Synonyms / Other Terms Used
Zoological Garden
Category
Public Facilities, Tourism, Heritage Attractions, Natural Attractions, Entertainment
Message / Function
To indicate the location of a public zoo
Source | Description | |
---|---|---|
Düsseldorf Airport |
Silhouette of the upper part of a giraffe, fence below, word ZOO on the left | |
SVI | Side view of zebra in front of silhouette of a giraffe | |
Québec | Clipped view of bear and giraffe | |
CNIS | Side views of monkey and deer | |
SWISSTRAFFIC | Side view of deer, fence | |
GSR Portugal | Side view of elephant | |
UKDT | Side view of elephant | |
DER | Side view of elephant | |
ISO 7001 | Silhouette of an elephant | |
BTA 1989 | Silhouette of an elephant | |
WTO-Iraq | Side view of bear | |
WTO-Argentina | Side view of lion | |
Lance Wyman | Head of eagle and chick | |
EJP | Footprint of animal |
Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.
Discussion
The set of symbols above already indicates that no single visual stereotype exists concerning the message Zoo or Zoological Garden. Designs range from all kinds of renderings of elephants, concepts with the additional text ZOO, to solutions showing footprints of animals.
In our research we noticed that there is only very limited test data available:
When Fiori (2008) examined a map symbol almost identical with the version labled DER in the table above, 64.3 % of the responses were classified as correct. 9.7 % of the participants answered with Elephant. Wrong answers registered were among others: Circus, Wild Animal, and Safari.
Neves (2012) examined three pictograms - all showing side views or silhouettes of elephants with varying degree of detail - on basis of the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure, where the best variant reached a mean value of 83.8 and the others 75.6 and 73.4, indicating this image content might be comprehensible enough.
In some countries (e.g. South Africa) pictograms displaying a single animal like an elephant, lion, or a rhinoceros are used to indicate the location of a park for this kind of animals: Elephant Park, Lion Park, and so on. Thefeore it might be unwise to show just one single species.
Recommendations
We suggest to develop additional pictogram variants, including designs showing more than one species like the Chinese variant (CNIS), the pictogram used in Québec, and the traffic sign from Italy (SVI). Then studies comparing several or all concepts should be conducted. The study design should also include a Comprehension Test to identify possible misinterpretations. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories must be supplied for each pictogram variant tested to correctly judge comprehensibility and improve designs, if necessary. On such a basis a clear decision concerning a specific recommendation can be reached.
Tests of pictograms of referent Zoo
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.
See also
Aquarium, NatureReserve, Park
No Animals
Updated 2024-11-26 by Ch.Brugger