semiotics
...tation' tends to be described as the definitional, 'literal', 'obvious' or 'commonsense' meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the denotative meaning is what the dictionary attempts to provide. The term 'connotation' is used to refer to the socio-cultural and 'personal' associations. Chandler, D. (1995) The two print based advertisements that I will be analysing both appear in December 2004 edition of Marie Claire magazine which is targeted at females aged 20-35 from various ethnic backgrounds. The majority of the advertisements are based on designer fashion, beauty, and leisure and how they affect and are used by these females. The first advertisement is of Jennifer Lopez’s new fragrance Still. The main sign, Jennifer Lopez herself, is quite obvious because of her high celebrity status. The signifier is Jennifer Lopez looking and the signified is her celebrity status and her wealth. One could say that the hairstyle she wears is an iconic sign of the well known Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe who personified Hollywood glamour and dominated the age of movie stars to become, without question, one of the most famous woman of the 20th Century. This could signify that her image and position may have changed but she herself has not. The text ‘in the eye of the storm I am still Jennifer Lopez’ is juxtaposed next to a Hollywood looking Jennifer Lopez. As any other well known celebrity Jennifer Lopez’s private life has become public and recently her turbulent relationship with Hollywood actor Ben Affleck as been all over the media thus confirming the use of the text ‘in the eye of the storm I am…’ The reader may notice that she has paradigmatically not used her other name JLo as she wants to be taken seriously. This name is used for her fashion line and has been used for her recent music releases but when acting in films her full name, Jennifer Lopez, is used. Her posture is quite upright and although it may seem she is at eye level with the audience she is really looking down on us. This is not made obvious because as the text says she is ‘still Jennifer Lopez’ indicating that she does not want the reader to think that she has totally changed. The lower half of her body is blurred signifying her turbulent private life that has become public. In the bottom right hand corner is a disproportionately larger perfume bottle which paradigmatically placed in this position so that it is automatically noticed. The perfume bottle itself might signify to some people a perfume that will turn you into someone like Jennifer Lopez who is wealthy and successful hence the diamond in the actual perfume bottle denoting a very hard precious stone. The second advertisement is of the Ghost fragrance, Deep Night. The focal point of the advertisement is the woman who is touching herself in a sensual way. The woman is dressed in quite a seductive way and dressed in a loosely fitting dress. The text ‘The fragrance of love’ is placed at the bottom of the advertisement along with the name ‘Ghost’ which is written in white sans serif. The woman herself is the signifier, the signified is her mysteriousness. This is confirmed by the use of the larger than normal perfume bottle shaped like a moon with a white glow around it, which is an indexical sign. The bottle has been paradigmatically placed in the position that a moon is usually in which is in the sky. If the perfume bottle had been placed in a different position there would be different connotations. The perfume may not be looked at as a perfume that changes you into a seductress at night. The woman is positioned not only in a seductive way but as if she is being affected in some way by this moon/ perfume. For some readers this may signify the myth that when the full moon is...