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The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
of great importance that every perceptible, and therefore attention-giving, element is
taken into account in the analysis.
Such an approach alters the methodology of content analysis outlined in the beginning
of this paper as described in the following three points:
1. It blurs the divisions of standardized methods previously used in the fields of
art history and communication studies.
2. It divides the research into a series of mutually complementary heuristic
analytical steps.
3. It shifts the focus from the textual meaning to the typographical design, the
importance of which is largely neglected in communication research.
The dual nature of script as a linguistic and visual system of symbols places the
typography of journal covers in a state of tension between their linguistic and visual
functions. The graphically variable and at the same time mechanically reproducible
structure of print allows variably shaped semanticizations to be manifested in
typographical characteristics. Such characteristics offer the reader a range of
emotional stimuli, historical allusions or cultural-ideological content. An accurate
account of the symbiosis of text and image systems produces a connotative
description of the typography together with an analytical description of the images,
and forms a system-theoretical structural coupling of the notational iconicity.
Due to the regular publication of journals over long periods of time, it is necessary for
the covers to present aesthetic consistency, while at the same time adding variety and
originality. In journalistic practice, this duality means a high degree of concentration
on individual events and topics, strictly bound in its visual format to the commonly
accepted aesthetic zeitgeist.
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