The Shannon-Weaver Model - Shannon & Weaver employed by the American Military to improve efficiency of communication, understand how and where communication was being broken down.
Did research into radio & telecommunications.Model can be applied to all communication - visual etc. - although it is primarily designed for telecommunications & radio messaging.
To understand communication you need to know the components:
- Information Source
- Transmitter
- Channel
- Receiver
- Destination
Communication can be broken down and fail at any of these points
Eg. Radio Message:- Person 1 - Radio encodes - Radio waves - Received by radio - Person 2
- Client/brief - Designer - Work - Viewer - Understood Message
- Client - Designer - Work - Everyone - Target Audience
- Information Source: Brief could be vague/not well explained
- Transmitter: Wrong interpretation of brief
- Channel: Design issues - printing issues etc & wrong area/context & media
- Receiver: Not understand/ Misinterpret
- Destination: Ambiguous message/ misunderstood/ not clear/ no sense/ no interest
Noise Source:
Interferes with the communicative act - can happen at any stage.
Eg. telephone communication - noise at the channel - can't hear everything
Relating to design - Stress from above - too much information - friends interfering etc - technical issues - other media around/fallen trees etc - other designs around - detest for product
Communication problems:
- Level A: Technical problems: How accurately can the message be transmitted?
- Level B: Semantic problems: How precisely is the message conveyed?
- Level C: Effectiveness problems: How effective does the received meaning affect behaviour?
Model is linear whereas the design process has feedback - would need a loop - consistent dialogue
Noise:
- Unintended things which cause communication breakdown
- In Zines, noise becomes a feature - noise becomes communication
- Introduction of noise is a creative act to create a new communication - hijacking - graffiti etc.
Redundancy Vs Entropy
Redundancy:
- Highly predictability, low information - social predictable e.g. offering handshake - mostly understood
- Phatic communication - Jakobson
- Path of least resistant - doesn't interfere with communication at all
Entropy:
- A shock - communicated a shocking high amount of information
- Can occur at every stage of Shannon-Weaver model
- Sometimes entropy is desired - eg. Hawaii bar with Helvetica & Bauhaus interior
- Makes people take notice
Task: Apply Shannon-Weaver model to an example of communication, using the themes discussed in the seminar.
For a piece of graphic design/communication to work well and efficiently it needs to fulfil the criteria in the Shannon-Weaver model. Analysing this advertisement against it will see how well the message is being put across and if it is successful.
There are five main components to the Shannon-Weaver model which can be applied and manipulated to fit any given piece of communication. In this advert the Information Source will have been the client, which is fashion retailer Benetton. It is clear from first glance that this advertisement is an entropic one, and was made to be that way. This means it was an advert created to shock and make people stop and take notice of it.
The second stage is the Transmitter, and that is the designer who created the images for them. As the client obviously wanted a shocking advert, there has not been any communication break down at this point.
The third stage is the Channel, which is the work itself. These are done on a large scale and at a height which is easily seen without anyone having to look up or down to see it. At eye-height these adverts will get more attention. The Receiver/Destination is the viewers of these images, but it doesn't necessarily aim itself at a particular audience, more of a general public audience with the aim to shock and make people take notice.
When analysing communication, the Shannon-Weaver model also takes distractions or disturbances into consideration. This is know as Noise. This can happen at any stage of the model and deter the successfulness of the message that is supposed to be communicated. Referring to this advertisement, a possible source of noise could be the fact that it is an advert at a lower level to others around it. When there is a large amount of people walking past, it will become harder for a viewer to successfully get the message. Other adverts around it may distract their attention as well, as they will be higher/more noticeable in this situation as well.
When looking into the levelling system of communication of this advert it becomes clear that there are perhaps Semantic problems as well as Effectiveness problems. Although this advert is entropic, it is representing a clothing brand, and putting an image like this up isn't necessarily going to make people walk into the shop and buy the clothing. In terms of an effectiveness problem, the desired effect is clearly to make viewers see world leaders put in a situation which is still shamed upon by many people, and the message is that it is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be hated for. However, Benetton is known for it's shocking adverts, and sticking to this does make the viewer take notice and then know which brand it is for, and having advertisements which are entropic and make you think is a way to gain publicity over the other redundant advertisements, which in turn, could potentially get boosted sales for the brand.
There are five main components to the Shannon-Weaver model which can be applied and manipulated to fit any given piece of communication. In this advert the Information Source will have been the client, which is fashion retailer Benetton. It is clear from first glance that this advertisement is an entropic one, and was made to be that way. This means it was an advert created to shock and make people stop and take notice of it.
The second stage is the Transmitter, and that is the designer who created the images for them. As the client obviously wanted a shocking advert, there has not been any communication break down at this point.
The third stage is the Channel, which is the work itself. These are done on a large scale and at a height which is easily seen without anyone having to look up or down to see it. At eye-height these adverts will get more attention. The Receiver/Destination is the viewers of these images, but it doesn't necessarily aim itself at a particular audience, more of a general public audience with the aim to shock and make people take notice.
When analysing communication, the Shannon-Weaver model also takes distractions or disturbances into consideration. This is know as Noise. This can happen at any stage of the model and deter the successfulness of the message that is supposed to be communicated. Referring to this advertisement, a possible source of noise could be the fact that it is an advert at a lower level to others around it. When there is a large amount of people walking past, it will become harder for a viewer to successfully get the message. Other adverts around it may distract their attention as well, as they will be higher/more noticeable in this situation as well.
When looking into the levelling system of communication of this advert it becomes clear that there are perhaps Semantic problems as well as Effectiveness problems. Although this advert is entropic, it is representing a clothing brand, and putting an image like this up isn't necessarily going to make people walk into the shop and buy the clothing. In terms of an effectiveness problem, the desired effect is clearly to make viewers see world leaders put in a situation which is still shamed upon by many people, and the message is that it is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be hated for. However, Benetton is known for it's shocking adverts, and sticking to this does make the viewer take notice and then know which brand it is for, and having advertisements which are entropic and make you think is a way to gain publicity over the other redundant advertisements, which in turn, could potentially get boosted sales for the brand.
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