Modern Heiroglyphs

I read the article about modern hieroglyphs. (“Modern Hieroglyphs,” (PDF) chapter from Ellen Lupton’s Design, Writing Research)I have always thought it was very interesting that the same messages can be relayed across all cultures using a minimal amount of information in the form of a picture, sometimes accompanied with text. Though the text can help tie the images together, the images by themselves can relay the same message.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24914146@N06/2350612575/

I immediately thought of the shopping cart rules on how to safely put your child in the shopping cart. Failure to follow the rules results in a higher chance of injury. The warning uses both text and pictures but the pictures by themselves would also be easily understood.

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-3410525-wet-floor-sign.php

The next thing that came to mind was the wet floor sign. The sign uses both words and pictures as well. It is also a warning sign that informs us that for whatever reason the floor is wet and you might fall when walking across it.

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-583807-warning-road-signs-in-vector-format-2.php

While road signs do not depict the helvetica man, they do offer a lot of important information while still remaining simplistic.