Abstract
We are surrounded with thousands of artifacts. We use them, we live with them, and we interact with them. Coffee cups are just one type of these artifacts, which are in every part of our lives. Asking whether their meanings can be more than we think, this paper tries to explore various meanings and roles of coffee cups in our lives. Methodologically positioned in the theory of product semantics and the context of discursively informed design, this study is completely based on the narratives of 6 participants, who take place in this study. According to these narratives, 7 different roles of the coffee cup are determined: ambiance setter, memory embodier, motivator, personality indicator, timer, social situation indicator and object of one’s place. While these roles are analysed and presented in the light of the theories and essential contexts of product semantics, as the concluding remark two inferences are made considering human interaction with the world in the context of discursively informed design: making sense of context(s) and connecting contexts.
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Acknowledgements
This research was conducted within the course of Design Semantics, lectured by Assis. Prof. Dr. Özge Çelikoglu, at Istanbul Technical University. I would like to thank her for her guidance and valuable contributions during this study. I also would like to thank all participants for their time and sincere sharings.
Notes. All names were anonymized.
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Genc, I. (2022). Would You Like a Cup of Meaning: Discovering Different Roles of Coffee Cups Through Narratives. In: Bruyns, G., Wei, H. (eds) [ ] With Design: Reinventing Design Modes. IASDR 2021. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4472-7_141
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4472-7_141
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