Select 1 topic from 2 following topics:
Choose an image-based advertisement (i.e. not a video/multimedia advertisement) for any type of product or cause that appeared in the last 12 months (i.e. since May 2021) and conduct a semiotic analysis of it. OR, you can compare two image-based advertisements for a similar product/cause using semiotic analysis. The advertisement can be print or digital (i.e. you can photograph a print ad/poster on the street or from a magazine). Please make sure you include a copy of the image you are analysing in your assignment.
Choose a smartphone app and use the ‘walkthrough method’ to conduct a critical analysis of how the app’s environment of intended use and technical design shape user interactions and behaviour on the platform. The analyses should consider both the techno- and social-elements
Your primary task with this assignment is to present and develop a clear argument about:
What kind of norms/beliefs/ideologies the chosen media text/object transmits; and
How the media text or object has communicated the norms/beliefs/ideologies.
Discussions should NOT linger on the commercial/political aspects (such as how effective the advertisement would be at converting viewers to paying customers).
You should structure your analysis by drawing on the key method or approach chosen and draw on critical insights discussed in Block 2 of the unit. Where appropriate, you can draw on a secondary method/approach in your analysis. For example, you may draw on semiotic analysis to deepen your analysis of the visual design and layout of an app’s user interface.