Solarium

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Tan Bed, Tanning Bed, Tanning Studio, Tanning Salon

Category

Services, Concessions, Commercial Facilities, Tourism, Recreation

Message / Function

To indicate the location or availability of a solarium

	Source	Description
	Huseynov	View of tan bed with person tanning, rays indicated by radial lines
	PngItem	View of tan bed with person tanning, rays indicated by vertical lines
	bubaone	View of open tan bed, sun with rays behind
	Freepik	Side view of human figure lying in open tan bed
3)	Unknown	Side view of human figure lying in tan bed
1)	ÖNORM A 3011	Side view of human figure lying, solid bar and dashed lines indicating light source above
2)	ON Testdesign	Side view of human figure lying, three ovals with dashed lines indicating light source above
	Erco	Side view of human figure lying, three ovals indicating light source above
	Olimpia	Side view of human figure lying on stretcher, filled circle with rays above
4)	ON Testdesign	Circle in outline with rays, inverted “V” shape above
	BBB	Circle in outline with rays, framed by bold outline rectangle

Discussion

The range of pictograms shown in the table above gives a good hint of the diversity of variants and image contents available to indicate the location or availability of a solarium. While several renderings focus on showing some kind of tan bed with person tanning, others just display a side view of human figure lying and some kind of object indicating a light source above. Lines implying rays of light seem to be significant elements. A few symbols simply depict the sun in combination with an additional element. No single visual stereotype can be identified.

Only a limited range of image contents is covered by data from tests:

Brugger (1992 a) inspected four pictogram variants for the message Solarium using an Appropriateness Ranking Test. The four pictograms tested are labeled 1) to 4) following the ranking order based on the test results.

In a follow-up Comprehension Tests available for the variants marked 1) to 4) (Brugger, 1992 b) the ÖNORM A 3011 pictogram reached 78.7 % correct responses. Variants 2) and 3) elicited far less correct responses and variant 4) reached 6.0 % answers in this category.

A detailed look at the wrong answers reveals confusions with 'Surgery' and 'Operating room' for the testdesign labeled 2). Variant 3) elicited responses like 'Sleeping car', 'Couchette', 'Relaxation room', etc. The abstract version close to the bottom of the table received many 'Don't know' answers, and also wrong responses related to solar energy.

Recommendations

ÖNORM Symbol No 131 Solarium

Based on the test results known and regarding further considerations, we recommend the use of pictogram No 131 of the Austrian Standard ÖNORM A 3011 part 8 to indicate the location or availability of a solarium, as it does not represent a specific type of tan bed and is still understood well enough.

Tests of pictograms of referent Solarium

Brugger, Ch. (1992 a): Reihungstest 1992. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) FNA 133 dated August 1992, Vienna.

Brugger, Ch. (1992 b): Verständnistest 1992. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated October 1992, Vienna.