Pictograms past and present

In the beginning was the pictogram – to be followed by the word

Germany’s Duden dictionary defines a pictogram as being a 'stylised representation of a thing to convey a specific piece of information or be of directional assistance'. Pictograms were the precursors of writing historically speaking. Back in prehistory, Stone Age dwellers used pictorial symbols to record their experiences for posterity on cave walls. Cuneiform script and hieroglyphs likewise drew on images and symbols.

In the 1920s, the social philosopher and economist Otto Neurath developed an early system of visualisation made up of internationally intelligible pictograms which he called the 'International System of Typographic Picture Education' or, in abbreviated form, 'Isotype'. However, the aim with Isotype was not to substitute verbal and written language but, rather, to support the learning process in children as part of an image-based approach to teaching. The use of pictograms was pioneered at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games in the form of the first pictographic wayfinding systems for the public domain.

otl aicher pictograms and the 1972 Olympic Games

As Design Commissioner for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Otl Aicher was intent on the event acquiring a radically different visual identity than the 1936 Games exploited by the Nazis for their own ends.

The upshot was a modern, colourful look that carried the then West Germany’s sense of being a democratic, open society into the world at large. The graphic foundations were provided by a modest number of straightforward universal elements of communication: colour, pictograms, typeface, format and design grid. This gave rise to a standardised overall system that facilitated flexibility whilst also delivering conclusiveness.

Aicher’s concept for a pictogram system aimed to fashion a universal picture language that is international, timeless and readily assimilable. Such was the popularity of his pictograms that they became a veritable trademark for the 1972 Olympic Games. otl aicher pictograms are now icons of modern culture.