Exegesis | ianimals

EXEGESIS

The identity of this blog is a combination of two focus genres: animals and humour. The logline construct can be summed up as, "The cartoonist who loves animals."

The first version of the blog design featured a font similar to that in the Singapore Night Safari logo. The font would be an excellent recognisable signifier of animals in the local (Singapore) context.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wills/124093984

The cover photo was chosen because of the meme-worthy "deer-in-the-headlights" look on the otter's face, as he held on to his catch. The signified association with the identity of the site genre is exaggeration and comedy. In basic genre theory, the application of recognisable signifiers of genres enhance quick psychological associations and facilitate learning and recall.

The first cover photo with its wide-eyed otter could also be likened to the TRIGGERED meme. This meme utilized a sort of motion-blur effect on the font which implied the camera was shaking. This inspired me to change the title font to mimic this motion-blur from the meme. This worked well and formed a synergy with the picture, transforming the combination into a parody of the meme itself.

The "identity" of the site still needed something. I did not want it to be mistaken for a wildlife photography site, as it was still very close to the genre visually. While it contained implicit signifiers of humour, it is a safer bet to set the genre straight with a tagline. The text "50% cartoonist. 50% technologist. 100% ianimal" did the job.

To enhance the cartoon-like appearance, I added a speech bubble with the words "Animals are funny. Humans are funny. Cartoonists can smell funny." Of course, this is a double...make that quadruple entendre: The second line not only that humans are humorous, they also behave in often ironic ways. The third line not only implies the self-deprecating joke that cartoonists stink, but also that they can sniff out opportunities at creating humour.

Since I have been taking plenty of photos of animals, I selected one with an appropriate grimace befitting the caption.

A good zoom lens and a steady hand are essential for wildlife photography, plus patience and awareness. Particularly useful is an awareness and anticipation of movement. All these qualities are evident in this single shot chosen as a representation what this site is about, and by extension, a part of my identity. Hence, it can be inferred from Ferdinand de Saussure's studies on semiotics that these qualities: steady hand, patience, awareness, anticipation, which match well with the qualities of a cartoonist, can be subtly associated with the creator of this site.

Each ianimal post is short, but curated to support the genre mix, the combination of photography of animals and humour. The formula of each post can be broken down into the common comic structure "expectation / reality" with a twist. Most of the captions also include the use of double entendre.