Pictogram

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Pictogram
Ideogram

A pictogram or pictograph is a symbol representing a concept, object, activity, place or event by illustration. Pictography is a form of writing in which ideas are transmitted through drawing. It is the basis for some of the earliest forms of structured written languages, such as Cuneiform and, to some extent, Hieroglyphs.

Pictograms are still in use as the main medium of written communication in some non-literate cultures in Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. Pictograms are also often used as simple symbols by most contemporary cultures providing a form of communication that is free of language-specific elements and thus can be understood by all.

Etymology

Both pictogram and pictography share the same Latin root, pict(us), which roughly translates as "painting." Combined with the word gram, which was the Greek word used for the smallest unit of measurement, pictogram thus means a single painting or picture.[1] Graphy, the Greek word for "the act of writing or painting" combines with pict(us) to form pictography, which thus refers to the act of creating a painting or picture.[2]

Earliest use

Native American Pictograph near Saint George, Utah USA

The earliest pictograms were in use in Mesopotamia and predated the famous Sumerian cuneiforms (the oldest of which date to around 3400 B.C.E.). As early as 9000 B.C.E. pictograms were used on tokens that were placed on farm produce.[3] As civilization advanced, creating cities and more complex economic systems, more complex pictographic tokens were devised and used on labels for manufactured goods. Pictograms eventually evolved from simple labels into a more complex structure of written language, and were written on clay tablets. Marks and pictures were made with a blunt reed called a stylus, the impressions they made were wedge shaped.[4]

As the use of pictograms increased, so to did their meaning. Certain signs came to indicate names of gods, countries, cities, vessels, birds, trees, etc. These are known as "determinants," and were the Sumerian signs of the terms in question, added as a guide for the reader. Proper names continued to be usually written in purely "ideographic" fashion.[5] From about 2900 B.C.E., many pictographs began to lose their original function, and a given sign could have various meanings depending on context. The sign inventory was reduced from some 1,500 signs to some 600 signs, and writing became increasingly phonological. Determinative signs were re-introduced to avoid ambiguity.[6]

Pictograms were also used by the ancient Chinese culture since around 5000 B.C.E. and began to develop into logographic writing systems around 2000 B.C.E.[7] Variations of pictogram usage can be found in other ancient civilizations as well, such as the Aztec, Mayan and other South American empires. However, as written and spoken languages began to converge and develop into more phonetic and literal meanings, the usage of pictograms diminished. Yet, pictograms survived and can be seen in many modern languages, even if in a sub-conscious level.

For example, the letters of the Roman alphabet, contain their origins in pictograms. For example, the letter A represented the head of an ox, and if it is turned upside down, a bovine head with horns can be seen.[8]

Modern use

Pictograms are used in most modern societies, often serving as signs or instructions. Because of their graphical nature and fairly realistic style, they are widely used in a universal manner, so as to be more widely understood. For example, a pictogram of a man and a separate one for a woman are sometimes used to denote public male and female bathrooms respectively, so that anyone, regardless of their language abilities can understand where the bathroom is located and which one to use. However, even these symbols are culture-specific. For example, in some cultures men wear dress-like clothing, and so a pictogram that uses a skirt-like shape to denote a female may not be universal.

Some of the most universal pictograms are the ones used for caution in regards to dangerous materials and environments, such as the symbols for radioactive, bio-hazardous, poisonous and flammable.

DOT pictograms

The DOT pictograms in the United States came from a 1974 finding by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), which recognized that a standardized set of roadside pictograms were needed for the United States Interstate Highway System. The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Roger Cook and Don Shanosky of Cook and Shanosky Associates were all commissioned to develop this standardized system, and researching modern pictograms on a worldwide basis, the team produced 34 distinct pictograms. By 1979, 16 more symbols were added to the system, which brought the total to 50, where it remains today.[9] Today the DOT pictograms are used at such places as airports, train stations, hotels, and other public places for foreign tourists, as well as being easier to identify than strings of text.

As works of the United States government, the images are in the public domain and thus can be used by anyone for any purpose, without licensing issues.

DOT pictograms representing, from left, "Escalator (up)," "Nursery" and "Ground transportation".

ISO 7001

The symbol used to represent parking areas.

ISO 7001 ("Public information symbols") is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization that defines a set of pictograms and symbols, as well as their use and placement for public information. The set is the result of extensive testing in several countries and different cultures and have met the criteria for comprehensibility set up by the ISO. Common examples of public information symbols include those representing toilets, car parking, and information, and the International Symbol of Access (ISA) or "Wheelchair Symbol."[10] Specific uses of the ISA include:

  • Marking a parking space reserved for vehicles used by the disabled
  • Marking a vehicle used by a disabled person, often for permission to use a space
  • Marking a public lavatory with facilities designed for wheelchair users
  • Indicating a button to activate an automatic door
  • Indicating an accessible transit station or vehicle
  • Indicating a transit route that uses accessible vehicles.

Gallery

Notes

  1. pictogram. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 10, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pictogram
  2. pictography. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 10, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pictography
  3. (2006) Center for Instructional Innovation, Western Washington University "The Invention of Writing" Retrieved July 10, 2008
  4. (2006) Center for Instructional Innovation, Western Washington University "The Invention of Writing" Retrieved July 10, 2008
  5. Mieroop, Marc Va. Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History." Routledge 1999. ISBN 0415195330
  6. Mieroop, Marc Va. Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History." Routledge 1999. ISBN 0415195330
  7. (2002) Wu, W. Wu: Chinese "Chinese:Pictograms" Retrieved July 10, 2008
  8. Robinson, Andrew. The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs, & Pictograms. Thames & Hudson, 2007. ISBN 0500286604
  9. (2008) Economic Expert.com "D.O.T. Pictograms"] Retrieved July 11, 2008
  10. (2008) Tiresias.org "Pictogram, Icon and Symbols Standards" Retrieved July 11, 2008

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller. Design Writing Research: Writing About Graphic Design. New York: Kiosk, 1996.
  • The Professional Association for Design for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Symbol signs, 2nd ed. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1993.


  • Reed, Ishmael (2003). From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002, Ishmael Reed, ed. ISBN 1-56025-458-0.

External links


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