Abstract

This paper examines my attempts over the previous five years at using (Peircean) semiotic taxonomies in undergraduate graphic design classes to improve student outcomes. This includes the use of taxonomies to help expand visual diversity among student work, to bring better understanding and greater nuance to visual messaging, and to reinforce basic understandings of how perception functions. This examination will include examples of student work generated from past assignments and proposals for future projects. It will also cover the basics of how semiotic information is introduced to students, and how it is reinforced through a variety of assignments with varying degrees of success. Along with the semiotic theories of Charles Sanders Peirce, students are introduced to Umberto Eco’s thoughts on abduction, basic competing ideas from Ferdinand de Saussure, and a simplified version of John Dewey’s theory of aesthetics.