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.

“NOIR FLAVOR” NORM: I (know how to) drink bitter coffee because I’m sophisticated.

“NOIR FLAVOR” FORMS: Association of black coffee with maturity, night time, bitterness, and richness. Dressed-up woman. Nighttime Tokyo. Alcohol. Tonality tells stories of adulthood, maturity, bitterness. A “bitter” love story. “For quality adults.”

From a 2021 study of the YOU DO YOU (It requires self-confidence and support to blaze your own trail) territory, within Japan’s Coffee category.