Semiotic & Design Booklists
Welcome to the Semiosis 101 reading lists of books on Peircean semiotic theory, general semiotic theory and design.
Hosted on semiosis101.substack.com
What are in the annotated booklists on semiosis101.substack.com?
Get access to three annotated booklists of 50+ books to give you further reading around Peircean semiotic theory and Visual Communication Design.
On semiosis101.substack.com, subscribers get access to three booklists:
Annotated Semiotic Booklist - Peircean and general semiotic theory books
Annotated Pragmatic Theory Booklist - (coming soon)
Annotated Design Booklist - (coming soon)
Each booklist features a short annotated paragraph describing each book in the context of designing semiotics, an Amazon link, PLUS a Harvard citation reference for each book (to help any researchers out there!)
Here’s a preview…
Annotated Semiotic Booklist Example
Introduction to Peircean Visual Semiotics by Tony Jappy
This incredibly important book was crucial to my understanding of Peirce during my PhD. Jappy helps disseminate, in a more agreeable way, Peircean semiotic theory to non-semioticians. It is still a philosophical book, but it is a great interface between Peirce and everyone else. Tony Jappy has kindly referred other design academics to me as he is aware of my Semiotic Rosetta Stone research.
Jappy, T. (2013) Introduction to Peircean Visual Semiotics. London: Bloomsbury.
Annotated Pragmatic Theory Booklist Example
How to Make Our Ideas Clear by Charles Sanders Peirce
This independently published book provides a fundamental short reading in Pragmatism, giving the reader access to Peirce’s philosophical thinking behind Semiosis. This is the 2nd book in a series, the 1st being The Fixation of Belief.
Peirce, C.S. (2020) How to Make Our Ideas Clear. Independently published.
The Fixation of Belief by Charles Sanders Peirce
This is the 1st book in a series, the 2nd being How to Make Our Ideas Clear. This independently published book provides a fundamental short reading in Pragmatism, giving the reader access to Peirce’s philosophical reasoning behind Pragmatism which underpins Semiosis.
Peirce, C.S. (2017) The Fixation of Belief. Independently published.
Annotated Design Booklist Example
Designing Audiences by AIGA New York Chapter
In Semiosis 101 I frame Peirce’s Semiosis theory as a way for Visual Communication Designers to connect their work with their target audiences. Through the triadic nature of Semiosis involving the interpretation in the sign-action, books like this from a designer-centric perspective offers semioticians with clues on how design and semiotics can be synthesised. This book by the New Your chapter of AIGA is a good reference book to do that.
AIGA New York Chapter (2008) Designing Audiences. New York. Princeton Architectural Press.