Element diversity An Article by Manuel Matuzovic www.matuzo.at Did you know that there are 112 elements in HTML?! It would be a bit too easy to only blame JS frameworks [for the overuse of divs]; there are several reasons we use divs so much: Poor knowledge of HTML elements Lack of understanding why Insufficient CSS skills Default styles JS frameworks We don't care enough about the page Some elements are hard to style html
The arbitrariness of the sign A key difference between verbal language and the modernist ideal of a visual “language” is the arbitrariness of a verbal sign, which has no natural, inherent relationship to the concept it represents. The sound of the word “horse”, for example, does not innately resemble the concept of a horse. Ferdinand de Saussure called this arbitrariness the fundamental feature of the verbal sign. The meaning of a sign is generated by its relationship to other signs in the language: the sign’s legibility lies in its difference from other signs. Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller, The ABC's of ▲■●: The Bauhaus and Design Theory Gods of the Word soundmeaninglanguage