• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.94-101
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• 2012

Design reflects the time and cultural trends and thus can have different symbolic significance and functions depending on the perspective. While this is evident, corporations still insist that designers achieve viewers' complete understanding and satisfaction in their designs. Also, they refuse to accept the designers' interpretation on the grounds that they are subjective and incomplete interpretations even when in fact they are of superior intellectual standard. This problem is also found among the designers dealing with the clients. Thus, as long as all they are willing to accept is the fallibility of each other, the clash between designers and users is inevitable. To solve these problems, we need to have more objective and logical framework for achieving collective understanding on the interpretation of designs and symbols from the very stage of their development. The graphic design is a tangible product that represents the cultural phenomenon and needs to be interpreted as visual symbols. This makes the graphic design a semiological subject. Thus, a semiological approach will enable more analytical interpretations of polysemy of visual symbols. In this light, this study seeks to apply a semiological approach to suggest criteria for interpreting graphic designs as symbols. The criteria will serve as a useful tool for rational evaluation as well as strategic design development.