Offensive symbols and the breadth of our profession

[Chris Hamilton <chamilton -at- GR -dot- COM>]

Gentle colleagues--

This is probably obvious and goes without saying, but I'll say it
anyway.  I thought about this mention of the Horton book and the
frequent and glowing references to the Joanne Hackos book and previous
threads about Tufte, and font choice, and all other areas of expertise
within our profession...and I am astonished sometimes by the amount of
skill and knowledge involved in doing this job well. I never really
thought about it that way before; I've jsut always done it to the best
of my ability and tried to get information as I needed it.

If you want the best argument against Mr. Bonney's assertions, just take
a wee mental dander down the list of topics on this list about the best
way to do something. I won't make this assertion for other people, but
it's a lot longer than what I originally thought it would be. Sure there
are the holy wars (and I won't mention them, lest I re-ignite some of
them), but overall, this is one hell of a profession and this group as a
whole has been very useful and, at times, even inspirational.

There. Now I've said my one positive, supportive thing for the month.

Chris

Bob Armao wrote:

> In the same chapter that Dian mentions, Horton states that ""There is
> almost no arrangement of the human hand that is not an obcene, rude,
> or
> impolite gesture somewhere in the world." He suggests not using hand
> icons at all, or if you must, at least show them "holding, pressing,
> or
> moving something." You will see examples of that advice in his book --
>
> particularly in Chapter 10.
>
> I also recommend the book. It is full of good and creative ideas. It's
>
> also entertaining reading even if designing icons is not your primary
> objective.
>
> Bob Armao
> barmao -at- dataware -dot- com
>
>  ----------
> From: WRK/dlchute
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Re: Offensive symbols
> Date: Tuesday, July 29, 1997 4:46PM
>
> Scott J. Wilson wrote:
>
> > Our documentation team has gotten feedback that the "thumb's up"
> > symbol
> > used in one of our products is offensive in Australia. (If anyone
> can
> > confirm or refute this, could you e-mail me privately.)
> >
> > I'm wondering if anyone has familiarity with William Horton's "The
> > Icon Book", and, if so, does it address problems of this nature
> > (symbols meaning different things in different cultures)?
>
> I do not know about Australia, but I do know that in Italy, Greece,
> and
> Turkey the "thumbs up" sign is, to quote William Horton's "The Icon
> Book,"  "an invitation to insert the thumb into a private part of the
> anatomy." (page 245).
>
> Yes, the Horton book is a great resource. Chapter 10 is on "Icons for
> International Products."
>  --
> Dian Chute
>
> respond to: mailto:dlchute -at- waonline -dot- com
>
>
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--
Chris Hamilton, Technical Writer
Greenbrier & Russel
847.330.4146
chamilton -at- gr -dot- com

"Got a problem with baseball? Move to Norway."
                          -- Nike

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