Signs and Symbols

Hurrying through your everyday life, you might not have stopped to think about the prevalence of visual representations that have a practical use in our society. When something is designed for practical use, is it still art? Before we can discuss whether or not a particular symbol or sign can be considered art, we need to understand the difference between a symbol and a sign.

A symbol or icon is a visual image which looks like the object it is representing. For example, the figure on the men's room door is a symbol of a male human. A sign is a more general form of a symbol in that it represents a meaning, but doesn't necessarily closely resemble an object. A sign is more about expressing an idea, while a symbol is the direct representation of an object. A "School Crossing" sign has a symbol of two children in motion. Together this sign and this symbol express the idea that caution should be used because children might run into the street.

Both signs and symbols are everywhere in our society, and most of them are easily recognized. The interesting thing is that you would recognize signs that don't actually exist if one were to compose known images together. In the design world, new icons are constantly being designed and because of the many signs and symbols already in our daily lives, we don't actually have to think much about the meaning of them.

So are signs and symbols pieces of art? Well, that's something to think about. Even Big Fun Arts can't definitively define what is or is not art, but we're thinking about it, and you might too!