The Emblem in the Visual Representation of a University: Classification and Semiotics of Visual Images

Abstract

The article studies the main attribute of a university’s visual representation - its emblem. Among a few works devoted to the process of university branding, there is no сошріех analysis of their visual representation functioning. However, the observed growth of branding work in various universities increasingly involves the emblem as their graphic identifier. With the help of quantitative and qualitative methods, the structural and semiotic analysis of the emblems has been carried out on a соmріеіе sample of 917 Russian universities, their structure and range of their visual images being characterized, a typology of semiotic meanings being compiled. Consequently, the semiotic bases of Russian universities’ visual representation have been characterized, its functions in the process of university branding being defined. The research results have a wide practical application as a source of information on the use and purposes of university emblems within the higher education system, both for specialists involved in branding (marketing specialists, sociologists, designers etc.) and for PR departments, media centers, and administrations within a university. Nevertheless, the interpretative nature of the semiotic typology and the non-exclusive character of the classification of visual images allow but to designate the semantic directions of the universities positioning, beyond characterizing certain educational institutions in terms of their models of visual communication. Additional studies are necessary to determine the validity of the classification, as well as to clarify the semiotic bases for the typology given.