Graphic Symbols: The 5th Language

Kevin Thorn, AutoZone, LLC. (personal eLearning blog)

Before I came to this session, I would have said that I only communicate in one language, English.

There are 5 language in which to communicate.

• Spoken
• Written - symbolic form of our spoken language
• Math - symbols for concepts and data
• Body - language of expression or gesture
• Graphic - visual language

Look at that! I can now say I can communicate in 5 languages!

Check out all the corporate logos we all know and love. They are all speaking in a language.

Since the beginning of man, communication occurred with graphics. Think cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Mayan culture had their own graphic language (which strangely enough look like iPhone app icons).

Sequential Art: A Graphic medium are images that are used to convey a sequential narrative. Will Eisner believed that comics had teaching potential.

Now, let's all draw some simple shapes... a rectangle, a triangle, a circle. Simple shapes in just the right order, position and size can create recognizable concepts through images.

Images, turned into symbols turned into words. Now, reverse that. Take your spoken language and revert it back to written language and back into picture language.

If you get stuck drawing a concept, break it down into its core components.

Now we're recreating this clown.

Break it down into core components: big nose, crazy hair, big shoes, poofy hair, big smile... Once you focus on the individual elements and not the big picture, then drawing doesn't seem that impossible.

It doesn't need to be perfect or professional, it just needs to convey your message.

Any problem can be make clearer with a picture and any picture can be made using the same simple set of tools and rules. - Dan Roam

Squares, circles, rectangles, lines and dots... all you need to make the world go round.

Reuse your symbols to create new images. With a library of symbols, you can become the master of your own graphic domain.

An object is first a shape, that shape occupies a space, that space defines the object. An object is a shape that occupies a space.

Take a glass:

And break it down into basic shapes: a warped rectangle and a squished circle. It's not really that hard.

It's time to build a better taco! (you had to be there)

Great session, Kevin!