What Is Graphic Design? Part 2

In this task I will be looking at the way visual language is used within Graphic Design, I will be looking at Synedoches, Metonyms and Metaphors, and assessing the success of the way this is used.

In terms of New York, these would be examples of Synedoches, Metonyms and Metaphors:

Synedoche:

A yellow taxi- this is a universally recognised symbol for New York.

Metaphor:

The Big Apple- this is another symbol of New York, but an apple on its own does not have a close relationship with the place.

Metonym:

The Statue of Liberty- this is a symbolic image that again is a symbol of New York, the two images do have a close relationship unlike with a synecdoche but there is no transference of characteristics from one image to another.

I will be looking for examples of contemporary Graphic Design that communicate these devices...

http://www.coloribus.com/focus/striking_anti_drug_ads/

This is an anti-drugs campaign from 2008 for the Partnership for a Drugfree America, is a fantastic way of illustrating a campaign, as some can be quite hard hitting and shocking, whereas this has an element of humour to it, it shows how drugs can effect people, as we all know that when you put salt on a slug it shrivels up and dies, and techinically the same could happen through drug abuse. This is a metaphor, as drugs and slugs have no relationship, but the comparison of salt to slugs as drugs to humans is the same kind of concept.

This is from the same website as the previous example, this is from Brazil, and there were bins dotted around a University campus with this message on it, this is a clever way of advertising, rather than your run-of-the-mill poster campaigns. This would be a synedoche as the bin is used to represent drugs and drug taking and symbolises that it is 'rubbish' in general and that your head becomes full of rubbish through taking drugs.

This is from the European Commission following the decision to have images and warnings on cigarette packets. This is a metaphor using a bending cigarette to emulate impotence, this works well, as you couldn't demonstrate impotence properly without causing offence, so through using the image of the cigarette the idea is there but taken in another form.

This logo is a synecdoche as a tick usually means nothing but this is a universally recognised kind of tick, the Nike logo. This tick signifies, a popular world known sports company, which has associations with successful sports stars etc. It was created in the seventies by a lady called Carolyn Davidson, it is a timeless design and has been an incredibly successful design, it has been reproduced in many colours although the design itself has remained the same.