Writerly Readers: Graphic Design and Semiotics

Abstract
This paper evaluates qualitative research from an archive of practice based postgraduate design workshops at London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London. With reference to ideas about writerly and readerly texts the paper develops a theoretical framework through which semiotics is used to critique the role of graphic design in creating and carrying commodified visual messages. The paper seeks to dismantle and expose the seductive strategies of the visually mediated message and investigates the fundamental component of visual communication- the relationship between word and image. A case is presented to consider a more discursive and collaborative process that could replace the passively received spectacle of graphic design. In considering relationships between authoring and receiving visual messages the paper argues for a model of design that invites the viewer to collaborate and so become an active participant in the writing and reading of visual meaning.