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Facts and data on pictograms Literature

Restaurant

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Eating Place, Food Service, Food, Local Cuisine, Gastronomy

Category

Services, Concessions, Commercial Facilities, Travel, Tourism

Message / Function

To indicate the location of restaurant facilities

 

Source Description
Modley page 80: Restaurant (D/FW) D/FW Plan view of fork, knife, and spoon in line with each other
AIGA Symbol Sign No 28: Restaurant AIGA Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other
Eco-Mo Foundation Pictogram C01: Restaurant Eco-Mo
Foundation
Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other
ISO 7001 Public Information Symbol PI CF 001 - Restaurant ISO 7001 Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other
DB No 07_003: Pictogram Restaurant DB 2017 Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other, placed on the left
Experience Japan Pictograms: Restaurant (RESUTORAN) EJP Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other
Pictogram AL001 Restaurants (Restaurantes) from Bolivia Bolivia Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other
Hodson page 230, Museu Blau: Pictogram Restaurant by Massana, Martin & Huaman, 2011 Museu Blau Plan view of fork and spoon in line with each other
Korean Pictogram for Restaurant KSA Plan view of spoon and chopsticks in line with each other
UIC 413 pictogram: Restaurant UIC 413 b Plan view of crossed knife and fork
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 07 03: Restaurant Icograda Plan view of crossed knife and fork
BTA 1989 page 3.19: Pictogram Restaurant, Eating Place BTA 1989 Plan view of crossed knife and fork
RAC Pictogram: Restaurant RAC Plan view of crossed knife (blade in outline) and fork
Pictogram Restaurant from ÖBB, found in Railjet 2023 RJ 2023 Plan view of crossed knife (blade in outline) and fork
Tern TS0570 Restaurant. AT. Tern Crossed knife (blade in outline) and fork
Tern TS2460: Restaurant Tern Plan view of crossed spoon and fork
Traffic Sign from Brazil: SVA-12 Restaurant (Restaurante) DER Plan view of crossed spoon and fork
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 05 14: Restaurant Icograda Plan view of knife and spoon in line with each other on the right hand of a plate segment
Summer Olympics Munich 1972 Pictogram: Restaurant O'72 Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other on the right hand of a plate segment
Pictogram EF004 Local Cuisine (Gastronomía Local) from Bolivia Bolivia Plan view of fork, plate, and knife
Pictogram: Restaurant by ineltec ineltec Plan view of fork, plate, and knife
Pictogram Restaurant from the Universal and International Exhibition Montreal (Expo 67) Expo 67 Plan view of fork, plate, and knife
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 08 01: Restaurant Icograda Plan view of fork, plate with fried egg, and knife
Modley page 86, Las Vegas Airport (LVA): Pictogram Restaurant LVA Plan view of fork, plate, knife, and spoon in line with each other
Modley page 116: Pictogram Restaurant (S/TA) S/TA Plan view of fork, knife, and spoon in line with each other within circle
Summer Olympics Tokyo 1964: Pictogram Restaurant O'64 Plan view of fork and knife in line with each other within circle
Abdullah & Hübner page 135, Düsseldorf Airport: Pictogram Restaurant Düsseldorf
Airport
Plan view of fork, knife, and side view of glass in line with each other
Pictogram Restaurant found in Santa Lucia Rail Station, Venice, Italy S.Lucia Plan view of fork, knife, and side view of glass in line with each other
Pictogram Restaurant from an unknown source Unknown Plan view of fork and knife, cup below
Hora page 69: Canadian Road Sign: Food by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) TAC Plan view of fork and knife, side view of cup inbetween
Pictogram Restaurant for Baden-Baden by Studio E + U Hiestand, Zurich Baden-Baden Plan view of crossed fork and knife, chef's hood above
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 05 11: Restaurant Icograda Dishes with wavy lines above to indicate heat
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 12 08: Restaurant Icograda Human figure (waiter) with serviette, carrying tray with dish with wavy lines above to indicate heat
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 06 01: Restaurant Icograda Human figure (waiter) carrying tray with dishes, one wavy lines above to indicate heat
Icograda Student Project Entry No 16 16 02: Restaurant Icograda Human figure (waitress) dish with cover
Pictogram Restaurant from Hungary 1979 Hungary 1979 Opening with human figure (waiter) with serviette, carrying tray with glass
BTA 1989 Page 9.02: Table Service Restaurant BTA 1989 Table with tablecloth, menu, bottle, and glass
Pictogram AT-FL 03 Gastronomy (Gastronomía) from Peru Peru 2016 Pot with handles, tilted cover, spoon

Discussion

The examples shown above are only a small selection from the wide range of pictograms and symbols for Restaurant that can be found in publications and guiding systems worldwide. We left out the many variations of cutlery available and included just a few, especially if they were presented in the tests mentioned below.

Several studies present research covering numerous pictogram variants for this referent. These papers offer useful information:

Gehringer (1979) used the Production Method to explore which mental images or visual stereotypes exist concerning the message 'Restaurant'. The results were even more heterogeneous than the selection shown above with one concept dominating: fork, knife, spoon, and plate were drawn by 60 % of the respondents. The other images were: food and drinks (18 %), a house with table and food (7 %), and crossed cutlery inside a house (7 %). 8 % of the respondents produced either nothing or images that could not be used to derive any hints or ideas.

Results from a Comprehension Test conducted in countries on several continents (Easterby & Graydon, 1981 b) indicate that most representations shown above should be well understood. This is for example confirmed by the results of a Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation proved to be extraordinarily well comprehensible with a comprehension score of 98.6 (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001), and from a study from Brazil, where 96 % of the answers could be classified as correct for a pictogram showing a crossed knife and fork similar to the corresponding Icograda variant above (Fiori, 2008).

In a Matching Test with a set of 29 symbols (Zwaga & Boersema, 1983) the variant from the Dutch Railways, an older version of the UIC variant shown above, reached 55 % correct responses only. Symmetrical confusions of the two referents Restaurant and Buffet happened quite frequently as there is a significant semantic overlap between the messages Restaurant and Buffet /Cafe.

Notwithstanding the wide use of the crossed knife and fork in many countries and the excellent comprehension scores in the tests mentioned, it should be regarded that the X shape also might have some negative connotation as two crossed bars like an X are also used to indicate negations. On the other hand, the crossed cutlery may create an entity and fills space better than cutlery in line with each other.

Recommendation

PI CF 001 from ISO 7001

We recommend the use of a simple pictogram variant with either fork and knife like referent PI CF 001 from ISO 7001 or the AIGA variant shown in the table above, or spoon and fork in line with each other.

Tests of pictograms of referent Restaurant

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.

Gehringer, J. (1979): Untersuchung über die zeichnerische Gestaltung von Pictogrammen in Abhängigkeit von einigen Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, sowie Überprüfung einiger Bildzeichen auf ihre Erkennbarkeit. Dissertation, Psychology Department, University of Vienna.

Zwaga, H.J. & Boersema, T. (1983): Evaluation of a set of graphic symbols. Applied Ergonomics, 14, 1, 43-54.

See also

Bar, Café, Coffee Shop, Refreshments, Ice Cream
Beergarden, Viticulture, Wine Tasting

 

Updated 2024-10-08 by Ch.Brugger