The child « in absentia » in furniture retail catalogues

From an interpretive semiology perspective this paper examines the meaning suggested bythe absence of children in newspaper advertisements, commercial websites and catalogue images ofchildren's furniture manufacturers. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the multilayered processinvolved in conveying meaning to the "parent-child cluster" consumer through press and onlineadvertisements designed by children's furniture manufacturers.A corpus of 200 press advertisements and catalogues produced bychildren's furniture manufacturers (particularly IKEA and Gautier) was analysed using a combination ofBarthes' (1964) visual analysis and Greimas' (1987) narrative approach to visual discourses.The scenes portrayed to shape the message addressed to the "parent-child cluster" consumer,suggest that, in addition to fostering positive values such as self-fulfilment and stimulating backgroundfor an active child, they also promote discourses about contemporary childhood and parenthood.This paper highlights how furniture retailers through the figurative choices theymake to portray a child bedroom and to organize a series of child bedroom images within a catalogue,generate a brand discourse aiming to typify representations of childhood imbued with diversecognitive, social and emotional dimensions within diverse cultural backgrounds.