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Henry Dreyfuss

Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols Paperback – May 1, 1984

by Henry Dreyfuss (Author)

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"A ready reference aid and an inspiration to designers . All in all the best book now available on symbols." --Library Journal This unparalleled reference represents a major achievement in the field of graphic design. Famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss recognized the importance of symbols in communicating more quickly and effectively; for many years he and his staff collected and codified graphic symbols as they are used in all walks of life throughout the world. The result is this "dictionary" of universally used graphic symbols. Henry Dreyfuss designed this sourcebook to be as practical and easy to use as possible by arranging the symbol information within ingeniously devised sections: Basic Symbols represents a concise and highly selective grouping of symbols common to all disciplines (on-off, up-down, etc.). Disciplines provides symbols used in accommodations and travel, agriculture, architecture, business, communications, engineering, photography, sports, safety, traffic controls, and many other areas. Color lists the meanings of each of the colors in various worldwide applications and cultures. Graphic Form displays symbols from all disciplines grouped according to form (squares, circles, arrows, human figures, etc.) creating a unique way to identify a symbol out of context, as well as giving designers a frame of reference for developing new symbols. To make the sourcebook truly universal, the Table of Contents contains translations of each of the section titles and discipline areas into 17 languages in addition to English.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Wiley
Publication date

May 1, 1984
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.8 x 10.8 inches
ISBN-10

0471288721
ISBN-13

978-0471288725
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

“A ready reference aid and an inspiration to designers ... All in all the best book now available on symbols.”

—Library Journal

This unparalleled reference represents a major achievement in the field of graphic design. Famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss recognized the importance of symbols in communicating more quickly and effectively; for many years he and his staff collected and codified graphic symbols as they are used in all walks of life throughout the world. The result is this “dictionary” of universally used graphic symbols.

Henry Dreyfuss designed this sourcebook to be as practical and easy to use as possible by arranging the symbol information within ingeniously devised sections: Basic Symbols represents a concise and highly selective grouping of symbols common to all disciplines (on-off, up-down, etc.). Disciplines provides symbols used in accommodations and travel, agriculture, architecture, business, communications, engineering, photography, sports, safety, traffic controls, and many other areas. <>i lists the meanings of each of the colors in various worldwide applications and cultures. Graphic Form displays symbols from all disciplines grouped according to form (squares, circles, arrows, human figures, etc.) creating a unique way to identify a symbol out of context, as well as giving designers a frame of reference for developing new symbols. To make the sourcebook truly universal, the Table of Contents contains translations of each of the section titles and discipline areas into 17 languages in addition to English.

From the Back Cover

“A ready reference aid and an inspiration to designers ... All in all the best book now available on symbols.”

—Library Journal

This unparalleled reference represents a major achievement in the field of graphic design. Famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss recognized the importance of symbols in communicating more quickly and effectively; for many years he and his staff collected and codified graphic symbols as they are used in all walks of life throughout the world. The result is this “dictionary” of universally used graphic symbols.

Henry Dreyfuss designed this sourcebook to be as practical and easy to use as possible by arranging the symbol information within ingeniously devised sections: Basic Symbols represents a concise and highly selective grouping of symbols common to all disciplines (on-off, up-down, etc.). Disciplines provides symbols used in accommodations and travel, agriculture, architecture, business, communications, engineering, photography, sports, safety, traffic controls, and many other areas. <>i lists the meanings of each of the colors in various worldwide applications and cultures. Graphic Form displays symbols from all disciplines grouped according to form (squares, circles, arrows, human figures, etc.) creating a unique way to identify a symbol out of context, as well as giving designers a frame of reference for developing new symbols. To make the sourcebook truly universal, the Table of Contents contains translations of each of the section titles and discipline areas into 17 languages in addition to English.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (May 1, 1984)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0471288721
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0471288725
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.53 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.8 x 10.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,022,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #912 in Art Encyclopedias
- #2,339 in Graphic Design Techniques
- #26,896 in Philosophy (Books)

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26 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		66%
4 star		16%
3 star		11%
2 star		6%
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Top reviews from the United States

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S. Kraus

Very comprehensive and helpful, but there has been some advancement since its publication

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

A good starting point for every UX/UI designer. But if you want to be up-to-date you'd rather have a look at Apple products, they have excellent symbols. Maybe it's Apple's turn to publish such a book?
Also, there are (too) many automotive-related symbols nowadays, which did not exist at the time.
To summarise, it's a good starting point, but make sure you update your knowledge elsewhere.

Helpful

Just keep it symbol.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2003

Four stars because a book that is involved with communication does it in such a disappointing way. The cover, text pages, bibliography and index are extremely bland. For instance, the few text pages have a line space between the paragraphs and also an indentation on the first line of each par, the bibliography is set in the same weight of type so punctuation is required, this can nearly be eliminated by using various weights of type to separate the different elements, the twenty-two page index could have been less if it was set in three columns instead of two.
However this is an important book and the symbol content rightly deserves five stars. Henry Dreyfuss started work on this project in the fifties while working for an oil-drilling equipment manufacturer, who wanted some way of communicating with workers in parts of the world where English was uncommon. Two-dimensional illustrations were developed and Dreyfuss slowly expanded the scope of the idea into this book, which presents several thousand in twenty-six categories.
The selection is very comprehensive, pages ninety and ninety-one include hobo signs with one for Cowards Will Give, To Get Rid Of You, or Free Telephone, which looks remarkably like a profile of a turkey. A fascinating four pages show Olympic symbols from the Games of 1948, 64, 68 and 72. I think 1968 are clearly the best, the designer avoided using stylised human forms and presented basic sport elements in a black rounded corner box. Throughout the book, where there is space, Dreyfuss has added sidebars on a variety of topics relating to symbol origins and usage.
To make this book as practical as possible the contents page is in eighteen languages, a good example of why Henry Dreyfuss, apart from being a great industrial designer, was also a person who never lost his humanity.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chucutrão de Comodo

Very good

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 21, 2005

It's a must have if you care for icons. Wish it was hardcover.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 23, 2000

I use Symbol Sourcebook as a bible for interpreting meaning from it's very thorough pages. It is full of insightful and seemingly rare symbols. From engineering to chemistry to any other form of language through symbol this book by Mr. Dreyfuss is astounding. It is my reference for many, many corporate identity projects.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Pinto

A Must for any Interactive Designer!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 3, 2000

This is one of the best books on symbols by one of the best designers of the 20th Century! It includes everything from technical symbols to hobo and astrology signs. If you are an interactive designer this book will prove to be a useful tool for research for icon design.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

carol bowie

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

Husband loved it

Michael

The dictionary of visual communication

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Invaluable tool for anyone working in design (graphic, industrial, etc.), UI/UX, architecture or even fine art (Basquiat was apparently a big fan of it).

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