immigration.

sarah dean

part a: finding signs.

immigration: why

immigrants are usually depicted as criminals

I wanted try to show that immigrants are good,

hardworking people

if we all just accept each other, it would make the

world a better place

Immigrants are usually seen as criminals, only here to sabotage America and take the citizens jobs. Thats not true at all.
Immigrants come from all over the globe, seeking out a better life for themselves and their families, taking a gamble, leaving
their loved ones and their native country behind, risking everything but yet they are demonized for doing so. I wanted to
bring this situation to light, and show that most immigrants are good, hard working people immigrants make up nearly
17% of the workforce, doing jobs that most citizens wouldn't want to do like, construction, domestic and industrial cleaning,
and other labor-intensive jobs. However, not all immigrants take on such laborious jobs, approximately 17% take on jobs
within the scientific, technical, managerial, educational, and financial fields. Besides helping with the economy, immigrants
bring their cultures with them to America, the Melting Pot of the world. We all can learn something from other cultures if
we set aside prejudices.

semiotic symbols
icon
index
symbol

As you all very well know, an icon is the actual representation of the sign. IE, a telephone. Literally a phone. An index would
be something that reminds you of the thing but isnt the actual thing. IE, telephone cord. And a symbol is a thing that is
associated with the thing but has no literal representation of the thing. IE, Southern Bell. (the telephone company)

6 subcategories.

I chose equality because most immigrants are perceived as subhuman in America. I wanted to show that we are all equal as
human beings, no matter where we come from. An icon I chose was one of the universal signs for equality - the yin and the
yang. I really didnt know how to literally depict equality, so this was the best I could come up with. My index was people
holding hands. Not exactly equality, but holding hands usually has a good connotation. Lastly, the literal symbol for equality.
Even though we have become accustomed to associating the equal sign to mean equal, it was still a learned thing, and not
an instinctually known sign, so therefore it is a symbol.

It takes a lot of money and legalities to come to America legally. Most people cant aord either the price or the time, so they
take a risk and come here without being documented. That doesnt mean theyre bad people, its just that it is more dicult
than one might think. The icon I chose is a symbol I suppose, but I couldnt think of how to literally represent legalities, so I
chose the balance weight of the justice system. The pen in the middle is my symbol, usually legal documents have to be
signed in order to be valid, so I thought this would be a good sign for that. My index is a visa or green card.

Citizenship is an obvious subcategory for this topic. Like I said, its really dicult to become a citizen. Its such a long
process and takes a lot of money. My icon is literally citizenship documents, index being the American flag, and the symbol
being the I voted sticker, because in order to vote for any election, one has to be a citizen.

Jobs are a big part of what drives people to come here we are the land of opportunity so, that means we have more
jobs that are open to everyone. An icon I chose for this would be the first thing that came to mind when I thought of jobs
someone digging. Yeah, I dont know why either. Index is obviously money thats why people come here in the first
place. And with that money, they can buy things like cars, which indicates that they have a good job.

Family is one of the biggest reasons why people leave their homeland to come to America. They want a better life for their
family, so they think America can provide that. The icon is pretty obvious, a family, the index being a house, where the family
lives, and a symbol being a heart because they love their families enough to sacrifice everything to better their lives.

Lastly, I chose stereotypes because Americans usually hold immigrants to stereotypes. Even though Im advocating for
global immigration, when most people think of immigration they think of Mexicans. So thats why I chose these signs
my icon being a cholo, the index being drugs because, you know, immigrants come here only to bring drugs, and
handcus as a symbol because theyre criminals.

Heres some of my researched images relating to immigration.

Heres my finalized sketches for the first part. The first one was supposed to be this dude thats coming out of poverty, and
into riches when he came to America, but that didnt really read well. The second one is a little more obvious, the open door.
And the third being America shaking hands with the rest of the world, making peace with everyone.

part b: making meaning

Two out of three connotations. I wasnt really sure of what direction I should go with this, so I just decided to pick ones in
which I thought would be the best related to immigration. I dont think the handmade one worked out really well, but the
simple one did. It makes sense, and is quick.

Heres my last connotation, friendly. I thought these came across well, but I think it was a little too childish. So, I decided to
combine the styles of simple and friendly and came up with.

index

icon

symbol

I was thinking of index for the hands shaking sign because it reminds me of an agreement, and also welcoming feeling that I
want to evoke to all immigrants. I picked icon for the door because it literally represents people coming through our doors,
so I think it fits that category fits well. I thought the keyhole would fit into the symbol category because even though you see
the American flag, that doesnt exactly scream immigration right o the bat. I wanted it to say unlocked opportunities. I
was going for a more friendly connotation with these. Thats why theyre hand drawn. I tried to make them in illustrator, but
I didnt like the connotation they were giving o they seemed too rigid and less welcoming. So, thats why I stuck with the
more handmade feel it seems more comforting to both adults and children. Thats why I also chose cool colors,
because they evoke a soothing emotion, instead of urgent and slightly scary.

Heres some of the mockups I did.

is

we are all one people.

anchor
WELCOME, EVERYONE.

relay

ac

e.

operatio
co

ce ptanc

anchor

anchor

relay

open for opportunities.

relay

relay

anchor

I couldnt really figure out how to do anchor/relay with image, so here they are with text. I like my signs a lot better now that
they have text around them, and they make sense. My favorite one is the largest, Im from another country, not another
planet. Shoutout to Daisy for helping me come up with that.

Heres some of my mockups for the anchor and relay stickers.

part c: defining semiotics

semiotics: the study of

signs and how they are
utilized

semantics: the study of

meanings

pragmatics: how signs

can be used and
interpreted.

sign: anything that is used to

communicate, is made up of the
signifier (the word) and the
signified (the image of the thing).

signified: the thing that the

word is describing, the
actual thing.

signifier: the literal word.

icon: the actual thing as it is

represented in real life, without any
previously assigned meaning.

index: a thing that is not necessarily the

actual thing but reminds you of the thing.
Like, a mouse would be to a computer.

symbol - a thing that does not literally represent the

actual thing, but is learned to be associated with the
thing. example: kc royals logo - doesn't literally represent
a baseball team, but it's the learned sign that lets people
know that it is the kansas city royals baseball team.

paradigm: where signs get

meaning from their
association with other signs.

syntagm: where signs get meaning

from their sequential order, e.g.,
grammar or the sequence of
events that make up a story.

connotation: the feeling that

the word or sign creates, which
depends on one's culture.

denotation: the literal

interpretation of the word
or sign.

anchor: reinforces the

meaning of the sign, like a
caption for example.

relay: text that advances the image

by supplying meanings not found in
the image itself, like dialogue in a
film.

what i learned

What I learned about semiotics is that theres a lot more planning and theory behind what goes into a design. Just the
change of one color, or even one stroke of a line for that matter, can change the whole connotation that a design gives o.
When designing a logo or well, anything, for someone I need to be aware of what kind of message Im sending by the
design choices I make. I also learned that words really influence the connotation of the design and can be interpreted in
many dierent ways, but I have to make sure that Im giving o the message that I was trying to achieve in the first place.
Graphic design and semiotics are definitely intertwined, and need to be treated as such. The whole point of what were
doing is to relay a message to our audience, so we better make sure its the right one.