Team Akashi - 1

Toward an Active Use of Pictograms
National Institute of Technology, Akashi College
A: Good day, everybody. I am Taketo Kunugita.
B: I am Gaku Oike.
C: And, I am Aina Kanazawa.
A: We have a question. When you look at this, what comes to mind?
B: Is it complicated?
C: Is it hard to imagine what it means?
A: How about this?
B: Is it much easier to understand?
A: As you may know, these are what are called “pictograms”. In fact, pictograms wereoriginated in Japan and spread around the world. Do you remember thisperformance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics? This “pictogramperformance” impressed us a lot, and we found that it became a big topic overseas,too. Considering this, we realized that pictograms are a universal design that canovercome language barriers and bridge gaps between cultures. The goal of ourpresentation today is to promote the use of pictograms in various situations. The
next 10 minutes will hopefully change the way you see pictograms. To that end, we
have considered three ways to make effective uses of pictograms.
B: First, look at this. This is a brochure of the popular shopping mall, "Umie", in thecenter of Kobe. There are a lot of stores, therefore the characters are small and hard
to read. Furthermore, the brochure is obviously not for international tourists
because only a Japanese version is available. So, we propose the use of pictograms tosolve these problems. Here is what we created to make the brochure. Its concept is“A brochure that crosses the language barrier”. We referred to existing pictograms
and created new pictograms as needed. The same type of store has the same designand color. We also replaced the stairs and rest areas with pictograms. You probably
feel this one is much better for visitors from abroad. According to a questionnaire of
50 students in our school, about 90% of respondents said the pamphlets including
pictograms are clearer. We also surveyed 20 people from abroad. A similar result
can be found. Considering these opinions, we can say that pictograms successfully
overcome the language barrier.
C: Our second approach is to use pictograms in recipes. Look at this. Here are tworecipes for “nikujaga”, a kind of typical Japanese dish. The one on the left is a recipe
explained only in sentences. On the other hand, the one on the right is an original
recipe that incorporates pictograms. The right one is easier to see, even though thecontents are the same. It can be said that pictograms assist in explanations. We
focused on the process of cutting the ingredients. In the pictogram, we design two

Team Akashi - 2points, the action of "cutting" and the shape of cutting. We cut potatoes into bite
sizes and cut onions into wedges. These differences in the ways of cutting are also
reproduced in the pictogram. The action of adding ingredients is expressed inpictograms too. Moreover, pictograms are also compatible with various cooking
methods such as flying, steaming, and boiling. The only thing we need to add tothese pictograms is the quantity or time information. It's difficult to explain all tips,
but we can say that pictograms visually support comprehension.
A: Pictograms allow making difficult things easier to grasp. These are marks that givechildren a visual understanding of what they should not do. Small children who
have not mastered a language encounter many unclear things so, their action may
carry the risk of facing a crisis. By overlaying a clear action with a cross design, it
clearly expresses the meaning of “prohibition”. For instance, this pictogramindicates a command not to climb. I used to climb anywhere and everywhere when I
was a kid, like on TV stands. Of course, these actions can carry dangerous
consequences. Such a notice prevents children from facing a crisis in advance.
Pictograms not only indicate prohibition, but they also encourage children to learn.
When it comes to learning, pictograms must be designed in fun and exciting ways toattract their interests. The most common pictograms are human designs, but how
about replacing the human design with an animal like a penguin. Children will be
more interested in the design. We also consider using the monster. The existence ofmonster is a little too scary for kids. That is why, when we use a monster as adesign, we can explain what children must not do. Making the best use of theseideas, we created a book for kids. We mentioned social manners by utilizing marks
and pictograms. Manners are complicated for kids, but the use of these original
pictogram designs enables children to know how they should behave when they goout. Marks and pictograms have slightly different concepts, but both simplify
complex things. Considering this, it can be said that pictograms will soon be in highdemand for children.
B: So, that concludes our talk on how versatile pictograms can be.
C: As we mentioned earlier, pictograms can transcend language barriers, help us
visually, and often support children.
A: It goes without saying that pictograms are a wonderful idea from Japan.
B: We can be proud of this and keep contributing to a better society.
C: Let us keep in mind the way of using pictograms in case we have difficulty
explaining something.
A: Thank you for listening.