Semiotics of visual and linguistic signs in storefront advertisements

Abstract

Abstract: Saudi Arabia is one of the strong economies in the world, and therefore, it is one of the markets in which the trademarks are common there. Different shops and companies compete in employing semiotic signs to attract customers' attentions and for marketing purposes. The semiotic signs on the storefronts are of great importance and great influence, as they are the first signs that the customers see, and thus, they either attract the recipient’s interest and persuade them to visit the store, or they may have a negative impact and distract them from that. Despite the importance of shop fronts signs and the values ​​and creative communicative marks they bear, the applied studies published regarding this area of research are rare in the Arabic context.

 In the current study, the researcher has analyzed random commercial front stores in Riyadh, in order to explore the visual signs used and its relationship to the linguistic text, as well as the functions that these signs perform. The results showed that visual signs were clearly employed in storefronts in Riyadh through the use of images, colors, and geometric shapes, and these signs were used to serve various purposes, such as the marketing function, the psychological function, the aesthetic function, and the expressive function. The research revealed that the visual and linguistic signs complement each other in a single front shop to convey an integrated meaning.