The issue explores the relationships that have emerged, historically, between design and semiotics. The approaches of the contributions can be twofold: on the one hand, the exploration of the Structuralist perspective in its connections with the field of design, the debate on design, its use in didactics and the resulting outcomes, and on the other hand the use of semiotics as a key to interpreting design in different design traditions. The aim is to question how the science of signs (and their meanings) has influenced the work of designers and historians in Italy and elsewhere, and which paths can still be followed.