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.

“KING ME” NORM: Communicating a luxury experience — the idea that this spirt is fit for a king. Royalty suggests endless leisure and the finest goods. Everything you desire may be yours: It’s good to be the king..

“KING ME” FORMS: Crowns, usually gold; jewel encrusted. The color purple has had royal associations for centuries. Royal crests — overlap with GOLD & CURSIVE code. Royal symbols — lions, unicorns, griffins. “Reign on”; “What do you get the man who really had everything? You get him ‘The One’ made for a king” (Crown Royal); “The cognac of Napoleon” (Courvoisier).

From a 2016 study of the STATUS SYMBOL space — within the Brown Spirits category.