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.

“HAPPY DAYS” NORM: Coffee has always been and will always be there for me.

“HAPPY DAYS” FORMS: Celebrating history and tradition. Band/comedians from old days. Retro design and illustration. Old pictures. Iconic historic moments. Reusing old TV commercials. Nostalgic tonality: “Changing eras, unchanging time.” “Time passes and it changes, but we will always welcome you with the unchanging taste of coffee.”

From a 2021 study of the HONORING TRADITION (It requires expertise and skill to participate in a time-tested ritual) territory, within Japan’s Coffee category.