Communication theory: Simple
Communication theory in the field of design
Promotional banners for «Simple» campaign
Design, at its core, is a communicative practice. Long before a viewer processes a logo or interface, they begin interpreting: assigning meaning, projecting expectations, forming attitudes. Communication theory helps articulate this invisible layer, framing communication not as simple transmission but as a social process shaped by context and relationships. In this sense, design is not something that speaks to people, but something people actively make sense of.
A shift from transmission to constitutive models makes this clearer. If meaning is co-created rather than delivered, then design becomes a space where audiences complete the message through interpretation. Semiotics reinforces this: visual elements act as cultural signs, gaining significance only within shared codes. A typeface or layout does not persuade on its own — it resonates because audiences recognize familiar symbolic cues.
But design does more than encode meaning. It also participates in the maintenance of social connection. Concepts like phatic communication and politeness theory highlight how small gestures — tone of microcopy, the warmth of interface responses, gentle error states — function relationally. These details help explain why certain products feel «friendly»: they perform subtle face-work that preserves the user’s sense of ease and competence.
Social Exchange Theory and Social Interdependence Theory extend this relational view. Both emphasize expectations and cooperation which are the dynamics that are clearly visible in digital products. When design offers clarity, value, or emotional reassurance, users respond with engagement and trust. Many contemporary brand experiences are built around this perceived fairness of the interaction.
Promotional banner for the «Simple» and concept of merch
Persuasion research adds another layer. The Elaboration Likelihood Model shows that audiences process messages either deeply or superficially depending on motivation. Design, in turn, structures both pathways: visual hierarchy, simplicity, and narrative support central-route processing, while aesthetic cues and mood guide peripheral processing. Effective communication balances these modes rather than choosing one.
Finally, communication theory underscores the role of identity. Crisis communication studies demonstrate how shared group belonging strengthens trust. Brands operate similarly: they communicate most effectively when they align themselves with the audience’s values and worldview. Visual language, tone, and interaction style become ways of performing that closeness. Across these perspectives, communication theory reveals design as an active participant in social meaning. It provides a vocabulary for understanding how visual communication builds relationships, guides interpretation, and cultivates trust, turning design into a strategic, culturally embedded form of interaction.
Across these perspectives, communication theory reveals design as an active participant in social meaning. It provides a vocabulary for understanding how visual communication builds relationships, guides interpretation, and cultivates trust, turning design into a strategic, culturally embedded form of interaction.
Presentation for a general audience
Simple is a smart audio technology brand designed to become a natural part of everyday living spaces. The brand approaches sound as an element of the environment rather than a standalone technical feature, focusing on how audio accompanies daily activities such as work, relaxation, and personal time. Its products are created to blend into the rhythm of everyday life, supporting users without requiring constant attention or technical expertise.
The brand communicates the idea that advanced sound technology does not have to be complex or exclusive. High-quality audio and smart functionality are presented as accessible and intuitive, allowing users to interact with technology in a calm and confident way. By prioritizing clarity and ease of use, Simple reduces the distance between the user and the device, making technology feel familiar and approachable.
At the center of the brand’s communication is the idea of smart sound as a quiet presence — sound that adapts rather than dominates. This approach is captured in the brand’s core message: Smart Sound, Naturally Present.
Sound is not meant to interrupt or demand attention, but to support everyday moments by adjusting to different contexts, moods, and routines.
Conference design concept for «Simple»
Design plays a central role in how the brand communicates this idea. Form, interface, and visual language emphasize openness, balance, and reliability. The product exists both as a physical object and as a digital experience, integrating seamlessly into interior spaces and daily life. Rather than instructing the user, the design allows for flexible interpretation and personal use, adapting to different lifestyles and preferences.
For a general audience, Simple represents a contemporary approach to smart audio where technology supports human experience. Sound becomes a subtle background presence that shapes atmosphere, focus, and comfort. In this way, the brand presents smart audio not as a demonstration of innovation, but as a thoughtful companion that enhances everyday environments through quiet, meaningful interaction.
Visual identity constants for «Simple»
Presentation for a professional audience
Simple was conceived as a smart audio brand built around a clear communicative metaphor: sound as a flowing, expressive medium with different characters. The brand strategy is based on translating the intangible qualities of sound into a visual system that enables users to recognize, interpret, and associate sound through form rather than through technical explanation. At the core of the identity are simple graphic elements that symbolize different sound characters, from soft and atmospheric indie to sharp and tense rock. These elements do not illustrate genres or emotions directly; instead, they function as abstract signs that represent variations in sound texture, intensity, and mood. This approach allows the brand to communicate sonic diversity without fixing meaning, leaving space for personal interpretation.
The central unifying element of the system is the wave, which acts as the key design metaphor. Strategically, the wave represents sound as continuous, fluid, and colorful, something that moves through space rather than exists as a static signal. It connects different sound characters into a coherent system while allowing variation, reinforcing the idea of sound as an ever-present flow within everyday environments. The identity integrates 3D forms, 2D graphic elements, and light gradients into a single visual language: volume provides spatial presence and tactility, flat elements define sound character and rhythm, and gradients connect dimensions through light and motion. Together, these components translate sound into a visual and spatial experience that remains consistent across media.
«Simple» brand product and merchandise
At the strategic level, Simple is positioned as a smart audio brand platform, not merely a product. The core idea of the brand is that technological sound can be accessible, human, and emotionally responsive. The strategy focuses on reducing the distance between advanced audio technology and everyday life. Instead of emphasizing complexity or technical superiority, Simple frames sound as intuitive, friendly, and adaptable to different users, contexts, and technological ecosystems. Sound is presented as a natural part of daily routines (supporting work, rest, movement, and personal time) rather than as a feature that demands attention.
Design functions as the main strategic communication tool of the brand. Meaning is not delivered through declarative messaging, but emerges through repeated and consistent experience: clear visual structure, intuitive interaction, and contextual use. The visual system allows meaning to be formed through interaction, composition, and environment rather than through fixed symbolism. As a result, Simple communicates its core values—technology, design, inclusivity, and openness—through a coherent environment where sound is not demonstrated, but experienced.
How communication theory formed the basis of the project
The starting point of the project is the definition of communication as a process of meaning creation through interaction, rather than one-way transmission. This principle directly determined the overall brand strategy of Simple. Instead of presenting the brand as a sender of fixed messages (such as «high-tech, ” „powerful, ” or „innovative“), the brand was designed as an open communicative system in which meaning emerges through users’ interaction with sound, form, and environment. This logic explains why both presentations avoid technical explanations and declarative claims, focusing instead on experience, interpretation, and everyday use.
From the perspective of interpretive communication theory meaning is not universal or predetermined but negotiated within specific contexts. This approach directly informed the visual and semantic structure of the brand identity. The use of abstract sound characters (soft, sharp, tense, calm) instead of literal genre labels reflects a semiotic logic: visual elements function as signs that point to qualities of sound rather than naming them explicitly. In both presentations, sound is described not as data or signal, but as a perceptual and emotional phenomenon, allowing users to project their own experiences onto the brand.
The distinction between objective and interpretive theories also shaped the separation between the two presentations. The general-audience text relies on experiential clarity, emotional accessibility, and everyday context, aligning with the course’s emphasis on communication as a relational process rather than analytical explanation. The professional-audience presentation, by contrast, makes the communicative structure explicit by articulating the metaphor of sound as flow, the role of abstract signs, and the internal logic of the visual system. This reflects the interpretive tradition’s focus on how meaning is constructed, rather than on defining meaning as a fixed entity.
Several key theoretical perspectives are embedded in the brand strategy. The semiotic tradition underlies the identity system: two-dimensional elements, volumetric forms, and the wave operate as a system of signs whose meaning depends on composition, scale, and context. The socio-cultural perspective informs the positioning of sound as part of everyday routines rather than as a spectacle, treating technology as a socially embedded practice. In addition, ideas related to relational communication are reflected in the brand’s avoidance of dominance: sound is framed as «naturally present» and adaptive, preserving user autonomy rather than imposing attention.
Finally, the emphasis on communication as systemic and continuous explains why design is positioned as the primary strategic tool of the brand. Meaning is not delivered through slogans alone, but reinforced through repeated encounters: visual language, interface behavior, spatial presence, and integration into daily life. This follows the argument that communication is never isolated, but always part of an ongoing process shaped by context, feedback, and interpretation.
Сoncept of branded products
Elements of Simple’s corporate identity
In sum, communication theory did not serve as a decorative reference, but as a structural framework for the project. It shaped how the audience is addressed, how meaning is left open rather than fixed, how design operates as a communicative system, and why Simple is presented not as a product that «speaks, ” but as an environment that users actively interpret and complete.
Allison T. H., Davis B. C., Webb J. W., Short J. C. Persuasion in crowdfunding: An elaboration likelihood model of crowdfunding performance // Journal of Business Venturing. 2017. Т. 32. № 6. С. 707–725.
Brown P., Levinson S. C. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. 345 с.
Cabiddu F., De Carlo M., Piccoli G. Social media affordances: Enabling customer engagement // Annals of Tourism Research. 2014. Т. 48. С. 175–192.
Calhoun C., Gerteis J., Moody J., Pfaff S., Virk I. Classical Sociological Theory. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 664 с.
Craig R. T. Communication theory as a field // Communication Theory. 1999. Т. 9. № 2. С. 119–161.
Cropanzano R., Mitchell M. S. Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review // Journal of Management. 2005. Т. 31. № 6. С. 874–900.
Dias P. Motivations for multi-screening: An exploratory study on motivations and gratifications // International Journal of Communication. 2016. Т. 10. С. 263–284.
Einwiller S. A., Laufer D., Ruppel C. Believe me, I am one of you! The role of common group identity in crisis communication // Journal of Business Ethics. 2017. Т. 147. № 4. С. 823–836.
Johnson D. W., Johnson R. T. New developments in social interdependence theory // Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs. 2005. Т. 131. № 4. С. 285–358.
Lee S. T. A user approach to dialogic theory in a Facebook campaign on love and marriage // Public Relations Review. 2012. Т. 38. № 5. С. 771–778.
Malinowski B. The problem of meaning in primitive languages // Ogden C. K., Richards I. A. (ред.). The Meaning of Meaning. London: Routledge, 1923. С. 296–336.
Petty R. E., Cacioppo J. T. Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change. New York: Springer, 1986. 336 с.
Saussure F. de. Course in General Linguistics. London: Duckworth, 1983. 240 с.
All images are taken from the project «Simple — a brand of smart acoustics» by Egor Shlaferov: https://hsedesign.ru/project/c9ef4b7907274780b6f2fba645543d39
