1
1. Introduction 2. Theory of Communication 2.1 Semiotics / Sign and meaning Structure 03 03 03 2.2 Peirce / Saussure 3. History and International Signs Systems 04 08 3.1 Kapitzki / Otl Aicher 3.2 Otto Neurath 3.3 Rules + Results 08 09 10 4. Comparing Signs 4.1 Overview 11 11 Size Color Shape, Form Language Symbols Typography 11 11 11 12 13 4.2 International similarities 14 Stop signs Mortal-Danger-Signs Children Signs No-smoking-signs 14 15 16 17 4.3 International differences 18 Animals crossing - Sign Toilet-signs 18 19 5. Cases 24 19 5.1 1974 - AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): Transportation signage symbols 5.2 1972 - Otl Aicher: Design Systems for the Olimpic Games Munich 5.3 2010 - The Design of a Pictogram: an international collaboration 19 22 23 2
1. Introduction Communication, meaning and signs in the intercultural context: Our work will compare graphic design in different countries and cultures by analyzing the most important symbols of the public space: signals, traffic- and roadsigns. We chose this subject because they are classic and immune to short-time trends in graphic design, and hardly change with the years. We will base our work in the theories of Semiology/Semiotic of Saussure and Peirce which give us a framework for the cultural analysis. We will also make use of manifests from Otl Aicher and Herbert W. Kapitzki as a reference to settle our methods. Principles for analyzing: We compare signs used for identical purposes from different countries in order to extract cultural differences encoded in them. We use the possibilities the design of signs offers to analyze the differences of the same signs in other countries. As a result we expect our method let us characterized various signgroups with describable differences that don t refer to their meaning. 2. Theory of Communication 2.1 Semiotics / Sign and meaning Semiotic/Semiology Semiotics, also called semiology, is the study of signs, the way they work and the sign processes (semiosis). Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the structure and meaning of language more specifically. However, as different from linguistics, semiotics also studies nonlinguistic sign systems. Semiotics has three main areas of study: The sign itself The codes or systems into which signs are organized The culture within which these codes and signs operate The 3 principal semiotics theories are from: R. Barthes (Binary Semiotics) J. Greimas, Paris School (Binary Semiotics) Peirce (Triad Semiotics) 3
Sign and Meaning In any study of meaning three elements are involved: the sign, that to which it refers, and the users of the sign. A sign is something physical, perceivable by our senses, it refers to something other than itself; and it depends upon a recognition by its users that it IS a sign. The sign according: Saussure: it s the union of signifier and signified (acoustic image and concept) Peirce: the sign stands for something else as a representation Barthes: perceive the objects as signs inside a structured system (binary) Greimas: the sign is a binary entity, the significance comes from contraries 4
2.2 Peirce / Saussure Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist. Today he is appreciated largely for his contributions to logic, mathematics, philosophy, scientific methodology, and semiotics, and for his founding of pragmatism. An innovator in mathematics, statistics, philosophy, research methodology, and various sciences, Peirce considered himself a logician. He saw logic as the formal branch of semiotics, of which he is a founder. Peirce divided signs into three types: Icons: bears a resemblance to its object. This is often ap parent in visual signs, like photgraphs, maps, picto grams, drawings, paintings, etchings, etc. but also diagrams. Index: it is a sign with a direct existential connection with its object, like smoke is an index of fire, a sneeze is an index of a head cold. Symbol: is a sign whose connection with its object is a mat ter of convention, agreement or rule. For example: Numbers, writings signs, systems of signs, musical notes, isotypes, logo types, etc. These categories are not separate and distinct. He described how signs signify by identifying a triangular relationship between the sign, the user, and external reality as a necessary model for studying meaning. A sign is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capcity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. The sign which it creates I call interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. 5
Sign Interpretant Object 6
Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a Swiss linnuist and semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments both in linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is considered one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics and one of two major fathers (together with Charles Sanders Peirce) of semiotics. Saussure, as a linguistic, was primary interested in language. He was unhappy with the way linguists were approaching language, as he felt they had not determined the nature of what they were studying. As a result, Saussure proposed an entirely different way of looking at language, by returning to the essentials and looking at language as a system of signs. If we could understand how the system of language works then this might lead us to how meaning is formed. He was more concerned with the way signs (or, in his case, words) related to others signs. His model focuses attention much directly on the sign itself. The sign was a physical object with a meaning, a sign consisted of a signifier and a signified. The signifier is the sign s image as we perceive it; the signified is the mental concept to which it refers. This mental concept is broadly common to all membes of the same culture who share the same language. Sign signifier signified signification external reality or meaning 7
3. History and International Signs Systems 3.1 Kapitzki / Otl Aicher H. Kapitzki Herbert W. Kapitzki was born in Danzig and studied at the technical College there (techn. Hochschule). After beeing in prision in terms of the second world war, he studied at the Akademie der Künste in Stuttgart. His scientific research depended on the shape and usability of products depending the must of preservance of their functionality. He developed an informationsystems for the Berlin airport and other Environments in Berlin. He had the theory that our programms of signs, our systems or orientation, hints and identification can t fully fullfill their functionality, if the visualisation of them is unsystematically and expressive and that there must be an understandable scheme of construction. Otl Aicher He is one of the most important designer in Germany. He and his wife (Inge Scholl) were working for a concept for a design school and teached visual communication. In 1967 he was commisioned to design the pictoramms for the olympic games in Munich. His drafts of leadingsystems signs and pictorgamms got a main orientation for all people over the world. He also got many jobs for corporate designs for example ZDF (a main televisionchannel in Germany) or Lufthansa. He developed a typeface for road signs in Munich and it s airport called Traffic as developing pictogramms for a leadingsystem for Frankfurt airport. In an interview he was asked what typeface he prefered and he answered that serifes were good for large texts like books but that he prefferes non-serif typefaces. Aicher made his most significant contribution in the area of information design, creating a system of pictograms that were intended to be understandable despite the polyglot nature of the world. 8
3.2 The ISOTYPE by Otto Neurath The ISOTYPE was developed by the Austrian philosopher and scientist Otto Neurath (1882-1945). ISOTYPE stands for International System of Typographic Picture Education. He designed the language for the uneducated working class and analphabets. The goal was to help these people to understand social and economic knowledge with a visual Education. Another idea of the ISOTYPE was to overcome barriers of language and culture, and to be universally understood. Otto Neurath wanted to improve the intercultural communication with ISOTYPE. The main illustrator of this project was Gerd Arntz. He drew over 4000 symbols and pictograms. Figure XXX shows a collection of the pictograms by Arntz. Otto Neurath created the idea of one general list of signs for international use which is under control by a chief organization (the ISO- TYPE). He describes the rules for the signs as following: The signs have to be clear in themselves, without the help of words as far as possible that is, living signs. They have to be different from one another, so that there will be no doubt of their right name when they are seen again. They have to be so simple that they may be put in line like letters. In 1940 ISOTYPE included 1140 picture elements and a number of simple rules to combining them into pictorial sentences. 9
3.3 Rules + Results Picture statistics are designed to express amounts of the same thing or relations between amounts of diffe rent things. The number of repetitive signs should be countable, each sign expressing a given basic quantity (e.g., 1,000 people, 100 ships, 1 million tons of iron, etc.). A larger amount of something must be represented by a larger amount of signs, not by a larger sign. The eye is able to say: in that case the amount is 2 times greater than in another case. The signs should be highly stylized, endowed with the po wer to make them clear and pleasing to the eye. They should be used consistently, such that different pictures can be related to each other. The selection of educational material is not simple. The one who can leave things out is the best teacher. Less is more. A simple picture kept in the memory is better than any number of complex ones which have gone out of it. The transformation of ideas in clear lay-outs is the next difficult step. The basic guidelines of transformation are to select, round off and arrange. Graded sym bols to express amounts should not be used. Graded circles and squares have no place in the system because their areas are difficult to compare. Continuous lines for expressing the relationship between amounts and time should not be used. The individu al points between two successive years have no meaning. Color should be used consistently (e.g. green for farming, red for industry, blue for business). Signs and colors are to be distributed over the plane of the picture in such a way that the attention is guided to certain points which have to be looked at first. 10
4. Comparing Signs 4.1 Overview Size The size of signs used in traffic differ from country to country. Even similar meanings like the stop sign - values are treated in diameters - have a standard size of 600, 900 or 1200 mm but in the UK and New Zealand they are 750, 900 or 1200 mm. The three dimensions de pend on the concrete speed limits, given. Also the border of the signs have diffe rent sizes. Like mentioned before, a very important reason for the size of signs is the reactiontime of the driver in relation to his speed. Color The reduced set of colors used for traffic signs show a global interdependency. This does mean that the used colors in traffic are very similar cho sen which doesn t mean that they are used for the same meaning comparing the countries among each others. For an example are warning-signs in North America, Australia and New Zealand yellow within black letters. The principle of the European traffic sign standard is that shapes and colours are to be used for indicating identical purposes. Shape, Form and Language When designing traffic signs it is recommended to follow the four basic steps of interaction design. Form and shape of traffic signs across the globe are mostly determined by the language their cont ent consists of. It depends on the difficulty of ex plainig circumstances in a non-verbal way, so the language of the specific country has to be used additionally for the exact explaination. 11
The design specifications for a Taiwanese sign warning of double bends ahead. Translated directly, it means that there are winding roads for the next ten kilometres Symbols In case of road-signs, the explanation of symbol is not only a comprehandable meaning by appointment, the visualization of a symbol used for a standard interferes to a conceivable context out of its construction. The drawing of the sign should transport the meaning. So most of the signs are build with groups of symbols defining the circumstance in an abstract but easy way. This gives the rules of appointments of designing a symbol describing a reason another perspective. In particular a sign consisting of a symbol or a group of symbols has to communicate this reason evidently, as far as possible, but uses an abstract design explaining mostly natural reasons. Both, calculus and appointment can only help to assist the development of symbols. 12
Typography Some countries like Switzerland use more than one language for communication. Therefor its nesses ary to design multilingual road signs like shown beyond. Nearly all of the signs make use of non-se rif typefaces. The letters used in signs often appear in capital letters. Only longer text is written in lower case typefaces 13
4.2 International similarities Stop signs The octagonal shape of the Stop-Sign is the only in ternationally designated road sign with this shape. The shape was decided quickly, but it took some time till the now typical white letters on a red back ground were chosen for the coloring. In most coun tries the English word Stop is written on the sign, but there are also some countries which use the analogue word in their native language. 14
Mortal-Danger-Signs Signs all over the world, which signal a mortal dan ger, have one thing in common. They all show a human skull above two long bones set in a x-mark. This universal sign for death was also used by pira tes in their flags to show other ships what they have to expect from the crew of the pirate ship. Multilingual road signs in Mistissini, Quebec in Cree, English and French 15
Children - Signs Signs, which are positioned in areas where small children frequently crossing the street, show a young boy and a young girl in the most countries. In some cases they also carry school bags. But there are also some exceptions where an adult and a small child or even only a small child are illustrated. 16
No-Smoking signs The signs for areas, where smoking is prohibited, are nearly identical in every countries. They all show a burning cigarette, which is circled by a red ring with a diagonal crossing red bar. However, the re are also small differences in form, shape and details of the burning cigarette. a collage of No-smoking-signs (Mustiens, 2006, p.173) 17
4.3 International differences Animals crossing - Sign The illustrations shown on signs, which are positi oned in areas where wild animals frequently cros sing the street, differ from each to country to ano ther depending on the most endangered animals. a collage of beware-of-animals-signs (Mustiens, 2006, p. 7) 18
Toilet-signs Toilet-signs are one kind of signs, which have many different visualizations all over the world. They re ach from a simple W.C. -sign to very abstract kinds of illustration, which can be difficult to inter pret. a collage of toilet-signs (Mustiens, 2006, p. 158f) 19
5. Cases 5.1 1974 - AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): Transportation signage symbols In 1974, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) commissioned the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) to create a set of thirty-four passenger and pedestrian-oriented symbols for use in transportation facilities. The idea was to have a group of symbols for worldwide transportation facilities to break languages barriers and simplify basic messages. The final set was designed by Roger Cook and Don Shanosky. These signs combined harmony with visual consistency of line, shape, weight and form. About the symbol signs: This system of symbol signs was designed for use in airports, other transportation hubs and large international events. Prior to this effort, there was no system of signs that communicated the required range of complex messages, addressed people of different ages and cultures and were clearly legible at a distance. To develop the system, AIGA and DOT compiled an inventory of symbol systems that had been used in various locations worldwide, AIGA appointed a committee of five leading designers of environmental graphics, who evaluated the symbols and made recommendations for adapting or redesigning them. Based on their conclusions, a team of AIGA member designers produced the symbols. 20
21
5.2 1972 - Otl Aicher: Design Systems for the Olimpic Games Munich By the early 1960s, the concept of comprehensive design system was becoming a reality. Comprehensive planning for large organizations and events was functional, desirable and necessary. Specially in the case of international events (world s fairs and Olympics Games) where an international and multilingual audience had to be directed and informed. For the 1972 Twentieth Olympiad in Munich, Germany, Otl Aicher directed a design team for the development and implementation of a formal and systematized design program. They used Univers typeface and established a system of publication grids. An extensive series of pictograms were drawn on a modular square grid divided by horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. For each Olimpic sport a pictogram was designed, emphasizing the motion of the athletes and their equipment. Despite the language barriers the immediate identification was achieved. 22
2010 - The Design of a Pictogram: an international collaboration Yves Zimmermann, a contemporary and important Swiss designer living in Barcelona since 1961, wrote 3 years ago an article about an international collaboration of designers to design a new and not-existing pictogram: the push/pull sign for the doors. With the collaboration of the NGO Design for the world Zimmermann and a colleague contacted associations of Graphic Designers of different countries. They received 105 proposals that ordered for each concept of similarity in families : doors with hands, doors with arrows, hands with handle, hands pushing, arrows, abstract signs, etc. To have a panorama of the field of signs where a pictogram will be inserted and to have a parameter of the visual characteristics, they researched two examples of signs systems: AIGA (The American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York 1981 Pictogram System for Olympic Games from Munich 1972 from Otl Aicher The conclusions they got from observing the AIGA pictograms: All the pictograms are explained by themselves, they don t need words for their comprehension The forms/shapes are extremely synthesized and reduced to each basic expression to be fast understandable in any linguistic or cultural context. They found that the new pictogram must fulfill these mentioned requirements, be easily understandable and integrated in the existing pictograms-system. The three definitive solutions, developed from the synthesis of the different proposals from each family, showed that when there is a sign of a door pushed/pulled there is no need of other additional sign (for example: a hand). 23
This was the definitive pictogram for the sign door push/pull: Sources: Web sources http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/ http://www.iso.org/iso/graphical-symbols_booklet.pdf http://www.gerdarntz.org/isotype http://www.medienphilosophie.net/texte/neurath_engl.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/comparison_of_european_road_signs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stop_sign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/traffic_sign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/interaction_design http://foroalfa.org/articulos/el-diseno-de-un-pictograma Books Mustienes, C. (2006). Signs. Köln; London; Los Angeles; Madrid; Paris; Tokyo: Taschen. Introduction to Communication Studies. John Fiske. 2nd Edition. 1990 International Picture Language. The first rules of Isotype. Otto Neurath. London 1936 24