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.

“MUSEUM QUALITY” NORM: Life life among works of art — as though you were a work of art, too.

“MUSEUM QUALITY” FORMS: People posed with statues and works of art. Products on plinths and otherwise on display. Museum-like contexts. Sometimes a rather irreverent feeling — as though you’re allowed to touch the art. Language suggesting one-of-a-kind treasures. “A travel icon.”

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