Steering Group
Juli Gudehus
Initiator and motor of the tuqtuli project.
Juli is an artist based in Berlin, Germany, who has worked with and on signs since 1992.
Dr
K J Hepworth
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments, University of South Australia/Adelaide University
She is an ethical visualisation expert with expertise in critical data studies, data sovereignty, and disability justice.
Loïc Marleix
French independent designer specializing in systems architecture, interfaces, semiotics, and the study of glyphs
He has worked for fifteen years for a wide range of industries, from idea to product launch, helping companies with digitization strategies, UX/UI design, and development
Prof
Mandar Rane
Professor of Communication Design at the IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, India
Prof. Mandar Rane is a faculty member of Communication Design at the IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, India.
Prof
Pia Pedersen
Associate professor at the Institute of Visual Design at the Royal Danish Academy
She specializes in ISOTYPE, pictogram legibility, health information design, and design research.
Stefan Egger
Expert on visual sign systems
With a background in graphic design, Stefan engaged in several EU funded research projects and developed a method for the design of graphical content capable of catering for both highly demanding, risk laden environments (such as roads) and people with low vision with predictable (calculable) effectivity.
Founder | Dr
Sue Perks
Archival researcher, writer and designer
She is a UK based archival researcher, writer and designer with a particular interest in Isotype, communication through symbols and how archives connect with each other.
Founder
Vassoula Vasiliou
Brand strategist and creative consultant Co-founder of the Symbol Group
With global experience at Fitch, Landor, and XMPR, she developed branding and wayfinding for Legoland Windsor and Ferrovia Dello Stato.
Founder | Dr
Wibo Bakker
Dutch design researcher and historian
Wibo Bakker has published extensively on the history of pictograms and visual identity.
Associates
Aiman Amine
Visual Identity Designer & Lead Graphic Designer at KomunIKON
Aiman–based in Switzerland–is an independent graphic designer specialising in brand identity. With a degree in graphic arts and a decade of experience, his strong interest in semiotics and visual communication led him to join KomunIKON and The Symbol Group.
Cesco Reale
Scientific communicator and founder of KomunIKON
He gave talks on the history of visual languages in several language events and was invited panelist at the World Emoji Workshop, speaker at iConLangs (University of Torino) and chair and organizer of a session on visual languages at DUXU 2021.
Prof
Daniel Utz
Professor in the Communication Design programme at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd
His teaching focuses on typography, information design and visual identity systems.
Edgar Walthert
Type designer with a strong interest in icons and visual language, author of Annex of Universal Languages
His research-based posters express this dedication.
Dr
Emily M Orr
Associate Curator and Acting Head of Product Design and Decorative Arts at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Her exhibitions include ‘Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols’ (2023-2024), ‘Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer’ (2021-22), and ‘Botanical Expressions’ (2019-21).
Dr
Haytham Nawar
Artist, designer, scholar, and Associate Professor of Design at the American University in Cairo, currently directing Diriyah Art Futures at the Saudi Ministry of Culture
His work explores intersections between design, technology, and visual culture, particularly multiscriptual and pictographic communication systems.
Founder
Jason Forrest
Data visualization designer and writer living in New York City and founder of Jason Forrest Agency, co-founder of The Symbol Group
He is the founder of the Jason Forrest Agency, focused on solving complex problems in business and industry by elevating the communication and understanding of data.
Prof em
Jochen Gros
Professor Emeritus focusing on visual languages
He worked in futurology at Siemens and, from 1974 to 2004, taught design theory in relation to experimental product design at the University of Art and Design in Offenbach, Germany. He pioneered the development of the ‘Theory of Product Language’, focusing on the ‘symbolic functions of product design’.
Dr
María del Mar Navarro
Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design, at The Design School, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, USA
She has taught visual communication design practice, research, and theory in higher education internationally for over a decade.
Maxim Weirich
Exhibition designer, curator and artistic researcher
He works as an exhibition designer in Berlin. His research interests circle around pictograms of the early 1970s and how they paved the way for today's communication of emotions through pictograms.
Prof em
Mike Zender
Editor, Visible Language, Professor Emeritus University of Cincinnati
Mike Zender is a third-generation designer who founded the design consultancy Zender + Associates Inc. in 1977.
Nigel Holmes
British/American graphic designer, information designer, author, and theorist
Born in England in 1942, Nigel Holmes went to the Royal College of Art and worked as a freelance information graphics designer in London for 10 years before moving to the US in 1978 to work at Time Magazine, where he became Graphics Director.
Paul Mijksenaar
Information designer, publicist and emeritus professor Visual Information Design, Delft University. Founder of Bureau Mijksenaar (Amsterdam, New York)
Amsterdammer, born and bred (1944). Trained as industrial designer but changed to information design. Inspired by the work of Jock Kinneir (British road signs, 1963) he lost his heart on way-finding.
Rodrigo Ramírez
Associate Professor at the School of Design, UC Chile (Diseño UC)
He is also a researcher at the Chilean National Research Center for Integrated Disaster Management, CIGIDEN, and a student in the Doctoral Program at UC Chile Faculty of Communications.
Prof
Sibylle Schlaich
Honorary Professor at HBKsaar for Signaletik and Communication, co-founder of Moniteurs in Berlin
In 1994 she co-founded Berlin-based design office Moniteurs specializing in wayfinding and information design.
Marta Bernstein
Designer, researcher, and educator from Milan, now based in Seattle. She is creative director at Studio Matthews, a women-owned design firm specializing in branding, wayfinding, and exhibition design.
Dr.
Deborah Enzmann
Graphic Designer, Lecturer and Author
Deborah works as a graphic designer and teaches at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Mannheim.