The CODE-X series catalogs a vast codex of source codes (aka “signs”) extracted from past audits.

The object of study in semiotics is not the signs but rather a general theory of signification; the goal of each “audit” is to build a model demonstrating how meaning is produced and received within a category or cultural territory. Signs on their own, therefore, only become truly revelatory and useful once we’ve sorted them into thematic complexes, and the complexes into codes, and the codes into a meaning map. We call this process “thick description”; the Code-X series is thin description.

“DISRUPTIVE TECH” NORM: British technology depicted as rejecting the norms and forms that other (non -British) technology makers take for granted.

“DISRUPTIVE TECH” FORMS: The difficulty of inventing the tech becoming part of the story (Dyson). Jaguar’s “a legacy of innovation” is paradoxical — and makes innovation a sign of premiumness. MINI’s “Hugs trees and corners” — or “We believe the letters RPM can play nicely with the letters RPG” — a rejection of the usual limitations.

From a 2014 study of BRITISHNESS as perceived through the lens of US pop culture and brand communications.