Hi, it will be a very long time before your ds will actually take "no" as being no. They lack ANY form of self control at this age, so even though he will be noticing when you say no, it doesn't mean that he's going to listen and follow through and then remember for next time. It will cause a lot of stress to you to expect that from him just yet (been there done that :wink: ). What sort of things are you saying no to? If there are precious/dangerous things within reach (plants, good books, lamps etc), I'd put them away for 6-12mths and then start to work on it again. Place things that he is allowed on the shelves, or maybe things that aren't so precious and are safe for him to play with - you can get down with him on the floor, talk about the item, explain that it's yours and that he is allowed a little play, then put it back and distract him on to other things. It may take a few weeks to months for him to start to ignore that particular item - but allowing him to have access to some stuff actually takes away the mystery and need to always check it out.
With the hitting in your face, I'd say keep it simple and say "just gently" show him how to touch gently, take his hand, stroke your face, you do the same to him etc. For now you will need to model the "preferred" behaviour, so he learns through your actions, once again it may take a little while (same goes for grabbing animals).
Communication, I don't think many babies can communicate in a way that would ease their frustration when under 12mths (but probably more like 18mths, and then as older toddlers there is even more frustration, so even being verbal doesn't necessarily fix it), they're just not verbal enough where they can explain their needs. If it's simple things like wanting food/water etc, you could teach him sign language which may help in that way.
HTH