Salvatore Zingale is Associate Professor M-FIL/05 (Philosophy and Theory of Languages) at the Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, and teaches Design Semiotics in the School of Design.
He graduated with Umberto Eco at DAMS in Bologna with a thesis on writing systems and the different forms of visualisation of poetry. Later a collaborator of Massimo Bonfantini, he has always taught in the field of design, investigating the theoretical assumptions of design activity with the tools of philosophy and the social sciences.

From 1988 to 2000, he taught at the ISA in Monza, then began collaborating with the Milan Polytechnic at the invitation of Giovanni Anceschi. He was editor of the magazine 'Ergonomia', for which he edited an interview with Tomás Maldonado. He is a member of the AISS (Italian Association for Semiotic Studies) and editor of the online semiotics journal 'Ocula' (ocula.it), of which he was coordinator for a number any years.

His research interests in the field of design semiotics include: the role of interpretative activity in design processes; the study of inventive processes; the visual dimension in design and communication; the development of dialogical aspects of design; the formation of mental and behavioural clothes. He was scientific head of the research 'HumanitiesDsign' and currently of the research 'Design and Otherness' (www.designealterita.polimi.it). He is a member of the editorial board of the Communication Design series (FrancoAngeli).

Author of several scientific essays, he co-edited the volumes: La semiotica e il progetto 2. Spazi, oggetti, interfacce (2010) and Su Peirce. Interpretazioni, ricerche, prospettive (2015). His book publications include: Segni sui corpi e sugli oggetti (eds. with M.A. Bonfantini, 1999); La semiotica e le arti utili in undici dialoghi (ed., 2005); Gioco, dialogo, design. Una ricerca semiotica (2009); Interpretazione e progetto. Semiotica dell’inventiva (2012); Design e alterità. Conoscere l’Altro, pensare il possibile (ed., 2022).