Mapping of Graphic-Semantic Representations: Bisar an Emotional Brand

Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool called the Graphic-semantic Expression Map in the creation of a new brand mark, with the intend of validating this new methodological approach. This tool was developed to assist the process of expressive code synthesis and boost the relationship between graphic expression and semantics in design practice. As a case study this tool was applied on the creation of the Bisar brand mark within the scope of the curriculum internship of the master’s degree in Digital Identity Design at Portalegre Polytechnic. Bisar – eco brand inspired by people -, consists of an identity focused on the reuse of industrial waste, specifically from the textile industries in Guimarães, through the donation of industrial waste by each company, allowing the creation of a brand focused on its values and objectives, emotional and social, through experiences, supporting sustainability and making a difference in the community. Bisar is a sub-brand of Guimarães municipality that emerged from a project called “From Granny to Trendy” by the “Vintage for a cause brand”, a sustainable brand that has won a series of awards and is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which stands out for its concern at a sustainable, ecological, and environmental level and creativity. Through the application of the tool, it is intended to assess the brand's values, relating them to semantic and graphic values, aiding methodologies and instruments promoting the association between semantics and visual thinking. Visual thinking is an essential tool because it helps to clarify ideas, defines concepts, interpret the problem, and give a systemic view. In this context, concept maps are a widely used tool in design teaching to help students visualize and communicate concepts, using semantic panels, associations are made at the semantic level, which allows working the relationship between the semantic attributes and the previous experience of the receiver. The intrinsic relationship between the brand mark and what it represents can be described as a semantic differential, and, according to Formiés and Vázquez (2016), the semantic differential technique allows us to evaluate opposing adjectives, noting whether there is any relationship between elements such as the color, the set, the visual pattern and the semantic attributes that the brand intends to convey, which can also be used to determine the recognition of the graphic brand. The implementation of the new visual synthesis tool – designated Graphic-semantic Expressions Map in concrete contexts of learning in the scope of Design Education constitutes the undertaking that succeeds its conception and aims to create conditions for its scientific validation. In the end, an attempt is made to evaluate if the association of semantic elements with several communication elements promotes the convergence between the project goals and the synthesis expressive codes, while the interpretation and creation of a brand mark project.