in e-mail. For any text to be recognisable and readable it must draw upon already established and shared set of meaning (Schirato & Yell 1996, p. 109). Therefore, both media tools available can be classified and altered to cater for users of different culture and affordability.

So, are you the frequent user of e-mail or supporter of snail mail?

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References:

Fahlman, SE 1982, 'Smiley Lore', viewed 9 October 2007, <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/sefSmiley.htm>

Halliday, MAK & Hasan, R 1985, Language, context and text: aspects of language in a social semiotic perspective, Deakin University Press, Victoria.

Mills, E 2006, 'Google merges Gmail with chat', CNET News.com, viewed 9 October 2007, <http://www.news.com/Google-merges-Gmail-with-chat/2100-1032_3-6035898.html>

Schirato, T & Yell, S 1996, Communication and cultural literacy: an introduction, Allen & Unwin, NSW, pp. 90-117.

E-commerce, a step to success

What is the whole fuss about when everyone mentions they are owning their personal domains or 'dotcoms'? Some seek success by offering services through their 'dotcom' website and some may just find it 'cool' to own their own dot.com website.

Over the years, you would have probably heard of many dotcoms, from the ones that showed major success to the ones that are absolute failures in the era of World Wide Web (WWW). Many companies exploit the powers of business webs to maximise their profit margins through offering goods and services online - through their own dotcom - as commerce had evolved into a new era - electronic commerce (e-commerce).

Gaining Acceptance


Martin Cheah, managing director of Blooming Florist Sdn Bhd was one of the few adopters of the sudden outburst in e-commerce dated back in the early to mid-nineties with their online website blooming.com.my. In a recent interview with TheStar (2007), Cheah disclosed that he is well aware of the tight competition in e-commerce business as anyone can do it hence, he decided to target college students as his main consumers. College students posses packed schedules for their studies which lessens their time to visit the stores to purchase bouquets for their loved ones. Therefore, adopting e-commerce gives them the flexibility and convenience to get what they want in just a click away on the Net. Online shoppers enjoy the lack of commitment experience in online shopping as it increases their efficacy, minimises the effort of making a purchase and increases their sense of control compared to other purchasing situations (Wolfinbarger & Gilly 2007).

Nevertheless, presentation of the website is equally important as audience expects a clean looking and user-friendly website to enable them to browse in comfort (Berkner & Schwartz 2003) and satisfy their needs. This is where the use of proper segmentation and frames comes into play in order to distinct the different section according to their contents and purposes (Walsh 2006). For instance, Blooming.com.my incorporates different tabs and hyperlinks to direct users to their desired page, giving them the choice of pathway.

E-commerce is not difficult to begin with. As long as the website is able to carry their goods and promote the site well to attract traffic in accordance with the targeted audience, objective and contexts, anyone would be able to make their way up the ladder of success.

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References:

Berkner, K & Schwarts, EL 2003, Resolution-sensitive document image analysis for document repurposing, Ricoh Innovations, CA.

In-Tech 2007, 'Malaysian dotcoms: where are they now?', TheStar Online, viewed 1 October 2007, <http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/9/20/itfeature/18927703&sec=itfeature>

Walsh, M 2006, “The ‘Textual shift’: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Australian journal of language and literacy, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 24-37

Wolfinbarger, M & Gilly, M 2007, Shopping online for freedom, control and fun, University of California, Irvine.