Symbol sourcebook

What Hacker News says

1. yolesaberJun 2016
   If you are into industrial and globalized signage / semiotics, do yourself a favor and check out the Symbol Sourcebook -- https://www.amazon.com/Symbol-Sourcebook-Authoritative-Inter...

   Some of the symbolism they use for computer operations are fascinating

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2. goodmythicalOct 2026
   I'd guess that's down to both Renaissance artists and early graphic designers faced the same difficulties in trying to make symbolic reference to things without access to colors/paints/dyes that would otherwise be used. (As in the case, say, of a family with a colorful crest that wanted a copper crest to replace their cloth one. The colors have important meanings but the copper could not be colored so they needed a way to preserve the symbolism of the colors in the copper version)

   We see a similar thing in games like DwarfFortress where the designer doesn't have access to dwarf/goblin/dragon/water/grass/etc sprites and so has to decide upon a stand-in.

   I can't find anything pointing directly to her using heraldic patterning, but it seems her primary reference was Henry Dreyfuss’s Symbol Sourcebook (1972) [limitted preview on archive.org, full available for sale and elsewhere].

   And while the book does not specifically feature heraldry or the hatching specifically, several of the examples in the text do contain very similar dot and line patterns as fill in various shapes. Pages 50/1 feature several iconic patterns to indicate earth, rock, natural rubble, rubble, cast stone, marble, slate, brick, common brick, face brick, fire brick, glass, grass, various woods etc in arhcitectural drawings.

   There's a surprising durability and universality to certain symbolism. A stick person engraved in the pyramid is reckognized today. Hatching and cross hatching have been used to indicate shadows for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years.

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3. robinhoustonJul 2025
   I don't know, and I'd love to.

   If I had to guess, I'd guess Henry Dreyfuss's Symbol Sourcebook. It was published in 1972, and it seems plausibly the sort of book someone like Susan Kate might have had to hand in the early '80s. https://www.societyofsigns.com/projects/symbol-sourcebook

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4. wshJul 2025
   Interesting. The left side of the slide at 15:43 in the video is definitely from page 27 of Symbol Sourcebook, but the detail of the ⌘ symbol doesn’t seem to be: not only could I not find the symbol, but also its caption (“FEATURE”) is set in Helvetica rather than Univers as used in the book.
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5. flpmDec 2023
   There is an exhibit right now at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in NYC about the work of Henry Dreyfuss did with his Symbol Sourcebook (https://www.cooperhewitt.org/channel/give-me-a-sign/) which heavily influenced the design of most symbols we use today, including this one.

   You can view most of the exhibit online: https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/2318807647/

   Worth taking a look!

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6. brudgersMay 2013
   I have by my desk Henry Dreyfuss's Symbol Sourcebook [1972 edition]. It contains symbols he collected over a lifetime - he died in '72. Rococo is the fad [Perlis says it comes before rubble]. Flat design dominates when clear communication becomes more important than signalling via fashion. There's a reason stop signs don't have gradient fills.

   http://www.amazon.com/Symbol-Sourcebook-Authoritative-Intern...

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss

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