DOT pictograms


The DOT pictograms are a set of fifty pictograms used to convey information useful to travelers without using words. Such images are useful in airports, train stations, hotels, and other public places for foreign tourists, as well as being easier to identify than strings of text. Among these pictograms are the now-familiar graphics representing toilets and telephones. As a result of this near-universal acceptance, some describe them as the "Helvetica" of pictograms, and the character portrayed within them as Helvetica Man.
As works of the United States government, the images are in the public domain and thus can be used by anyone for any purpose, without licensing issues.

History

In 1974, the United States Department of Transportation recognized the shortcomings of pictograms drawn on an ad hoc basis across the United States Interstate Highway System and commissioned the American Institute of Graphic Arts to produce a comprehensive set of pictograms. In collaboration with Roger Cook and Don Shanosky of Cook and Shanosky Associates, the designers conducted an exhaustive survey of pictograms already in use around the world, which drew from sources as diverse as Tokyo International Airport and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The designers rated these pictograms based on criteria such as their legibility, their international recognizability and their resistance to vandalism. After determining which features were the most successful and appropriate, the designers drew a set of pictograms to represent 34 meanings requested by the DOT.
In 1979, 16 symbols were added, bringing the total to 50.

Development of symbols

Initial groundwork

Symbols were collected from a variety of sources, including railways, Olympic events, airports and government agencies to form a catalog of each type of symbol to be created for close examination. A key goal was to avoid starting from scratch when possible, and instead build off previous development of robust symbol designs in existing systems.

Evaluation

The first overall step was to identify the symbols that were to be developed for the project, these were referred to as 'message areas'. The Department of Transportation's Office of Facilitation and AIGA committee devised the initial list of 34 messages. These messages were broken into four broad categories: 'Public Services', facility services and modes of transport ; 'Concessions', commercial activities ; 'Processing Activities', passenger related processes ; 'Regulations',.
Symbols that conveyed the messages sought by the committee from the 24 sources were broken into 'concept groups', a simple grouping of symbols that used similar general designs to convey the message. For example 'Telephone' symbols were divided into 4 concept groups: 'Telephone handset', 'Telephone dial', 'Front view of dial telephone' and 'Handset and dial'.

Scoring

Symbols were assessed on three characteristics: Semantic, syntactic, pragmatic.
Scores for these three categories were awarded by each committee member on a scale of 1 to 5. In addition to the individual score of each symbol, 'concept groups' were given a overall score based on how well the concept met the three categories.

Recommendations

Finally they made recommendations and observations based off their scores and discussions about the symbols they reviewed. For the 'Telephone' symbol, the handset icon was common but an odd shape that could be confusable for other items, like wrenches; while symbols with dials were easy to understand, but already obsolete with the increased use of Push-button telephone.
The recommendations were summarized to suggest the final course of action to be taken with designing a symbol for the concept. For 'Telephone' the decision was made to "Modify Group 1 concept; experiment with front view of modern telephone."

Symbols

Original Set (1974)

The original set of symbols developed consisted of 34 symbols, primarily intended for transportation facilities. First Aid, No Smoking, No Parking and No Entry used "Ostwald number 6 1/2 pa" for the color red.

1979 Additions

In 1979, the Department of Transportation requested 16 additional symbols, to fill in gaps observed in the original set. First Aid, No Smoking, No Parking, No Dogs, and No Entry used Pantone Red 032 C and Exit used Pantone Green 340 C.

2000s

An unofficial change has been forced to the original symbols following increased efforts by the American Red Cross to discourage and eliminate usage of the 'red cross' symbol as a generic symbol of first aid or medical services. For example, in 1999 the Red Cross informed Ultimate Symbol, publishers of a book that catalogs sign and icon collections, including the AIGA's DOT pictograms, that the Red Cross symbol in the 1996 edition was a violation of the Geneva Convention and United States trademark laws, and asked for its removal from future editions, including in the AIGA DOT pictogram set. It was replaced in the 2nd printing of Official Signs & Icons with Greek cross colored 'Safety Green' from ANSI Z535.1-2002. The adoption of a green Greek cross or white Greek cross on a green background is a common replacement, due to the visual similarity and wide usage, as the white cross on green background is used in ISO 7010 to represent first aid.