WEEK 2 ENQUIRY
Explore how images are considered by audiences in commercial contexts?
Investigation Methods:
1/ Using eggs as research object
2/ Collect 10 images of different types of eggs
（All of these images have no commercial properties of their own）
3/ Place the 10 images in a commercial environment
4/ Test the viability of this image and collect feedback of audience
Voting Results
Images of Real Eggs > Illustrations of Eggs ?
In the process, consumers are more inclined to observe the egg in its most initial form rather than the processed or graphicized image, which makes it difficult for consumers to associate whether the eggs they purchase meet their needs due to the fact that some of the images abstract and blur the notion of an egg. Is it edible? Is it safe? Is it tasty? ……
5/ Reflection
In this process, I gather that the feedback I get from audiences is more in terms of analyzing each symbolic element in the image and associating it with other meanings, and then considering it in the context of an egg product, so that each symbol in the image affects the audience’s thinking and understanding, which in turn affects their choices and purchases.
According to Stuart Hall, there is a process of “encoding-decoding” of images and symbols.
When advertising designers and brands design commercial images, they “encode” them, embedding the brand’s core values, product attributes, and consumer desires into the image.
Consumers will “decode” the images when they view them, understanding and assigning specific meanings to them according to their social and cultural backgrounds.
WEEK 3 ENQUIRY
Explore how symbols in advertising images can have an effect on the product?
Recontextualizing Method:
1/ Using eggs as research object
2/ Find images from different types of commercials
a/Food
b/Feminine Products
c/Male Products
d/Children’s products
e/Technological products
f/Luxury Products
g/Medicine
…
3/ Extract the symbolic elements of the image separately
I extracted two representative symbolic elements from each of the different types of advertising images
4/ Recontextualized experimental object eggs
I used the simple layout, where the central product egg is placed in the center of the image and occupied the largest proportion of the image, and the other symbols are placed around the subject, surrounding the central subject.
Besides, since the role of the frame is usually decorative and auxiliary, similar to the role of the symbols, I finally adopted the “frame” layout for the recontextualization experiment.