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.

“WABI SABI” NORM: Don’t just accept the imperfect — embrace it. Because the imperfect is more charming and engaging than the perfect.

“WABI SABI” FORMS: Product shots where the product is crumpled, “wrong.” Reverence for the hand-crafted, the lived-in. “Inspired by asymmetry.”

From a 2022 study of the US Luxury space — across categories.