Can You Read This? Part 1

tabitha briar

C a N YOU r E a D th IS?

Y e

a d e A r A

CAN YOU READ THIS?

SECTION ONE

Pages six to nineteen

Chapter 1

1. PICTOGRAMS

Pages twenty to thirty three

Chapter 2

2. ICONS

Pages thirty four to forty eight

Chapter 3

3. LOGOS

SECTION TWO

Pages forty nine to sixty one

Chapter 1

Cave Drawings

Pages sixty two to seventy five

Chapter 2

Hierolgyphs

Pages seventy six to eighty nine

Chapter 3

Early Art

Pages ninety to one hundred and three

Present Day

Pages one hundred and four to one hundred and seven

Summary

CAN YOU READ THIS?

PICT OGRAMS

ONE

Pictograms: What is a pictogram?

/ According to PixArt Printing and Design Week

Apictogram is a drawing that by convention is taken to signify something. In terms of semiotics, a pictogram is an illustrated representation; an iconographic sign that represents complex ideas, not through words or sounds, but using visual containers of meaning.

Where did pictograms come from?

What are their ancestors?

And how have they evolved over time?

We take a journey through the centuries to bring you pictorial signs in their various guises over the years right up to modern pictograms in use today. If we had to point to an ancestor of pictograms, it would be so-called pictorial signs, which are just graphical expressions applied to two-dimensional media.

The only existing language today that is derived directly from pictorial signs is Chinese. The first Chinese inscriptions date all the way back to 1200 BC, and are the famous oracle bones, which featured symbols that were precursors to the characters still used today.

Source: Quora.com

Ancient Chinese symbols, the only existing language that comes from pictograms, dating to 1200 BC. The symbols used to be transcribed on to bones with intricate detail.

Source: Google

Pictograms and Symbols

Pictorial signs have changed significantly over the course of history. The oldest date to around 30,000 BC and take the form of wall paintings inside a cave near Montignac, France (the Lascaux Cave). We still don’t know why these 6,000 images (including animals, human figures and abstract signs) were painted, but we do know that they weren’t used to communicate a specific message.

Other important examples are Egyptian hieroglyphics, the cuneiform writing system of Mesopotamia and Mayan glyphs, which all date from the same period. These were languages in their own right that used a system of pictorial signs.

Thanks to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 (which carried the same inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic and ancient Greek), it was possible to decipher hieroglyphics for the first time and understand that they represented the sounds of a language that was once spoken.

/ Colin Salter

In the 12th century, a new type of pictorial sign emerged, one which survives today among the noblest families: the coat of arms. This was emblazoned on the helmet and armour of knights during the middle ages, and then evolved into family crests.

The rise of heraldry, following the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066, presents the earliest examples of “deliberate design”, says Salter.

The book notes that, within a century of the Conquest, the use of coats of arms had become “formalised and widespread”.

Heraldic symbols were primarily adopted by those who had been in warfare at a high level, as a form of identification, but were later adopted by families of high social status.

Crests were made up of several elements – a central shield, the mantling, the helm, the wreath, a motto and sometimes a crest – and the design involved choosing placement of them, as well as the colours and type style of the motto.

Heraldic Crest

When Anubis howls through The black candles of Ancestral photographs

There is a strange angel

Breathing in the infrared Light of oak leaves

King of carrion, the apparition Devours every Palatine lion Stronger than Death, The cruel seraph leaves A suicide love note

Filled with purple Barbiturate acorns

My black goat friend I call on when Pearl-laden spells Blow out of no twilight

The jovial cinnamon of life

Goes up in sacrificial smoke

The dark angel leaves Sophisticated pictograms On my skin

My black god negotiates Every bout of stabbing pain

In my womb with the splendid Golden yellow of St John’s wort Till I’m shattered into the divine White brilliance of A thousand deaths

His Saturnine tranquility

Interrogates the midnight Deeps of space and beyond The mountain ash bows To Bellona’s severed head

The six rayed star is within me / 2022

“ t ai N t E D b l OOD ” / bY Dia N a t h O r ESEN

To sum up the chapter, pictograms exist everywhere- crests, hieroglyphs, illustrated languages.

Poems and stories have been written throughout time to capture the essence of language through images.

Symbols have many shapes and forms explored in the following chapters and pages.

CAN YOU READ THIS?

-ICONSHey Google, what is an icon?

[COMPUTING]:

A symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option, or window.

Google also states that an icon can be a holy figure, ‘a devotional painting of Christ’ or ‘a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration’.

The original and other still used definition of icon is a person or thing widely admired, especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere. Icon was derived from the Greek eiken or eikenai, which means “to seem or to be like.” Often the context was religious paintings from the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In today’s modern context, an icon is an image on the computer screen that represents an application, a capability, or some other concept or specific entity with meaning for the user. For example, on a computer with an operating system from

Microsoft or Apple, the icon for the recycle bin -- or where files go when they are deleted -- is represented by the image of a small trash bin.

On a webpage, an icon represents the topic or information category of another webpage.

Why are icons used?

As graphic symbols, computer icons help users quickly and easily identify what they need or want.

The use of icons also provides a more appealing visual representation, which makes them more enjoyable to use than traditional text-based links.

However, as you’ve probably noted by now, icons also have a number of other applications.

Other applications for icons...

In this section, we’ll cover a few other examples of icon use cases. Pictograms.

As a pictogram, an icon is a graphical representation of an object, place or idea.

Mosaics.

In a mosaic, an icon is a small picture or symbol that represents a larger image.

Semiotics.

In semiotics, an icon is a sign that represents an object, place or idea. Of course, icon can also refer to people who represent a specific group of people or a time period.

Cultural icons are people who are seen as symbols of a certain culture. Examples of cultural icons include Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jordan.

Fashion icons are people whose style is copied by others. Examples of fashion icons include Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana.

Religious icons are people or objects venerated by a religious group. Examples of religious icons include the Virgin Mary, the Dalai Lama and Jesus of Nazareth.

The architectural iconography of sacred buildings and places of worship is a field of its own. The place of worship, insofar as it is understood as the image of the universe and its centre, must be architecturally patterned according to a specific design of the universe. The place of worship may be considered to be the navel of the world—e.g., the omphalos, a round stone in the temple at Delphi (in Greece), the holy stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, or the rock in the temple area of the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem. A holy place usually is built around these holy points.

The cross-shaped ground plan of the Christian transept church is sometimes interpreted as an architectural portrayal of the crucified Christ, the apse with its altar representing Christ’s head.

The bell tower, or campanile, is characteristic of Christian churches and is popularly interpreted as the finger of God. Ancient Christian basilicas (large, roofed buildings, generally with aisles) were viewed as images of the heavenly Jerusalem. The pictorial aspect of the place of worship extends not only to the building in the entirety of its architectural form but also to the painted, sculptured, and mosaic artwork that decorates it.

Pictures are the main subject matter of iconography, which also includes free-standing sculptured forms and reliefs.

Free-standing figures or statues are important in ritual as well as in partly serving magical purposes, which cannot always be separated from religious ritual. Such figures, which later became objects of personal devotion and meditation, include representations of the gods and demons in various prehistoric religions and of Buddha, Christ, and the various Buddhist and Christian saints. Generally, Judaism, Islam, and ancient Shint have rejected any representation of the divine.

/ ALBERT EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein also quotes:

“ Imagination encircles the world.” “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. ”

Images are all around us, and icons are a pictorial way to understand universally a single object, idea or person, without overcomplicating things. An icon is something that will remain throughout time, it may evolve but it will not disappear.

Seeing comes before words-

The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.

But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight.

Passage from ‘Ways of Seeing’ by John Berger, 1970.

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The First Recycling Logo

-LOGOS-

The history of logos goes back to ancient family crests, hieroglyphs and symbolism. Early versions of logos developed in the Middle Ages (around 1300 AD), as shops and pubs used signage to represent what they did. The first modern logo designs were created in the early 1900s, evolving alongside mass printing.

The word ‘logo,’ which is short for ‘logotype,’ comes from Ancient Greek—lógos meaning ‘word, speech’ and túpos meaning ‘mark, imprint.’

Between 2125 and 1991 BC, grids appeared in Egyptian designs. This development is essential to logo design, because it ensures that artists effectively maintain proportions and ratios—and guarantees a uniform reproduction of the same design.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, which caused the production of printed materials to become far more common, setting the stage for modern logo design as authors and printers of materials sought to claim ownership of their work.

By the late 15th century, various printers were using logos to identify their works.

Frank Mason Robinson designed the Coca-Cola logo in 1885, starting the modern era of logo design. Just as thirsty commuters today look for a Starbucks logo, around the turn of the century, people coming to and from work or just out on the town could look for a Coca-Cola logo and stop for a drink. Coca-Cola’s logo remains among the most recognized brands in the world.

Whether it was one iconic image or a larger trend, the 1950s marked a paradigm shift in thought surrounding logos. As companies realized how impactful symbols could be, people began to move away from simply creating utilitarian logos for identification purposes, and began to put a great deal of thought into intentionally branding their businesses.

The original recycling symbol was designed in 1970 by Gary Anderson, a senior at the University of Southern California as a submission to the International Design Conference as part of a nationwide contest for high school and college students sponsored by the Container Corporation of America. The contest was a result of continuing growth of consumer awareness and environmentalism and a response to the first Earth Day.

The symbol represents a Mobius loop consisting of three-chasing-arrows in the shape of a triangle having round vertices. Each arrow twists and turns itself, and all three arrows chase each other. The symbol is a consummate representation of recycling.

Color psychology also first emerged in the 1800s with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Theory of Colors,” in which red was described as conveying an impression of gravity and dignity.

Logos are one of the most powerful marketing tools businesses have at their disposal, reflecting the values and principles they advocate. Today, much like in the days of Ancient Egypt, Greece and industrial Britain, your logo acts like a signature, not only used for claiming ownership but protecting against forgeries and imitations.

Screen printing became available in 1907, making it possible to print logos onto various surfaces, such as T-shirts and tote bags, although the technology didn’t make it into the mainstream for another 40 years.

The Chase logo, which was crafted in 1960 by Chermayeff & Geismar, paved the way for modern logo design. The successful logos we have today predominantly

consist of simple and easily recognizable logo marks that are effective in remaining consistent with their corresponding brands.

Logos play importance in representing a brand instantly and effectively to improve the brand appearance.

It is interesting to note the development in logos overtime - from illustrative calligraphy to more refined graphically striking logos of the modern day- all thanks to the ancient designs that shaped the world of marketing.

-TRADEMARKS-

To help traders and merchants in Europe show their guarantee for high-quality work in Medieval Europe, trademarks became commonplace. Merchants created their own personal marks, throughout the entire 13th century, which has arguably become known as the time in which trademarks were first brought in.

The first legislation including trademarks came about in 1266, which the British Parliament passed. In fact, every baker had to use their own unique mark on the bread and goods that they produced under the Bakers Marking Law. It was in 1363 that silversmiths were legally obliged to mark their products. I am sure if you have ever owned any jewellery you will have noticed a hallmark engraved or stamped upon it. This then soon spread to the producers of porcelain whom had to mark their goods; display who manufactured it and establish where in the world it came from.

In the 1950s companies soon realised just how much impact symbolism could have on their businesses and brand awareness. Business owners soon started to invest a lot of money, time and effort into branding their businesses and choosing the right logo to illustrate their business.

This eventually led to logos becoming a must-have feature for every business. It soon became known that if you want people to remember you, you have to have a great logo. Businesses started to opt for images that were easy to recognise and easy to distinguish with or without any wording paired with it.

CND has never registered the PEACE sign as a trademark, arguing that “a symbol of freedom, it is free for all”. It has now appeared on millions of mugs, T-shirts, rings and bizarrely, it has also made an appearance on packets of Lucky Strike cigarettes.

logos logos

CAN YOU READ THIS?

CAVE DRAWINGS

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