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A primer of terms used to categorize symbols by use
1.
Pictograms
A pictogram is an image that represents an object. Pictograms are useful for conveying information through a common "visual language" able to be understood regardless of one's native language or degree of literacy. So that means that anyone in the world familiar with a drinking fountain should recognize the pictogram above.
This pictogram above is part of an entire system of signage symbols developed by the United States Department of Transportation to help manage the flow of large numbers of people through transportation hubs. To encourage their adoption world-wide the symbols were made available for free. The American Institute of Graphic Arts played a pivotal role in the design and development of these symbols. Read more in entry #15 on this page.
Chinese is composed entirely of pictograms, a system of writing used by more than any other in the world. (About 1 billion Chinese speakers compared to 350 million English speakers). To be literate in Chinese requires knowledge of several thousand of the over 80,000 Chinese pictograms — although about 3,500 are most commonly used. The pictogram above is Chinese for world peace.
During the 2008 Olympics in China the event signage employed pictographs that echoed the style of Chinese language pictographs. More of the images can be seen at this link.
2.
Rebus
The rebus is a pictorial image that represents a spoken sound. Today the rebus is mostly used for amusement however it was a critical link in the development of the phonetic alphabet starting in Egyptian hieroglyphics. (See the "Development of Handwriting" on this site).
Shown above are two famous rebus logos from the 20th century. On top, a famous rebus for IBM by Paul Rand, an American graphic designer renown for his corporate identity work from 1960—1980. (See #11 below for more about Paul Rand)
3.
Phonogram
The below image is Milton Glaser's ubiquitous rebus "I Love New York" It is a combination of a rebus and a phonogram. A phonogram is a symbol (letter) that represents a spoken sound.
4.
Ideogram
An ideogram is a character or symbol representing a complete idea or concept. Above, an ideogram demonstrates the perils of tipping a vending machine. (Image from Warning by Nicole Recchia)
Below is the familiar request to not smoke in a specific area. The circle and bar configuration have acquired the universal meaning of NO through use and acceptance.
...more symbol categories
Trademarks | Brands
During the Middle Ages European trade guilds began using marks to identify the origin and content of their products. The term "hallmark" comes from the identification marks that metal artisans stamped into metal when exhibiting wares in the guild hall in London. In the image above the anchor refers to the town where the product was made, the lion signifies the type of metal (sterling silver) and the letter B is a date letter that refers to the year the item was marked. (Image source)
The terms ear mark and branding have their origins in the practice of farmers marking ownership on their animals. When herds ranged freely, intermingling with others in common pastures, these permanent marks were imperative. Ear marks are cuts or holes punched into ears; branding is a scar burned into the skin.
6.
Logotype or Logo?
Technically the term logotype means a symbol comprised entirely of typography. The Coca-Cola symbol is an example of a purely typographic logotype.
Frequently the term logo is used interchangeably with symbol. The symbol below is from the Weiner Werstätte, or Vienna Workshops, formed in Austria in 1903. The workshops were a co-operative of artisans and artists united in their goal of making products that merged pure and applied arts. Their hand manufactured goods were imprinted with the WW symbol (below left) but often also carried the individual marks of each designer and craftsman involved in the production. By 1913 the Weiner Werstätte symbol was officially registered as a Trademark.
Printer's Devices
Printer's devices (symbols) were used to identify the printer or publisher of a book. Many early printers used the combination of the orb and the cross, a signifier of the earth and Christianity. The mark on the left is a version of the orb and cross by Joannes de Colonia of Venice, 1481.
On the above right is a contemporary printer's mark by Paul Moxon for his Fameorshame press. He explains the myriad of reasons for the mark, "The Fameorshame mark is based on the orb and four, a traditional sign used by some early printers. A related sign the orb and cross—literally the earth surmounted by the cross—is also the alchemical symbol for antimony, an ingredient in type metal. Long before the development of printing, the 4 had been a mark of merchants to identify their wares. Several authorities, including the great lettering artist Rudolph Koch also associate the 4 with Hermes, the god of scribes, tradesmen, and travelers. Additionally, in The Book of Signs Koch provides an illustration of a 4 being represented in a medieval monogram for the Christian name Paul.
Quote and image source
An often duplicated printer's mark originated with the master printer Aldus Manutius, who started his famous Aldine Press in Venice in 1494. The Aldine innovations included scholarly editing of content, high quality typography and printing as well as masterful woodcut illustrations. Look for more about him in the book section, entry #17.
Aldus's famous Anchor & Dolphin device, embodies his motto "Make Haste Slowly."
...some symbol extras
Monogram
Greek for 'single line.' In early European kingdoms illiterate monarchs signed documents with custom monograms. Today a designer's monogram can increase the status to an everyday object and add value to the price. Case in point below.
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9.
Coat of Arms & Family Crest
The origin of "a coat of arms" came from the symbols displayed on the crest of a helmet or metal chest armor to help identify soldiers in battle or jousting matches. Eventually the images were moved off of the helmet and chest plate and onto banners, dinnerware, etc. The coat of arms, however, often retained the helmet reference as part of the composition (see above where the goat stands). Now the coat-of-arms appears on items ranging from automobiles to 50cent's web site, or on any application that wishes to imply regal lineage or status.
Recommended Reading
If you are interested in a book that thoroughly explores symbols, their origin, development, style and classification, I highly recommend Per Mollerup's Marks of Excellence, The History and Taxonomy of Symbols. The text classifies symbols into three categories, by history, function and motif.
(Source for items #7 and 8)
Corporate Symbol Pioneers
10.
Symbols are "Styled"
Trademarks are designed to reflect the style during which they are created. Above is the GE logo first used in the late 19th century at the height of the Art Nouveau period. It clearly reflects the curvaceous motif that dominated in that period.
AEG symbol, 1907 (below)
As the Art Nouveau style waned logo styles became more geometric and simplified. Peter Behren's symbol for AEG (a German electrical company) was the anchor to an entire design scheme applied to the print work, products and architecture for AEG. The AEG program is recognized as the first complete corporate identity system. Read more about Behrens and his work here #6.
11.
Raymond Lowey
Both Behrens and Lowey have been named by historians as the "Father of Modern Industrial Design." Similarily they both designed iconic symbols.
Lowey is most well known for his simplified streamlined designs that he applied to buses, cars and airplanes. He pushed the 1940's design frontier by application of his mantra, MAYA (Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable).
Lowey also streamlined his logo design. Above is his logo for Shell Oil, a symbol that became so familiar that the company was able to drop the name entirely without loss of customer recognition. Betcha' knew what it was without reading this.
Raymond Lowey site.
Paul Rand
It was in the area of corporate identity design that American graphic designer Paul Rand achieved his highest recognition. His designs reflect the style of the mid to late 20th century —simplicity, neutrality, clarity—all part of the vocabulary of the Modernist period. But Rand added a blend of playfulness and illustration that set his work apart. Rand wrote:"A trademark is not merely a device to adorn a letterhead, to stamp on a product, or to insert at the base of an advertisement; nor one whose sole prerogative is to imprint itself by dint of constant repetition on the mind of the consumer public. The trademark is a potential illustrative feature of unappreciated vigor and efficacy; and when used as such escapes its customary fate of being a boring restatement of the identity of the product's maker."
The role of the logo is to point, to designate—in as simple a manner as possible. A design that is complex, like a fussy illustration or an arcane abstraction, harbors a self-destruct mechanism. Simple ideas, as well as simple designs are, ironically, the products of circuitous mental purposes. Simplicity is difficult to achieve, yet worth the effort. The effectiveness of a good logo depends on:
a. distinctiveness
b. visibility
c. usability
d. memorability
e. universality
f. durability
g. timelessness
ISOTYPE: International System of Typographic Picture Education: "Words Divide, Pictures Unite."
Visual education was always the prime motive behind Iso type. It was not intended to replace verbal language, rather it was a “helping language” accompanied by verbal elements. Neurath was deeply convinced that his
"world language without words" would not only enhance education but help international understanding.
Otto & Marie Neurath, Gerd Arntz
14. Marie Reidmeister Neurath
"Transformer"
M
While working at the museum Neurath began his collaboration with Marie Reidemeister. Her role was classified as a transformer (graphic designer) which meant that she took the mathematical statistics and conceptual direction from Neurath and converted it into a clear visual format. She worked along with fellow transformer Friedrich Bauermeister. By 1935 the team had created a name for their new symbol language, ISOTYPE.
The ISOTYPE team, interrupted by political upheaval, moved to The Hauge, The Netherlands. In 1940 they fled the Nazi invasion of Holland to England, where they spent a year in internment as ‘enemy aliens.’ Marie and Otto Neurath then married and resumed their work in Oxford, founding the ISOTYPE Institute. Otto died in 1945, but Marie carried on the work mostly through production of educational books for children. After 1971 she dedicated her time to documenting Otto's work and writings.
15. Gerd Arntz (1901–88)
Graphic Artist of ISOTYPE Symbols
M
An essential member of the Neurath group was German artist Gerd Arntz who joined the ISOTYPE team in 1928. Arntz was an activist artist who embraced the same socialist ideals as Neurath. He was artistically and philosophically influenced by the Expressionism and Constructivism movements. As part of his socialist values Arntz embraced the primitive qualities of wood block as his primary medium. The wood block medium, in turn, influenced the look of the ISOTYPE. Arntz drew over 4,000 ISOTYPE symbols in his own direct and clean graphic style that set the tone for future symbols in the coming decades.
When the ISOTYPE team left for England in 1940, Arntz stayed in The Hauge and applied his style to symbols for the Dutch Foundation for Statistics. Currently there is an extensive history and archive of Gerd Arntz's symbol design on line at The Gerd Arntz web archive. I highly recommend you see this informative and well designed site.
In 1907 Neurath's was further influenced when he joined a circle of Viennese intellectuals known as the Logical Positivists. The Positivists declared that philosophies founded in religion, metaphysics and ethics were merely expressions of feelings or desires and therefore lacked any cognitive sense. They asserted that true meaning could only be found in mathematics, logic, and natural sciences.
The 1970's: A Decade for Information Symbol Design
Otl Aicher, Munich Olympics, 1972
The pictograph style Otl Aicher and his team devised for the Munich Olympics and the Frankfurt Airport have been integrated into international information styles. His Olympic symbols set a new standard for reductionism and clarity in 1972, the era of the "International Style."
"...Aicher and his team developed a cohesive set of nearly 180 pictograms for sporting events as well as services through a strict orthogonal and diagonal square grid, where all visual elements were arranged at 90 and 45 degrees. The sum of all the work amounted to a very precise and structured identity with just the right amount of warmth."(Quote From SpeakUp)
The Munich Olympiad Logo, 1972, Otl Aicher Office.
Henry Dreyfuss
Another industrial designer with an interest in symbols. (Along with Lowey and Behrens he is also considered "the father of industrial design!?). Henry Dreyfuss advocated using symbols to replace words such as on-off, stop, up-down, etc, on control panels to enhance safety and clarity. In 1972 Dreyfuss and his staff codified and published graphic symbols from throughout the world in an attempt to create a unified frame of reference. The book, A Symbol Sourcebook was essentially a dictionary of universally used symbol designs organized into categories by basic symbols, disciplines, color, and graphic form. To make the sourcebook truly universal, the table of contents was in written in 17 languages in addition to English.
Dreyfuss's earlier books, Designing for People 1955, and 1960 The Measure of Man are considered classic reference texts for designers.
AIGA Transportation Symbols
In 1974 Henry Dreyfuss urged the AIGA and the IDSA to join forces to convince the US Department of Transportation to implement a well designed system of passenger and pedestrian symbol signs."This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events. Produced through a collaboration between the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are an example of how public-minded designers can address a universal communication need."
A committee studied and standardized dozens of symbols which were then drawn by designers Roger Cook & Don Shanosky. To ensure their adoption the DOT offered the symbols copyright free. Anyone can download them for free on the AIGA web site.
AiGA Information with a link to the symbol download.
Digital Symbol Pioneers
William Golden
Designing for CBS Broadcasting, Golden created the first symbol that was deliberately considered for how it would appear on screen. Golden's original inspiration came while driving through Pennsylvania Dutch country. He became intrigued by hex symbols resembling human eyes that were painted on the Amish barns to ward off evil spirits. Additional inspiration was found in Shaker art from 1850s. His basic concept was to portray television's unblinking electronic eye. With the help of graphic artist Kurt Weiss, the first CBS eye logo was drawn.
Link to more information
Susan Kare, Mac Icons
"The visual language of point-and-click computing came to life from the imagination of Susan Kare, a fine arts curator hired by Apple in 1983 to design the look and feel of the Macintosh interface. Her whimsical, easy-to-grok icons tempted even nontechies to pick up a mouse, and her sleek screen fonts—with jet-set names like Geneva and Monaco—launched the first wave of elegant digital typography". Quote Source Wired Magazine
Required : A 21st century logo
Interbrand's new logo for xerox
considers the internet and animation... "They wanted a logo that would work as well on the Internet and on a fast-moving bike as it does in print or on television. Xerox is a sponsor of the Ducati Xerox World Superbike Team.
"The Internet, sponsorships, all kinds of 3D icons —none of that existed when Xerox adopted its old logo," said Maryann Stump, senior director of brand strategy for Interbrand. "And you can do animation with a symbol that you just can't do with a wordmark."
How to Explain a Logo Design 101
The Xerox/Interbrand team settled on lowercase letters because they seemed friendlier, and on a deeper red and a thicker font, to stand out better on the Web and on high-definition television. They chose a ball to suggest forward movement and "a holistic company" Stump said. They also devised a series of variously-colored "connectors" - swirled lines, reminiscent of the ribbons used to connote support for AIDS and breast cancer research - that Xerox will etch on conference rooms at its new headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut, and that it will use to connect images and text in commercials & advertisements.
International Herald Tribune
A Downside to Symbols : Cultural Mismatches
Mr. Yuk was developed for, and is distributed by, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Religious Interpretations
The Red Cross logo, designed in 1963, cannot be used in Muslim countries due to its connotation of Christianity. The red cross will soon be changed to the the red diamond, an acceptable symbol for Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other world religions.
" The Red Crystal is a compromise designed to break a deadlock over the admission of Israel as a full member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and would allow countries with mixed populations to replace the cross or crescent with a more neutral symbol."
The compromise plan was discussed during six years of negotiations brokered by the Swiss government. Its adoption requires approval by two-thirds of the 192 signatories to the Geneva Convention. We live in a period where these symbols are taking on very strong connotations and very divisive ones."
Like the designers of euro bank notes, which feature nondescript images of bridges, arches and other monuments, officials at the Red Cross believe that by selecting a symbol devoid of any apparent historical reference, controversy can be avoided."
Perception of Skull & Crossbones
"Research indicates that the old skull and crossbones used in the past to identify poisons had little meaning for the children in the 20th century. Pirate symbols have been exploited in movies, cartoons, commercial products and amusement parks to denote happy, exciting things like pirates and adventure. In a university-conducted testing program, children at daycare centers were shown six symbols which were affixed to identical bottles of mouthwash often found in family homes. The symbols included a red stop sign, the skull and crossbones, and four others.
At the beginning of the test, each child was told that he might find bottles like these at home and was asked to identify any bottle he might not like to play with. The symbol that proved to be least attractive to the children was
Mr. Yuk.
From the Washington Poison Center
Rebranding and Anti-Branding
24.
Rebranding
Rebranding is the process by which a product or service developed with one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a different identity. This may involve radical changes to the brand's logo, brand name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. These changes are typically aimed at the repositioning of the brand or /company, usually in an attempt to distance itself from certain negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket.
Poland—
How a Country Gets Rebranded
In 2001 Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired DDB Corporate Profiles, a branch of the global agency DDB, to design a logo that could be used to promote tourism and trade. This summer, the company unveiled its design: a red-and-white kite whose tail is held by a dancing stick figure that doubles as the K in the word ''Polska.'' The Polska lettering is thick, red and curvaceous, a nod to the emblem of the Solidarity movement. The red-and-white design on the kite is a four-square checkered pattern, reminiscent of the emblem on Polish warplanes."A dancing group of people flying a kite with Poland's colors' has taken the place of protesters carrying a bloody flag." Source, 2002 NY Times Article
25.
Rebranding | Culture Jamming
The British Petroleum"green" logo became a target of ridicule and derision after a colossal oil spill gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for three months during the summer of 2010. Hundreds of variations on the bp logo above were posted on the internet inciting both positive and negative responses.
"Culture jamming, is the act of using existing media such as billboards, bus-ads, posters, and other ads to comment on those very media themselves or on society in general, using the original medium's communication method. It is based on the idea that advertising is little more than propaganda for established interests, and that there is little escape from this propaganda in industrialized nations. The word, "culture jamming" comes from the idea of radio jamming: that public frequencies can be pirated and subverted for independent communication, or to disrupt dominant frequencies. The Situationist International first made the comparison to radio jamming in 1968, when it proposed the use of guerrilla communication within mass media to sow confusion within the dominant culture. Culture jamming is a form of activism and a resistance movement to the hegemony of popular culture, based on the ideas of "guerrilla communication" and the "detournement" of popular icons and ideas. It has roots in the German concept of spass guerilla, and the Situationist International. Forms of culture jamming include adbusting, performance art, graffiti art and hacktivism (notably cybersquatting).
Source Urban Dictionary
26.
Carolyn Davidson's Swish
Based upon art student Carolyn's interpretation of the wings of Nike in 1971, (her original fee $35) the swoosh was once the emblem of youth and athleticism but now has an unfortunate association with corporate greed.
27.
Anti-Branding
The world’s first global anti-brand created by Adbusters magazine. Black Spot Sneaker an eco-friendly, anti-brand sneaker —the black spot replaces the corporate logo. As describe on the Adbusters web site:
"The world's most ethical shoes"
Our current historical moment is an opportunity to redesign and rethink how we interact with the market—to move away from hyper-inflated megabrands like Nike and go smart, go local, go indie…to change the system by putting power back into the hands of the many.
Visit them at the Black Spot link
Price approx. $95.00
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