Modern Hieroglyphics (Research Blog)

When one enters a building looking for a specific restroom or other gender specific area one often looks for the "Helvetica Man." In doing so, this alleviates a foreseeable amount of confusion that would arise had such icon not been in existence. This article describes the effect that modern icons have had on modern society, specifically those with a sense of consistency.

The author claims that the consistency of each individual image helps to maintain its alphabetic quality. The other quality evident in such iconography is that of reduction. Social scientist Otto Neurath believed that much of this cultures iconography should be relatively simple. Much like Isotope symbols, Neurath believed that these figures as it were should exhibit a simple flat shape, with little to no interior detail. These symbols have been adapted and adopted across the globe, with such notable examples as the 1972 Munich Olympics and the Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) sets. Each set exhibits an adaptive quality to the original design, while maintaining their own sense of consistency.

Colors can be changed with the majority of these icons as well as the last decade brought various interpretations of the "Helvetica Man." Whether it be humorous illustrations such as how to rib a car, or more serious one such as directional symbols, this form of iconography as proven to be one of the most resourceful in the last century.