The semiotics of pictogram in the Signage Systems | ||||
| International Design Journal | ||||
| Article 5, Volume 5, Issue 2 - Serial Number 14, April 2015, Page 301-315 PDF (1.54 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/idj.2015.101372 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Enass Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan | ||||
| Associate Professor, Advertising Department, Faculty of Applied arts, Helwan University, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| In the signage systems, the most important concern for people who design pictograms is to ensure that they will be understood by the greatest possible number among the addressed people. Therefore, the institutions who want to promote the use of pictograms as an iconic signs on a rational basis are now making efforts to define design and interpretation methodologies of the pictogram. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of studying the semiotics of pictogram and its role in the signage systems and clarify the extent of the impact of cultural determinism and the surrounding changes on the interpretation of pictogram. The study problem can be demonstrated in the following two questions: to what extent can the study of pictogram’s semiotics help the designer in choosing the graphic Elements of pictograms which are involved in the construction of meaning into the signage systems?, how do the surrounding changes affect the meaning of the pictogram?, and how do the cultural determinisms affect the appearance in which the pictogram appears?. The study follows an inductive approach, and “Descriptive-Analytical Methodology”. It reached to the understanding of a pictogram’s characteristics and features. It analyzed the advantages of the usage of the pictogram’s “iconic” form and the role of the pictogram’s surrounding in interpreting its meaning. The cultural determinisms also affect the “appearance” of the pictogram, where any difference of cultural context can entail differences in the representation without changing the core meaning of the pictogram itself. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Semiotics; Symbol; Icon; Index; Pictogram; Degree of Abstraction; Degree of Iconicity | ||||
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