History of pictograms and its development

In general, from the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters to Olympic games symbols and today’s many road signs and computer icons, pictograms have been used as a tool for communication. For many years, humans have been using pictograms to make symbolism for religions, maps, texts, numeric, codes, emblems, markings and signings. It is not difficult for Internet users to notice the common use of graphic interface on virtual desktop, pictograms in representing folders, documents, grabbing hands, trash bin, etc, are all the pictorial language found in the computer system universally.  

Excitingly, in this technologically-savvy age, even the worldwide use of email has generated a new form of small icon made with punctuation marks, called ‘emoticons’, that are used to add an expressive tone of voice to the written information, this shown how much a person desired to express through a visual mean.

However, over the years, many attempts have been made to create legible pictograms that could be used for general purposes, such as a replacement for alphabetic signs and a universal pictorial language. Some of the limitations of pictograms become clearer through many past-recorded experiments. Firstly, not everyone understands what a pictogram represents and many viewers may not understand the content of the pictograms. Secondly, there will always be space limitation of the graphic representation of pictogram. For instance, there is no picture that could unquestionably express the word ‘exit’, for an exit door looks like any other door. 

The good news is - simple pictorial images have found a secure place next to written verbal language (Edo, 2007). For instance, the illustration of a male and female on the signage means ‘wash room’ or ‘toilet’, the illustration of a burger and drink with a bard cut across diagonally signifies ‘no food’ and also, a figure in a sitting position on top of a circle symbolized ‘for handicapped’ to the general public. Many pictograms have become familiar to most of us, which can be used without restriction. In fact, it brings an instant understanding to audience in most cases.

  Pictograms have been capitalised in many other professional countenances. In many industries, there is constant need to create abbreviation for terminology that they often use, undesirably creating barriers between the informed and the laymen. Hereafter, some abbreviations can be replaced by pictograms. A wide range of pictograms has been implemented in various professions, which include: road signs for public transportation managed by Land Transport Authority, Singapore, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) and airport, public institutions like Singapore National Parks  and others expert services like biomedical, legal and even politics.