Common Symbols and Icons
I was tasked with an assignment to find and sketch icons and symbols that I encounter in my daily life. Instead of finding somewhere to stop and look around on my way home from work, I wanted to save some time by looking for symbols around my office. My first instinct was to look for signs, under the assumption that that would be the easiest way to find symbols and icons. However, as I started to look around, I realized that there were symbols everywhere: on the printer, on my computer, on the coffee maker, on my car’s infotainment system. I took pictures of common symbols and then sketched them in my journal. Photos of the symbols and my sketches of them are displayed below, along with brief descriptions of where I found them and what their meanings are.

Before I left for the day, I made a trip to the bathroom. This is where I found the first two symbols. The female figure indicates that this door leads to the women’s restroom, and the symbol of a person in a wheelchair indicates that at least one of the stalls in the bathroom is wheelchair-accessible. Since I see these symbols on bathroom signs everywhere, I wanted to include these in my set.

After the bathroom, I brought my tea cup to the kitchen to wash it before leaving for the day. I noticed this little sticker on the coffee maker, which reminds the user that the coffee is hot and to be careful when handling it.

I passed by a printer on my way back from the kitchen and wondered what kind of symbols and icons would be on it. For obvious reasons, the most conspicuous one turned out to be the power button, which was backlit. Following the common conventions, the lit state indicates that the printer is on, and the unlit state indicates the printer is off.

The front door to my office building is currently under construction, so as I walked out of the building, I noticed a stack of cones that was left out by the construction workers. I thought this was a good example of how actual objects can also serve as symbols and icons, so I recorded this for my set as well.

There is a circle drive outside the front door of my building, and as I walked out to my car, I noticed this “No Parking” sign along the drive. I captured this sign mainly for the red circle with a slash through it, since this is such a commonly-used symbol, and can be used in many different contexts when combined with other symbols (i.e. with a cigarette to communicate that smoking is not permitted, with a cell phone to warn that cell phones are not permitted, etc.).

The last symbol I captured was the stop sign at the intersection in front of the parking lot. Again, because the meaning of a red octagon is so well-known, I wanted to include this in my set. It’s most commonly used on stop signs, but I’ve also seen it used on sites to warn users to stop and pay attention to a certain piece of content before moving on.
Closing Thoughts
As I sketched these symbols, I noticed that a bolded, sans serif typeface is used for text. Shapes are clean and simple, including only the necessary elements to effectively communicate the intended meaning without adding superfluous details (i.e. no hair, facial features, shoes, etc. on the female figure in the women’s restroom sign). Colors are used only as necessary to draw attention where needed. The symbols and icons that I found reinforce the idea that only the necessary elements should be included when designing symbols and icons. This leaves the symbols unencumbered by unnecessary details, and therefore allows the intended message to be communicated more quickly and clearly.