We will examine the 50th anniversary of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss’ discipline defining Symbol Sourcebook, to reveal the legacy underpinning our current fascination with emojis, icons and symbols and explore new symbol applications.
We welcome abstracts for papers from the design community for The Symbol Group’s inaugural online symposium.
DAY ONE examines the importance of symbols using Dreyfuss’ book as a starting point – considering themes of internationalism, data-visualisation, universal language, symbol design history and the influence of technology.
DAY TWO focuses on symbols in contemporary practice including social media (emojis and stickers), inclusivity, sustainability and diversity, critical applications (emergencies/disasters), and symbol language experiments.
Keynote speakers: Prof Keith Bresnahan, Prof Elizabeth Guffrey, Steven Heller, Nigel Holmes, Prof Hisayasu Ihara, Jennifer Lee, Ellen Lupton and Karel van der Waarde
Deadline for abstracts: 30 July 2022