Pictograms are the most efficient modes of visual communication. They distill the essentials of the message that needs to be conveyed and arrange them on a 2D surface in a direct way. Since it doesn’t waste any time in getting to the message, pictograms are usually used for signs or warning symbols, to communicate to people in situations when not a lot of time can be used to interpret messages. Some artists have used pictograms to re-imagine familiar images, like the movie posters below:
In a new book, Chinese-German artist Yang Liu uses pictograms to express the two parts of her identity. Liu was born and raised in China until 14, when her family moved to Germany. She has a unique sense of cultural duality that allows her to feel neither Chinese nor German; she “feels [herself] as more of a person, who belongs to all the places [she’s] been to.†It’s interesting how she approaches her cultural background as something that helps her to view herself more as a citizen of the world rather than only a part of a specific culture. Growing up in two cultures allowed her to examine her place within a society in a larger context, which is a fresh way to look at it because it’s such a mature point of view.
And her approach is definitely reflected in her pictograms, so effective in their simplicity: some of them definitely have a wry code of humor embedded in them, and all of them observe the world from a person standing at the boundary of the two cultures, one who is able to move from one to the other effortlessly. Liu’s work and her approach to cultural identity really inspired how I want to look at the world someday, as a person fluent in many cultural dialects of the world.
-Noise levels in a restaurant, West vs. East
-How people line up, West vs. East
-How people view each other
-Problem-solving methods, West vs. East
-Size of ego, West vs. East
More articles:
East Meets West: An Infographic Portrait
Buy the book here!
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