Symbols and Signs

An image can be used worldwide and understood by anyone in any language. There is now over 20,000 symbols across the world in all areas such as, geography, biology, traffic etc. It is needed for these symbols to create a better, faster understanding for anyone to help break down the language barrier and not have something written in all the different languages. For instance it can also stop danger: a skull and bones mean poison. Also symbols can be put on small things that can't fit words, such as buttons, and need to be quick to read, such as road signs.

Semantography was created by C.K Bliss and is a complete system which crosses all language barriers. It can be typed up on an IBM typewriter and operates about 100 basic symbols which can be combined for any meaning needed - a bit like Chinese writing/characters.

Otto Newath (1882-1945) believed that pictures work better than words when it comes to communicating. I agree with this statement as images are understood universal, whereas words are only understood when you know the language. He created symbols called ISOTYPE (International System Of TYpographic Picture Education) that are used to 'translate complex figures into a form that would be both accurate and meaningful to a broad audience, he devised not only a series of refined pictograms, but also the techniques for their design and application'. He created the pictograms using texture, colours and blocked outlines to help people relate and understand.

Otto Newath

Otto Newath

Other Symbols

These symbols of the vehicles are really easy to recognise and you won't need the labels underneath them to understand.

These symbols however are extremely simplified and would probably need a key to help people understand them.

I could use symbols like this in my work to represent rivers as they are informative and clear.

For grass its a bit hard to know by its self, but if it was put with other things such as trees and more grass then it would much more clearer to what it is.

These are more textures which would need a key to help the audience to understand it.

Snow using asterisks. More asterisks = more snowfall/ heavy snowfall

A common symbol for representing water: two wavy lines.

Common symbol for sun and clouds. Use similar ones in weather reports on television.

Skeleton like tree but clearly states that it's a tree and also the kind of tree.

From looking at all these different symbols I now have a better knowledge on how to create my own. I would like to keep them simple, full of information and easy to read but I also want to show a bit more personality to them as they'll be hand drawn, like an old map.



Symbol Sourcebook by Henry Dreyfuss