Taking the perspective of Michela Deni and Salvatore Zingale (2017), a good way to start this conversation would be to distinguish between research on design, research for design, and research by design (Findeli, 2015). As we all know applied semiotics for the most part focuses on research on design, essentially trying to understand what has already been produced and is being consumed or accepted or not, by the users. Even when Semiotics is used in research for design projects, it is largely for analytical perspectives, for clarifying or analyzing certain material or immaterial products as observed by Deni and Zingale. It is important according to them to view semiotics as a mechanism working inside of design rather than as a ‘microscope to analyze the results of design’. Deni and Zingale bring to focus a third kind, Semiotic research by design - it means being involved in situations where a design project turns into an occasion or excuse for experimenting with semiotics both as analytical and project methodology, with the aim of evaluating its effectiveness for the design activity. This idea finds an echo also outside of semiotics, where the paradigm of research through design (Gaver 2012) focuses exactly on the heuristic affordances of design practices and perspectives.
This conference will address all three perspectives -
- Semiotic research on design
- Semiotic research for design
- Semiotic research by / through design