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.
“HAPPY PLACE” NORM: Coffee breaks through the “clouds” of your day.
“HAPPY PLACE” FORMS: Functional connection to sunny summer days. Holding an iced coffee up to the sky. Iced coffee associated with sun: e.g., the sun is juxtaposed with the product; sun flares in photography. Emotional association with ”sunniness.” Clouds as signifier of gloominess. Sun as signifier of optimism. Optimistic, happy, joyful, uplifting: “That first sip feeling,” “Pick-me-up,” “Hello Sunshine,” “Optimism wakes up with Nescafe,” “Happy place,” “Starting the day off bright.”