Watch out for falling icicles, Helvetica Man! July 31, 2009 9:12 AM Subscribe
Symbolic Gestures. How, exactly, does a simple picture go about telling you, "Be careful here. It's cold, and sometimes ice forms on the roof, and it can fall off, and it can be sharp, and that can hurt you"? Inspired by the upcoming Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Jesse Smith of The Smart Set examines the pictograph designs that convey important information to park visitors.
Previously:
drjimmy11...I take it you've never been caving? Familiarity with the subject is one of the underlying processes in making the symbols understandable. posted by Thorzdad at 9:29 AM on July 31
Don't forget Safenow.org's remixes of Homeland Security images. Yeah, they're not really pictographs, but they do show how an "obvious" image can be deliberately reinterpreted. (previously) posted by maudlin at 9:30 AM on July 31
(A few months back I imported the symbols into Inkscape, and enlarged and printed out my favorites to hang up in my infant son's room. Like most infants, he likes high contrast shapes.) posted by fings at 9:36 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
There's an interesting area of research in Computer Science called Diagrammatic Reasoning, which is based off of the same premises. I had the honor to work with one of the founders of the field, Dr. Michael Anderson, during undergrad and some of grad. It's fascinating stuff.
Here is an excellent paper on just what it is, and what and how they're trying to do it. posted by cloax at 9:39 AM on July 31
..and now I do see the first article does link to the Harper's Ferry Center, but not right to the Map Symbols page, so I still feel justified in posting my previous comment. posted by fings at 9:43 AM on July 31
As a child, my sister always thought the handicapped symbol was a pictogram of a man sitting on a toilet because she always saw it in conjunction with bathrooms. She extrapolated this to indicate special parking spots if you needed to hurry to the bathroom, or expedited entrances that got you to the bathroom quicker. posted by Mcable at 9:51 AM on July 31 [5 favorites]
Did anyone else follow the Jesse Smith article all the way to the end, where he makes an odd sort of sudden right turn where he warns that looking at pictographs isn't as good as visiting a park, and isn't it [something] that the national park service created a set of images that encourage you to enjoy something? Great stuff.. but those last two paragraphs made me head tilt sideways and my eyes squiggle. posted by cavalier at 9:56 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
How, exactly, does a simple picture go about telling you, "Be careful here. It's cold, and sometimes ice forms on the roof, and it can fall off, and it can be sharp, and that can hurt you"?
Pictographs which can universally be understood by humans is a concept that comes up in science fiction every once in a while. (Dan Simmons, etc.) After all, if people don't speak the same language, how can one communicate a warning against potential danger to them?
That was also the thinking behind why a new international nuclear radiation symbol was released in 2007: "When it was launched the IAEA and ISO acknowledged that the traditional radiation symbol, “has no intuitive meaning and little recognition beyond those educated in its significance.” posted by zarq at 10:02 AM on July 31
Great post! I love stuff that makes me think about the work and reasoning that's gone into systems that I use so much they become practically invisible. posted by metaBugs at 10:05 AM on July 31
I (an American) did a lot of driving in England and Europe this summer, and for the most part the signage is pretty clear. It's especially nice that most of the signs do not rely on words, since who knows what language the driver trying to read it will speak. Once you figure out what a speed limit sign looks like, and that the black and white circle-slash means "hit the gas now, Yank," you're pretty much set.
But I never quite got over this one. It means "no stopping," and is almost always pretty much irrelevant to your normal driving experience. But it looks like "HOLY SHIT YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" I had a mini heart attack every time I glimpsed that sign out of the corner of my eye while leaving a roundabout.
May I politely suggest to the EU that that sign is way, way too aggressive for the really pretty unimportant message it conveys? posted by rusty at 10:31 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
... exceptionally pointy piece of pizza. Then I finally realized what it actually is.
they have them in california too posted by supermedusa at 12:39 PM on July 31
Sorry, for a moment there I thought that was the Empire State Building in the background there. But I guess it could be anywhere. posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:54 PM on July 31
sidereal, that's a mr_crash_davis original remix, so I hereby grant you a non-exclusive royalty-free license to reproduce it elsewhere. posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 4:09 PM on July 31
Crash, I shall give due credit to its brilliance wherever possible. posted by sidereal at 4:40 AM on August 1
I'd love to know how to make these. I've tried using Inkscape to create my own icons for PowerPoint presentations, but they never looked quite right. There's a vocabulary and a grammar at work there I can't quite grasp.
Loved the use of symbols in the game Portal, and the movie Idiocracy (in the hospital), as well. posted by Ritchie at 2:07 AM on August 2
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Then I finally realized what it actually is.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:15 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]