Language is a method of human communication that is either spoken or written. We have several different types of languages all around the world. “Writing helps gives form to the spoken language” (Lupton Miller”). Its different from communication because depending on how you express yourself or the conversation you are having with someone else, it lets the other person know what your trying to say. If you dont communicate your point in a clear way, it will be difficult for someone else to understand. there are many different ways to communicate with one another. For example we can communicate through hand gestures, facial expressions, symbols, and even numbers. Language also plays a big role in design because there is always a message behind their work.

Symbols are related to language because we remember the name that refers to the image being shown. For example if we see an image of a tree, we automatically think of the name that we have associated it with. The thing is theres many different languages and the way we might interpret it in one country might not be the same way in another. We see symbols everywhere we go because it gives us direction and we automatically know what they mean. For example the road sign with a deer indicates deers tend to cross by often so we should be alert when driving. The Saussure reading says “I propose to retain the word sign [signe] to designate the “whole and to replace concept and sound-image respectively by [signifie] and signifier[signifiant]; the last two terms have the advantage of indicating the opposition that separates them from each other and from the whole of which they are parts”. From what I understood this text means that when we communicate we can either explain our point in parts or directly get to the point in a short amount of words. Im not sure whether I’m correct or not because I did have some difficulty understanding this article.

According to the facts and details from the text of the short essay by luton miller, back in the days they would create a symbol such as a stone with an “x” in the middle and that would signify a sheep and on the side of that they would draw 5 other smaller stones to let the person know they’ve counted 5 sheeps. So I believe this technique can bring up similar ideas to designers. Maybe it can spark up ideas such as design symbols that mean more than just an object.