Local Handicrafts

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Indigenous Handicrafts, Handicrafts, Handcrafts, Indigenous Craftwork, Craftwork, Craft Products, Arts and Crafts Center, Hand-made

Category

Concessions, Shops, Tourism

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate a place where local hand-made articles are sold

	Source	Description
	Ecuador	Side view of decorated pottery and poncho
	Peru MST	Side view of decorated pottery and blanket/textile
	GTAAC	Three pieces of pottery with lines as decorative elements
*)	GSR Portugal	Side view of pottery with one handle and decoration
	Bolivia	Side view of pottery with meander decoration
	CNFC	Side view of pottery with two handles
	CNIS	Side view of pottery with decorative elements
	DER	Side view of pottery held by two hands
	Québec	Side view of pottery held by hand
	BTA 1989	Side view of pottery
*)	UKDT 2002	Side view of pottery
	BS 8501:2002	Side view of pottery
	Fiori R	Parallel projection of pottery
	SADC	Mask and pottery with decoration
	Ecuador	Side view of decorated bag and other object
	Bolivia	Textile with decoration
	SADC	Color palette and pottery with brushes
	Galicia	Parallel projection of wooden shoes
*)	Neves	Parallel projection of wooden shoes
	EJP	Regular arrangement of triplets of bars, each rotated by 90°
	EJP	Circles and polygons indicating a flower arrangement (Ikebana)
	Québec	Side view of spinning wheel
	Nova Scotia	Side view of spinning wheel
	BS 8501:2002	Side view of spinning wheel
*)	UKDT 2002	Side view of anvil
	BTA 1989	Side view of anvil
	BS 8501:2002	Side view of hammer and anvil
	Ecuador	Side view of sitting human figure, pottery with decoration
	Ecuador	Side view of human figure standing at table with objects, tools above

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The collection shown above is only a small selection of the wide variety of graphic symbols used all over the world for messages related to the production and sale of local hand-made articles. As such products usually have specific local characteristicts, the pictograms used also reflect this diversity.

In our research we discovered that test data available is very limited:

When Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol labeled Fiori R in the table above on basis of a Comprehension Test, 44.1 % of the respondents answered correctly and 33.7 % did not respond at all. Responses varied significantly and results indicate that this variant is not understood well enough. Some examples of wrong answers: Laboratory, Chemical Industry, Pharmacy, and Wine. Especially the laboratory related answers indicate that the shape of this piece of pottery is not selected well to differentiate from typical laboratory flasks.

Neves (2012) examined five pictograms regarding the message complex Artesanato / Centro de artesanato / Artigos Típicos (Handicrafts / Crafts Center / Typical Regional Products), four of them shown in the table above and marked as *), on basis of the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure. The Portuguese pictogram (labeled GSR Portugal) reached a mean value of 66.2, while the other variants were judged as less comprehensible with values between 10 and 36. Especially the pictogram showing decorated wooden shoes, labeled as Neves above, was considered as incomprehensable.

No information is available about the comprehensibility of any other pictogram variants and possible misinterpretations.

Recommendations

As hand-made articles and typical regional products usually have specific local characteristicts and also differ by the type of craft involved, from food to pottery and textiles as examples, no recommendations can be made for a specific graphical symbol. But as the results from the paper of Fiori (2008) illustrate, care has to be taken to avoid similarities with products or utensils from other sources. One possible option - that is not available in quite a few cases - would be adding typical local decoration as shown in some of the examples above. Anyway, pictogram designs should be examined using a Comprehension Test to see if the solution found successfully represents the intended message.

Tests of pictograms of referent Local Handicrafts

Fiori, S. R. (2008): Mapas para o turismo e a interatividade - proposta teórica e prática. Tese de Doutorado - Depto. de Geografia, FFLCH-USP.

Neves, J. (2012): Sistema de signos para informação turística: Metodologia para o desenvolvimento de sistemas sinaléticos. Tese de Doutorado - Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Arquitetura.