Tracing The Footprints of Natıonal Consciousness in Logo And Poster Designs: An Indicator-Based Analysis Specific to Teknofest
Chapter from the book:
Yağbasan,
M.
(ed.)
2025.
Meaning Struggles in the Digital Public Sphere: Myth, Space and Media.
Synopsis
This study aims to analyze Teknofest's logo and poster designs for 2023 with semiotic method and examine their visual elements from the perspective of social perception and ideological discourse. Teknofest, Turkey's most comprehensive science, aviation and technology event, is undoubtedly beyond being a mere festival; it makes a nation's national technology move visible and turns into a strategic communication tool that contributes to the construction of national identity. In this study, Peirce; The concepts of icon, index and symbol and Barthes' denotation (denotation), connotation (connotation) and mythological (ideological / social meaning) approaches were used as the theoretical basis. In this context, Teknofest's 2023 logo design and Istanbul and Ankara posters were evaluated with multi-layered semiotic analysis. In the posters; visual elements such as rockets, astronauts, robots, space themes, historical buildings and architectural symbols; Themes such as scientific progress, technological independence, collective consciousness, national heritage and youth vision attract particular attention. The colors, typography and visual arrangements used have the potential to create subconscious associations and support ideological discourses. Research findings show that the hypotheses put forward in the study are largely supported. On the other hand, visual elements in logos and posters; A functionality can be seen that reinforces the national technology discourse, directs the society towards scientific production, strives to create a national myth with historical references and makes ideological messages visible through aesthetic designs. In this respect, the study reveals that visual communication design is shaped not only by aesthetic concerns but also by cultural, political and ideological goals, and also reveals the guiding power of visual indicators on social consciousness.
