Signs and Symbols (book)

Signs and Symbols Their Design and Meaning
Adrian Frutiger


Optical Illusions

page 95

this image shows us three figures with the same height, however our eyes read the image as though they are different sizes. this can also happen with images/ photographs


Sign Symbol, Emblem, Signal

"it is felt to be less trouble to look at a picture than to attend to and understand a spoken message"
page 224

The Symbol

"This symbolic element in picture is an implied value, a mediator between recognizable reality and the mystical, invisible realm religion, philosophy, and magic, extending from the consciously understandable into the field of the unconscious."
page 235/ 236

Fauna Symbols

"The fact that birds are associated with the "heavenly" as well as the earthly"
page 246

"The serpent figure can be seen as a symbolic archetype"
page 248

Flowers :

Lily : "purity and innocence but also regarded as a sign of procreation"
Tulip : "a sign of fertility"
Rose : "all rose motifs are a symbolic expression of love"
Sunflower : "a symbol of constancy of love"
Mushroom : "both "lucky mushroom" and a warning of poison"
page 254

Signs symbolising movement

"The spiral is a very ancient sign of the sun and life, its constant rotation symbolising the pulsation and periodicity of all life."
page 277