Reflection

This week we started by looking at the fascinating history of icon design, which can be traced back to the earliest human civilisations. The use of symbols and visual elements to represent objects and concepts has been a fundamental part of human communication for millennia, and icons have played a crucial role in this process.

One of the earliest examples of icon design is the use of hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs were pictorial symbols that represented objects, ideas, and sounds, and they were used to record important events and communicate with the gods. The use of hieroglyphs continued for thousands of years and was eventually replaced by the modern alphabet.

The design of hieroglyphs was characterised by a focus on simplification, repetition, and symmetry, as well as a deep understanding of the power of colour to convey meaning. These design principles continue to influence modern icon design, particularly in the development of simplified and scalable symbols that can be easily recognised and understood in a wide range of contexts.

The development of printing technology in the 15th century led to a new era of icon design. Printed symbols and illustrations were used in books and other printed materials to convey information and enhance the reading experience. As printing technology continued to advance, so did the complexity and sophistication of icon design.

In the 20th century, the development of digital technology revolutionised icon design. Icons became a crucial part of computer interfaces, allowing users to interact with software and navigate complex systems with ease. The development of vector-based graphic design tools allowed designers to create highly detailed and scalable icons that could be used in a wide range of contexts.

Today, icons are ubiquitous in our daily lives, appearing on everything from smartphones and tablets to road signs and public transportation systems. They continue to evolve and adapt to new technologies and design trends, but their fundamental purpose remains the same: to communicate information quickly and effectively through visual means.

The language-agnostic nature of icons is a key advantage that makes them an effective means of communication in a wide range of contexts. By using visual symbols and metaphors to convey meaning, icons allow people from different cultures and linguistic backgrounds to communicate and interact with each other in a more efficient and effective way.

The toilet icon is one of the most recognisable and universal icons in the world. The icon typically consists of a pictogram of a male and female, often enclosed within a circle or other geometric shape. It is commonly used to indicate the location of toilets in public places, such as airports, train stations, and shopping centres.

There are several reasons why the toilet icon is so easily recognisable. Firstly, it is a highly familiar image that most people have encountered and used on a daily basis, regardless of their cultural or linguistic background. This familiarity makes it easy for people to recognise and understand the meaning of the icon, even if they are not able to read the text or signage around it.

Secondly, the toilet icon typically uses a highly simplified and stylised design, with the focus on the essential features of the toilet and the person using it. This design approach makes the icon highly legible, even at small sizes, and allows it to be easily distinguished from other symbols and signage that may be present in the same area.

Thirdly, the toilet icon often uses a highly contrasting colour scheme, with the symbol itself typically depicted in black or another dark colour against a white or light-coloured background. This high contrast helps to draw attention to the icon and makes it easy to spot from a distance or in low light conditions.

Overall, the toilet icon is highly recognisable due to its familiar and highly simplified design, its high contrast colour scheme, and its universal application in public spaces around the world. These design features have made the toilet icon an effective means of communicating the location of restrooms and toilets to people from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Artist Research

To continue my research I wanted to look into extremely effective icon design to get an idea of what is expected in my project for this I chose Otl Aicher's icons for the 1972 Munich Olympics which are considered a groundbreaking example of effective icon design. Aicher was a German graphic designer who was tasked with designing the visual identity for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. He developed a set of icons that became known as the "pictograms," which were used to represent each of the Olympic sports.

Aicher's icons were designed with simplicity, clarity, and consistency in mind. Each icon was created using a set of basic geometric shapes, with a focus on essential elements of each sport that could be easily recognisable to people from different cultures and languages. For example, the icon for swimming is represented by a simple silhouette of a person swimming, with bent lines indicating the motion of the arms and legs. Similarly, the icon for boxing is represented by the silhouette of a person holding up two fists.