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Facts and data on pictograms Literature

Tennis

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Tennis Court

Category

Sports, Ball Sports, Sporting Activities, Activities, Recreation, Tourism, Concessions

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of facilities for playing tennis

 

Source Description
ÖNORM A 3011 Public Information Symbol No 104: Tennis 1) ÖNORM A 3011 Front view of human figure with racket and ball, in front: horizontal double-line indicating net
Austrian Testdesign: Tennis 2) ON Testdesign Back view of human figure with racket and ball plus two horizontal lines indicating net
BS 8501 Public Information Symbol No 9062: Tennis BS 8501:2002 View of human figure with racket and ball plus horizontal line indicating net
Summer Olympics Tokyo 2021: Pictogram Tennis O'21 Front view of human figure with racket and ball
Modley & Myers page 113, SSRS: Pictogram Tennis SSRS Front view of human figure with racket and ball
NPS Symbol: Recreation (Land): Tennis U.S. National
Park Service
Human figure with racket and ball
Aicher & Krampen page 135: Pictogram Tennis Aicher &
Krampen
View of human figure with racket and ball
Abdullah & Hübner page 83, Summer Olympics Atlanta 1996: Pictogram Tennis O'96 Human figure with racket
Aicher & Krampen page 133: Tennis Aicher &
Krampen
Human figure with racket
Eco-Mo Foundation Pictogram D05: Tennis court Eco-Mo
Foundation
Human figure with racket
Pierce, T. (1996): The International Pictograms Standard, page 163: Tennis/Tenis Pierce Human figure with racket
Modley & Myers page 130, Nova Scotia: Pictogram Tennis Nova Scotia Human figure with racket
Hora page 92: Parks Canada Pictogram Tennis PC Upper part of human figure with racket and ball
Pictogram: Tennis from an unknown source 3) Unknown Racket with lines indicating stringing plus tennis ball
Abdullah & Hübner page 70, Summer Olympics Mexico 1968, Pictogram Tennis O'68 Racket plus tennis ball
Pictogram: Tennis from an unknown source Unknown Racket and ball
BTA 1989 Page 3.22: Tennis BTA 1989 Racket plus ball in outline
Abdullah & Hübner page 149, Pacific Bell: Tennis Pacific Bell Racket and ball
Pictogram: Tennis from an unknown source Unknown Racket with lines indicating stringing
Pictogram: Tennis by McLaren & Braunstein McLaren & Braunstein Ball with curved line typical for tennis balls
Pictogram: Tennis from an unknown source Unknown Ball with S-shaped line
Summer Olympics Paris 2024: Pictogram Tennis O'24 Four rackets arranged diagonally, four tennis balls, one at each edge

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

Discussion

The examples shown above are only a small selection from the wide range of pictograms and symbols for Tennis that can be found in publications and guiding systems worldwide.

Test data for referent Tennis is available from several studies:

An examination of several sets of variants in Appropriateness Ranking Tests conducted in Austria (Gehringer, 1976 and Brugger, 1984) and Sweden (Gärling, 1985) showed inconsistent results except for the top positions. Presenting just a ball or a racket seems to be not enough.

In the following ISO Comprehension Test series, conducted in Australia, Austria, Hungary, Japan, and the United Kingdom (Brugger 1987), the design marked with 1) in the table above performed very well with about 90 % correct responses. The variant marked with 2) reached lower scores especially in the United Kingdom and Australia, probably because of confusions with Squash. Applying lenient scoring the pictogram showing a racket with lines indicating stringing plus tennis ball marked with 3) performed just as well with 93 % correct responses.

In a later Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation reached a comprehension score of 95.9, an excellent value (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001). Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol similar to the pictogram labeled Aicher & Krampen, where 83.5 % of the responses were classified as correct.

Recommendations

Tennis

The results mentioned indicate that probably many of the pictograms in the table above will be understood well enough to pass ISO and ANSI requirements in many countries. To guarantee best comprehension, avoiding confusions with other sports in which players use a racket, like Badminton and Squash, should be a prime focus.

Therefore we recommend the use of a pictogram similar to public information symbol No 104 of ÖNORM A 3011 part 5 to signify Tennis, as this symbol proved to ensure a clear differentiation from Badminton and Squash.

Tests of pictograms of referent Tennis

Brugger, Ch. (1984): Reihungstest 1984. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 1984-10-15, Vienna.

Brugger, Ch. (1987): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols, ISO 1986 Test Series: Compre­hension/Recog­nition Test. WIEN: ISO/TC 145/SC 1.

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.

Gärling, T. (1985): ISO Appropriateness Ranking Test 1985 - Redovisning av genomförande. Report to the Swedish Standards Institute dated 1985-07-24.

Gehringer, J. (1976): Reihungstest über 18 Begriffe aus dem Sportwesen - Priorität I. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated January 1976, Vienna.

See also

Squash, Badminton, Table Tennis

 

Updated 2024-06-10 by Ch.Brugger