Paul Cobley is the author of the book Introducing Semantics, a teaching guide which outlines the development of sign study. He is also the editor of The Communication Theory Reader and teaches basic communitive studies, communication theory, and popular genre classes at London Guildhall University in the Sir John Cass Department of Art. Cobley, along with fellow teacher Adam Briggs, wrote the paper "Relevance and Intertextuality in Young People's Reception of Communication." In the paper, Cobley and Briggs dissect the relationship between advertising and social communication.