7-8 OCTOBER 2022
The Symbol Group’s inaugural online symposium examined 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.
Symbol '22: Symbol Sourcebook @50
Virtual symposium
7 OCT
DAY ONE
Examined the importance of symbols using Dreyfuss' book as a starting point considering themes of:
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Internationalism
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Datavisualisation
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Universal language
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Symbol design history
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The influence of technology
8 OCT
DAY TWO
Focused on symbols in contemporary practice including:
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Social media (emojis and stickers)
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Inclusivity
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Sustainability and diversity
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Critical applications (emergencies/disasters)
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Symbol language experiments
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Prof. KEITH BRESNAHAN
NIGEL HOLMES
KAREL VAN DER WAARDE
Prof. HISAYASU IHARA
JENNIFER 8 LEE
ELLEN LUPTON
To celebrate 50 years since the publishing of the Symbol Sourcebook, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York are curating an exhibition (opening Spring 2023) “Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols” based on Dreyfuss’ work with symbols. The exhibition will pick up many themes explored in the Symbol '22 Symposium .
Cooper Hewitt‘s Henry Dreyfuss archive contains the working papers for the Symbol Sourcebook that demonstrate the burgeoning discipline of symbol design from the 1970s onwards along with Dreyfuss’ extensive international network and his overwhelming passion for symbols.
Exterior, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2015
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
The Arthur Ross Terrace & Garden at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2015
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Symbol '22: Symbol Sourcebook @50
You can find all videos of the two-day virtual symposium below:
Symbol ’22: Symbol Sourcebook @50 was endorsed by IIID.
Funding from the Information Design Association has kindly enabled us to run our inaugural symposium and start to create The Symbol Group network to benefit designers, design researchers and students.
Design and production of the Symbol Sourcebook in Henry Dreyfuss' Pasadena studio, California circa 1971
Henry Dreyfuss Archive, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
“If a system of symbols could be compiled that would be equally recognisable in Lagos and Lapland, perhaps the dream of a universal basic means of communication could be realised.
I believe this is possible.”
Henry Dreyfuss
Henry Dreyfuss with John Deere tractor symbols, 1972
Henry Dreyfuss Archive, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum