Überlegungen zum Design der Werbeschlagzeile und zur dessen linguistischen Beschreibung

Abstract

This paper focuses on materiality of written language in the headlines of print advertisements and it deals with the question, whether it is possible to describe the graphic form of the headlines called as "headline design" with linguistic terms. The present article is based on a dissertation project about headlines of print advertisements in the women's and men's magazines. The aim of the dissertation is to set up the linguistic profile of the headlines in analyzed print advertisements including the syntax, the semantics, the stylistics und the graphic form. The work at the chapter about graphic form of headlines raised question, whether the linguistics has available terms at its disposal, to describe the graphic aspects of language, which linguistic terms are appropriate for the description und what communicative potential they may develop. This contribution sketches out the first considerations to the theme. The introductory part of this study defines the kind of headline in print advertisements and its functions. Further, the paper characterizes the text design und propose available terms for description of the graphic design in headlines as a part of the text design. Finally, the study examines the ways in which typography achieves its communicative effects.

Keywords

• headline
• print advertisement
• text design
• typography
• semantics