Encoding/Decoding

In my last semester of college I am taking a senior seminar for my interdisciplinary studies degree. The topic of the class is Television in Society, which I will look at from a design and sociological perspective (my two concentrations). Understanding that to learn something I have to do more than simply read it to institute it into my brain functions, I will write periodically about the covered topics, and how they apply to design etc. Also, having been critiqued by Semiotic about needing a proofreader for this blog, I will actually read my posts over before I put them up, to the joy of my English teacher raised family and various anal retentive readers.

The first topic of this class covers Stuart Hall's theory of encoding and decoding in relation to mass media. His view is that producers encode information and messages in the media they put out, and the viewer then decodes that information and receives it via the associated media. The intended meaning of the media can be taken in three ways by the viewer. They can accept it, reject it, or take a middle ground.

Both sides, the producer and the viewers, percieved meaning in relation to the media is defined by three things. A Framework of Knowledge, a Relation of Production, and Technical Infrastructure. A brief breakdown in my own words of this is A Framework of Knowledge is the body of information that the person has with which they go about their lives. Second is Relation of Production, which is the amount to which the media relates to them in topic, content, or any other way, for example a tv show about gays will have different relations to a gay man that a Christian evangelical etc. Last is Technical Infrastructure, which is knowledge of the media presented in both how it was put together and what its goals are with its viewers.

This is all very applicable to the designer. For instance, I design a poster for a concert, using my technical skills of design, my knowledge of what people like to see in a poster and how an event is promoted, and an understanding of the relation of what hip hop fans want in a poster versus indie rock fans, and the potential overlaps of various fanbases. A viewer looks at my design in its finished 11 by 17 format and whether or not they visually like the design, know of the venue or artist, and if they understand that the posters goals is to get them to come and spend 25 dollars for a show, determines their reaction. Accept, reject, or a middle ground, they either definetly will, definetly won't, or might, come to the shows.

Makes me feel almost evil for using subdermally preferred color combinations to make people look at my work. :)

Posted here is the shot of my coffee table I left out yesterday.