The Risks and Rewards of Localizing Pictograms

One of the major functions of pictograms is the ability to convey important information to a universal audience, such as those with different language backgrounds and reading abilities (Mollerup 106).

‍Wayshowing > Wayfinding by Per Mollerup describes how pictograms function and how they may fail to achieve their purpose. Chapter 3 of The Wayfinding Handbook also emphasizes the effectiveness of pictograms in diverse settings, such as a large hospital in the United States (Gibson 97). While pictograms are meant to be universal graphic symbols that meet conventions, culturally specific pictograms can potentially confuse readers and “what should be a solution becomes a new problem” (Mollerup 109). On the other hand, I can see how culturally localized pictograms can enhance the wayfinding experience of the majority while potentially leaving the linguistic minority confused, which I will explore in this essay.

On the title page of Section 3.4 in The Wayfinding Handbook, a certain image stood out to me, which displayed a pictogram on a sign with what I believed to be traditional Chinese characters depicting the function of that space (Gibson 96).

In this case, the pictogram was incredibly helpful to my understanding of the sign’s meaning. Even though I could read each character on the sign, I had never encountered this wording before and was not sure what it meant. As it turns out after a Google search of this term, this was likely a sign in Japanese Kanji (which shares the same characters as Chinese). I can empathize with the millions of people in the United States who are not fluent readers of English. For this group of people, pictograms are an absolutely essential aspect of signage that makes everyday wayfinding possible.

This sparked my interest in localized pictogram design that I have seen in China. In large cities like Shanghai, it is absolutely possible to navigate the city with ease without knowing any Chinese– if, of course, you know English. Across the city, malls and metro stations, for example, employ bilingual signage with Simplified Chinese and English text. Even then, pictograms are useful to any non-Chinese speakers, as English signage is not always reliable. Especially outside the major cities, English signs may be composed of literal translations or simply the romanization of Chinese characters.

As the international population continues to grow in these metropolitan centers, I often think about how someone without a good grasp of English or Chinese would navigate the city. One likely answer is the use of pictograms. When universally accepted pictograms are employed, such as those featured in Wayshowing > Wayfinding, navigation becomes more accessible to a much more diverse audience. However, I recently read about the development of localized pictograms. The designs featured in the Official Chinese Icon System were based on the familiar Department of Transportation graphic symbols, but many of them were adapted to the Chinese context.

While some of them may be unfamiliar in our respective cultures, they still effectively communicate their purpose and can be understood by individuals outside of that culture. For example, the visual likeness in the second graphic combined with the universal ‘do not’ sign implies that rickshaws are forbidden in that area. While a yellow sign with a panda would never be found in most countries, it is not a mystery what it means. But there are others that may not be so clear. The cross in the first pictogram suggests a relation to healthcare, but take a guess what the shape to its right means? No, it is not a squid, but a ginseng root, and the sign directs the reader to a Chinese pharmacy (Riechers).

The second pictogram in this series actually uses the Chinese character for ‘alcohol’ to depict its meaning of rice wine. In instances like this, I wonder if this defeats the purpose of a pictogram in the first place? Despite this, I can also understand that pictograms like this serve a purpose– how else would a pictogram be able to differentiate traditional alcohol from Chinese rice wine than for that character? How can we as wayfinding designers strike a balance between making pictograms universally understandable and also relevant to the culture we are designing for?

If we were to disregard the pursuit of conventions and design for style rather than universal function, it might look something like this. This wayfinding system at Tongji University was a 2014 winner of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design Global Design Awards (“Tongji University Signage and Wayfinding”). It was designed by their College of Design & Innovation for a metalworking studio, and the signage design is fascinating to look at. They chose to promote a cultural identity through a combination of functional symbols and Chinese characters.

From a design perspective, I have always been impressed by the digital alteration of Chinese characters into pictograms that express their literal meaning. This set of pictograms clearly involved a lot of creative design work, evidenced by its successful reception by the SEGD, but it ultimately serves a visual aesthetic purpose. From a pictogram perspective, these are not the kinds of symbols that would be seen on the street to quickly guide a diverse crowd through the city. In environments like this where the intended users of this space are not the public and are a linguistically homogeneous group, I think there is nothing wrong with this design choice. I am curious to hear what others think about this topic. Should function always be prioritized over visual aesthetics when developing pictograms for a wayfinding system?

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Sources:

Gibson, David. The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places. Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.

Mollerup, Per. Wayshowing> Wayfinding: Basic and interactive. BIS Publishers, 2013.

Riechers, Angela. “The Simple Genius of the Official Chinese Icon System Is Finally Available For All To See.” Eye on Design. AIGA, December 8, 2017. https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-simple-genius-of-the-official-chinese-icon-system-is-finally-available-for-all-to-see/.

“Tongji University Signage and Wayfinding.” Society for Experiential Graphic Design, February 11, 2015. https://segd.org/tongji-university-signage-and-wayfinding.