Interpretation
Personal understanding and explanation shaped by experience and context.
In practice
Interpretation is the personal understanding a viewer brings to a work, shaped by experience, culture and situation. Designers cannot fully control it, but they can anticipate it by testing with real people. A white flower on a greeting card may read as purity to one viewer and as mourning to another, depending on cultural background. Good design narrows the range of likely readings wherever clarity matters.
Often confused with Semantics
Interpretation is one viewer's personal reading; semantics is the shared meaning a sign carries through context and convention.
Try this
Show one abstract image to three people separately, ask what it means to each, and compare their answers.
Related terms
SemanticsThe meaning a visual sign or symbol generates through its context and use: shared, carried by the sign itself, as opposed to…MetaphorA conceptual bridge in which one visual form is used to carry the meaning of another.CommunicationThe conveying of meaning and intent through visual signs, symbols, and systems.