Abstract

The article investigates the question of how we ascribe meaning to artefacts (understood in its broadest sense, also including brands). The short answer is that meaning is ascribed to brands and artefact through an ongoing negotiating process between an utterer and an interpreter. This means that semeiosis is communication in its broadest sense. The negotiation process between utterer and interpreter aims at creating an interpreting habit — a common consent on which upon the meaning of the artefact rests.