1st International Conference on Semiotics and Visual Communication, Lemesos, Cyprus

The department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology played host to the 1st International Conference on Semiotics and Visual between 25th and 27th of November 2011.

Course Leader for Graphic Communication, Jeff Leak, was part of the organizing Scientific Committee and as well as chairing one of the sessions, he presented a paper around Semiotics, Architecture and Spatial Design with specific reference to French environmental typography.

His paper discussed the importance of the semiotics of French painted roadside advertising hoarding both in terms of it’s own moment in history and also it’s longer term legacy – what it means in the context of modern France and how these images communicate something about a sense of time, of place and culture. You can see one of Jeff’s images below:

The conference theme was “From Theory to Practice” and it aimed at exploring the broad subject of semiotics in a wide sense, aspiring to bring together researchers and practitioners who study and evaluate the ways that semiotic theories can be analyzed, perceived and applied in the context of various forms in visual communication.

The conference attracted over a hundred speakers from around the world including Australia, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, France, Holland, Great Britain, India, USA, Oman, Mexico, Jordan, Sweden, Kuwait, Qatar, Spain, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Japan, Lichtenstein and Estonia, as well, of course, as Cyprus.

The opening key note speaker was Professor Theo van Leeuwen - Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, who presented insightful observations and work around Creativity and Control: social semiotic reflections on kinetic typography.

You can read more about the event here:
http://www.cut.ac.cy/icsvc/

The conference was endorsed by the International Council of Graphic Design Associations