Susann Vihma

Design Semiotics — Institutional Experiences and an Initiative for a Semiotic Theory of Form

When design research activities started at the University of Art and Design Helsinki in the early 1980s,01 | a common doubt was whether designers were able to carry out research at all. Some critics called attention to the fact that designers lacked academic traditions and education in writing and conceptualising. Designers were generally considered to be poor at verbalising their ideas, although there have always been brilliant exceptions. This is one of the arguments that has proved to be wrong, because many designers who seek training in writing become skilled in this craft, and it does not at all interfere with their performing design tasks. Rather, by improving their verbal skills, they strengthen their argumentations in design practice, which is one of the main reasons for design research.