Symbolism in agriculture: A qualitative inquiry of the visual vocabularies of graphic communicators

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2019-08

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Abstract

This research was a phenomenological inquiry examining the root of visual vocabularies of agricultural symbols of graphic communicators. The investigation was divided into three phases. The first stage was a symbolism/semantics content analysis and coding of a series of children's pictorial books known as Little Golden Books. Step two consisted of personal interviews with ten graphic communicators outside the field of Agricultural Communications. I examined their visual vocabulary of agriculture during a semi-structured interview and utilized photo-elicitation techniques with images from the Little Golden Books to further understand their point of view. The final stage involved the same ten graphic communicators’ perceptions of agricultural symbols. The participants were asked to create, i.e., draw, design, or photograph their idea of a farm. The images of the Little Golden Books, interviews and the photo-elicitation project produced by the graphic communicators were viewed through the lens of semantics.

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Keywords

Symbols, Semantics, Icons, Visual language, Agriculture, Phenomenological, Photo elicitation, Graphic elicitation, Art-based research

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