From graphic text to writing: the intersections between semiotics and graphics in Italy in the 1980s.

Abstract

If it is at least possible to identify strands of the relationship between semiotics and product design, architecture and art, and the more recent one between semiotics and marketing-advertising, the interaction between semiotics and what we currently call communication design appears less well studied. Through a philological reconstruction and analysis of fundamental texts, the article investigates the mutual interests that developed between graphic design and semiotics in Italy in the 1980s, reconstructing the beginnings of the relationship between the disciplines and its development during the decade. Finally, it highlights the contribution that this reconstruction can make in clarifying certain epistemological questions that are still problematic in the world of graphic design.