Meaning 1

Representation


This children's desk uses representation in its design.  Even without the little "School Bus" sign, we can recognize that the desk is designed to look like a school bus by its bright yellow color, the black circles which represent whiles, the white squares which represent windows, and the black stripe along the side which is characteristic of school buses.  Dondis states on page 67 of A primer of Visual Literacy that representational visual messages are derived from what we see and recognize from our environment.  The decorative elements of this desk come together to create the familiar appearance of a traditional school bus. 

Abstraction



This is an abstract representation of the Deathly Hallows from the Harry Potter series.  The Deathly Hallows are three magical objects that are each represented by a shape in this abstraction.  The line down the center represents a wand, the circle represents a resurrection stone, and the triangel represents a cloak of invisibility.  An abstraction according to Dondis is something "reduced to its basic elemental visual concepts"  Each of the three objects represented in this mark is reduced to its basic shape which would be its "basic elemental visual concept"  In the Harry Potter series, if this mark showed up on an object or person, it was an indication that that person or object was somehow related to the legend of the deathly hallows, or that the person simply believed in their existence,  However, in the real world, if somebody is sporting this abstraction, it most likely means that they are simply a fan of the Harry Potter series.

Symbol





This is the peace symbol.  It is a universal symbole that denotes the abstract concept of peace. The shape in the center is supposed to be an olive branch which has been the symbol of peace since the time of the ancient Greeks.  They believed that Eirene was the goddess of peace and that the olive was very important to her.  It is for this reason that the concept of peace has adopted this symbol.  Many people may not know the reasoning behind the symbol but most people can recognize it as the peace symbol because it is such a universal symbol.