Pictogram

An icon (from the Latin pictum, painted ',' image ' and Greek γράφειν gráphein, write ') is a single symbol or icon, the information conveyed by a simplified graphic representation.

Precursors of writing

Pictograms are the precursors of various writings, such as the cuneiform, and have evolved later to logograms, the characters of the Chinese language (and the borrowed kanji characters of the Japanese language ) or hieroglyphic writing, which is a pictures notation and the written oldest form of ancient Egyptian language. In many of the simpler characters, the pictorial origin can easily recognize.

Use

Otto Neurath, an Austrian social philosopher and economist, together with the graphic artist Gerd Arntz, developed in 1936 Isotype ( International System of Typographic Picture Education), a visualization system, complex relationships to be represented in a simple manner by means of pictograms international audience with the.

For the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, the Japanese graphic designer Katsumi Masaru designed a graphic symbol system for the identification of sports.

Otl Aicher, design Commissioner of the Summer Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich, further reduced this until then very figurative pictograms. He also developed for Munich Airport Leitwegesystem a complex that is understood internationally. In cooperation with the company ERCO innumerable pictograms arose for imaging of daily life.

The invention of the personal computer with a graphical user interface has a further flood of pictograms triggered, which are called icons. Also emoticons such as the smiley face are pictograms.

Pictograms are used today in the age of globalization and internationalization in a standardized form, to convey information independent of language or as soon as possible ( as a traffic sign ) or to warn of danger as from danger.

Escape route

Toxic

Radioactivity

Runner

Biohazard

Emergency exit

Facilities for disabled

Airport

Pull

Furthermore find pictograms use to represent local weather conditions. There are icons for sunshine, precipitation, precipitation intensity or thunderstorm. You can watch them freely combined with tables to represent, for example, temperature or wind conditions.

The International Organization for Standardization ( ISO) ( ISO 7001 ) created a collection of pictograms and basic design information as well as methods for testing the quality of pictograms (ISO 9186 ) to reduce the use of non- standardized and non- cross-culturally understandable pictograms.