This accessible introduction to semiotics cuts across different semiotic schools to introduce six basic concepts which present semiotics as a theory and a set of analytical tools: code, sign, discourse, action, text, and culture. Each chapter covers a problem in semiotics and explores the key concepts found in the various theories. The book is illustrated with numerous examples, from traffic systems to urban parks, and includes biographies of key twentieth-century semioticians. It is supported by an extensive glossary.