Signs at their most basic are transmitters of functional information; they tell us where to go, what we are allowed to do, what delights can be had further down the road, how to avoid getting killed. However, they also give character to an area through their design, language, and by the invisible lattice of values they create around us. This is done quite discretely; signs are quickly edited out of our perception if they are not relevant to what we are doing. Their value, or power, is only dependent on the meaning we assign to them. Without recognition they are absurd, mute, like money or personalities.

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