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.

“COZY UP” NORM: Creating a small, comfortable, warm space in which to unwind.

“COZY UP” FORMS: Can be a room in the house that’s particularly cozy — kitchen, study, playroom. Or a space within a room: an indoor tent, a nook, a window seat, a rocking chair in the corner… Can also be a treehouse, cave, clubhouse, garden shed, etc — outside the home. Colors are often soothing earthtones, pastels. There’s often an element of nature — plants, depictions of nature, a sense that we’re outdoors inside (e.g., living room tent). Textures are soft, flowing, yet not overly smooth or sheer.

From a 2024 analysis of the IN HERE territory (cozy, safe, familiar; offering a much-needed refuge from “adulting”) within the space of “sophisticated wholesome” videogames, animated movies and series, etc.