LIMA, Y. L. F.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/9755656313488019; LIMA, Yasmine Laíse Firmino de.
Resumo:
This study is in the field of Information Design, and has book covers as object of
study analyzed from the perspective of color. Taking in account that for almost one
third of Brazilian readers the theme of the book is the main factor for its selection,
and that a significant amount of the readers choose a book by its cover, it should be
highlighted the importance of the book cover for identifying the subject of the book.
The colors may suggest meanings derived from cultural and social associations,
however, there is limited understanding concerning its interference in understanding
visual messages. This study is exploratory and aims to check if the color of the book
cover interferes in the identification of the subject of the book by the readers. The
research methodology was divided into two stages: visual analysis and experiment.
The first stage was based on fundamental concepts of Gestalt theory to select the
corpus of the research and in semiotics concepts for the semantic analysis of the
graphic image. Four covers were selected that met the following criteria: (1)
monochromatic compositions, (2) high degree of pregnancy, (3) without indication of
the subject of the book through images and / or texts. For the experiment, two online
questionnaires were used, answered by two different groups of 100 literate adults
each. For Group A, the questionnaires contained images of the book covers in their
original colors; while the Group B observed images of the same covers with the
colors modified by software. After viewing the cover images, the participants were
asked to indicate the subjects dealt with in the books and justifying their answers.
Due to the great dispersion observed in the responses, it was found that the design
of the tested covers generated ambiguity in identifying the thematic of the books.
However, the differences observed in the answers indicate that there was some
influence of symbolic associations of colors in the interpretation of the subject of the
books by the readers, since it is the only variable among the questionnaires. It was
possible to conclude, in the scope of this research, that the use of color with
approximation to the semantic field of the theme proved to be relevant for the
production of meanings related to the content of the work, through visualization of the
cover. The results indicate that the influence of colors for the production of meanings
may vary according to their relationship with other visual elements and the entire
context of the graphic composition.