Our image and text semiotics describes an expert analysis that examines various elements on packaging or advertisements, such as symbols, colours, shapes, text content and visual design elements, for hidden meanings and cultural connotations.

The aim is to find out how consumers perceive certain design elements and what meaning they attribute to them. By applying image and text semiotics, we can:

• Better understand the impact of advertising messages, logos and visual elements in brand communication.
• Consider cultural differences and interpretations of signs and symbols in different target markets.
• Analyse the emotional reactions and associations of consumers with certain images and texts.
• Identify trends in visual and textual communication.
• Evaluate the perception of your brand, products or services by the target group.

Semiotic analysis offers valuable advantages for understanding specific design elements and messages within a product category. For example, it helps to uncover category-related codes and design elements. This "uncovering" enables a comprehensive analysis of design elements that subjects are often unable to verbalise.

A semiotic analysis can result in a so-called "lexicon of design codes", which serves as a basis for the design and communication of products. In addition, semiotics can also identify gaps in communication within a product category. These unfilled messages or design aspects can then be filled by a new product.

Despite numerous advantages, it is important to mention that semiotics alone may not provide all the necessary information. We recommend combining the approach intelligently with other qualitative research methods in order to obtain a comprehensive picture.

We use a case study to show you the project process of a semiotic analysis. The aim of the study was to research the quality perception of shower gel bottles and to optimise the packaging design. Our experts went through the following project steps:

Selection of comparative designs: to begin with, six shower gel products of different quality levels were selected. All products contain a variety of visual features in terms of shape, colour, typography, text content, emblematics and planimetry. The selection was based on the principle of "same but different" in order to cover the range of design alternatives within the category.

Description of the comparison designs: The second step involved a detailed description of all shower gel bottles along the comparison categories. The process required careful analysis to eliminate cultural bias and sharpen the analytical eye. During the description, the team formulated initial hypotheses on relevant value codes.

Comparison of the designs: The actual comparison was carried out by analysing all designs for recurring features that correlated with a certain perception of quality. The aim was to identify design principles that represented specific combinations of packaging characteristics and addressed the generally recognised code "high quality".

Result: The aim of the analysis was to investigate the quality perception of shower gel bottles. In the semiotic analysis, our experts were able to identify three key design principles, all of which convey a high level of value:

• Aesthetic refinement: aesthetic refinement characterised by soft shapes, silky surfaces, subtle colours, clear typography and appropriate emblematics.
• Matching bottle colour and effect: The choice of colour must match the communicated effect: Red for revitalisation, light shades for care and health.
• Embedding the design in the care line: A consistent appearance of the entire product line conveys calm and clarity on the shelf and contributes to the impression of quality.