Pictograms

Pictograms is an image which conveys a concept or message which dates back the the prehistoric civilization. Traces of its existence are found in ancient ruins such as the Egyptian and Mesopotamian landmarks. They were associated with secret codes or religious symbols. Since they shared resemblance to their meaning, these pictograms indicated the initial form of writing. They were literal symbols of their meaning which were later abstracted for the alphabet.It was an early system of writing since it represented an object, place or action. The meaning of pictogram is originally derived from the Latin word ‘pingere’ meaning to depict or to paint.

Due to the industrial revolution and globalisation this united the world but in order for us to remain a whole it required a universal language.Pictograms are a way of visual communication that can be understood by all.Therefore even if you were a foreigner you could still decipher the meaning of something, which is an advantage for many tourists. Even if you were an illiterate person, during the Medieval ages many commoners of lower class understood the story of the bible by viewing the paintings in the church. The only issue with this if it were conveyed to a culture who are not exposed to or familiar to certain things, mostly pictograms associated to the digital age example ‘wifi zone’. This only applies to minor segments like third world countries who still lack development or some elderly citizens.

A Viennese philosopher named Otto Neurath was always intrigued by the Egyptian hieroglyphics he applied the idea of illustrations as a means of communication to his system of typographic Picture Education, also known as Isotype. His pictograms consisted of simple silhouettes which were neutral since it withheld not too many details that could distract its meaning.

Since the purpose of pictograms was to be a universal language, during the Olympic Games, the icons of sprinters, swimmers ect; were launched in London 1948. This was an opportune moment to test out these images to large crowd of individuals all taken from different parts of the world gathered in one area and assess their reactions to it.

We have grown so accustomed and almost immune to our everyday surroundings that we fail to appreciate the significance of a design. We are constantly surrounded by pictograms that inform us about specific details for instance if you look at an iPhone or any other phone, you have apps with a list of icons with images that indicate their function. It makes everything user friendly and more inviting. For any computer illiterate individuals’, they have the words written beneath but eventually begin to search for the image instead when they have learnt to apply the text to the image.