Social Representations of Communication Design: Symbolic Universes

Abstract

The development of Design as a discipline in Portugal was slow. Therefore, only in the ‘80s, visual culture was implemented through Communication Design. Its rises were just at the beginning of the twentieth century, which constrain the identification of Communication Design as a specific field of Design, isolated from other areas of knowledge such as Advertising. Communication Design is strategic to conveying messages in a world that converges on visual culture. Its role in society is to facilitate informational and cognitive processes that enhance the human being’s physical, neurological, and psychological behavior and the connection established with objects, others, and the world. The messages’ interpretations are anchored on symbolic representations that compose collective memories, i.e., shared social construction derived from social representations validated by media and social systems. This chapter aims to explore how social representations influence perceptions of Design. We conducted an exploratory study based on the Free Word Association Test with Design students was implemented to put the analysis forward. The main conclusions refer to a central design association for Advertising, and peripheral associations for Marketing, forms of expression, and Design and media products.