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Signifier

We can see that the top of the ketchup bottle is a tomato, and the entire bottle is sliced up and has texture similar to that of a tomato.

We also note that the message on the ad says “No one grows Ketchup like Heinz”, in a similar fashion to how we would describe fresh produce, with the emphasis on the word “grow”.

Signified

Considering the intention of the sender (Heinz):

Indicative: Influencing thought

The sliced tomato and the message all serve to place emphasis on how natural the Heinz tomato sauce is. They imply that the sauce is made of the freshest tomatoes and not much processing has been done or not much of other ingredients were added to it — it is almost all just the natural goodness of tomato.

The ad also hints to viewers that Heinz is the best at keeping their sauce very natural, with the phrasing of “no one does it like Heinz”.

Imperative: Influencing will

The ad is trying to influence viewers to be willing to buy from Heinz, to choose Heinz over other similar brands in the market.

Suggestive: Influencing feelings

The ad subtly urges viewers to pick options that are all natural and those that are healthier for them, by implying its importance.

Japanese artist Avogado6 is known for their expressive symbolic illustrations that usually have a dark twist. 

I chose to evaluate this artwork, titled “制作 クッキーのきもち”, which roughly translates to “feelings of a production cookie”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClXqsj9SZH6/

Description: What is going on in the artwork?

The artwork depicts 3 characters made out of cookies who are baking cookies. All 3 characters have cookie-cutter shaped holes on their bodies, and have cookies on their baking tray, ready to be contributed to the conveyor belt.

Analysis: How are things presented?

We can observe a gradual change in mood and cookie production amount across the 3 characters.

The way 3 characters are placed side by side in that specific order gives the impression that they are related. I wondered whether these 3 characters are actually the same person, just captured at different timings.

Interpretation: Meaning, implication or effect

From what I understand, the main meaning behind this artwork is being overworked and giving too much of yourself away.

The characters seem to be mass producing the cookies, as seen from how they are placing the baked cookies on a conveyor belt instead of a regular kitchen or bakery tabletop. Judging from how the shape and colours of the holes on the characters’ bodies match that of the cookies produced, we can deduce that they cut the cookies out of themselves. I interpreted this as pouring our energy into pushing deliverables, and a machine-like level of “mass producing” output for our work. 

The gradual deterioration of the characters’ bodies could represent how our well-being is declining from overworking ourselves. We can sense that things start to cross the line when the characters start giving away important parts of their cookie body, like their eyes or heart.

The poor condition of the cookies made by the left character also implies that the quality of our work can decline as well. At that point, we have lost sight of what really matters, represented literally by the left character’s missing pupils.

Looking at the comments on the post, there are also people who interpreted this as forgetting our own needs to give to others, which I think makes sense as well.

Judgement: Evaluation of success and shortcomings

The artwork successfully brings the sense of warmth and love associated with handmade cookies while also contrasting it with the cold and rigid machine-like standardisation of mass production associated with the conveyor belt. This is further emphasised by the symbolism of cookie cutters — relating to overly stereotypic and formulaic methods that do not account for a person’s individuality.

For shortcomings, something that caught my attention was the way Avogado6 chose to use pastel colours for this artwork. I expected a dark theme to be further strengthened through a darker moody palette. At first I thought the colours chosen might just be because of the art style as it is not uncommon to see Avogado6 use unsettling cheerful colours and smiles all over a piece that has a dark meaning. However, I noticed Avogado6 does use darker colours from time to time, which made me wonder whether the pastel colours were intentional. Perhaps this contrast between the light colours and the dark symbolism is exactly what captures people’s attention.

Another “shortcoming” is the ambiguity in whether the production is moving left to right or right to left. I was wondering why Avogado6 positioned the healthier character on the right and the deteriorated character on the left, instead of the other way around to follow the natural flow of reading. However, I had the realisation that in Japanese media, people tend to read from right to left, so the current order would actually make sense. The reason why I pointed out the order is because reading in the reverse order could result in a different interpretation where the character gradually improves, learns about their boundaries and protects themselves. Nevertheless, considering the irreversibility of baking cookies — burnt cookies can no longer be reversed and unburnt — my intuition tells me that the intended message is the deterioration instead of the healing.

Overall, I think the objects used in the artwork are very carefully chosen and hence effective in evoking the intended emotions, and it is quite frankly, genius to me.

Prompt: Sketch (design) a machine/device that you think will enhance your creativity.

I always like to keep my brain juices flowing and look for new inspiration for illustrations I draw and post on my art Instagram, and sometimes I get overloaded with ideas right as I am about to go to sleep.

Something that I think could enhance my creativity is being able to store my random ideas into an imaginative space, visually represented like in a bird cage, or grown and nurtured like plants. Having an idea backpack to store ideas on the go would be great too. Being able to record the ideas down as they are would help me save time and let me go back to it on a later date without losing their initial essence!