Saturday 24 February 2024

Signs of the (Ancient, Modern and Future) Times

A few years ago m'chum Justin Pollard and I created a double page spread for one of the QI Annuals.

Justin is an historian and what we did was create a set of warning signs for various historical events - a humorous Health and Safety History of the World. 
(Click to see a bigger version) 

We had signs for everything from the Big Bang to the French Revolution and from the Greek Wars to volcanic eruptions.
I can remember the many fascinating discussions we had about signage. No, really. 

For example, how will we leave behind signs to tell future generations thousands of years from now that stuff we buried is radioactive? After all, we may have become extinct by then. Or maybe there will be - as endless Hollywood movies insist - a massive series of catastrophies and society will collapse. Language will evolve and change - we can't read English from 500 years ago so how can we expect people to be able to read it in the post-apocalyptic future? 

We also talked about how to create symbolism for people who may not have the same worldview. For example, what does this sign mean to you?
We'd read that as a warning of death by electricity but how would someone who's never encountered electricity read it? What if it was some tribe in the middle of the Amazon jungle who have had no contact with western society? They might see it as 'danger of death from a very bad spear maker'. 

It's also interesting to see how quickly the iconography of signage loses its currency. Here's a sign you might see every day.
Yes, it's a warning that there's a speed camera ahead. But, for the 17 year old passing their driving test today the object on the sign - an old-fashioned bellows film camera - is a complete anachronism. 

As is the 'save' icon on the desktop of your computer. A floppy disk. Really? 


They were phased out in the 1990s and ceased being sold in 2011. That means we have a whole generation of teenagers now who will never have encountered them. Yet they're expected to learn what this obsolete icon means - if not what it represents. 

But what would you replace it with? 

See? Signage IS an interesting topic.


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