Abstract: The object of the study is modern design as a cultural phenomenon. The subject of the study is design as a metalanguage of the modern information space – hyperreality. The relevance of the research is determined by the globalization of communication, characteristic of the modern socio–cultural situation: today communication takes place in hyperreality, which makes national languages a special case of communication - the whole world begins to communicate in a metalanguage understandable anywhere in the world, and today design becomes such a universal language. The novelty of the research is due to the very formulation of the question: until now, design has not been considered as a metalanguage of hyperreality. In addition, the study reveals the problems of modern design associated with the modern stage of its functioning in hyperreality.The purpose of the study is to show that in the conditions of globalized hyperreality, design becomes a metalanguage, a semiotic system built on top of the semiotic system, which is the modern information and communication space. The main method of research is the semiotic analysis of the design environment. The research is mainly based on the material of modern flat design, which is the most representative form of the existence of design at the present time. The main conclusions of the study: the socio-cultural environment of modern man is hyperreality. Hyperreality is a metalanguage in relation to primary reality. But hyperreality itself uses a metalanguage as the main language, this metalanguage is design. Design builds a system of images and connotations over the world of things, thus creating a metalanguage, or semiotic system of design. Modern design uses simulacra signs as the main sign form, since hyperreality in its development tends to distance itself from the primary reality, and develops its syntactic and paradigmatic structure, which is fundamentally different from the primary reality. The uniqueness of design as a metalanguage lies in the use of simulacra, signs that are fundamentally not expressive, not adapted for adequate transmission of information.

Keywords: modernism, navigation, language, communication, semiotic system, simulacrum, metalanguage, design, hyperreality, information space