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Fire Signs, A Semiotic Theory for Graphic Design by Steven Skaggs Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017 Hardbound, 296 pages, illustrated, $45.00 ISBN 978-0-262-03543-9
Fire Signs is a bridge between the designer's practical sign application and the semiotician's philosophical understanding. For a long time some designers, perhaps design teachers primarily, have suspected a strong connection between semiotics and the construction of messages. But the language and intricate thinking of Charles Sanders Peirce typically addressed other philosophers and was an obstacle for designers. Steven Skaggs translates the language (where needed) and the systematic thinking of Pearce into an accessible understanding for designers. The author is sensitive to language overload and uses his selected terminology (glossary provided) consistently throughout the book. He does invent one term, "visent," which stands for visual entity - two words that would appear regularly throughout the book. The short-cut "visent" is a designerly solution to repetition and he uses it consistently throughout the book giving credibility to the newly minted word.
Beginning with a "ladder of theories" from perception to semiotics to rhetoric to human factors, the book presents a progressive structure of theory followed by several conceptual and analytical tools. Because each section with its chapters leads to the next, expanding or detailing the previous, this is a book that requires sequential, orderly reading as understanding is being progressively built. Theory, its interpretation and application to design education and practice, is holistically presented. Because of the tight structuring of presentation, a hierarchical diagram could help the reader to later move in and out of the text and ideas. The table of contents is not sufficient for this.
There is a strong focus on graphic design in this book as the discipline to elucidate and graphic design has no philosophical underpinning - it is and has been a collection of operations and practices. Perhaps this is the right time to look deeper into grounding ideas. The author desires to move graphic design from magical or folk practice to one based on theory without loosing the intuitive moments of practice. At the end of the book he ques- tions if this is possible. Where is creativity? Creativity appears in many guises and it is a mistake to think it is solely without...