For this assignment Less is More, we are required to come up with a pictogram for a local site. I thought of creating a sign for shared refrigerators in halls that tells users that they should not steal food that does not belong to them. I got this idea because just a week before we received this assignment, my friend’s birthday cake was stolen. :( Her friend planned a birthday surprise for her and hid the cake in the hall’s fridge, only to find it missing a couple of hours later. And the thief couldn’t have taken the cake by mistake because it clearly has the words “Happy Birthday” and my friend’s name on it!
And, here’s a photograph of one of the NUS hall’s refrigerators. I saw this while surfing Overheard at NUS (Facebook group).
Hence, I thought of creating a signage that prohibits stealing of food in common refrigerators.
Researching
Here’s a pictogram I found online when I was searching for pictograms of fridges. This is a fridge magnet and I’m not too sure what it serves to inform.
Anyway, some of the key features of a fridge that should be captured in the pictogram are the general rectangular form, two-tiered compartments (top is the smaller one) and door handles on the left. Come to think of it, why are the door handles of all fridges on the left?
Abstraction Process (Draft 1)
Here’s my first draft of the abstraction process:
During the critique session, it was brought up that the abstraction process is not smooth because I reduced the number of bottles from 3 to 2 but then to 5 again. The process of abstraction should involve simplification to the bare minimum to bring out the focus.
Also, my peers suggested adding a thief’s mask or sly eyes to the stick figure to make it more obvious that he is stealing, and not just taking bottles out from the fridge.
Researching
To bring across the message that the stick figure in the pictogram is in fact a thief stealing food items from the fridge, I decided to incorporate certain key features of a thief int
o the stick figure in the pictogram.
A burglar mask? Slanted eyes looking over the shoulder? An alarm in the background? A coat? A guilty expression? A bag over the shoulder for the stolen loot?
It is, however, hard to incorporate too many of these specifics without going overboard. There is, afterall, a limit to using only two colours for the final prototype.
Abstraction Process (Final Prototype)
Here is the final prototype for the abstraction process:
(Click to enlarge)
I added in slit eyes to make the stick figure look like he’s looking over his shoulder slyly. Details of the fridge (eg. door handle, perspective, number of shapes used to make up the fridge), the number of bottles and the eyes of the stick figure is being gradually reduced to the minimum through the abstraction process.
The Final Prototype
(Click to enlarge)
A “NO” sign is added to signal prohibition. The red bottle signifies food item that does not belong to the stick figure .
Where this Sign will be Placed
(Click to enlarge)
This pictogram is to be placed on the doors of common refrigerators where a group of users have to share the fridge, for example, in halls, dormitories or even refrigerators in the pantries of offices. This serves as a reminder to all users not to take food that does not belong to them out of the refrigerator.
Reflection
Through this assignment, I learned that what may seem obvious to me may not be so obvious to others. For instance, I felt that the message that the stick figure is a thief is pretty clear, but that’s because I know from the start what it is I’m working on. To others who have never seen or heard me explain about my work, the meaning is unclear. And to those who have never experienced or heard of stories whereby food gets stolen in common fridges, this whole concept of putting up a sign to remind people not to take food that does not belong to them may be completely new! Hence, it is important to always incorporate features of the persona I wish to carry forth in a clear and simple manner.
The critique session I underwent also exposed me to my peers’ works and there is a common understanding that we should start the abstraction process with as many details as we can capture of our persona and slowly eliminate those that are less important to make others more prominent. Some of my peers fail to do so and face difficulty simplying their pictogram since their first few pictograms are already very simplified.
