A
pictograph (
also called pictogram or
pictogramme) is an
ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Earliest examples of pictographs include ancient or prehistoric drawings or paintings found on rock walls. Pictographs are also used in writing and graphic systems in which the characters are to considerable extent pictorial in appearance.
Pictography is a form of
writing which uses representational, pictorial
drawings. It is a basis of
cuneiform and, to some extent,
hieroglyphic writing, which uses drawings also as phonetic letters or
determinative rhymes.
Early written
symbols were based on pictographs (pictures which resemble what they signify) and
ideograms (symbols which represent ideas). They were used by the ancient Chinese culture since around 5000 BC and began to develop into
logographic writing systems around 2000 BC. Pictographs are still in use as the main medium of written communication in some non-literate cultures in
Africa,
The Americas, and
Oceania. Pictographs are often used as simple, pictorial, representational symbols by most contemporary cultures.
Pictographs can often transcend languages in that they can communicate to speakers of a number of tongues and language families equally effectively, even if the languages and cultures are completely different. This is why road signs and similar pictographic material are often applied as global standards expected to be understood by nearly all.
Pictographs can also take the form of diagrams to represent statistical data by pictorial forms, and can be varied in color, size, or number to indicate change.
Modern use
Pictographs remain in common use today, serving as pictorial, representational
signs,
instructions, or statistical diagrams. Because of their graphical nature and fairly realistic style, they are widely used to indicate public
toilets, or places such as
airports and
train stations.
A standard set of pictographs was defined in the
international standard ISO 7001: Public Information Symbols. Another common set of pictographs are the
laundry symbols used on clothing tags and
chemical hazard labels.
Pictographic writing as a modernist poetic technique is credited to
Ezra Pound, though French
surrealists accurately credit the
Pacific Northwest American Indians of
Alaska who introduced writing, via
totem poles, to
North America.
Contemporary Artist
Xu Bing created , a universal language made up of pictogram collected from around the world. A Book from the Ground chat program has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. There is a currently in development that needs public participation in development. The wiki will be a continually growing database of pictogram used in the chat program, books, signs etc.
See also
