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Facts and data on pictograms Literature

Museum

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Gallery, Salon, Exhibition, Art Gallery

Category

Public Facilities, Tourism, Heritage Attractions, Entertainment

Message / Function

To indicate the location of a museum

 

Source Description
Pictogram  Museum by Braunstein & McLaren Braunstein &
McLaren
Building with triangular roof and eye on building wall
Pictogram Museum from Icograda Exhibition Poster Ico Z Outline of building with letter M in the middle
Test design: Museum*) ON Testdesign Outline of building with two round-arched portals
Traffic Sign THC-05 Museum (Museu) from Brazil DER Antique temple like building with four columns and triangular roof
Traffic Sign Museum or Art Gallery (Norway) W-RSN Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
ISO 7001 Public Information Symbol PI PF 054 Museum ISO 7001 Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Experience Japan Pictograms: Museum EJP Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Pictogramas Universales de Madrid, Pictogram Museum (Museo) designed by Avanti, Barcelona Avanti PUM Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Icon Museum (Vienna) from Handbuch wien.gv.at Handbuch wien.gv.at Antique building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Pictogram IV 2: Museum (Museu) from Portugal NST Portugal Antique temple like building with base made of three lines, four columns, triangular roof
Pictogram No Pict-56: Museum (Musée); from Québec Québec Antique temple like building with base made of three lines, four columns, triangular roof
Pictogram Museum by Pannicke & Eschenbach, HTW Berlin Pannicke &
Eschenbach
Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Swedish Symbol PI TK 001 Museum (Symboler - Museum PI TK 001) SIS Antique temple like building with base, three columns, triangular roof
Korean Standards Association, about 2001, Pictogram No 28: Museum KSA Antique temple like building with base, four columns, triangular roof
Page 250: Traffic Sign Museum / Museo (Argentina) Argentina MSV Building with stairs at base, front with four columns, triangular roof
Hora page 332: United Kingdom Department for Transport Map Symbol Museum UKDT Antique building with columns, letter M in the middle
BTA 1989 page 3.16: Pictogram Museum BTA 1989 Antique building with columns, letter M in the middle
BS 8501 Public Information Symbol No 8006: Museum BS 8501:2002 Triangular roof on top of letter M on top of horizontal line
Symbol AT-CF 01 Museum / Museo from Peru Peru Sans serif capital letter M, inverted V above
Hora page 153: CNIS Pictogram Museum CNIS Side view of antique building with columns, object in the middle
Dreyfuss Dreyfuss Inverted V above column with Ionic capital on top of horizontal line
Austrian Test Design: Museum*) ON Testdesign Antique column with Ionic capital
Austrian Test design: Museum*) ON Testdesign Old bulbous pottery with two handles
BTA 1989 Page 3.16: Pictogram Motor Museum BTA 1989 Side view of vintage car
Unknown Source: Pictogram Museum Unknown Letter M, light source with three beams above
ÖNORM A 3011 Public Information Symbol No 82: Museum*) ÖNORM A 3011 Capital letter M with serifs towards the inside
Austrian Test Design: Symbol Museum*) ON Testdesign Capital letter M like a Greek meander segment
Austrian Test Design: Symbol Museum*) ON Testdesign Antique meander segment
Aicher & Krampen page 94: Map Symbol Museum Aicher &
Krampen
Horizontal bar on top of three vertical bars forming letter M
Pictogram PC003 Museum / Museo (Bolivia) Bolivia Building indicated by two horizontal lines above three vertical bars
Sign: Gallery / Museum by Vukovic Vuković Bold capital letter G
Map Symbol Exhibition, Museum (Poland) Krakow Painters palette and two brushes
Hora page 114: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Pictogram Museum Schiphol Human figure in front of old style frame
BS 8501 Public Information Symbol No 8003: Art Gallery BS 8501:2002 Human figures next to perspective view of hanging frames
Unknown Source: Pictogram Museum / Exhibition Unknown Human figure in front of hanging frames
Pictogram Museum / Exhibition UoI Human figure in front of frames
Hora page 153: CNIS Pictogram Art Gallery CNIS Antique building with columns, picture inside

Discussion

The collection shown above is only a small selection of the wide variety of pictograms, symbols and logos used all over the world to indicate the location of a museum or gallery. This set of symbols already indicates that there is no iconic representation available that could be used for all kinds of museums. The graphic symbols used range from representations of buildings, especially numerous antique temple like buildings, individual exhibits, concepts with the letter M to very abstract solutions. Taking a look at logos of museums one will not find a consistant trend except displaying names or abbreviations of institutions.

A number of studies analyzed several aspects regarding this referent:

Kraft (1976) examined twelve variants for Museum using an Appropriateness Ranking Test. Pictograms like the Dreyfuss variant showing antique objects were preferred to all other designs studied, including meander segments and two variants with the letter M.

In the ISO test series of the years 1979/80 a pictogram similar to the pictogram of ISO 7001 was tested as variant for 'Item of cultural interest'. Less than 20 % of the responses were related to 'Museum' (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 b). Twenty years later this pictogram variant reached a comprehension score of 29.9 only in a Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001). This confirms the results found before.

When Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol similar to the version labled DER, only 19.5 % of the responses were classified as correct. A total of 65.2 % of the participants gave wrong answers including Palace, Theatre, Greece, etc. and 15.3 % did not respond at all. These results again illustrate the insufficient associations between the image of a classical temple and the message Museum in general.

In a study by Brugger (1981) the six pictograms labeled *) from the set shown above were tested on appropriateness for representing eight different types of museums. The test designs used were derived from pictograms available from several countries. While representations of objects like the antique column with Ionic capital or the pottery with two handles were seen as appropriate for representing some specific museums, they were rated as completely inappropriate for other types of museums. The most abstract variants were judged least appropriate. The variant showing the capital letter M with serifs towards the inside reached the most homogeneous ratings of all variants tested, but still did not reach very positive results.

Recommendation

ÖNORM A 3011 Pictogram No. 82

There is no way around learning a symbol for Museum, as there is no iconic representation available that could be used for all kinds of museums and possible solutions will fail in any test of comprehensibility. Therefore - and also as the equivalent of 'Museum' starts with an M in many widely used languages - we recommend the use of pictogram No 82 of ÖNORM A 3011 part 4, a rather neutral variant that can be used for all types of museums.

Tests of pictograms for the referent Museum

Brugger, Ch. (1981): Die Bedeutungsumfelder verschiedener graphischer Symbole zum Begriff Museum. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute dated October 1981, Vienna.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 a): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO Test: 1979/80 Series. Part I: Appropriateness Ranking Tests. AP Report 99, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Easterby, R.S. & Graydon, I.R. (1981 b): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols: ISO 1979/80 Test Series. Part II: Comprehension/Recognition Tests. AP Report 100, Applied Psychology Department, University of Aston in Birmingham, January 1981.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

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

Kraft, E. (1976): Ranking-Test. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 09/76, Vienna.

See also

Palace, Castle, Library, Theater

 

Updated 2024-11-14 by Ch.Brugger