‘Deconstructionist’ typography and Peirce’s triadic model

Abstract

The post-structuralist literary theory by Jacques Derrida influenced a whole generation of graphic designers in
the (19)80s, starting in Califórnia, USA, and offering an alternative to the mainstream course: the International
Style . From this gathering of ideas breaks out a new concept in the field of graphic design: ‘deconstructionist’
typography. Under a semiotic perspective however, typography configures a system of signs that outbreak the
linguistic territory. This article presents ‘deconstructionist’ typography analysed under the light of the semiotic
model proposed by Charles Sanders Peirce.