Abstract
In this paper, we explore the meaning potential of the graphical logo of Skjerjehamn, the old trading post at the gateway to the Sognefjord in Norway.
Skjerjehamn is located in Gulen municipality at the western shore of the fjord. Today the place is privately owned by the fish breeder Olav Braanaas, and appears as a small idyllic, restored place with a guest house and a restaurant. The place has become well-known due to the statue of king Olav V made by the famous sculptor Knut Steen. The statue was meant for the city of Oslo. It was, however, refused because of its design, and was bought and set up at the fjord by Olav Braanaas in 2007. The Skjerjehamn logo is developed by the designer Vilde Braanaas, and has iconic value as it takes the statue of the king as a point of departure.
Drawing of research of Christian Mosbæk Johannessen (2012), Jay Lemke (2000) and Morten Boeriis (2012), we will see the graphical logo of Skjerjehamn as an autonomous text, which throughout its articulation is given form as a semiotic type. We follow Mosbæk Johannessen (2012:158) when he says that there is nothing about a logo which does not carry any kind of meaning, and there is nothing about the design of the logo which is random. Mosbæk Johannessen also explains how the conditions of articulation, such as the graphical tools and the materiality of surface in where the logo appears, affect the meaning potential of the logo. Because of the fact that logos are very simple when it comes to structure, even small changes in shape might affect the meaning of the logo. This is very relevant when it comes to the logo of Skjerjehamn. In our presentation, we will analyse two variations of the same logo where small changes in the design have been done, and study how the changes affect both the ideational and interpersonal meaning of the logo. We will pay extra attention to the material where the logo is presented. In addition, we will discuss how the logo has become important in the branding of the place Skjerjehamn, the guest house, the restaurant and also a music festival which takes place every year at the foot of the statue of king Olav.
References
Boeriis, Morten (2012): Tekstzoom. Om en dynamisk funktionel rangstruktur i visuelle tekster. I: Thomas Hestbæk Andersen og Morten Boeriis (red.): Nordisk socialsemiotik. Pædagogiske, multimodale og sprogvidenskabelige landvindinger. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag
Johannessen, Christian Mosbæk (2012): Hvordan håndterer vi multimodal enkelhed? I: Thomas Hestbæk Andersen og Morten Boeriis (red.): Nordisk socialsemiotik. Pædagogiske, multimodale og sprogvidenskabelige landvindinger. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag
Lemke, Jay (2000): Material Sign Processes and Emergent Ecosocial Organization. I: Peter B. Andersen, Claus Emmeche, Niels Ole Finnemann and Peder Christiansen (eds.): Downward Causation. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press