STUDY TASK 4

For this task I have chosen the illustration above by Dave Granlund who is a well known editorial cartoonist who has worked for over 700 newspapers. I chose this piece of illustration as I find it to be quite striking and strongly displays the message it wants to give through denotations.  The signifiers within this piece are the four obese teenagers with their food and drinks in their hands, the 'I Want You' propaganda poster and the recruiting office sign. 

To begin, the four obese teenagers signifies a very stereotypical image we have of the American teenager of today. The denotative of the teenagers eating and drinking whilst gawping at the poster connotes that they have a very bad diet, plus they have all been illustrated with large stomachs; one of them with they're stomach hanging out which reinforces their obesity. Moreover, the fact that they look completely engrossed by the poster but yet look completely thoughtless suggests that they have become brain dead which could be effected by the lack of nutrition from their poor food intake. In addition, two of them are wearing their caps on backwards and their hands in their pockets also connotes to the viewer their laid back and careless attitude. 

Furthermore, the next signifier is the propaganda poster. Dave Granlund has cleverly used the very famous and iconic piece of American propaganda, the 'I Want You For U.S Army' poster which he has purposely changed to 'I Want You To Lose Weight'; which signifies that this is a command to put a stop to obesity specifically in America. The denotation is the globally recognizable poster and it connotes that he wants there to be a change and for the citizens of America to follow this. In addition, it shows that he strongly believes in this message and that he wants to influence and change the Americans attitude towards obesity. Plus the fact that it is so recognizable means that it is open and clear for everyone to understand his message. 

Next, another signifier within this illustration is the 'recruiting office' sign above the propaganda poster. This signifies that he wants people to take this command on board and actually put it into action and make a change. The sign also gives connotations of people joining the army or hiring new staff which proposes the fact that this will not come easily  and that people have got to work together to try and decrease the rise in obesity of American teenagers today and to do something about it. 

Overall, Dave Granlund is trying to portray his view on American obesity and I feel he successfully does that through this illustration. He has used many signifiers and denotations to create connotations in the audiences minds without them even realizing by just using simple signs and icons to do so. 

Semiotics Analysis

In our last context of practise session we got into groups of 3 and analyised the semiotics of an illustration of our choice and were asked to give a short 10 minute presentation. This is the illustration we chose, by Chris Riddell:

We created this table to break everything down: 

Signifier	Signified
The Elephant Light Bulb Gordon Brown David Cameron Ties and Socks	The phrase “The elephant in the room” something expressly ignored to the point of awkwardness. Ignoring the obvious. Represents the harsh light, things coming to light, illuminating the elephant, also interrogation Leader of Labour Leader of Conservatives The colours of the parties
Denotative	Connotative
It’s a drawing of an elephant with ‘Spending cuts’ written on its ears The drawing of a  bare light bulb Gordon Brown and David Cameron Ties and Socks Speech bubbles	Politicians ignoring pressing matters, Even though they are sitting uncomfortably and being pressed up against the elephant. Being a harsh light, being poor Both leaders of opposing parties, sat on opposites of the elephant, opposite ends of the spectrum. Both wearing the same suits showing all politicians are the same. Both arms crossed showing closed off body language. Socks are their own colours of labour and conservative but ties are the opposite colour showing that under the façade all politicians are the same. Reinforce the image, both illuding to the same thing, clarifies the points made.

I think this really helped me understand things a lot better. Especially breaking things down into this table and then I find explaining my understandings helps me. 

STUDY TASK 3

The Uncle Sam Range poster on the left was created in 1876 advertising for an Uncle Sam cooker. The poster on the right was made in 1915 by Savile Lumley it was designed to try and persuade men to join the first world war. Although both of the posters are promoting completely different things they both convey many similarities. 

To begin, both of the posters are aimed towards middle/upper class males. In the Uncle Sam Range poster they want to convince males to believe that having this cooker is a luxury and by purchasing one they will also be buying into a better lifestyle. Uncle Sam has purposely been positioned in the very centre of the room and is being served by a female and also has a slave cooking the meal which is suggesting his power, wealth and that everything and everyone revolves around him. In addition, the Savile Lumley poster is also clearly aimed towards the upper class male as illustrated within the poster they look like a well dressed wealthy family. I feel that the poster is aimed at this target audience because males that were wealthy and had a great lifestyle at that time may not have felt obliged to want to join the army because they probably wouldn't of felt it was necessary as they wouldn't of needed the wage that the soldiers would received. 

Furthermore, both of the posters managed to enhance their messages through their use of font. In the Savile Lumley poster the font looks almost like written speech that is reflecting the voice of the little girl. I think that this is very effective as it creates emotions of guilt and shame with his lack of courage. Additionally, from looking at the poster it looks as if the little girl is holding a history book and the little boy is playing with toy soldiers both of which are suggestions that this 'Great War' will be a huge part of Britain's history. Also, this poster was created before the first world war had ended therefore is presuming that Britain will be victorious which arises a huge sense of patriotism towards their country. The Uncle Sam Range poster also uses its font to enforce its message. The font is written in big bold capitals which almost feels like it is a command to buy this product. Also the poster is extremely patriotic and is followed through within the text as the font looks almost wild western style which amplifies their pride for their country which implies the feeling that if you buy this cooker you are doing America proud. through the use of font and style of illustration both of the posters are trying to enforce the strong message of doing your duty for your country. 

However both the Uncle Sam Range and Savile Lumley poster contrast in the emotions they are trying to portray within the posters. The Uncle Sam poster is trying to make males want to aspirer to have this luxury lifestyle and buy this cooker and they will have this wealthy all American life. Whereas the Savile Lumley poster is trying to create a strong feeling of guilt and shame upon its audience if they don't take part in the 'Great War'. Though successfully using similar techniques and styles they both manage to illustrate their point across.    

  

STUDY TASK 1

Quentin Blake's work really influences my style of working with his use of pen and water colours.

I've loved this piece by Nanami Cowdroy for a long time and has really inspired my illustration. I especially like the composition of this.  

This is another piece by Nanami Cowdroy She uses ink really well to create this washed out sky.

I came across this piece when I was in HMV one day and saw this album cover and it really stood out to me, so when I got back home I then researched Ralph Steadman's work. 

I fell in love with the Simon's cat books as soon as i saw them. I have a cat myself; I love how much I can relate to these books with my cat. I think his styles very simplistic but yet effective.