There is a Czech food supplement brand called Diochi which literally uses biohazard symbol as it's logo. It made me smiling when I found out this. I wonder if they were trolled by their graphics designer or what.
Further down their webpage, an explanation of the logo:
„The three ellipses - 3 basic principles by which primordial matter differentiated. The sacred trinity found in all religious and philosophical systems. They are rotated to each other at an angle of 120°, expressing their harmonious relationship.
The circle within each ellipse - symbolizing the interconnectedness of the microcosm and macrocosm.
The open ellipse and the circle to the outer space - expresses the necessity of constant energy exchange with the environment. When this requirement is violated, any existence ceases to exist.“
The open circles gives this an insect mandible vibes that clearly screams "bio" something.
Just like cats fly away from cucumbers, we probably have a few innate patterns triggered by some shapes. Snakes maybe, multi legged things.. oh and Trypophobic patterns.
I think the curviness as opposed to straight lines make it seem more bio. The other examples they have are made of straight lines and feel man made. Finally, I guess the spikiness conveys danger.
Iconography is hard! Interesting to see the criteria the biohazard symbol was developed against and how that informed the result. It reminds me of the complexities explored in a localization firm’s proposal for McDonalds as they explored creating a universal visual language for nutritional information. The archived pdf is here:
The reactions from testing varied quite widely based on geography, as they were trying to create a system that worked in 109 countries. For example, the original orange icon for sugar was said to resemble Scottish subway signs, Canadian road signs, and Danish danger signs. An early symbol for calcium showed a milk carton, but was scrapped because some regions mistook it for a building, portable toilet, phallic symbol, or tombstone. They had to take into consideration cultural and religious connotations for certain shapes as well.
There’s something really insidious about the design I can’t quite put my finger on. The sharp points maybe? It also looks vaguely like a satanic symbol, but that would require knowing about satanic symbols to be effective, and I assume this symbol is used universally!
Impressed with their criteria and design of their experiment.
Also, very sympathetic with the inventor being upset with use of the symbol out of it's place, thereby reducing it's effectiveness. This seems like one instance where copyright law should be implemented and strictly enforced, some kind of license free-to-use for actual biohazards but not anything else.
"Johnson & Johnson has registered the symbol for their medicinal products."
How did this ever get approved?
"The appropriation of the symbol has led to further irritation due to the practice of hospitals, first aid teams, and ski patrols in the United States reversing the symbol to a white cross on a red background – so undoing the original idea of the Red Cross emblem, namely reversing the Swiss flag – thus inappropriately suggesting an affiliation with Switzerland."
Copyright is the wrong hammer -
firstly it will run out eventually.
Secondly, copyright holder can die, coupyright could be sold, and new owner could be irresponsible, litigious, and repurpose the symbol for a brand of coffee.
Then what, should all labs and scientists in the world find a new symbol?
The only solution is to treat misuse of the symbol same way we treat misusing emergency services.
I was first thinking of laws, but they are slow & contentious to pass (esp with one party consistently acting in bad faith), so I quickly landed on copyright, which of course has all the problems you cite and more.
Maybe start with (C), and pass laws to implement your solution? Or, maybe there's a way prosecutors can leverage existing laws.
IANAL, but I believe trademark protection is more applicable here. Firstly, it is more applicable to an identifying mark, symbol or logo. And it can be renewed indefinitely.
This is actually the case for the washing machine/dryer/care tag symbols on clothes. They’re actually licensed trademarks of an organization that (freely?) licenses them specifically for use on clothing labels for care instructions but forbids their use otherwise such as a part of a t-shirt design for aesthetic reasons or on a mug or the cover of a magazine (fair use excepted).
The article touches on this, but it seems like the intuition of the biohazard symbol benefited from the earlier radiation symbol. Both have a central object and shapes radiating from it.
In the case of radiation, the projections have hard edges and linear Direction. In the case of biohazard, the projections are curved. Curves are associated with Biology and hard lines and sharp Corners are associated with technology.
Both have three radial repetitions building similarity.
While the article calls the symbol meaningless there is clear intuition to both. There is a center and projections spreading from it. This indicates a source and danger spreading from it
Even though the sign shows the test tube holders, what it invokes in my mind is the image of dust or skin mites under the microscope. Those that look like alien monsters with claws and armor. DANGER, Will Robinson! Weird, but that's the power of association.
Readit News
https://www.diochi.cz/cs/o-nas/zapomenute-jmeno
„The three ellipses - 3 basic principles by which primordial matter differentiated. The sacred trinity found in all religious and philosophical systems. They are rotated to each other at an angle of 120°, expressing their harmonious relationship.
The circle within each ellipse - symbolizing the interconnectedness of the microcosm and macrocosm.
The open ellipse and the circle to the outer space - expresses the necessity of constant energy exchange with the environment. When this requirement is violated, any existence ceases to exist.“
Just like cats fly away from cucumbers, we probably have a few innate patterns triggered by some shapes. Snakes maybe, multi legged things.. oh and Trypophobic patterns.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170719080459/http://www.enlaso...
The reactions from testing varied quite widely based on geography, as they were trying to create a system that worked in 109 countries. For example, the original orange icon for sugar was said to resemble Scottish subway signs, Canadian road signs, and Danish danger signs. An early symbol for calcium showed a milk carton, but was scrapped because some regions mistook it for a building, portable toilet, phallic symbol, or tombstone. They had to take into consideration cultural and religious connotations for certain shapes as well.
In particular, this little experiment: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327766252_The_Good_...
Also, very sympathetic with the inventor being upset with use of the symbol out of it's place, thereby reducing it's effectiveness. This seems like one instance where copyright law should be implemented and strictly enforced, some kind of license free-to-use for actual biohazards but not anything else.
"Johnson & Johnson has registered the symbol for their medicinal products."
How did this ever get approved?
"The appropriation of the symbol has led to further irritation due to the practice of hospitals, first aid teams, and ski patrols in the United States reversing the symbol to a white cross on a red background – so undoing the original idea of the Red Cross emblem, namely reversing the Swiss flag – thus inappropriately suggesting an affiliation with Switzerland."
I imagine many other video games violate the Geneva convention!
Secondly, copyright holder can die, coupyright could be sold, and new owner could be irresponsible, litigious, and repurpose the symbol for a brand of coffee.
Then what, should all labs and scientists in the world find a new symbol?
The only solution is to treat misuse of the symbol same way we treat misusing emergency services.
I was first thinking of laws, but they are slow & contentious to pass (esp with one party consistently acting in bad faith), so I quickly landed on copyright, which of course has all the problems you cite and more.
Maybe start with (C), and pass laws to implement your solution? Or, maybe there's a way prosecutors can leverage existing laws.
In the case of radiation, the projections have hard edges and linear Direction. In the case of biohazard, the projections are curved. Curves are associated with Biology and hard lines and sharp Corners are associated with technology.
Both have three radial repetitions building similarity.
While the article calls the symbol meaningless there is clear intuition to both. There is a center and projections spreading from it. This indicates a source and danger spreading from it
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