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Biohazard: Iconic Symbol Designed to Be “Memorable but Meaningless”
- hugh4 10y agoIt's not completely meaningless. Apart from the association with the radiation symbol due to the symmetry, it looks strikingly unfriendly, with sharp tentacles reaching out to grab you like a biohazard well might.
- chillacy 10y agoThat's neat, the symbol had no agreeable associations back then, but now it's become this nefarious looking thing, at least for me, due to things like 28 days later: http://imgur.com/Ym1PqPE http://imgur.com/Ym1PqPE I can't tell if the symbol itself should be nefarious or not, due to all the cultural baggage. From psychology research, we know that shapes are commonly associated with sounds within a culture [1], but it's a very flower icon in an abstract sense. [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-apes/201505/do-sounds-have-shapes https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-apes/201505/do-...
- SpaceManiac 10y agoWhile you might argue that "nefarious" is an overly serious descriptor, I don't think it's wholly inappropriate to think of a symbol intended as a warning as such.
- jdietrich 10y agoI can't tell if it's just cultural association, but the biohazard symbol looks viscerally evil to me. It suggests the barbs of a stinging insect or the mouth parts of a parasitic worm. I feel an instinctive aversion to it, akin to disgust or horror. The ionising radiation symbol doesn't have anything like the same gut impact; aside from the yellow and black colour scheme, it looks quite neutral and unthreatening.
- CamperBob2 10y agoThe ionising radiation symbol doesn't have anything like the same gut impact; aside from the yellow and black colour scheme, it looks quite neutral and unthreatening. They seem to have fixed that nicely: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Logo_iso_radiation.svg/2000px-Logo_iso_radiation.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Lo...
- peteretep 10y agoThat's the symbol for "The extractor fan in this room is haunted"
- ddt_Osprey 10y agoI thought it meant "turn up the speakers and head over to the mosh pit or die."
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- PostThisTooFast 10y agoThe article totally misses what the radiation symbol looks exactly like: the window on a pot-belly stove, which makes perfect sense for radiation: http://mccabe.net.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/potbelly.jpg http://mccabe.net.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/potbelly.jpg
- peteretep 10y agoI agree with that, but struggle to articulate why it looks evil. Does it look like decay? Like a weapon? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- TillE 10y agoAs mentioned, it looks vaguely like some kind of horrible insect or a spider or something. Probably close enough to itch at your subconscious.
- Animats 10y agoYes, as the article points out, please do not use biohazard, radiation, or high voltage warning symbols on decorative objects.
- duskwuff 10y agoAnd if you personally own products which have decorative biohazard or radiation symbols on them, make sure you NEVER, EVER bring them into a context where they might be taken literally. (Ideally, don't bring them out into public spaces at all.) In the wrong situation, leaving (say) your "biohazard" lunchbox sitting on a desk could lead to a panicked security lockdown.
- jobu 10y agoI work at a medical device company, and a coworker of mine uses this lunchbox - http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e72e/ http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e72e/ The first time I saw it in the company fridge I completely freaked.
- xkcd-sucks 10y agoIt could totally be BSL2+ if they bled on it accidentally
- nickhalfasleep 10y agoWhen my father was in highschool he drew a radiation symbol on the envelope to a letter he sent to a friend, and a regional postmaster came to his parent's house and chewed him out in person for it.
- 2bitencryption 10y agoHonestly I think the biohazard tie mentioned in the article isn't so bad, since presumably it's warn by someone in the field who will be surrounded by others of the same field, so I don't think anyone will be tricked into thinking the necktie itself is a biohazard. I actually think the biohazard necktie is kind of funny, in certain circumstances (maybe not if worn by my doctor, but instead by someone giving a keynote speech about biohazardous material) The lunchboxes, water bottles, and helmets on the other hand... that's just absurd.
- WallWextra 10y agoHow did the swastika one even leave the designer's sketch pad?
- sevensor 10y agoIt's an ancient symbol representing the sun. It predates brown-shirted thugs by thousands of years. I've seen old printings of Kipling's works from the 1920s that have it stamped on the bindings, which is a bit jarring. But as I've said, it's a great deal older than that.
- ascagnel_ 10y agoPrior to the 1930s, it was actually fairly common. It even wound up as the logo for an Vancouver-area women's hockey team[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernie_Swastikas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernie_Swastikas
- polm23 10y agoFind this and other symbols in Hornung's Handbook of Designs and Devices, first published in 1932. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_P._Hornung https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_P._Hornung http://www.amazon.co.jp/Handbook-Designs-Devices-Pictorial-Archive/dp/0486201252 http://www.amazon.co.jp/Handbook-Designs-Devices-Pictorial-A...
- vacri 10y agoThere's a new style of hunting arrowhead that is reminiscent of this symbol (and called "Toxic Broadheads". Apparently it's very effective against large game, because it tears out a few ribbons of flesh, and it's much harder for the wound to seal back up. http://www.bowhunting.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/front-3.jpg http://www.bowhunting.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/front-3...