Rhetoric of the Image- Roland Barthes

In this essay Barthes seems to be investigating the idea of linguistics and coding in advertisements. He proposes the idea that cultural ideals and environments act as a catalyst to a successful advert.
Barthes often talks about the "semiotic theory"- the study of signs and symbols. He also discusses "epistemology"- a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin of human knowledge, thus exemplifying his thoughts that an advertisement cannot be directed at a broad audience, to achieve a successful campaign or advertisement it has to be taken into account where a person is from, their age and their background.
He asks us of the connection between words and images, should one be more prominent than the other? Or if we use words does that detract from the image?
He discusses the idea that people will look at the same image, yet their interpretation of it can be polar opposites depending on their background. There can appear many connotations from the same image, leading is into his discussion of polysemy.
Barthes essay addresses the idea of design conditioning, the audience you are creating for and the brief. He suggests that you'll never be able to satisfy everyone with a single design as people, no matter how similar, will always develop their own individual interpretation of the image. Barthes then goes on to consider the ways in which linguistics can help guide the viewer, or even manipulate them into seeing the image in a certain way. For instance his example of the fruit and veg at the bottom of a ladder with the quote "as if they were" picked in your own back garden. Although this isn't directly lying to the viewer, by putting the vegetables in a natural, healthy environment with the statement "as if they were", the produce has been glorified and made out to be something a lot healthier and organic than it actually is.
This is where Barthes idea of using language along side and image is demonstrated. Although the main strengths of the advertisement may lie in the image, by using words to glorify the item the viewer can be manipulated into believing that they would benefit from buying it.

How does this essay affect me as a textile designer? Barthes seems to be adressing all areas of design in his essay. Although the content may be different the context and structure seems to be similar though all aspects of design. As Barthes explains a design has to be well considered as with the viewer. Background, age, culture and upbringing are all aspects which need to be explored in order to create a successful design.