Senso e progetto

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between semiotics and design, arguing that semiotic theory should be understood not only as a critical tool for interpreting designed artefacts, but also as a conceptual framework capable of informing design practice itself. Starting from the well-known modernist dictum form follows function, the paper highlights a fundamental paradox of design: functions are never purely technical or given in advance, but are always culturally and socially constructed. As a result, design objects inevitably operate as carriers of meaning, values, and ideology. The article reconstructs key moments in the historical encounter between semiotics and design, particularly in the context of mass production and consumer culture in the twentieth century. Drawing on Roland Barthes’ analyses of everyday objects and myths, it shows how artefacts exceed their practical purposes to participate in broader processes of signification, contributing to the construction of imaginaries and social identities. Design is thus framed as a privileged site for observing how meaning is produced, naturalized, and circulated through material culture. The theoretical core of the paper focuses on the structuralist conception of the sign, especially as developed by Ferdinand de Saussure, and on the difficulties that arise when this notion is directly applied to design. The article critiques approaches that treat objects as stable signs with fixed meanings or attempt to establish dictionaries and grammars of design elements. Instead, it argues for a shift from the concept of the sign to that of the text, understood in semiotic terms as a relational and processual entity whose boundaries depend on analytical pertinence. By drawing on Louis Hjelmslev’s distinction between expression and content, form and substance, the paper clarifies how meaning in design emerges from processes of semiotization that involve materials, forms, uses, modes of production, and communicative strategies. Through examples ranging from iconic products to complex brand systems, design is shown to function as a network of interrelated texts rather than as a collection of isolated objects. In conclusion, the article proposes a semiotic approach to design centered on signification rather than meaning, and on coherence rather than interpretation alone. Semiotics is thus presented as a methodological resource capable of accompanying the design process, helping to manage the complexity and social agency of contemporary design systems.