A Comparative Study on the Press Pictorial Logotypes and the Cultural Codes in Constitutional Poetry in Qajar Era

Iranian graphic designers made their first efforts to create modern logotypes, called Sar- Onvan (Subtitle), in Qajar era. These works, which are considered as important parts of the background of Iranian graphic design, worth adequate attention; through studying them, we may discover their special visual expressions leading us to a better understanding of the specific social situation in Qajar period. The other side of this comparative research focuses on the Constitutional poetry having direct relations with the primary discourse of the time. The main objective of this study is identifying the relation between pictorial logotypes and the cultural codes in Constitutional poetry is. This comparative study is a quantitative research with an intertextual approach. The human, animal, and vegetal codes as well as those which are related to some specific places and objects have been surveyed. These logos guide viewers from direct implications to the more implicit ones. This survey discusses the key question of how the main discourse of Qajar era, hidden in Constitutional poetry, is reflected in the logotypes. The conclusions may be divided into two parts, simplified as the visual expressions and the representation of the cultural codes. The findings show that the graphic designers used traditional Persian calligraphy, but they employed some techniques to achieve new visual expressions; these methods are simplification, highlighting, exaggeration, and rearranging the letters. Although the pictorial parts of the logos have been illustrated according to the title of the newspapers, the images excel them; the illustrations occupy more space and their artistic qualities are superior. The other finding of this research shows that the archaic cultural codes were reproduced in Constitutional poetry as well as the press logos; as a part of the dominant discourse of the time, the pictorial logotypes represented new forms and concepts of the ancient cultural codes.