I woke-up with a noise coming from a little device beside my bed. It was our baby monitor and a yellow blinking light was telling me that there’s a noise coming from my baby’s room.
I never really paid much attention on icons and symbols and how it affects my everyday life until now. For something so tiny and small, it is enough to convey a message — no words needed.
Let’s define the difference first between an icon and a symbol:
Icon: a sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning. In general, the shape and drawing of an icon is same as that of the object that is sought to be represented on paper. This makes it easy for anyone to understand what the icon represents or stands for.
Symbol: something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. An example Symbols do not resemble what they stand for, and they have to be learned by people to know what they mean. Some of the best known symbols are cross for Christianity, doves for peace, traffic signs, $ for US currency, Plus sign for hospital, and so on.
In a way, icons and symbols are meant to represent something thru an image but the difference is that an icon is a pictorial representation of the product it stands for whereas a symbol does not resemble what it stands for.
Getting back to my first image, it is safe to say that it is an icon. We have an obvious image of a crib and it looks like it has sound or noise coming from it.
My next image is another icon. Also related to mothers, it is an icon that connotes the place for changing diapers. To be honest, I never really noticed this sign until I became a mom and needed to change my son in a public place.
The image above clearly shows a girl changing a baby’s diaper. But I’ve now seen the same image with a guy. I guess times are changing and more people are requesting to have both options, as it’s not always the mom who changes the baby’s diaper. Again, for this icon, the image makes sense. No explanation required especially because this sign is usually beside a toilet or a public washroom.
The last icon I have looks like a guy throwing his trash in a trashcan. For this one, the meaning is not so obvious for someone who’s only seen the image for the first time. Does it mean that this is the area where you can throw your trash? Or to only throw your trash in a trash can — meaning no littering? Depending on the environment and context, this might need some explanation for some tourists or people who have not seen this image before.
Now that I’ve started to look closely and search for icons and symbols around me, I realized how useful and important they are in our every day life. Symbols like “It’s Hot” or “Slippery” is an important message to convey to avoid accidents and a trip to the hospital
