{"id":2378,"date":"2017-03-20T17:40:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T17:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com\/blog\/?p=2378"},"modified":"2020-07-17T06:13:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T06:13:32","slug":"stick-figure-bathroom-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com/blog\/stick-figure-bathroom-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"The untold story behind stick figure bathroom signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who\u2019s ever \u201chad to go\u201d recognizes them: the stick-figure man and woman that adorn the signs of men\u2019s and women\u2019s bathrooms, indicating which gender is welcome where. The secret to the pair of pictograms\u2019 longevity, reports<\/a> the BBC, is simplicity. Found from continent to continent, in airports, bars, restaurants, shops, and, well, anywhere else that is equipped with a bathroom, \u201cNo words need accompany them. And, if they did need to, then semantic confusion is likely to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

From MyDoorSign<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

There have been upgrades to the traditional stick-figure signs \u2014 take the bathroom timer signs<\/a> we reported on recently, for example \u2014 as well as contention over gender-neutral bathrooms<\/a> and the signs they use (which might include both male and female stick figures, or a simple \u2018All Gender\u2019 notice, as we\u2019ve written about before<\/a>). While the male and female pictograms are largely standard throughout the world, travelers have also documented instances of bathroom signs that were unintelligible-to-foreigners, from butchered English translations to confounding, and often hilarious, images<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet the traditional male and female graphic signs have withstood the test of time. Self-explanatory and language-free, the pictograms are recognizable, and, surprisingly, intuitive. As humans, \u201cwe respond intuitively to very basic images indicating men and women\u2019s toilets. These can be designed well \u2013 as in most airports and railway stations \u2013 or badly, or even entertainingly, but our brain responds to them reflexively, or intuitively,\u201d explains the BBC.<\/p>\n

So, from where do the original pictogram people hail? Today’s characters can be traced back to the mid-1960s, reports the BBC. An overhaul in design for the state railway, British Rail, resulted in a Rail Alphabet typeface, inspired by the simple font Helvetica. The Design Research Unit, a design studio, created the “clean-cut and convincingly modern aesthetic” for use in not only trains, stations and publications, but also the bathrooms in use across British Rail.<\/p>\n

The angular picto-couple continued to evolve in the United States in the 1970s: In 1974, the U.S. Department of Transportation charged the American Institute of Graphic Arts<\/a> to come up with a set of pictograms for use in public transportation networks across road, rail, air and sea travel. The Institute collaborated with design firm Cook and Shanosky Associates, to create over 30 signs to identify key areas: from bathrooms and baby changing rooms, to elevators and escalators, all “in ways that remain crystal clear 40 years on.”<\/p>\n

You\u2019re already familiar with these two tried and true characters. Embark on a trip through the world\u2019s bathrooms online, and check out the vast array of thoughtful, confusing, and downright funny bathroom signs in use around the globe in this CNTraveler slideshow, Bathroom Signs From Around the World<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who\u2019s ever \u201chad to go\u201d recognizes them: the stick-figure man and woman that adorn the signs of men\u2019s and women\u2019s bathrooms, indicating which gender is welcome where. The secret to the pair of pictograms\u2019 longevity, reports the BBC, is simplicity. Found from continent to continent, in airports, bars, restaurants, shops, and, well, anywhere else […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[294,218],"class_list":["post-2378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restrooms","tag-bbc","tag-public-toilet"],"yoast_head":"\nThe untold story behind stick figure bathroom signs - Mydoorsign.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The male and female symbols on today's bathroom signs were designed in the mid-1960s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com/blog\/stick-figure-bathroom-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The untold story behind stick figure bathroom signs - Mydoorsign.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The male and female symbols on today's bathroom signs were designed in the mid-1960s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com/blog\/stick-figure-bathroom-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mydoorsign.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/doorsigns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-20T17:40:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-17T06:13:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Handicapped-Unisex-Restroom-Sign-SE-2049_S29.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katy B. 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