- We take icons for granted.
We see a restroom sign and determine if it is for men,
women, or family by the icons on the door.
We put bumper stickers on our cars
promoting coexistence with all religions.
We assign meaning to the cross on the top of a church.
And we determine our political viewpoints
with either a donkey or elephant.
Now here's the question everyone asks.
What's the difference between a symbol and an icon?
To be honest, in the dictionary they mean the same thing.
But in the context of graphic design
I consider symbols to be a wide reaching term
for images that represent an idea.
Icons are straightforward forms
that operate more like hieroglyphics.
They are a quick and easy read of an idea,
often designed as a simple shape.
Up until the 19th century,
graphic artists and printers communicated ideas
with illustrations and imagery.
In the early 20th century this changed.
In 1905, influenced by work he saw in Germany,
Lucian Bernhard reduced the illustration
of a cigarette and matches
to a simple geometric form and no background.
This began the tradition of the modern iconic logo.
Such as this logo for Bell Telephone.
In the 1920's designers and printers employed icons
as easy to read information on charts and diagrams.
At first these startled the public,
accustomed to more elaborate images.
But over time, this approach developed a new language.
These icons form the basis for the language we use today
when expressing all forms of information,
from gender to quantity and scale.
By 1974, AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation
combined forces to design a standardized set of icons
for use in airports, railway stations,
and other public spaces.
These are a direct descendant
of the work created in the 1920's,
and are free to use at the AIGA website.
We take for granted that icons can replace language today.
But this idea was proven with Lance Wyman's icons
for the Mexico City Olympics.
The icons replaced the cumbersome verbiage
for each Olympic sport.
Rather than listing fencing in six languages,
Wyman designed a cohesive system of icons
that clearly represented the activity.
These worked as a family of icons,
as Wyman used the same forms repeatedly.
Each icon relied on a standard grid.
He designed each icon
with the same shape of curves and straight lines.
Wyman utilized these not only as information
but as the basis of other communications.
He designed a grouping that created an Aztec sun,
a symbol of Mexican history.
Icons are a powerful tool to communicate an idea.
Rather than falling back
into the expected full color photograph,
consider using an icon.
Rather than spoon-feeding the information to the viewer,
a strong graphic element may have more impact
and challenge the viewer.