Ferdinand De Saussure breaks down our perception of language and refers to words as “sign”. Signs are made up of a signified and a signifier. A signified is the representation of the concept, the meaning or emotions associated with an object or image. A signifier is the object or image itself, the sound associated with it. Language is a form of communication unique to human beings because it has a written and a spoken form. It is also unique to different parts of the world. From the moment we are born we are surrounded by the spoken language coming from our parents. As we grow up, we learn to recognize those sounds and associate them with different meaning, and we learn to write these sounds. 

Language is something that is transmitted from generation to generation and it can evolve during each generation. Different words gain new meanings and other words change meaning all together. This change is something that people do not have control over. Symbols and iconography evolve the same way and together with language. Different icons have different meanings because of the signified associated with the signifier. New signified are created to express signifiers that already exist or vice-versa.

Language is a form of communication, but it is different from communication itself. Communication is not unique to human beings. Animals, plants, organisms, all have their own system of communication. For people, communication is the way that language is transmitted from one person to another. It can be verbal, non-verbal, written, visual, and body language. Because communication and language go hand in hand, designers are able to create work that can be interpreted universally (except for cultural diversities) around the globe.