Communication theory: between us
Communication theory in the field of design
Business card
Communication theory provides a conceptual framework for understanding design as a process of meaning creation rather than simple visual transmission. In contemporary design and art, communication is not linear: it is a continuous, relational process shaped by context, interpretation, and feedback. Design functions as a communicative system where visual elements act as symbols that are encoded by the creator and decoded by the audience within cultural, social, and emotional contexts.
Presentation of the brand for a general audience
between us is a media platform created for girls who are growing up and navigating emotional, social, and personal challenges. It is a space for honest conversations about feelings, identity, relationships, body image, friendship, fears, and everyday experiences that are often left unspoken.
The brand’s core idea is closeness. The name between us literally suggests something shared privately — «just between us girls.» It establishes trust, intimacy, and a sense of safety, positioning the media not as an authority or instructor, but as a supportive companion.
for girls abt girls
Logo with description and slogan
The platform offers articles, visual stories, interviews, illustrations, and interactive formats that help girls recognize their experiences and feel less alone. between us also creates opportunities for participation through discussions, shared stories, and collaborative content, encouraging dialogue rather than passive consumption.
Posts in social media
Functionally, the brand provides accessible and emotionally relevant content that helps its audience better understand themselves and others. Emotionally, it offers validation, empathy, and a feeling of belonging. The tone of communication is friendly, open, and non-judgmental, reducing fear of vulnerability and encouraging self-expression.
Merchandise in the environment: notebook
The visual identity is bright, warm, and playful, reflecting openness and emotional safety. The logo visually encodes two girls, symbolizing dialogue, mutual support, and connection. Colors and forms are chosen to feel welcoming rather than overwhelming, reinforcing the idea of a safe communicative environment.
An article on website
All of the brand elements are aimed to make a safe space for honesty and emotional closeness while sharing experience between the girls which can be crucial for them, especially during times when they feel lonely and vulnerable. between us aims to build a community based on trust, openness and empathy.
Presentation of the brand for a professional audience
The visual identity of between us is built as a communicative system grounded in semiotic and socio-cultural approaches to communication. Each design decision functions as a sign that produces meaning and guides audience interpretation.
Palette
The color palette is based on bright but soft tones, balancing emotional warmth with visual clarity. These colors function semiotically as signals of friendliness, openness, and safety, avoiding aggressive contrasts that could create emotional distance or hierarchy. Rounded shapes and flexible compositions reinforce a sense of care and inclusivity, visually opposing rigid or authoritative structures.
Card deck’s packaging
The logo operates as a symbolic sign rather than a literal mark. The embedded figures of two girls represent dialogue and co-presence, aligning with the brand’s emphasis on interpersonal communication. This visual metaphor invites identification and supports the creation of a shared symbolic space.
Wristbands lecture tickets
Typography and copywriting are intentionally conversational. Short sentences, inclusive language, and emotionally resonant phrasing help to avoid creating a power distance, which is common for this type of media platforms, and support a friendly brand image, encouraging engagement without pressure or judgment. This approach aligns with politeness strategies described in interpersonal communication theory.
Merchandise in the environment: poster and keychain
The photographic and illustrative style serve as vignettes of everyday life and highlight emotional authenticity instead of idealized imagery. This visual strategy supports phenomenological interpretation, allowing audiences to project their own experiences onto the content rather than consuming predefined narratives.
Overall, the visual system is designed to minimize communicative «noise» and maximize emotional clarity. The expected audience response includes trust, emotional connection, and willingness to engage in dialogue, transforming the brand from a media product into a safe environment for communication.
Merchandise in the environment: lecturer’s badge
Communication theory as basis for the presentations
Poster in the environment
The development of between us was guided by communication theories presented in the course, with a strong focus on engagement as a relational and reciprocal process.
For the general audience, engagement is built through emotional accessibility and identification. Drawing on socio-cultural and phenomenological traditions, the project treats communication as shared meaning-making rather than information delivery. Visual and textual strategies support self-recognition, emotional safety, and dialogue, encouraging users to participate rather than observe. Media ecology principles informed the creation of a friendly communicative environment where content, visuals, and platform affordances work together to shape experience.
Podcast’s cover; Merchandise in the environment: keychain and cassette
For the professional audience, engagement operates on a reflective level. The project reveals its internal logic, making visible how design choices are grounded in theory. This dual-layer communication reflects the idea that messages can function differently depending on context and audience expertise.
Card deck
Card deck
Several specific theories from the course informed the project:
Message Design
Logics shaped the brand’s communicative tone. Rather than expressive or purely instrumental logic, between us uses a rhetorical logic that adapts messages to relationships, context, and emotional states.Social Exchange Theory
influenced the value proposition. The brand minimizes psychological costs (judgment, pressure, exclusion) while maximizing emotional rewards (support, understanding, belonging), increasing long-term engagement.Craig’s Communication Traditions
provided a multi-lens framework. Semiotic tradition guided visual symbolism, socio-cultural tradition shaped community and shared meanings, phenomenological tradition informed empathy and lived experience, and rhetorical tradition structured persuasive yet ethical communication.Through these theories, between us becomes not just a visual identity, but a communicative practice that actively constructs relationships, meanings, and emotional connections.
Calhoun Craig. Communication as Social Science (and More) // International Journal of Communication 5, 2011, P. 1479–1496. DOI: 10.1590/S1809-58442012000100014.
Robert T. Craig. Communication Theory as a Field // Communication Theory, 1999, P. 119–161. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2885.1999.tb00166.x.
Rodger Griffeth. Equity Theory and Interpersonal Attraction // Journal of Applied Psychology, 1989, P. 394–401. DOI: 10.1037//0021-9010.74.3.394.
Penelope Brown. Politeness and Language // The International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences / D. Wright (ред.) — [Амстердам]: Elsevier, 2015. — P. 326–330.
Russell Cropanzano, Marie S. Mitchell. Social Exchange Theory: An Interdisciplinary Review // Journal of Management, 2005, P. 874–900. DOI: 10.1177/0149206305279602
Sabine A. Einwillera, Daniel Lauferb, Christopher Ruppela. Believe me, I am one of you! The role of common group a in crisis communication // Public Relations Review, 2017, P. 1007–1015. DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.09.006.
All pictures are from Mariia Krasina’s project: https://hsedesign.ru/project/d0bf657c68ba40fbb1204b4cb9aebe6f (дата обращения 13.12.2025)
