The use of pictograms across all professions

One possible reason why pictograms remain relatively elusive in the domain of pictorial production and comprehension is due to the fact that pictograms are particularly complex sign systems. Following the dictum that pictures are worth a thousand words, pictograms typically contained multiple layers of meanings that co-exist simultaneously merely on the two-dimensional visual, whether it was on signage, banners, directional booths, stickers or computers screen. All these layers are capable of being presented all at once.

In the 2009 International Conference on Biometrics and Kansei Engineering held in Cieszyn, Poland, pictogram as a main element to support interactive on verbal communication was discussed, where a concept of "Pict-script" was introduced.

Makiko Okita, Yuuki Nakaura, Hidetsugu Suto states: Pict-script is a language using pictograms. It is high flexibility and can be used for not only consecutive expressions but also diagrammatic expressions. It is usable by not only people with disabilities but also people in general. It can be used for various styles of communication. Besides, Its output can indicate the user’s feelings. It promotes communication, where a picture that is not necessarily corresponding only to a word (IEEE Computer Society)

In the book titled: Language in the legal process, Janet Cotterill states:

In a case involving non-English speaking farm worker injured by pesticides, the court observed that the label was in English only and lacked ‘skull and bones, or other comparable symbols or hieroglyphics.’ Moreover, governmental regulations sometimes encourage or require the use of certain symbols. Thus, federal law requires products with a certain percentage of benzene to display a skull and cross bones symbol (2002, p.60)

Pictograms serve as the channel of communication across all aspects of life, certain standardization help people get used to the images and gradually learn their precise meaning. Indeed pictograms have the advantage of crossing cultural, even geographic boundaries, striving to be universally applicable, considering it is one of the most common pictorial representations that every human may encounter.

In the earlier section, this research discussed that humans communicate through visuals instinctively. Pictograms play a significant role in social-cognitive development. At the core of social-cognitive development in general, there is the propensity to reproduce actions and their effects, whether by imitation, action exploration, or observational learning (Laura L. Namy, 2005). Pictograms development is inseparable from a fundamental need for human to communicate, and ultimately to maintain social proximity with others. From a broader perspective, pictogram development as a subset of social cognitive development, pictograms serve as communicative means to a social end across all professions.