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.

“IN THE NAME OF LOVE” NORM: Don’t let pain keep you from being with the one(s) you love.

“IN THE NAME OF LOVE” FORMS: Amorous. Couples canoodling. Hearts. “In case your valentine has a ‘real’ headache tonight.”

From a proprietary 2019 study of the Back to Normal space within the Pain category (US).