Welcome to this site

This site is a noncommercial project with more examples of public information symbols from sources all over the world as well as corresponding literature on pictograms added day by day.

Why do we publish this website on pictograms?

Only few experts worldwide have an exact view of the multitude of tests and studies that have been published since research on pictograms began.

A glance at the references or sources of various larger projects concerning pictograms shows, that many people active in this field do not know some of the most important documents and miss relevant information:

• Again and again we had to notice that the work of ISO / TC 145 / SC 1 - the international committee concerned with standardization of public information symbols - has been neglected even in major design projects. The staff members responsible were not familiar with the facts, that such a committee exists and scientific research has been done by this committee in the last 40 years on almost all continents.
• Similar deficiencies can be spotted when examining legislation: For example a quite important piece of European legislation, the European Safety Signs Directive (Directive 92/58/EEC from June 24, 1992) recommends the use of a set of safety signs that is far away from perfect and has been selected without any scientific background. At the time the Council Directive 92/58/EEC was published, international research on this subject was already available.

This website was set up to help prevent similar mistakes in future projects and legislation. Existing solutions and - as far as available - a scientific background are presented here for each and everybody interested.

As this project is noncommercial, available resources are quite limited. Concepts and test results presented are just examples. But documents mentioned and contact information presented should be an aid.

Ch. Brugger

 

PS: 

We are always interested in new studies on pictograms. So if you know papers not mentioned, we would be happy to receive additional information we could use on this website.

If you have any questions or information for us, please contact us at our email:

pictograms.info@gmail.com