Frecuent use of graphic language

You know those disclaimers before some TV shows. There's one on New Zealand's TV that I believe may be misunderstood because of punctuation: "this programme contains frequent use of language that may disturb some people" I always think this refered to Gilmore Girls... their frecuent use of language is disturbing sometimes! OK, So let's now talk about explicit graphic language.

When we all agree or have the same idea about a concept, then it is a convention. That doesn't mean that we are going to organize a summit to discuss and agree on meanings. Meanings come usually from "habitus"... that means, we learn something because it is presented to us frequently, and eventually we come to accept it.

One case of a symbol being democratically discussed is the German Ampelmann. In post war Germany, both sides developed their own sign for pedestrian crossings. After the re-unification, the west tried to change the so called ampelmänner used in East Germany and impose their Westmann version. It didn't work, and the ampelmännchen stayed... until now. The European Union is now trying to unify all traffic symbols, which means the sympatic guys and their hats are again in danger.

AIGA developed a series of "unified" airport signs, because there are regional versions, which makes them sometimes hard to decypher to international travellers. (via "the trademark blog") Iain Anderson made a short film called "airport" using those symbols. Graphic Artists Guild developed a set of 12 symbols related to disabilities. It is not a bad idea, now that communication needs to be "universal". Please note the term "communication". As High Desert Wanderer points out : In it’s classic sense, graphic design is about arranging elements in a way best suited to communicating a message. Again, any frecuent use of language may offend some viewers.

ciao