The DOT pictograms are a set of fifty

pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

s used to convey information useful to travelers without using words. Such images are often used in airports, train stations, hotels, and other public places for foreign tourists, as well as being easier to identify than strings of text. Among these pictograms are graphics representing

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...

s and

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

s. As a result of their near-universal acceptance, some describe them as the "

Helvetica Helvetica, also known by its original name Neue Haas Grotesk, is a widely-used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the f ...

" of pictograms, and the character portrayed within them as Helvetica Man. As works of the United States government, the images are in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

and thus can be used by anyone for any purpose, without licensing issues.

History

In the 1970s, the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

recognized the shortcomings of pictograms drawn on an

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

basis at transportation-related facilities across the United States and commissioned the

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...

to produce a comprehensive set of pictograms. In collaboration with Roger Cook and

Don Shanosky Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

of Cook and Shanosky Associates, the designers conducted an exhaustive survey of pictograms already in use around the world, which drew from sources as diverse as Tokyo International Airport and the 1972 Olympic Games in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The designers rated these pictograms based on criteria such as their legibility, their international recognizability and their resistance to vandalism. After determining which features were the most successful and appropriate, the designers drew a set of pictograms to represent 34 meanings requested by the DOT. The results of this research, as well as guidelines on how to best implement the symbols was presented in a report titled ''Symbol Signs – The development of Passenger/Pedestrian Oriented Symbols for Use in Transportation-Related Facilities'' in November 1974. In 1979, 16 symbols were added, bringing the total count to 50.

Development of symbols

Initial groundwork

Symbols were collected from a variety of sources, including railways, Olympic events, airports and government agencies to form a catalog of each type of symbol to be created for close examination. A key goal was to avoid starting from scratch when possible, and instead build off previous development of robust symbol designs in existing systems.

Evaluation

The first overall step was to identify the symbols that were to be developed for the project, these were referred to as 'message areas'. The Department of Transportation's Office of Facilitation and AIGA committee devised the initial list of 34 messages. These messages were broken into four broad categories: 'Public Services', facility services and modes of transport (Telephones, toilets, first aid); 'Concessions', commercial activities (Car rental, coffee shop, shops); 'Processing Activities', passenger related processes (Ticket purchase, customs); 'Regulations', (No smoking, No entry). Symbols that conveyed the messages sought by the committee from the 24 sources were broken into 'concept groups', a simple grouping of symbols that used similar general designs to convey the message. For example, 'Telephone' symbols were divided into 4 concept groups: 'Telephone

handset A handset is a component of a telephone that a user holds to the ear and mouth to receive audio through the receiver and speak to the remote party using the built-in transmitter. In earlier telephones, the transmitter was mounted directly on ...

', 'Telephone dial', 'Front view of dial telephone' and 'Handset and dial'.

Scoring

Symbols were assessed on three characteristics:

Semantic Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...

syntactic In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency ...

pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: * "Pragmaticism", Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy * Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics * ''Pragmatics'' (journal), an aca ...

. Scores for these three categories were awarded by each committee member on a scale of 1 (weak) to 5 (strong). In addition to the individual score of each symbol, 'concept groups' were given an overall score based on how well the concept met the three categories.

Recommendations

Finally they made recommendations and observations based on their scores and discussions about the symbols they reviewed. For the 'Telephone' symbol, the handset icon was common but an odd shape that could be confusable for other items, like wrenches; while symbols with dials were easy to understand but already obsolete with the increased use of the

push-button telephone A push-button telephone is a telephone that has buttons or keys for dialing a telephone number, in contrast to a rotary dial used in earlier telephones. Western Electric experimented as early as 1941 with methods of using mechanically activated ...

. The recommendations were summarized to suggest the final course of action to be taken with designing a symbol for the concept. For "Telephone", the decision was made to "Modify Group 1 concept; experiment with front view of modern telephone."

Implementation

''Symbol Signs'' provides some general guidelines as to implement the symbols in a facility. The guidelines present guidance to a design team, rather than a strict set of requirements for typeface, sizes, colors, illumination, etc., that must be adhered to. This decision is intended to strike a balance between creating a perfect system while allowing symbols to appropriately integrate into the environment they're being used in. A typeface is not recommended, to allow flexibility for architectural and cultural needs of the facility. Emphasis is instead placed on examining the legibility and suitability for a particular typeface in the specific environment. In examples provided in ''Symbol Signs'' and when designing the symbols,

Medium, in an initial caps/start case was used by designers. This was particularly true of the design of the directional arrow. Letter size should be decided on a situational basis, using testing, however a general rule is that in height for ever of viewing distance. The 1974 edition of ''Symbol Signs'' was strict in its presentation of symbols: Symbols must appear in a 'symbol field', consisting of a square with rounded corners. The 'figure' must be black on a white symbol field, and never the reverse, white symbols on a black field. Symbols were determined to be typically legible from approximately with a symbol to with a symbol. Attention should also be given to the mounting height of signs, as signs mounted so they fall outside of 10 degrees of the natural line of vision will no longer be in a normal line of vision, and require the viewer to actively look up in order to see and read the sign.

Symbols

Original Set (1974)

The original set of symbols developed consisted of 34 symbols, primarily intended for transportation facilities. First Aid, No Smoking, No Parking and No Entry used "

Ostwald Ostwald may refer to: * Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, the physico-chemist (awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1909) # Ostwald's rule of polymorphism: in general, the least stable polymorph crystallizes first # The Ostwald Process, a synthesis met ...

number 6 1/2 pa" for the color red. Aiga telephone.svg, Telephone Aiga mail.svg, Mail Aiga currencyexchange.svg, Currency Exchange Aiga FirstAid - Red.svg, First Aid Aiga lostandfound.svg, Lost and Found Aiga baggagelockers.svg, Baggage Lockers Aiga elevator.svg, Elevator Man - The Noun Project.svg, Toilets, Men Woman - The Noun Project.svg, Toilets, Women unisex - The Noun Project.svg, Toilets AIGA information.svg, Information Aiga hotelinformation.svg, Hotel Information Aiga taxi.svg, Taxi Aiga bus.svg, Bus Aiga groundtransportation.svg, Ground Transportation Aiga railtransportation.svg, Rail Transportation 20 airtransportation.svg, Air Transportation Aiga heliport.svg, Heliport Aiga watertransportation.svg, Water Transportation Aiga carrental.svg, Car Rental Aiga restaurant.svg, Restaurant Aiga coffeeshop.svg, Coffee Shop Aiga bar.svg, Bar Aiga shops.svg, Shops Aiga ticketpurchase.svg, Ticket Purchase Aiga baggage check in.svg, Baggage Check-in / Baggage Claim Aiga customs.svg, Customs Aiga immigration.svg, Immigration Aiga No-Smoking - Red.svg, No Smoking Smoking AIGA symbol.svg, Smoking Aiga NoParking - Red.svg, No Parking parking - The Noun Project.svg, Parking Aiga No-Entry - Red.svg, No Entry

1979 Additions

In 1979, the Department of Transportation requested 16 additional symbols, to fill in gaps observed in the original set. First Aid, No Smoking, No Parking, No Dogs, and No Entry used Pantone Red 032 C and Exit used Pantone Green 340 C. Aiga cashier.svg, Cashier Aiga coatcheck.svg, Coat Check Aiga escalator.svg, Escalator Aiga escalator up.svg, Escalator, Up Aiga escalator down.svg, Escalator, Down Aiga stairs.svg, Stairs Baby from the noun project.svg, Nursery Drinking Fountain - The Noun Project.svg, Drinking Fountain Waiting Room - The Noun Project alt.svg, Waiting Room Aiga BarberShop-BeautySalon.svg, Barber Shop/Beauty Salon Aiga BarberShop.svg, Barber Shop Aiga BeautySalon.svg, Beauty Salon Aiga departingflights.svg, Departing Flights Aiga arrivingflights.svg, Arriving Flights Aiga NoDogs - Red.svg, No Dogs Aiga Exit - Green.svg, Exit Aiga fire extinguisher.svg, Fire Extinguisher Aiga litterdisposal.svg, Litter Disposal

2000s

An unofficial change has been forced to the original symbols following increased efforts by the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

to discourage and eliminate usage of the 'red cross' symbol as a generic symbol of first aid or medical services. For example, in 1999 the Red Cross informed Ultimate Symbol that their 1996 publication ''Official Signs & Icons'', featuring various symbol collections, that the Red Cross in the AIGA pictogram collection was a violation of the Geneva Convention and United States trademark laws, and asked for its removal from future editions. In 2005, the second edition of ''Official Signs & Icons'', the red

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

was replaced with an identical Greek cross colored 'Safety Green' from ANSI Z535.1–2002. The adoption of a green

or white Greek cross on a green background is a common replacement, due to the visual similarity and wide usage, as the white cross on green background is used in

ISO 7010 ISO 7010 is an International Organization for Standardization technical standard for graphical hazard symbols on hazard and safety signs, including those indicating emergency exits. It uses colours and principles set out in ISO 3864 for the ...

to represent first aid. Aiga FirstAid - Green.svg, First Aid

Notes

References

External links

Symbol signs
AIGA

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816140120/http://funwithstuff.com/dswmedia/airport.html , date=2018-08-16 , an animated film made from AIGA pictograms
Friconix board
DOT 50 original set of pictograms Graphic design Infographics Pictograms

Pictograms A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

Symbols introduced in 1974