Email (its being emotional … )

Abstract

Electronic mail and messaging systems are becoming the more dominant communications tool of modern life. From the teenagers in their bedroom to the pensioner in the library – email is a de facto way to communicate for personal and business use. Email is different however from other means of communication, for instance the dimensions differ in: speed, permanence of the message; cost of distribution, deliverance to individuals and groups; an ability to filter, channel, record, and control messages. Graphic design can be viewed from a structuralism perspective as a language system – to extend the understanding of language from a spoken and written system of signs – to a manner of visual signals. Designers play a part in reinventing and redefining signs and symbols and cognitive semiotics is something designers explore over time with intuition and experience. This paper describes the need for expression in electronic mail.